SnowTodd

This is Todd in a rare moment of tranquil calm. I'm thinking that his brain wasn't functioning because it was frigid outside, on top of the fact that moments before this picture, he was hunched in a little ball beside the rain gutter and catching icy melted snow running out of it into his mittens. He is a beautiful little boy, when he isn't yelling garbled toddler speech about "sharp knives" and "choochoo trains".

An Ivy Day

I thought you'd all enjoy hearing about shopping with Ivy today. She decided while we were in the middle of Food 4 Less that she was a puppy. That means she crawled around on all fours, yipping and whimpering intermittently. She even panted, tongue out. She howled in agony when we tried to put her in the cart. Occasionally she licked store fixtures or merchandise before we could stop her. My apologies to the macaroni boxes, glass doors protecting the milk, and the mirrors next to the floor at checkout.

To top it all off, she refused to come with us when we said "Come on, Ivy." She only responded to "Here, puppy!" Now, those of you who ever shopped there know that Food 4 Less caters to a slightly, um, Ozarkier class of people (let's just say that about one in ten of our fellow shoppers was sporting some kind of unique bodily funk). Today, I think we won the prize.

Mad Rush Before Christmas

Well. here is a couple looking for a home this Christmas. I'm not sure where they are going. Tell me what you think, Michelle, of the color and if it would qualify for an ETSY picture or not.

It is bitterly cold and icy outside. The kids are home from school. It is possible that they could miss the whole week, and I guess it is also possible they could get 2-3 days of school in. The roads are slick, it is dark and dreary, and nothing is melting.

Dana got a real job offer from the company he has been interning with. Josh is hopeful that he is transferring to another job with great potential. We'll know more on that later. Emma and Barrett are busy getting Christmas done and in the midst of it mourning the loss of their collie Nixie. My personal theory is she got into some rat poison from the description they gave and her activities. Nixie was a wonderful animal - not to be confused with some of the dopes we have around.

In case I don't get anything else on here before Christmas, I wish all of you the most joyful and also reverent blessings of the year. Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world. He came to the earth in humble circumstances, lived a humble life, performed miracles, taught us how we should live and treat our fellow man. All goodness that is here on this earth stems from him. He suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemanee and paid with pain that we cannot understand. He then suffered, an innocent on the cross and died, being resurected three days later, fulfilling the great task that was laid before him in the councils of heaven. With this small and abbreviated description (which does not do justice to him) I would encourage all who read this to take some time to recognize the great blessings we have, and worship our Saviour in whom all good things are made possible. To my children, I love all of you so much. Please be safe. Love, Mom (Vea)

The Kids Out East

Hey, this is Emma and Barrett. We are out in Maryland again for the winter. We are hoping that maybe we can figure out some way to hit Missouri for Christmas, but I'm not sure that it is very likely--we aren't the high-rollers that we look like (tee-hee!) We are back in the cottage called "the blueberry" and I am just ecstatic to be in a HOUSE. Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly happy camping about and all that jazz (though, I always miss having an oven) it's just that it's getting cold and it is SO nice to have hot running water, solid walls, a place to set up my sewing and LEAVE it up, and yes an oven too. So, Natalie, the next time you feel like complaining about doing the dishes, just be happy that you don't have to first haul the water in a jug, set it up on saw-horses, and wash the dishes in the rain when there is ice floating in the dish water and the sponge is frozen solid. Hahaha, it sounds horrible, but when it was that cold, I just heated the water on the stove. Anyway, it was fun, but I am excited to be in a house.

Thanksgiving is all too soon for me. I hadn't realized that the holidays were not only close but HERE! Basically, I'm doing half the dinner and my mother-in-law is doing the other half; it makes everything so simple. There will only be the four of us, but that didn't stop me from making four pies...and a shepherd's pie...and I have extra pie crust--just in case. I am also in charge of the turkey (which came from whole foods), the cranberry relish (which I made with one of our 3 grinders--it turns out we didn't need to being another because we had packed 2 away; who knew?), and the hot punch. i feel like I am getting off all too easy this year, but I am thankful for in-laws who don't mind me using their kitchen as well as their groceries all the time. ...I think we are out of butter...

