November 25, 2014
Here is a little update on a few of our farm and family activities from the past 2+ months. These pictures have been sitting in our blog drafts folder for a very long time. =)
Bible Bee study filled our September & October days. Those of us who weren’t competing spent hours upon hours listening to our five national contestants quote their hundreds of verses everyday. And the ones that were preparing to compete (Josh, Denver, Taylor, Liz, & Hudson) spent almost all of their time studying + memorizing.

All of our contestants had various places and positions they liked for reciting scripture. Hudson preferred the swing. I think it helped him release energy and focus. =)

We had so much going on that sometimes we had to double-task. Here, I made soup and listened to Joshua’s verses at the same time.

This was back in September…Allison spent hours making the flower beds so beautiful.
If you look all the way at the top of the silo…you might spot that little red dot that represents Carson who was up there fixing something, bless his heart.
Well, what do you know…the photographer got a wave!
We were blessed with a very bountiful harvest. Amongst other things, there were some record-breaking red beets.
This carrot from Denver’s garden came in with an extra long tail. =)
Here is part of this year’s smiling canning crew!
As always we love little people and enjoy having them in our home as often as possible!
This is a typical sight when you live on a farm and have six brothers. =) 
And trust me, this was only a BIT of the laundry for the day!
Our main harvest crew for this year consisted of Dad on the combine, and Josh hauling the grain to town. Carson filled in driving the combine one day for Dad, and we had a few other people that helped with the grain hauling a few times. And then as usual Mom, Allison, & I packed ??? lunches, took the little ones for turns riding with Dad, and ran hither and yon over the countryside picking up and delivering various belts, bolts, and other parts. Ah, the life of a farmer! 
We had our first snow!! There were some very excited Bontragers that day!

Most eighteen year old boys play video games in their spare time. Carson is a little different. He spent his “free” time in September (which mostly consisted of after dinner & late into the nights) working on this tractor. He searched and found it online, bought it, brought it home, and proceeded to take it apart. As in, separate it in two pieces. I know this sounds impossible, but see the pictures!

This is talent. I would be SO LOST in there with all those millions of nuts and bolts.
The end of the story is that he finished and put it all back together and it works like a charm! He listed it online and has had multiple offers already. So far the problem is that he is hardly ever home so one of these days hopefully he will be home long enough for a potential buyer to come look at it.
Here we have Rebecca joining Dad for an afternoon in the combine.
For much of October and November, Mitch and Carson were working jobs several hours away from home, emptying out pits for big hog farmers. (this is what they do every fall)
Some days they ran 18 hours straight and made lots of progress.
And then other days, this happens.
And when the whole tank is full, it’s not just as simple as pushing it out of the way. More farmer joys. =)
Carson fixing a hose on the spreader.
A nighttime shot of some of the boys’ equipment on a job site.
Denver is our trapper & outdoorsman extraordinaire. He has been running his trap line again this fall. In this picture, the sweet little coon caught in Denver’s trap is about to, um, expire. 
Note Denver’s expression. =)
(but please do NOT note his rag-tag coveralls. =) He has gotten new ones since this picture)
And that’s a little recap of the farm life this fall. 
“If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorifed through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
1 Peter 4:11
{posted by Chelsy}

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family, farm


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Leave a Reply
  1. Great photos Chels! The pictures of scripture recitations are wonderful…having the Bible freely flowing through your home through so many people is such a blessing!

    And the tractor that Carson repaired {aka tore apart and put back together}…wow!! Amazing work, and great job!!!

  2. Sounds so much fun! It's so sweet to see the little ones study and memorize God's word. I think there is a verse in the Bible that says find somewhere were there are no distractions to study God's word, so the silo was a really great spot Carson! Good for ya Joshua with the tractor! Oh snow! I love snow! That's a big radish and carrot! Beautiful flowers!
    In Christ,
    Lexi

  3. Loved seeing all the photos!! It was wonderful seeing the pictures of the kids diligently studying God's word! I agree with you Chelsy, I would be completely lost if you gave me a tractor to fix!! My brother has been enjoying trapping this year also! He got his first fox of the season yesterday, which he was elated about!
    Blessings,
    Hannah

  4. love the pics. that was an awesome carrot! in the pic of your dad and rebecca, he didn't look like himself with the beard. maybe cuz it was from the side. lol

  5. Love the BB pictures (of course) and how even Rebecca poured in so much time checking verses. I was blown away when she mentioned to me "oh yes, I just did about 10 stacks with Josh this morning…." =) And, yep, the double-tasking & various-favorite-places-of-review is definitely relatable, too! Alli, those flower beds are beautiful! And go Carson with the tractor project (talk about skills!) and Denver with that record-breaking carrot tail + trapping (yes, looks like he's enjoying it to the full =)). Enjoyed this glimpse of your recent farming endeavors – definition of diligence right there. =) Have a blessed rest of the week! We miss you guys!

  6. Great post! I loved looking at all of the pictures! I know what it's like to need different positions with memorizing. . .:) Certain positions definitely help!

    And fixing a tractor would probably be something my brother would spend his free time on. . . that is, if he had a tractor!:)

    Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

    Love,
    Morgan Roth

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