Happy Saturday

 This morning began with a 5.1 quake not far from us.  This was followed by a couple of 4. aftershocks and another bigger one an hour later. The memories. My heart and prayers flew back to Japan - a country still deeply in my heart. 

Izaak came over and cut one of our dead spruces for firewood. Bre and the kids came over too. 

The cake looked a bit bedraggled but the kids were excited to see it and the decorations I'd not put up yet. I quickly got out candles and we had a "Happy Saturday" celebration. Most of the cake, itself, hadn't been eaten. 

Bella is 4 1/2

This boy's smile! 

Gideon @ 3 1/2 years old

Annie is 21 months old

Eating chocolate cake is worth pulling out the paci. 

Bre is due Nov 20th. Soon and very soon....Baby D4 will be here....

Bre is 35 - see I can do numbers

Annie thinks if she covers her eyes we can't see her! LOL  We ended the night playing a rousing game of Farkle. 

The ramp is taking shape, we got to visit with BreZaak - a good day it was. 

November's Birthday Bash

He loved his cake

The prep was done. We waited for Jamin and CoRielle so the party could begin.

When Benny opened the door I yelled, "Happy Birthday." He was extremely excited...jumping up and down and yelling back at me....he had a card for Papa. 

Benny, Papa and Auntie Co-co

Playing catch the dino egg. LOL 

I'm not sure who is having the most fun. 

Uncle - come look at my cake!

Photo by Arielle 

Yes - it was the affect we were going for...

Arielle has a darling video of Benny singing along....here's a still shot. 

He blew, and he blew, and he blew, and then Papa helped. 

Ah, the pig hat. For over 25 years birthday celebrants have worn ye old pig hat. For these joint celebrations one grabs it...Papa is a good sport.  Benny returned the favor of help and blew out Papa's candles. He was on a roll. 

Getting the frosting off the dino's foot. 

"Turkey's" arrival is getting close....by the end of this month. Arielle wanted to have Benny's birthday over before the new one arrived....so we celebrated a week early. All is ready now....

Photo by Krista

We missed those who couldn't make it tonight - but it was a great night. Pre-schoolers are a blast....

Photo by Krista

Party Prep

Stacia loves playing in the kitchen. She does a great job and has become a good baker. This year she's launching into cake decorating. By way of a disclaimer....neither of us have ever worked with fondant. We probably should have played with this earlier in the week. Of course, we'd miss the adrenaline rush of decorating the cake the day of the party if we did it that way. LOL 

I wanted to "help" and we ended up making a good team. Stacia said she was nervous when it came to putting the fondant on the cake. She'd done the research. I provided encouragement, and I actually lifted the green fondant onto the cake... Stacia was off and flying solo. 

 

Aren't these trees darling? 

Arielle picked up some decorations for me earlier in the week. Making a Target run would take more juggling than I could handle this week with Dad's care and therapy appointments. Arielle brought decor by and stayed to help. Krista picked up some great dino things at Walmart for me....I miss running out...but it's all getting done thanks to a wonderful tribe. 

Moving the cake

Benny wanted candles. That's it. We hit on the dino theme and I had Krista pick up sparklers along with a birthday candle. We put sparklers at the top of the volcano and down through the lava. 

Stacia did a great job! I think I'll have her make more birthday cakes....I KNOW the family loves the ice cream cakes, but a variety could be fun. 

Everyone got into the fun of decorating....

We've had these chair covers for 25 years. We  had a wall hanging that lit up, it fell off the wall and broke today. The pig hat is also 25 years old - and if you don't know what the pig hat is - read the coming birthday post. 

It is an amazing blessing to have a built in Great Grandpa to share these moments with us. All those years living as vagabonds, moving every 3 years, we never even dreamed of having all the kids nearby AND Mom or Dad living with us. I thought it was something we gave up when we followed Jesus into the ministry lifestyle we've lived. 

It turns out Josiah and crew can't make it tonight. Livie isn't feeling well and they don't want to share with Dad. BreZaak aren't coming. It's close to baby day and they don't want to take any COVID chances.  Nolan is working. It seemed like a good date when we picked it. LOL We're still going to have fun! 

Dad decided it was time for a rest break. He called Uncle Walt and enjoyed a fun visit...lots of laughter and stories. BTW - those are NOT balloons - they are dinosaur eggs. ::wink::

We decided not to fill this guy with candy as  the other grands weren't coming, and he's too big for one kiddo...He became a welcome dinosaur and went home with Benny at the end of the night.  Maybe we'll fill him and break him open in the spring....

Michael is 20x Benny's age....He'll be the big 6 - 0 on the 17th. I may need to have another party....I guess we'll have to see what happens with the COVID stuff in the next bit of time. Note the photo of 4 year old Michael....He was actually 4 on the day Mom and Dad got married. 

