December Doings

December was a fun, full month...lots of good memories, lots of parties, and lots of company....starting with our Annual 11 hr. long Annual Staff Appreciation Party!! (Did I ever tell you my dad likes to have fun and make every inch of life FULL of fun??) Well...that spills over into every aspect of life, including this.

I 'finally' found a collage maker, and after starting to use it, I'm trying not to beat myself up for not using it all these years! Wow....talk about ending those long 6' posts of pictures (okay, maybe this still is 8-D)!! :)  I'd love to know if collages make my posts more fun and easier to read! (And praise God, I'm hoping this is one of the last long month synopsis-es. :)
Honestly, I have to say that if it wasn't that I wanted to remember the memories myself, I wouldn't bother posting from the last couple months, but, here it is. :)

Every year, the day changes a little bit, but this year, we started out with bowling, before heading up to the house for lunch.

Getting ready and catching up. (It's always fun to see what people wear, with the Christmas/Camo limitations) :)
My cousin Luke is up in the top left, in his Ghillie suit. And Uncle Sam ;) )

It's always fun seeing people's poses for bowling...

 And even more fun watching their responses to what they bowled! :)

I'm curious as to what the people in the lowest left photo are gawking at. :)
My dad is fun...if we got scores high (or low ;p) enough, we got cash!

Once we got to the house, there was a feast prepared, (thanks to my wonderful mother, and sibling-helpers!!!)

Don't  you love our Christmas tree? My siblings got it and decorated it.

 After lunch, we had shooting competitions-both skeet, and inside (neither of which, sadly, did I get photos of). And then....dinner!!

I love catching people candidly...it's so fun! :)

Had a blast of fun with my bestie (cuz she married my cousin, ya know!) What  a cute little bump!!
She's SUCH a gorgeous pregnant woman!

We celebrated our 6th month 'official courtship' anniversary, and we even accidentally matched!! :)

For the first time in a while, we went to the Nutcracker at Christmas, and this one was put on by the Coeur d'Alene Ballet! It was so fun, kinda like an Old West play and quite family friendly.

Alex gave me the prettiest locket for Christmas--early actually, before we went to Nutcracker... Isn't it pretty?

We exchanged our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve Eve, as he was going to celebrate the holidays with his folks.. And, we had an awesome time with the Little family from Texas too.

Alex had been wanting Hungry Hungry Hippos for months, and boy, is it fun! :)
Mad Libs are a blast too.... And, I love the many little gifts he gave me too (Sometimes, I love toe socks ;p)
.. especially this:

Isn't it adorable??! I just love it. And....on it was the SWEETEST message! :)

Christmas Eve was wonderful with our cousins, as was Christmas, though sadly, I have mislaid (hopefully not permanently!) my wonderful Christmas day photos, so this will have to suffice from Christmas Eve.

I was trying to get a selfie for memory's sake, and Rachel decided to jump in...Just love it. :)

Our children's gift to our parents were family portraits the day after Christmas... It was wonderful.

That's our real heights (I think??) I might have been standing on tiptoes. :)

I had devote a compete collage to Rachel, as her photos were so cute and hilarious, that I had to include them. ;)

I have 2 of the most beautiful sisters in the world...

Right after Christmas, our dear friends - the Hogans, came for a wonderful week and a half full of encouragement, fun, and a couple amazing conferences. (More about that in January).

And I suppose that this ends my December post. So much more happened...so much more than I can even remember or care to write, but God has been so faithful, and so good. If there is one chapter that sums up December it would be Psalms 18:

"...I will love Thee, O LORD, my Strength. The LORD is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my Strength, in whom I trust; my Buckler, and the horn of my Salvation, and my High Tower...As for God, His way is perfect: the Word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him. For who is God save the LORD? or who is a Rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect...Therefore will I give thanks unto Thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto Thy name."

Snapshots from November

Okay, I know I'm posting this in January, but I'm going to keep it written as I started it nearly a month ago:

Wow...I can't believe that (as I write), it is the last day of 2014!! Where has time flown?! And here, I still must post November (which is well worth the memories...)

This was TOTALLY my November...crazy how things change in a year!!

