Cutie patootie!

Surrounded by handsome men.

Miss Priss on her throne.

Bethany is 12!

Bethany turned 12 on December 19th.

For her birthday supper, she wanted scalloped ham and potatoes and dirt dessert.

We did add a few side dishes to go in between the ham and dirt.

I couldn't ask for a better daughter than Bethany. She is such a big help to me, always willing to do whatever she is asked without complaint. That is a wonderful trait!

I love you, Bethany!

Camping and Old Time Festival at Eminence, MO

Rowdy boys having fun in the camper.

Camping, to our children, means a lot of bike riding!

Josiah rode so fast, he just about needed a speeding ticket.

Isaac went mudding on his tricycle.

Rebecca and Samuel checked out the corn grinder.

Here we are in front of the spring and big water wheel house.

Here is an old, one-room schoolhouse.

A fine bunch in front of an old chuck wagon like the one on which my Papa Gandy was born.

Below, the man was making bullets.

Bethany and Rebecca got to make candles.

Above and below watching a man making a wooden bucket.

Handsome fella.

Check out these locked antlers.

Mr. Peanut was kind of cute, but not as cute as those two boys.

Hannah's prissy hat

Hannah looked so perty in her sweet little hat at church today.

A glimpse

Samuel took this picture of himself and Josiah with my cellphone.

Ain't she wonderful? A resounding "Yes!"


Too sweet for words!

Good big brother!

Jacob's buck on the first day of rifle season!

I heard the shots. On his very first time out with his new deer rifle, Jacob shot a 5 point buck. We took the it to a professional deer processor, so we can get good use of the meat.

Big Buck

A man has a hunting lease on Papa's place, and he got a 14 point whopper this morning. He estimated it to be about 275#. He's been hunting for years and never seen one this big!

Bass Pro Boys and Bonnet Girl

The boys, Hannah, and Mom went to Bass Pro yesterday.

There were a lot of fun things for them to do. Their favorite was rifle shooting!

Hannah appears to be quite impressed with her new bonnet.

Hannah's latest pics

Hannah definitely loves mornings!

She is all smiles as soon as she wakes up.

Amber caught this little sweetie smiling one recent evening, so maybe she's just a happy girl at any hour of the day!

Polar Bears Swim

Samuel chases a polar bear!

Memphis Zoo 2009!

I think the most impressive part of the zoo is the new bear exhibit, Teton Trek. Everyone ought to go see this!

These two pictures show us at the top of a tall water fall overlooking the bears' range.
This large elk statue was outside of the huge log cabin which is part of Teton Trek.
Since Samuel likes pigs so much, I had to take this picture of him in the farm exhibit.

The polar bears are great to watch, too! They were having a great time swimming back and forth, pushing off the glass.

Josiah joined everyone climbing on a large rock.

Here is Jacob with two of his friends.

Rebecca posed for me in a rock cave.

Isaac is freshly hatched.

We got our annual cow picture, but there were three children missing this time.
(Josiah wanted to be missing from this picture!)