Doughnuts

Many of you know about our winter tradition that on the first snow of the year we make homemade doughnuts. Well I think it is about time that we shared the recipe with all of you. This doughnut recipe is actually from our Great-Grandma Wissmann and has a lot of special memories tied to them. We hope you enjoy them as well!

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup mashed potatoes

1 tablespoon yeast

1/3 cup butter

1 teaspoon salt

4 1/2 - 5 1/2 cups flour

Heat milk until warm (about 115 degrees). Add in sugar and yeast and let sit for until the yeast is really bubbly. When using wheat flour I add that to the yeast mixture now and let us sit for about 15 minutes to soften it. Usually I do about 1 1/2 cups wheat and the rest white. In a different bowl combine butter, mashed potatoes, salt and nutmeg. Pour in the milk mixture. Add in flour and knead for 7-9 minutes. I go so much by feeling the dough that I haven’t measured out my flour in ages. Basically just pour in a little at a time until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and is not too sticky. Let dough raise until doubled in size.

I roll out the dough onto an oiled or buttered surface to keep the dough soft. After rolling the dough out to 1/4-1/2 inch thick, cut donuts out. Let raise. (I learned the hard way that letting them over rise will make them fall when you go to put them in the oil. So start heating your oil before the doughnuts are done raising.) Putting the upper, dry side in first, fry in oil heated to 400 degrees, flipping them as they turn golden. Drain, drop into a frosting glaze, and enjoy!

"May my meditation be sweet to Him;

I will be glad in the Lord."

Psalms 104:37

Old Threshers

While I was working on an upcoming blog post I found a these pictures of us singing at Old Threshers that I forgot to post!! Over the course of 5 days we did 12 concerts. Here is a glimpse into a few of those concerts.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!

O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!

All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;

Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, oh, let all that is in me adore Him!

All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him;

Let the Amen sound from His people again,

Gladly for aye we adore Him.

"Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous,

And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name."

Psalms 97:12

Work Season

Once the crops come out of the fields in the fall we are racing the weather to see how many underground irrigation systems we can install before the ground freezes or it just gets too cold.

Some years we can work until right before Christmas, and sometimes we shut down early November. But until then, we are putting in as big of days as possible!

"Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.

Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord."

Psalms 96:12

Decorating for Christmas

Guess what was happening at our house on November 1st?!!

"You have set all the boarders of the earth; You have made summer and winter."

Psalms 74:17

Birthday Time

Before any of our siblings got married we had a birthday in every month except for three. Now the family has grown so much that we have every month covered and then some! A couple times a year with have "birthday season" where there are quite a few really close! June is the biggest month with 6 birthdays and one anniversary. The challenge is to remember them all and get the right ages with the right names.

 In October we celebrated three birthdays! The first one was Autumn's 1st!! It was so cute watching her dig into her little cake. First it was a finger, then a lick, then a hand, then her whole mouth! Everyone was cheering her on!!

Alaythia's 19th birthday was next. Because of our schedule each birthday is different depending on what state you are in and what we are doing that day. Some years we are able to have more of a celebration than others. This year we were home, but the guys were busy working. So we planned a sisters day! We did some shopping, had a scavenger hunt in town and then topped it off with chocolate lava cake and the best vanilla ice cream.

Playing with Grandma after the scavenger hunt was over.

A few days later it was Nathanael's 17th Birthday! Dad, Mom, Elizabeth and Charissa were out of town for the weekend, but since it was on a Sunday we didn't have to work! Nathanael enjoys being active and trying new things so we called up some friends and went to a trampoline park! I think some people got dizzy from all the flips they did, but it was a blast!

"He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you the great and awesome things which your eyes have seen."

Deuteronomy 12:21

Surprise!

Good surprises are just plain fun. When Susanna and I walked off of the plane from visiting Dan & Bethany we were shocked to see that our little nephew from Florida was there to pick us up! It was one of those "wait, is that..." moments. Then Andrew and Kori walked around the corner!! They were all here for the weekend!!!