I started working 4 days a week at our office to help get the new systems' data transferred over correctly, and let me tell you! Though lots of memories were made and my co-workers are AWESOME, I'm glad to be scaling back to 2 days after the New Year! It's nice to spend some time with family and catch up on work and projects at home!

I think this will mostly be a picture post, to help both you and I keep straight on what has happened:

Since I ended October's blog before Harvest Day, I'll post a couple pictures of all of us from that... But first, Alex and I had a sweet little date on 10/28, sipping hot apple cider and I just love the colors and a hint of winter...

Here we are dressed up this year for Harvest Day--just for fun. I have some awesome siblings. :)

And...Alex and I decided to dress up as Gru and Minion again. :)

David bought a truck to do some projects on, and while they were transporting it from Montana, Samuel encountered a little accident which tore his nail off...kinda cool, eh?? It's actually growing back pretty well too (after a few...painful incidents). ;)

Okay, on to November!!

A normal day in our room - Rebekah is our family out-loud reader.

And Rachel in her 'comfy spot'.

Rebekah got her first deer - a little buck, and boy is he tasty!! Good job Rebekah!! :)

November 11th was not only my parent's 25th wedding anniversary, but also Alex and my 4 month "official courtship" anniversary, and so we all lived it up on our own separate dates, with my little siblings making this awesome, delicious meal!!

We even match! :) (And this time, that was accidental) :)

One of our butlers-James

We like Scrabble :)

On November 13th, we got to go participate in a Sushi Cooking Night, and had lots of fun...

Isn't this SO creative??

I guess he just had to make sure his tongue was still there... ;)

Alex makes AWESOME sushi!! :)

Mmm...Key Lime Pie!! Mmmm...

Someone likes raw fish eggs.... '8-)

November 16th, Alex and I spent the afternoon at my Aunt's place with all my cousins and their spouses. And afterwards, went shoe shopping. :)

The following Thursday, we spent the evening with some dear friends of ours-the Schurters and their awesome little family.... And got to wear our matching coats too..

 November 23rd, all of us kids and Alex visited my parents at their little getaway spot for their 25th anniversary and had lots of fun....and of course, I have to post a picture. :)

 The 25th, we had relatives come out of town for Thanksgiving, and so we went bowling after supper... Isn't Uncle Sam dashing?? ;)

Sam the Man the Pinkerschwin

I always thought I had nice averagely large feet...until Alex called them tiny. I guess in comparison, they are. ;) (But his are perfect)

Alex spent the couple days leading up to Thanksgiving with us, and came down for the day of too, as his family was going to celebrate the following day with his sister Tasha and her husband Hank. (Woot woot for me!! ;P)

I gave him his hair cut too...

It was a lot of fun preparing Thanksgiving dinner for us and for his folks too together. (No reason for him have to be cooking the day after for his family when we could just do it in advance! :D)

 Serious thankfulness conversations between Daniel & Uncle Dennis.

Our little Thanksgiving group. :)

Boy, aren't we thankful for all the cooks we have! :)

 Such variety!

The famous Pinkerton Rolls....they go VERY fast, so better snatch one when you  have a chance!

My specialty ... cranberry sauce!

And the pies... We are SO blessed!!

Alex and I played one of my favorite games-Take Two. It's awesome. :)

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we all had a Father/Daughter & Mother/Son weekend, where we split up on different floors and went our different ways during the day. I can't vouch for the boys (as I never did ask what they did, though I know they had a whole lot of fun), but we girls' time was awesome!!

We did water sliding, stair climbing, played games, watched all many hours of Little Dorrit, and a few others, had long talks, and well...had a blast. :)

Pinkertons have to play detective games (Scotland Yard)!! :)

We like ice-cream...Mint is my favorite. (Though Outshines are awesome too)

I suppose that concludes our November... It was full and fun, and a nice relaxer after October's craziness...yet had it's own challenges. Alex and I finished the book we're working through - 'Before You Say I Do', and moved on to other things. I got almost all my Christmas items made or bought before Thanksgiving, and worked too many hours, enjoying my Thanksgiving break.

The verse that probably challenged me the most this month was:

"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

~ Matthew 11:28-30 ~

Oh to rest as I should in the Lord, all the days of my life! :)