Elizabeth's Birthday

My sister's daughter Elizabeth turned six today. Leigh, Rob, Elizabeth, and Isaac came to visit on Saturday. Since Myles and Elizabeth are just 20 days apart, they each got to open presents. Aunt Joyce stopped by with presents for Merlyn and Myles, so it was a fun gift-filled day.

After six years of trying to get pictures of all the cousins without someone crying or running away, the six kids actually held still for several pictures. Maybe this trend will continue and we'll get some good holiday shots this year.
























Rob went hunting before dinner but didn't see any deer. He did see a beaver in a trap set by Bryan's friend who is trapping our property so the beaver won't dam up our driveway again. Mr. Bernard shot a spike horn on Thursday night, so maybe he scared the deer away. Rob will have another chance once deer season starts in the Syracuse region. I'm looking forward to having venison again.
Bryan made great spaghetti sauce for our dinner on Saturday, and Leigh had baked apple crisp and an apple cake with apple cider frosting. We also got to sample her apple cookies, which were the best I've ever had. I'll have to get the recipe.
Leigh's family left pretty late Saturday night, especially considering that they have a three hour drive. Luckily we got an extra hour of sleep when the clocks "fell back". Since the kids were up past their bed time, they woke up late on Sunday morning, and so we didn't have trouble adjusting to the time change. Now we're just adjusting to the parenting change.