Gray Sweater // Backyard Beauty

Hi y'all! This Saturday we met with our Dad's side of the family for our Christmas celebration.It was wonderful to see everyone!We have not met altogether for some time since most of our cousins are older and have moved away, but this year one of them moved back to Michigan and she hosted our long awaited get-together! Some of our traditions include playing Bingo for prizes instead of giving gifts to each-other and decorating an angel food cake while singing 'Happy Birthday' to Jesus. The little ones get to blow out the candles and then we all join in singing 'Silent Night'. It is so wonderful being surrounded by your family.     

Sunday, just crazy, our church services were cancelled because of an ice storm that came through Saturday night! The roads were terrible and every branch in our little woods was covered in ice!
These pics of my outfit were taken a few days prier so they do not show the effect, but Rebekah captured the beauty of it Sunday afternoon, which we have a few of them to share with you.

 Who knows when I will get back into my summary posts on Mondays ?! Such craziness!
Hopefully, God willing, this new year! :)

This outfit is one that I put together not only for Khloe Grace's January Fashion Show, that Rebekah and I will be participating in, but for bell choir practice last week. It is wonderfully warm and ever so comfy! :)  Oh, yes, the fashion show, make sure to check it out next month....I will post a link once I know the exact dates....so you can vote for me.    :) 

 This has a bit more of a modern twist an my norm. The cut of the sweater is one that I don't always like, but it was so nice with the glass beading on the bodice and was only $3! I knew it would not only last, but come in handy for the snowy months.

Boots, thrifted, $5 // Tights, thrifted, $1 // Slip, made by me, // Skirt, goodwill, $3 // Long-sleeve, yard sale, .50 // Sweater. Dress Barn, thrifted, $3

I love this pic of Havah and I. It was snowing so beautifully while we took these pictures!

                                          
                                                                    Rebekah takes over

So... that concludes the outfit part of this post... Next up, the 2013 Michigan Ice Age! (Just kidding...)  But, I do have some pictures of the ice storm we had, and some of our farm animals. I took them yesterday morning and had plenty of time to do so because, as Cassie said, our church services were cancelled. As you can see, I had a little too much fun while collecting the eggs! 

Hi!

 The next three photos are of my purity ring, which was the only 'prop' I had with me for the subject of a photo- I love how they turned out!

So clear!!!

Havah waiting (Impatiently) for her hay.

For some reason, I love this picture.

Filling the buckets.

Havah eating her grain.

Our chicken pen.

An old trap we found in our woods.

I was doing all the chores alone, so I had to carry Myrtle's water and hay in one hand, so a lot fell in.

It is sort of a strange thing to take a picture of,  but I liked how the sky was reflected in the water while it was also focusing on the hay.

The swamp. (Also, the [Very] keen of eye will find an early morning snowmobiler on the far off railroad tracks.)

Beautiful snow.

Myrtle.

Our Indian Runner drake, Cheyenne.

The ducks eating their gourmet breakfast- cereal- with real strawberries! (We ran out of mash before go-to-town day.)

Scratch.

Myrtle.

One of our younger hens, Sparrow.

An eggs. (Great, I am turning into a pun maker like my Dad!)

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, how lovely are thine eggies!

One of hens, Vashti, getting a drink.

The 9:00 train...

Who's been here...?

Frosty Tree.

That's a lot of snow.

Minicycles.

Are you done yet??? (And that is our RV in the background, in which we hope to attend the Shindig and go to the Creation Museum next year.)

Harvey was pretty excited to get in out of the cold, for a dog whose breed is supposed to live in the snow, he's a wimp!

I want to time Harv and see if he is as fast as a greyhound, he literally runs circles around me!

After I filled the horse trough, goat water bucket, chicken waterer, and 'duck bucket', Harvey and I headed back to the house to thaw out!

Well, I hope you guys like the pictures, I was so happy when the iPhone (What we use to take our blog photos) was focusing so well in all of the snow and ice close-ups!

                                                     Any crazy weather by you of late?
                                     What do you do for family traditions this time of year? 

                                          The very best Christmas Eve to you and yours!
                                                          
                                                          ~ Calico Clodhoppers ~
                                                              Cassie and Rebekah