They had flown in the night before and completely surprised everyone at home!!! Hooray for cheap airfare and weekends. Since Alaythia's birthday was on Monday it was the perfect start to the celebration.

Of course family in town is the perfect excuse to get together. So Alan & Rachel and their kiddos drove up to spend the weekend with us too!! It was such a blast! Saturday we all went into Lincoln for a big brunch at Ryan and Ruth's house and then walked around town to enjoy the pregame festivities. Then we hurried home to pull out all of the snacks and cheer the huskers on for their first win.

Watching the cousins play together is always fun! I think everyone is looking forward to Christmas when all 21 of us adults and 12 cousins will be in one house.

Teaching a new game...

So grateful for family!!

"Happy are the people who are in such a state;

Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!"

Psalms 144:15

Mount Vernon

One of the days that we were in West Virginia Dan and Bethany took us up to see Mount Vernon. It was absolutely amazing!!! In school I always loved studying about his life and it was incredible to walk around the farm that he loved so much.

The Mount Vernon Ladies Association has done a wonderful job keeping everything restored as accurately as possible. The entire house and farm was beautiful!! One of the workers said that they recently restored one of the rooms in the house and the paint they used, which was made from a crushed rock the exact same used by the Washingtons, was about $500 a gallon. 

His back porch overlooked the Potomac and was so peaceful!! I'm pretty sure I could've sat there all day!

Looking at his 16 sided barn. So many people know he was Commanding General during the Revolutionary War and our First President, but seeing how he ran his farm with the same discipline and wisdom was amazing!

His gardens were absolutely huge and beautiful to walk around in! I think some were taking mental notes for how we can make our garden look that good. He even had a house heated by a fireplace so that he could grow oranges and other tropical plants year round in West Virginia.

On top of all this they have a huge museum that we enjoyed. If you ever get the chance to go tour Mount Vernon, do it!! And I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

"For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand."

Deuteronomy 2:7

Fall Festivities

While we were in West Virginia fall hit in full force! So on the weekend we went out to enjoy some of the seasonal activities.

Who doesn't enjoy an apple orchard?

Each of the kids had their own buckets to fill up with apples. It was so fun watching/helping them find the perfect ones!

Holding little Gemma was one of the best parts! 

Then we were off to look at the animals!

"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat, winter and summer,

And day and night shall not cease."

Genesis 8:22

Visiting Dan & Bethany

Tuesday morning bright and early Susanna and I flew out to West Virginia to visit Dan and Bethany for about 10 days. It was beyond fun to spend time with them!! We packed a lot into the visit and so I am going to share a couple different posts with pictures. 

During our time there we made a list of new recipes that we wanted to try out. I think all of them were a success!!

Saturday we all put on our red and cheered on the huskers. They didn't win that game, but we still had fun cheering them on, talking during commercials and eating snacks.

One of the evenings we popped over to Harpers Ferry for a couple hours. It was gorgeous!!

And the day before we had to fly out we went out for ice cream so that we wouldn't feel quite so sad that the trip was already over.

So many special moments, so many wonderful memories. 

Thank you Dan & Bethany, Arianna, Caden, Everett and Gemma!!

"He shall receive blessing from the Lord,

And righteousness from the God of his salvation."

Psalms 24:5

First week of October

The first week of October a few of us headed down to Kansas to help Alan and Rachel do some painting in their new house. I can't wait to share pictures of it when they move in!! All of their work has made for an incredible transformation. That same weekend the rest of the family came down for a weekend of concerts in the Kansas area.

We arrived home Monday and enjoyed a family evening together before Susanna and I flew out the next morning. But I'll share more about that later.

Holding the new nephew was a special part of the week!

The guys were busy working during the day, but the evening and weekends were filled with random projects and a quick trip to Missouri.

The second weekend in October the temperatures dropped all of the sudden and a few hours later our lawn was covered in snow!!! We held off putting up all of our Christmas decorations, but Christmas music was being played all over the house! Sunday lunch was eaten in the sunroom to enjoy as much of the snow as possible while it lasted. 

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow."

Psalms 51:7