Happy New Year!

As I said in an earlier post, at the last minute, the Shareks came out to ring the New Year in with us. We had a great time, although we proved ourselves to be party poopers.  I can't remember if the guys even made it to 10:00!!  I however was determined to let the kids stay up to share their first New Years Eve together, so Heather (she was a trooper) and I stayed up to let the kids see the ball drop.  As you all know seeing the ball drop is not that exciting of an event, but I am hoping the kids will all remember that they saw their first ball drop with their good friends.

Who are all these bumps on a log???

Happy 2012!!

Happy Birthday, Emily

Our 2011 ended in such a fun way!  We were driving home from Ellwood City, PA where we spent Christmas with family when we got a call from our great friends Jeremy and Heather Sharek.  They asked what we were going to do for New Years Eve.  After realizing that neither one of us had plans they offered to drive out to visit!!

It also happened to be Emily's birthday, so Emily was able to share her birthday with friends.  Of course that made her day!!

This year has been quite a year for Emily.  Back in February, Emily got her long time wish of having a sister!  She has been a great big sister.  She and Abby share a room.  She is very helpful in getting Abby ready for bed and I often smile when I hear them interacting in the morning.

Emily has also taken off in the sports arena.  She continues to excel on the soccer field as well as the basketball court.  By half time her coaches have to tell her to stop scoring, but to pass off to her teammates instead, which she willingly does.

Happy Birthday, Emily!

The Dreaded Christmas Picture

I don't know how it goes in your house, but when I announce that we are going to put on some acceptable clothing to take our Christmas picture I usually hear moans and groans all around.

But we managed to do it!  Clean clothing on, hair combed, and smiles all around (only if I promise ice cream to those who willingly participate)

Here are some of the rejects:

Samuel's chin was not actually on Jack's head, but it sure looks like it!

Are you seeing a pattern to Max's smile?

And here are some of the winners!!

Jack took this picture.

And of course there was ice cream all around!!

Another Max Story

Each month we have a fellowship meal after chuch.  The food is brought out to the tables and before you know it Max's little hand is reaching up feeling around to see if he can snatch anything before we pray.  It's quite funny because from the kitchen you can only see his little hand.  He strains his neck trying to get a glimpse of what is up there, but can probably only see a small portion of what is actually up on that table.

One of the ladies at church made the comment that we are just like Max when it comes to the Banquet Table of the King.  Here on earth we can only catch a glimpse of what the wedding feast may be, but someday when we are seated in the very presence of our Savior at the banquet table, we will see and partake of the fullness of that table. 

We can only imagine...and that is just a glimpse of what is to come.

Max's 3rd Birthday

December the 13th marked Max's 3rd birthday!  The 2's may be my favorite time in a child's life.  They are just so full of smiles.  And even when things are bad, they seem to be able to bounce out of their bad mood so quickly.  So I'm a little sad that Max is leaving the 2's, but i'm sure this year of being 3 will be just as exciting as the last.

  This year he lucked out by having 2 cakes!

 Grandma gave him an early birthday party when we were visiting for Thanksgiving, but Daddy was not able to be there with us, so we had another family party at home on the 13th.

 Max talked about his train cake all day...in his eyes it was better than any of the gifts!

When I think of Max, there are a couple things that stand out.  The first one is that he LOVES to do anything that Daddy does.  He continues to be a daddy's boy for sure.  Bob figures that out of 5 kids one of them is bound to share interests with him...and he hit the jackpot with Max.

When Daddy is out on his quad, Max is either riding with Daddy or riding his own.

When Daddy is out cutting grass, so is Max.



When Daddy gets a deer, Max is the first to congratulate him and to touch the bloody creature.



The other thing about Max that stands out is that he can make a mess out any kind of food.  Even string cheese he will have smeared into his hair somehow.

 His favorite time with me is when I'm making dinner.  He sits on the stool across from where I prepare the food.  He will sit on his perch and just wait for me to be distracted before he digs in. One evening,  I had just husked some corn and left it on the counter while I tended to another child.  When I came back there was a bite taken out of each ear of corn.  Another evening I came back to see him munching on some raw onion.  He cracks me up!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX!!



The Tree

 This year we made our annual trek to a local Christmas tree farm to cut down our tree.  Last year it was so frigid that the kids didn't want to hike all over to find a tree, so we picked out a pre-cut tree.  This year it was much warmer, so we took the trek up the hill. 

 After some hiking around, Samuel spotted the"perfect" tree and we all agreed that would be the one.

Of all of our kids, Max is the one that seems to share the same interests as Daddy...chopping down trees, splitting the wood, carrying up the firewood up to the house, making fires...basically anything that has to do with wood.  So this year Max brought along his own saw!

Max made the last cut as we fell the tree.

