Oliver has a great servant's heart. Daily, Oliver joyfully goes out of his way to serve others in our family. Just a couple days ago, I was dreading sorting through the 75-100 milk jars that had been returned over the past few days. Before I headed out to begin my task, I realized that he had already sorted all of the jars for me as a surprise! This encouraged me and took the edge off of the job ahead of me.He is also a very hard worker. I don't think there are any other 16 year olds whose work ethic could possibly mirror Oliver's. In whatever line of work he may choose for his future career, he will most definitely excel because he has the necessary determination to see a job to its completion. In a generation abounding with visionless and directionless young men, the few who rise above our culture's expectations stand out as young men with great, exciting futures ahead of them. I am so proud to have a brother like Oliver who is among these rare young men!
Happy 16th Birthday Oliver! I love you!
Guests visited the animals and toured the restored farmhouse. 
Oma, our grandmother, welcomed visitors to enjoy hot apple cider and cookies indoors. Unfortunately, I only made about 200 cookies, so we ran out early.
Mama decorated the farm with over 70 pumpkins that she was blessed to find discounted for only 
Mama painted the unsightly pumphouse and converted a coffee table thrift store find into a cute cow spot-decorated bench.
Elliott's turkeys have all been slaughtered and most have been sold. Tomorrow Elliott and Oliver will be helping our friends, 
It was exciting to see Elliott's hard work pay off as many of his turkeys sold in our new farm store.
Sheridan demonstrating milking the cow (it had water with dish soap in it so it would appear like bubbly milk) 
The cow milking station was a big hit among the children!
Children also enjoyed the swings
It was a great day, but we are so happy to be finished! Our Customer Appreciation Day is the biggest farm event of our year, and it often seems that everything we do around the house and farm is in preparation for this one day. It is so nice to have it out of the way. Now we can relax and fully enjoy the holidays and upcoming winter.
The barn dance was a great success! Elliott and 
After several days of pouring rain and dreary weather, the sun finally began to shine brightly and gloriously less than one hour before the first guests arrived. 
As friends came and eagerly awaited the square dance caller's arrival, a volleyball game took place in our front yard.
Harrison watching the volleyball game...
Friends getting reacquainted... 
Mr. Henderson took some incredible pictures around the farm...
Everyone was invited to sign this board in our new farm store, which doubled as the snack and drink area... 
After eating, everyone gathered in the hay loft for the dance.
Two large serving bowls with a matching pitcher from Anthropologie: 
Assortment of Pyrex bakeware dishes, glass storage containers in various sizes (primarily for leftovers), two boxes of assorted cooking utensils, two cookie sheets, plastic cake keeper, four cake pans, four cheesecake pans, two measuring cups, wire rack, glass three-tier cake stand, and a Pampered Chef quick-stir pitcher:
For my graduation gift, my parents gave me a beautiful nautical dinnerware collection. Unfortunately, the box containing most of the collection is being stored at my grandmother's house, so I could only take pictures of the different designs on the salad plates: 
An elegant glass pitcher, glass butter dish, and a few pieces from a classy Oneida silverware collection my grandmother kindly gave me:
Cookbook collection (I don't know if I can fully consider these "hope chest-related" since I use them often, but I figure the cooking skills I gain now will benefit my future family!):
Variety of dish towels, oven mitts, and wash cloths:
Recipe box, several measuring spoons, red gingham canning lids, and an assortment of Pampered Chef kitchen utensils:
Pig-shaped cutting board (I saw these in a magazine and was then blessed to find one for $1.98 at a thrift store!), beautiful serving bowl (my mom bought it for me earlier this year while in Mexico), fish-shaped glass plates (for serving appetizers or other snacks), electric skillet, belgian waffle maker, and plastic, reusable plates for large gatherings (they have two parts combined into one so you can place dried flowers inside the plate for a lovely look):
Silver dishes for tea time (they need polishing!):
My beautiful tea set is such a blessing! I had been wanting a tea set for a long time, but found they were very expensive. When we were moving this past summer, I came across a mysterious box with my name written all over it. Judging from the dates on the newspapers that wrapped each piece, it appears to have been packed in 1998-- probably about a dozen houses ago. I couldn't have been more thrilled to find it. I look forward to using it for my '4 o'clock tea' with my dear friends 
Bedrooms and Decorative:
I have quite an assortment of picture frames, candles, and other items that would have looked rather junky if I took pictures of all of them together, so this picture just gives an idea:
I love this trunk my grandmother gave me last year for my birthday:
I finished this quilt last winter with various fabric remnants that had been given to me:
It is not large enough for a bed, but it could serve as a lap quilt or just as a display: 
Or it could live at the foot of a bed, but not with the larger quilt pictured below because the shades of peach clash really badly! I don't know what I was thinking when I put the two together. My great-grandmother made the large quilt for me when I was a baby:
The following quilt is very small. I'll probably just use it also for a display or lap quilt if it fits in with the color scheme of a room: 
This is a twin size quilt I did last winter, but I only had a full size bed to display it on: 
It could work as a throw quilt on a couch (this is a very old, ugly couch, but with the quilt and matching pillows, it doesn't look quite as bad!):
My very favorite quilt is my queen-size sampler quilt. The following picture was taken about a year and a half ago, and I think that was the last time 
Alli and I also made fleece love knot baby blankets for our hope chests a couple years ago. Today is actually Alli's due date, so her first baby girl should be arriving any time now!
This is a baby quilt for my first baby. I hope to monogram his/her initials in the center square:
That's pretty much everything! So, now that you have seen what I have, I'd love to get any ideas of other items that might be of use in my home one day! For those who may have a hope chest, what other things have you collected? For the married women, are there items you wish you would have bought prior to getting married?
