Eggs, eggs and more eggs!

Well, my new baby chicks are now old enough to lay eggs.......so we are now getting over 2 dozen eggs per day. At least we have for 4 days in a row now. I think the teeeny one is someone's first attempt at laying an egg. That was actually the second one that size. They were really cute and kinda funny! We made scrambled eggs with them - but of course we added a bunch of others also. It has been a fun experience working with the chickens. I guess I'm a farm girl now. :))
Shelly

PS Yes, the eggs are wet, I just finished washing them.

A Hope Chest for Kayla before her 16th Birthday!

telling the story of designing and building the hope chest

ooohh, aaaaah

2 BIG smiles!

Kayla's hope chest

Each of the girls has received a hope chest created specifically for them by my dad for their 16th birthday. This year is Kayla's turn. When they arrive, we are unable to hide the hope chest because it is so large.....so she received it early. Not a problem.
A special thank-you goes out to my parents for all their hard work and dedication and thoughtfulness in creating such a lifelong heirloom for each of the girls. Thank you so much!!!!!
Happy early 16th Birthday Kayla!

Christmas with the Hastings in Arkansas

annual group picture

Stephen

Sarah

she loved the socks!

Andrew

Seth

Kayla

Nathan

Luke

Alissa & Erica

Hagestings!

Getting together is always a great time! The 10-hour drive is worth it! We didn't really have any snow to play in but found many things to do. Although, we were glad the weather was good when it was time to drive home. :))
We will be visiting again as soon as possible - we don't need a holiday or a reason!
Love, Shelly

Christmas!! =))

the look says it all!!

underarmor!

the boots were from Alissa & Kayla

Tenth Avenue North - very good band

small ESV Bible - the "go anywhere" size

stuff for cooking - always a big hit!

the "perfect" book for Kayla - thoughtfully given by the sisters

praying for the world!

poster for Alissa's wall - gift by the sisters

perfect look for the perfect gift - ear muffs for gun shooting

a "bling" belt

video camera for the film minor!

it's been a great read so far!

relaxing!

styling!

nice table for a nice day and nice dinner

busy day!

Well, our day was wonderful. This year it was just our family.....not many more of those left! There were lots of really sweet gifts given in honor of Jesus' birthday. What an awesome way to celebrate. We hope your day was full of the people you love to celebrate the best gift ever - Jesus!
Shelly

Christmas with Bret's family in West Columbia

Jenny with Avery

cooking, a busy pastime with 18 people in the house!

Randall with Avery

playing "Catch Phrase" - obviously very intense game!

I LOVE Randall!

our annual shot of the whole crew!

We all were able to gather the weekend before Christmas at Bret's mother's house in West Columbia. We know the days are coming quickly when not all of us will be able to make it because we are expanding quickly - but so far we have at least been able to all meet and celebrate the holidays together. I am so thankful for that. And I hope we will be able to continue the tradition for many years to come. We all had a fun time! We exchanged white elephant gifts and it was as interesting as usual. :))
Merry Christmas everyone!
Shelly

December Kountze Progress Show aka catching up!

it sure is beautiful early in the morning!!

practicing

show time!

We went to this show in Kountze (about 20 minutes) on December 11th. It was really good because she learned a LOT. But she also won 1st place!!! We will be going to 2 local shows 2 weekends in a row in February. We are looking forward to learning, winning and enjoying each others company as well as seeing some of the same folks we see at each show. Just another day in the country. =)
Shelly