The view from on top of the Christmas Tree Farm was pretty amazing!

The finished product!!

Hunting Season

If seeing pictures of dead deer do NOT make you squeamish, please read on!

The rifle season ended yesterday, so there will be no more hunting until after Christmas when they will be back at it again for muzzleloader season. 

Since hunting is such a part of life here in the Garvin household, I couldn't let a deer season go by without a post dedicated to it.

The first kill of the season...two doe.  Max was quite impressed!

 Steve, Bob's hunting buddy here in Danville got this nice buck.  For weeks, whenever Max saw Dr. Lillmars he gave him a rousing, "Nice buck, Dr. Lillmars!  Good Job Dr. Lillmars!"

 This picture requires some explaining.  Bob shot this doe.  When he walked up to it, he realized it was still alive.  Instead of shooting it again from point blank range he decided to simply slit its throat. Now I have tried telling him that his name is just "Bob", not "Deerslayer", but he just isn't convinced.  So anyway, he had the deer's neck in one hand, knife in the other ready to make the kill when the doe gave a fight for it's life...the deer wasn't havin' any of that!  Well, in the end the knife cut Bob's hand instead.  The doe did end up dying too, so not all was lost.

After all the excitement, Bob realized he had lost quite a bit of blood.  So he called his good buddy Steve and Steve, being an orthopedic surgeon took him to the ER and stitched up his hand.  But that's not all...he dragged out Bob's deer, gutted it, skinned it and quartered it too!!  Now that's the kind of buddy to have!

Another doe...Max keeps wishing for a buck, but a doe keeps his excitement going.

The Garvin Family Processors

With all the deer we've processed, we've got it down to a science.  Now that the kids want to help, the process is beginning to get quicker.  Emily is grinding, I am packaging, Sam is weighing, and Jack is sealing.  And Max is there to cheer us all on.

In the end a freezer full of meat is a satisfying feeling.

Our Candlelight Dinner

I was making dinner one night when the electricity went off.  Fortunately dinner was mostly prepared.  In a matter of a few minutes the candles were out, the flaslights were out, and the kids were playing flashlight tag.  Daddy came home and we enjoyed a candlelight dinner and family time around the fireplace.  It was a nice change of pace...no screens, no housework. 

Just before bedtime the lights came back on.  We were all a bit disappointed.

Our First Piano Teacher

Jack, Emily, and Samuel started taking piano lessons this past summer.  Mrs. Reitz was a great teacher!  They have all come very far in a short period of time.  Unfortunately we are losing her!  She and her family are moving to China to teach music at an international school as well as share the love of Christ with their students.

"We'll miss you Mrs. Reitz!"

Thanksgiving 2011

This year for Thanksgiving, we were able to spend time with both sides of our family.  Unfortunately, Bob was on call, so he stayed back in Danville while the kids and I left for the Pittsburgh area.  Bob didn't go hungry though. Our neighbors graciously had him over for Thanksgiving dinner.

We started the day off with Bob's parents.  They just added this beautiful addition to their house so we were all able to sit here together!

This picture of Emily and Ella was just so cute that I had to put it in here!

Grandma and Pappy with all the kids.

This little pony was bought when Jack was just a baby.  Nine years later it's still going strong...singing and everything!  Abby is grandkid number 8 to use it:)

Later in the day we headed over to Anna and Tim's house for the Martin Family Thanksgiving dinner. 

 The adult table

The 15 cousins! 

 And Tim and Anna announced that cousin number 16 is on the way!!!

Needless to say, I am just so thankful for the blessing of family. I find myself taking them for granted so much of the time, but they truly are a gift from God.



Trick-or-Treat

Bring on the candy!!

Max spent the evening roaring at everyone - apparently this giraffe is a carnivore!!

Samuel the Black Knight
Emily the Fairy
Abby the Cow
Jack the Football Player (his helmet was MIA after a night of trick-ot-treating)
Max the Giraffe

A Snowy Day

We got our first snow of the season the day before Halloween.  In fact trick-or-treat was scheduled for that evening and had to be postponed due to the snow.  The kids didn't mind much though because they had a blast outside.  As soon as there was a dusting the kids started coming out of the woodwork and not long after they were all out front enjoying the weather.  They did it all:  sledding, snow forts, snow boarding, snow ball fights, snow ice cream, snowmen, snow angels!!!

As soon as the grass was covered the sleds came out!

Jack's first snowball of the season

Emily's first snowball of the season

Emily, Joanna and their snow buddy

We ended up getting about 8 inches!  It looked like a winter wonderland.  I resisted the temptation to put on Christmas music (I just can't do it until after Thanksgiving), but did have a nice warm cup of apple cider while making batches of hot chocolate and cookies for the kids.