Today was yet another day off from school. With subzero temperatures, the kiddos get to stay home for the 11th day in a row. It's been a long time since such a winter has hit this area. Since there's nothing to do but enjoy what you've been given, the days are spent cleaning out closets and drawers, along with washing walls and windows, and of course, there's always the talk of what we will cook next. Today, we made supper first thing before heading off to the next room that needs a good cleaning. 
If you have ever been to the Dixie Stampede and enjoy soup, you have to LOVE the soup they give you as the meal's appetizer. We made that soup and put it in the crockpot. Four loaves of homemade french bread and monkey bread were baked and are now ready for when everyone gets home for supper this evening. Snow days are a real treat and we're getting treated well this season!
Stay warm and enjoy what's been given to you.

Finally the temperature has reached above freezing. With a temperature of 33 degrees, we decided to go out and play in the snow after we got the feeding done. We have had continuous snow for the past 2 days, and have measured up to 13 inches (snow drift) on our little hill. Once again, God has given us a wonderful and beautiful day.

Over the years of living here in Joker, we have hunted  in our hollow and have never found an easy route to get in and out. Today the family took an adventure and began to clear a road up to our cabin. With a windchill of 15.8 degrees and several inches of snow falling, we began the clearing.  With all of us clearing, and some little girl playing in the snow, we had it done in a matter of a few hours. Even with the cold, bitter weather we all still had a blast.

With an astounding temperature of 3 degrees, and yet another snow day, it was decided that today would be spent inside cleaning the house. With a grand total of 4-5 inches of snow, our farm was turned into another winter wonderland. Even though we weren't that active outside, the sheep were still as alive as ever. 

Today was a day packed with unloading a ton of feed, hunting, and a new experience for the children. After unloading the ton of feed, we decided that we had one too many roosters, and decided to take this chance to educate the kiddos on something we both had watched our grandparents do during our childhood: how to pluck and butcher a chicken. To be honest, I thought the kids would be disgusted, but surprisingly they found this to be pretty interesting. After the whole experience was over we decided to squirrel hunt with Lucy, our Mountain Cur. Even though we didn't see anything, we all spent time together enjoying God's beautiful creation.

Waking up to  a few inches of snow and a temperature below freezing means two things, we aren't going anywhere and the kids get to play in the snow. Unfortunately the snow had to come on a Sunday, but like always we had church service at our house. After lunch (and a quick nap) the family went out to "get some work done", which involved the kids getting pulled behind our Polaris. After the fun and games were over we fed the animals, and collected the eggs. The lambs seem to be growing really well. Even though we didn't go to church, I still think that we had a very blessed day!

We apologize that we haven't been very consistent with our posts, but life on the farm has brought on lots of jobs for us. To give a general recap on the all that has  gone on since our last post would include farm work, camping with a few friends, and even more farm work. Since our last post we have had several additions to our farm family. We sold our breeding ram,"Cosmo",and added our newest breeding ram, Marsell, to the flock. Also,we have had another lamb crop. With a total of twenty baby lambs so far, our flock has grown.Camping has been an activity our family has always enjoyed. Our local park is in fact the best camping site for our family. This trip created memories that my family and I will never forget. During this trip we somehow discovered several, creative ways to entertain one another. At the time that we went camping, buckeyes could be found everywhere. We found out that if you try to roast a buckeye they will explode once they get hot enough. This would soon become a great toy to play with at night. With family and friends sitting around telling stories and throwing buckeyes into the fire, a pot of chili simmering, and the sound of the children playing, life couldn't have gotten any better. An experiment involving a very large homegrown watermelon proved to be highly entertaining.
Stay warm and dry. Mud is a part of life right now, so keep your boots on.