My Actual Birthday

I got a lot of birthdays this year, but this day was the official one on the calendar :) It began with Buck building a cozy fire outside while the girls prepared a fancy breakfast for me in the kitchen. Noah helped with the roasting of the tomatoes and peppers to be blended into a sauce for the huevos rancheros. I liked how the tomatoes danced in the pan with the heat! I didn't know they did that :)

There was also an extraordinary pan of cinnamon rolls! The previous night Brennen and I were working on the puzzle; it was getting close to the end and I knew that if I went to bed it would be done by morning--so, I stayed up a little bit late and helped him finish the job :) To our surprise, Caelan walked out--half asleep, having just remembered she needed to set the rolls to rise. And rise they did! They were humongous by morning, and so tasty! I've gotten these rolls in the past, same brand, same size, but at the cabin they tasted extra marvelous, and the boys were astonished that they'd eaten these before at home. Food tastes better on vacation!

Gabby was busy frying eggs. Chase happened to walk up and stir a pot when I took a picture. He said, "Now it's going to look like I was actually doing something." Lol! I said, "You were, you stirred the sauce. It counts!" :) Mmm, such a good breakfast!

After breakfast, the next hunting group out split into two teams . . . Brennen, Graysen, and Noah went back to the blind to see if a deer might present itself to Brennen, while Buck, Gabby, and Chase went to the farm to work on skinning and processing the trio of harvested deer. I didn't post pictures of that--it's just a bit much for this platform :) It was also a lot of work! Those were three quite large deer; they decided Graysen's is the biggest they've ever gotten! Lots of meat for our freezers, yay!

Meanwhile, Caelan helped me with my projects--the gifts for Buck's employees, the start of Brennen's senior pictures, which Gabby later finished trimming and clipping. I worked on my painting and sorted more than 600 photos into chronological order (which took HOURS) and got them loaded into photo albums. I also worked on my Christmas cards, stamping, addressing, return addressing . . . I think my boxes of projects were about as big as my luggage :) It was great to get so much accomplished though! I don't have picture of it here, but on the first day of the visit Gabby gave me an escape room mystery box. Each day's box provides clues to open the next box--some of the puzzles were easy, but some were hard! Caelan helped me solve the first few days while we were at the cabin, and then Buck helped with the rest at home. Super fun gift! I didn't know such a thing existed.

Back at the farm, the deer were ready for transport. You can imagine the stir this caused for our pups, who were inside the cabin, but VERY curious about what the farm team was doing in the yard. Little Miss Daisy was breaking ALL the rules and couldn't be convinced otherwise (no pups on the furniture!) She's just too short to see out the window on her own, so she problem solved :) Lol, so cute and funny, but so naughty! She knows that Buck can't say no to her, so while he was sleeping, she climbed right up and laid on his chest---oh, that's another big no-no! But guess who wasn't mad about it? Heehee :)

Chase was super excited to eat a bit of his first deer. He brought back a fresh slice of meat with him from the farm, and Gabby walked him through pan frying it in butter (after it had a little soak in milk). He enjoyed every bite of that fresh venison, while Gabby worked on writing thank you notes from their wedding :)

The newlyweds had to head back on my birthday (lots of work responsibilities the next day), but I made sure to snap a traditional "who helped with the puzzle" photo before they dispersed. Their travels home were fairly smooth--except for the two giant racoons that raced in front of Noah and Caelan's mode of transportation. It turns out Noah didn't need an out-of-state license to nab a critter on this trip--just an insurance card to get their mangled bumper fixed after the impact. Oof!

This picture is a bit out of order, but Buck went back to the farm to wait for the boys to finish up their evening hunt. Brennen didn't end up with a deer, but that actually made things easier for the packing up process. We were due to head home the next morning to try to get the house into ship shape before Grandma J arrived for her winter visit. Pretty scenery and a pipe for Buck while he waited :)

Thankfully, the whole ride home WASN'T this crowded the next day :) We dropped my cousin's totes off, along with a bag or two of dirty laundry (another amazing aspect of her generosity), and I convinced Buck that my wreath would be just fine riding in the back of the truck, open-air . . . it was just that sturdy and well-made, haha!

I'm thankful for this time Buck had to get to know Noah and Chase better. I'm thankful for the time the "kids" got to spend together building memories. I'm thankful for the opportunity to enjoy some extended time with my cousins and their families. I'm thankful for the ways they made our stay easier and more enjoyable! I'm thankful for the time the girls and I had to talk about important things, things that I was able to share a few days later with a friend of mine who is doing her best to parent her adult-teen daughter who is still living at home. I'm thankful they were willing to share their thoughts and experiences on what we did well and what we could have done better (can do better even for the boys) while we're still learning how to do this new life stage well. I'm thankful for the plentiful food and laughter. I'm thankful for the break from the "norm" and a chance to reorient. I'm thankful that they all wanted to be there, together, that everyone could get the time off from work and could enjoy a bit of rest. I hope that trend continues in future years. Love this Crew!