Breakfast w/ Santa in Ashley, IN

This was how they announced the arrival of the guest of honor at the Breakfast with Santa at the firehouse in Ashley. They drove through town at 8 am and announced over their loud speaker: "ho ho ho, Come to the firehouse to have breakfast with Santa!" Chris thinks that he woke up a few kids.....and even saw one running down the street to get to the fire station before the firetruck. This was such a nice success. The firemen were happy....as were all of the kiddies.

Miss Jozelynn

Isn't this the most beautiful picture??? I just love it....so I thought that I would share it. Dean took Jozie to Chuckie Cheeze today. (A place that I would avoid like the plague!) But, I guess they were the first ones there and it was not chaotic.

Thank you Yvonne ....

I have resumed posting now ONLY because my computer wise little girl,Yvonne, was able to help me find the "error of my ways" with pictures. Inadvertantly the Html editing was clicked and it gave me giberish....but now things are resolved and here are some cool family pics. Here's Josiah posing with his newly lost tooth. Funny thing was that Charlie, his cousin had the same tooth loose and lost his the next day....

Here's a cute picture that was taken at Charolette's "Santa's Open House" last week. Litte Reagan just got so tired with all of her friends all day long that she crawled up on Santa's lap and snuggled down for a "winter's nap".

help!!! I'm getting frustrated!

This may be the end of this blog....cuz it's frustrating me. I have some cool pics to post, (like Josiah's first tooth lost, Josiah in a combine, and Santa!) but it's not letting me. They are only going on as giberish. I've tried every which way to Sunday....and no luck. If anybody has any ideas, please let me know. The alternative is to ditch this one and start another one....hate to do that, though....

HE'S GOT THE BIG BUCK! A 9 POINT!

Is that a happy face??? Jacob's face, I mean....not the deer's face. He just looks dead! The second day of gun season Jacob brought back this deer. Not what one would call a trophy for a mount because one of the tines was broken from fighting. But, like his Grandpa Chris says: the best trophy is meat on the table. And Jake has done that very well. This is his 4th deer since he first started hunting a couple of years ago. Pretty good for a 14 yr. old hunter.
If the back ground looks a bit funky....I tried to clone out the big red truck right behind Jake...not a good back ground for a picture. But I was glad to have one taken in the woods. Thanks Uncle Julio.

FIRST SANTA "GIG" OF THE YEAR

Well....we thought that it was awfully early for a Santa visit....but Kroger was having their annual Holiday open house. They invited us to join it. We jumped at the chance....if nothing else, but to get out their and try on the new Santa suit!
Jozie and Josiah have been sheltered from the fact that PaPa is Santa's helper....they were a bit surprised to see PaPa in Kroger! Their sitter today, with her family came over to get a picture to send to their Dad, in the Reserves in training for Afganistan deployment....and he's gone out west right now.

They have the "T" names(left to right): Ti, Trenton, Santa, Tayden, and Tonie; Trevor is kneeling on left. Tonie....the young lady on the right, was babysitting Jozie and Josiah today. So when the family came to shop at Kroger, J & J just came along..... Aren't they a beautiful family. Daddy leaves for Afganistan after January 1. May God protect him and keep him safe.

HOBO DINNER; OCT 24, 2009

Amidst the misty, damp, cold October weather, the staunch VanderHorst Clan met for a wonderful Hobo Dinner on the Deihl homestead, Waterloo, IN. Never counted, (everybody kept moving too fast), but their had to be about 40 folks there. These pictures are nowhere in order....but the kids sure enjoyed themselves. Dean and Chris are supervising the garbage cans on the fire cooking our Hobo Dinner. They were full of soooooooo much super good food; i.e. sausage, ham hocks, potatoes, hot dogs, cabage, corn, etc. It took about 1.5 hours to do the great job of cooking it to perfection

Many of the kids are from Toledo, not rural area where Andrea and David live. So, when they got the opportunity to collect the eggs from the chicken coupe, they really enjoyed picking up the eggs, and then weighing them (where you get the A, AA size eggs, etc.) Here's Dawson weighing an egg.

While everyone was pitching in to ready the yard for the hobo dinner before the rains came on Thursday, David had the stroke of genius to pick up a large amt. of the dry leaves BEFORE mowing the lawn, putting them in the big barn....so that the kids could play in the huge pile of
leaves.

You can tell that it was a huge success.

Madison enjoying herself.

The smiles tell it all.

Yvonne had the bright idea to get up in the hay loft and get a picture of the kids int he leaf and hay pile.

Jacob and his friend Kristin sitting around the fire....trying to keep warm.

Charolette looked like she was waiting for the rain....but it really never came, although some of the folks thought it would. Mist was the most of it.

Andrea and David beginning the hay ride for the kid and adults.

They stopped off to see the small calves next door, and really enjoyed the touch of farm life.

Everybody took zip locks of left overs home. That was a good thing....meaning we didn't have to eat boiled dinner for the next two weeks. It was such a wonderful day....and exhausting. Everyone pitched in on the clean up....and when I got home I just collapsed in my chair and didn't want to move.! Such good times to remember....