I started a blog, but no one should expect anything terribly exciting just yet. I have been pretty busy moving into a HOUSE and working on Christmas, and I imagine I will continue to work on Christmas till I can't wait till it's over with--so...don't expect too much just yet. I intend to have Beaver Rebellion cartoons, articles on why my brain works better than the average 20-year-olds', pictures of all the crazy stuff that I'm doing, including food, aprons, skirts, dolls, recipes, and whatever else I feel like! I just have to figure out this goofey blog stuff--it seems like I can't get anything to look right and I havn't even started. bleh! By the way, the address is:
www.beaverrebellion.blogspot.com

Anyway, Barrett and I are VERY happy, we canoe everyday accross the river to take care of our two crazy horses; I am making up for all the times I didn't have an oven this last summer and fall; we have internet access and like to hop on that crazy WoW game, we have access to the best thirft store I have ever been to, and Barrett is always happy to indulge me in all kinds of wacky clothing and house-wares (he bought me a child's book called "Kate and the Devil" because the girl on the front had long red hair and an apron full of stuff--it turned out to be a really good book; it was a quarter), we have a nice time visiting his folks who always seem happy to see us and have plenty of tasks for tall, strong sons and many pants that need to be hemmed by stubby daughter-in-laws. They don't even think I'm a mooch when I use all the Mrs. Myer's lavender laundry detergent. -gling!-

So, we love you all and hope to see you in the near future. We also want to remind you that any of my fam is welcome, incouraged, and anticipated to come out to Maryland, stay in a cottage right by the water and go canoeing, boating, thrifting, site-seeing, and whatever else to heart's content! I'm counting on Lynn's love of boats, Jill's affinity for thrift stores, Todd's dreams of becoming a trecherous pirate, and Mom and Dad selling their house, having wads of cash, and wanting to take a road trip to see their two favorite vagabond children. C'mon guys! I can see the water from this window! and THIS window! and this one, and this one, and this one, and....Oh, and THIS one!
...Barrett's parents are very curious to see where I came from and why I like sandwiches so much. So...let me think of some more insentive, and I'll get back to you all later!

--Lemons and Barrett

Sorry, I don't know how to arrange these pages. Does anybody give lessons?

This is Brynn, Ivy and Maggie.

OK, folks. Here are the belated pictures from our Utah trip. I didn't look at closeups, so for all I know I look like a dumpy cow with a dumb expression on my face. I had lots of other pictures, but so many of them were Michelles kids that (even tho they were cute) I decided not to post them because of my inability to see them closeup, cause I 'm a spaz on the computer and because Michelle has so many posted on recent spots already. I thought maybe the fam would like to see a picture of the parents of this crazy clan.

We were up in the mountains above Heber, and it was very beautiful up there. I wish we had had time to camp while we were there, but time was short.

Todd became the happiest person alive when he discovered a stream of cold water and he played and waded in it till his feet were like ice. That boy needs the outdoors.

The girls in the stroller were all holding wildflowers and they were so cute, but I don't think the camera caught the cuteness of it all.

Thanksgiving is in two days. We will miss our kids out west. We love you so much and wish we could be together. Hey, I just remembered we have a couple out east. I still have to get used to that. Emma, post something to this site if you can. We would love to hear from you and Barrett. We love and miss you also.

ALSO, we have someone interested in buying our place. Pray for us to be able to sell it. It is becoming very expedient, that we do so. There is no construction work. Even the Aulick family (whom most of you know) is shutting down.

Be thankful this week and always for life, family, good friends, for our Saviour Jesus Christ and the great plan of salvation. Be thankful that we live in a great land, and we are still free (at the moment). We are so thankful for our family and so pleased to call you ours. Every single one of you (and that always includes in-laws) are dear to us.

The Todd Show and the Washing Machine

These are the kind of pictures Todd will hate when he's older...but hey, that's what you get for trying to secretly climb into the washing machine....while half naked.
This is Todd yelling at me.

Being Brainwashed by Disney

This is not actually on the teacup ride. Tyler told me that when he went on that ride as a little kid, it always made him nautious, thus he selfishly robbed me and the kids of the opportunity to stand in line for 45 minutes to get onto swirling teapcups that would make US want to vomit.

This was a store totally devoted to The Nightmare Before Christmas. I love the outside of the shop, and would have to have a house that looked like this!

I couldn't remember this villain's name....it was sort of awkard, like when you see someone from high school and try to remember their name and fail miserably (only in this case, the guy didn't go to my high school...just many homely odd kids like him.)

This is Wall*E and us! After we took the picture, Todd turned around and gave Wall*E a kiss.

I just want everyone to know that while I'm writing this, Todd is standing behind me screaming and trying to repeatedly shove a battery powerered Black & Decker drill into my back. Anyway, here's us with Mickey. Does he look like he's gained some weight in recent years? Maybe it's just me.