Last blog of 2012.

It's been 10 years since we spent Christmas Day with my husband's family.  We usually switch years with my family and his but we always have Christmas Eve and morning in our own home.  This year we traveled to Ft. Worth, Texas for a cousin holiday.  We have 12 kids all together.  It's a bunch of little people.  (Some are not so little anymore.) 

 

We had so much fun.  Nothing fancy.  Just time together, cooking meals with the girls, playing games, talking, singing and telling those kids to be quiet!!  We really didn't see much of them.  They all found their group and stayed busy.

 

It was a very merry time.  So blessed with families who love each other.  It makes time together so special. 

 

This is the oldest cousin Ethan with the almost youngest cousin Levi.  Levi thinks Ethan is pretty special.

It was definitely a house full.  But we all seemed to fit just right.

On Christmas Eve, Uncle Brad read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  It was pretty sweet.

Cody, "The Fonz" and Kyle.

Micah got to be a little (chubby) girl reindeer.

There were some Just Dance competitions going on.

Ever played Minecraft?  It's a little boy's dream.  Building and creating then destroying.

Caught you Kyle!  Bust a move.

How that girl loves her Daddy.

Asher needed some space the second night we were there.  I told him he could move into the other room and sleep under the tree.  So he did.  Literally!

As 2012 fades out and 2013 dawns, I pray peace and blessing for you all.  We here on the Prairie look forward to new things.  New gardens, new animals, new paint, new adventures.  We will bring you along with us as we go. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you.  May he make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.  May the Lord grant you peace. 

Just pictures. No time for words. :(

 

 

 

 

What an egg should look like.

Most people seem confused as to why we would have chickens when eggs are so cheap at the store.  I always tell them that chickens are easier to keep than a dog, they make less mess, they eat bugs, they are very entertaining and they give you beautiful, delicious, healthy eggs. 

 

The eggs you buy in the store are just so-so.  The pale yellow yolk shows the lack of variety of diet and access to greens.  Most commercial eggs are produced by over-worked chickens who spend their lives indoors under artificial light.  They are crowed into small spaces and only have processed food in their diets. 

 

If you buy free-ranged chicken eggs, you pay a lot more money and still aren't guaranteed that you would get the benefit of true free-ranging. 

 

Our girls are happy as they can be.  I don't even have to supplement their food right now.  Everything they eat comes from the ground.  They are laying giant eggs with great hard shells.  And the taste is like nothing else! 

 

This is one of our eggs cracked into a bowl of cheese that I use in a baked pasta dish.  See the color?  ORANGE! 

 

 

 Here is a link to Mother Earth News that shows the actual benefits of fresh, free-ranged eggs.

 

 

On another note, my blog friend Kendra, at New Life on a Homestead, is doing a giveaway.  So head over to her site and leave a comment about the book she is giving away, Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden.  Looks like a great addition to a homesteader's collection. 

 

 

Oh yeah and this too...

 

Hee hee.  Micah B is 7 months old now!