Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We had a pretty quiet holiday, but every enjoyable. We opened gifts with each other after church on Christmas morning, took a little nap, and then spent the rest of the day with Dan's family at his sister's house. 
This picture of Rebecca was taken on Sunday morning before her Christmas program on Dec. 18. She looked so cute! Sadly her hair does not hold curls for very long!
One of Rebecca's favorite gifts was her Leapster 2. 
The other day when we were driving home and Rebecca was playing with her Leapster in the back seat, she said to me, "Mom, I was just working so hard to be good, but I didn't think that Santa was going to bring me a Leapster because I was really being naughty. I'm just so glad he brought me one anyway, so I'll try and be better." She makes us laugh so much!
Here are all the De Vries cousins with Dan's parents. 

We are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby. I'm 38 weeks and counting. I'm finding this time of waiting to be long and tiring. Knowing that baby could arrive tonight or could take another 3 weeks, is hard. But above all we are trusting that God will provide for our needs and praying for a safe and healthy delivery when the time comes.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Thanksgiving Recap

I know it is closer to Christmas than Thanksgiving now, but I have yet to post about Turkey Day and still want to do that. For Thanksgiving we traveled up to Hills, MN to my sister's house to spend the weekend with the rest of my siblings. We've done the same thing the last 2 years, but this year my parents were unable to make the trip from Canada. Here is a quick recap in photos.
We decorated the table with style.
The men fried the turkey, which was the tastiest turkey I've ever had.
All 18 of us sat around the table and thanked God for our many blessings!
And of course we attempted the traditional family photo. This is not the best one, but at least everyone's head made it in the frame. It was a great and memorable weekend!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

"Quick, find the yellow brick and break a window."

I found the following post on a website I visit from time to time. I love the logic behind it and concern for the budget of their city. But I question how often they need such a brick.  Any guesses what the brick says or the sign on the wall?


  white trash repairs - Follow The Yellow Brick Exit
In the Chinese province of Heilongjiang, the Public Transport Company replaced the emergency-use hammers with pairs of yellow bricks on all city buses.
“The special hammers are expensive and people were always stealing them,” explained a spokesperson from the Harbin Public Transport Company. “We don’t think anybody will be interested in stealing bricks.”

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Hauling hay

I spent a day this past week hauling hay home to where I overwinter my spring cows.  As I was hauling my last load I thought to myself, "I think I have a pretty nice looking rig.  I should take a picture to share."  
This is my 1086 tractor with a gooseneck trailer hauling seven bales.  It can haul two in the postion over the tires but I rarely do it.  This can be pulled by a pickup and is normally. 
I put a gooseneck ball on the top of my bale carrier and can do the work by myself of loading and unloading. I pull the trailer to the field with the tractor, then load the trailer with the tractor/loader.  Then pull the load home and unload it.