We did it. We were all ready for the party....and realized it was us, CoRielle and Jamin. We put one of the pizzas in the freezer and we'll have cake for a bit of time. LOL 

A New Guest On the Property

 

Millie alerted us to the new guest on the property. He's much younger than the collared bull....but he's certainly not a yearling.  Lying around in the snow isn't how I relax...but it works for this guy. 

The Dinos Are Coming

 Marvilie and Avigail dropped off a load of fondant and dinosaurs a couple of days ago.  Stacia and I began planning the Dino cake for Friday's Family Birthday party this afternoon. Michael and Benny are our November birthdays. We expect both grandsons to be born in November so there will be 4 November birthdays next year!

Stacia is going to decorate the cake....she works two days this week.  

Benny is turning 3...

We discussed ways we could make the cake Arielle and I envisioned....dinosaurs, a volcano and lava. ::snort:: 

Laying it out on pans and trays allowed us to see how many cakes Stacia needed to bake....she baked tonight so she can freeze them and  put a crumb coat on on Wednesday or Thursday. 

The small cake  overflowed its boundaries - much like lava. It collapsed in the oven but didn't go to waste. Well, it DID go to waist! It provided a nice Farkle snack. This is a really moist, yummy cake she makes. 

We have planned an ice cream cake for Michael and a dinosaur cake for Benny. Two desserts aren't too excessive when we all gather. 

Today the SLT and the PT both came to see Dad. It was a full day. 

2019 Annual Gherkins Gingerbread Competition

 Gingerbread competition in November? No, we are NOT starting Christmas celebrations too early - we're actually extremely late!  I haven't blogged our last New Year's Eve celebration. ::snort::  My family thought it was unbelievable when I didn't post until April last year. I've topped myself this year.  I promised to have it done before certain parties go into labor....seems Mr. Gingerbread may get to attend a labor if the vote is right. LOL 

Many of you know we do our gift exchange on NYE.  We had youngish children when we started this, and in order to stay up until midnight, we announced a new activity each hour.  The year Bre brought Izaak home, we added a gingerbread competition. It seemed a fun way for all to bond. Before we could blink our eyes it had turned into a competition between the men and the women....a tradition was born.  Each year we post photos and blog readers vote on the best Gingerbread creation. That team hosts Mr. Gingerbread for the year. 

Over the years we've noted more participation if the vote is held on Facebook. SO....feel free to comment below, but go to our Facebook Page - Courageous Joy - to vote. The poll is pinned to the top of the page; voting ends Friday, 5 Nov at noon AKST. 

It should be noted each team is given the same gingerbread house kit and a few extra items that can be added to each team's creation (Krispy treats and gumballs this year). They are also given a unique challenge item that must be added. Each team has the same amount of money to buy a few extras. 

TEAM A  presents Dip Netting - An Alaskan Theme....This team presents a realistic gingerbread rendition of our family's annual dip-netting fish camp from the cleaning station, to the  salmon-littered beach, fishermen in the water, sea gulls feasting on salmon, and a brilliant sunset. 

Feeding frenzy

Fish cleaning station 

Outhouse

Note the white coolers! 

Dip Netters

TEAM B presents An Alaskan Dream - a winter Get-away to a Deserted Island. This creation features a shipwreck near a sandy beach with brilliant blue waters with a couple of sharks to make life interesting. The gingerbread castaways can be seen looking out across the waters with the Sun setting behind their lean-to.

Tropical Island

Ship in shark infested waters

Castaways

White caps! 

IF YOU AREN'T SICK OF VOTING - VOTE NOW! Voting ends at NOON on Nov 6th....just in time for Mr. Gingerbread to be awarded to the winners at our birthday celebration for Benny and Michael. 

Interested in a trip down memory lane? It was fun to see dear faces from past year's  competitions and winners:

2013 Competition - Men won with their Town square complete with a clock tower.

2014 Competition - Women won with their sweet Chapel; Men's Night Before Christmas disqualified them according to judge Michael. ::snort:: 

2015 Competition - Women won with Mad Hatter's Tea Party over the Men's rendition of Santa's Village.

2016  Competition - Women won with their  "Portrait of  2016." 

2017 Competition - Men won with "An Alaskan Getaway," over the women's offering of "Snowman's Lodge." 

2018 Competition - Men won with "An Iditarod Checkpoint." I must admit even some of our men voted for the women's "Family Oasis," and we were rather surprised the men won. 

* And now - since I finally have the "Gingerbread post" finished, I can blog last year's Christmas on New Year's Celebration BEFORE this year's Christmas season commences. ::snort::