December 2016
Season’ Greetings to all our email friends. I find it hard to believe it is December, with such a beautiful fall it doesn’t seem like winter time. By the sound of the weather predictions for next week, winter will be here without a doubt. We have nothing to complain about, I sure don’t look forward to the cold though.
Baby Tonya Danae Musser was born to our son Mark & Mabel Ann on Tuesday November 29th. She weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was 19” long, a cute, tiny package. That makes 15 grandchildren for us, 7 girls and 8 boys, the girls are catching up! I am glad they live close by so I can see her oftener.
We have again had some changes in employees, it takes time to get everyone trained, but things are going better by now. Nathan, Joseph, Kiel, Doug and William are the cheese maker’s, Harold is in shipping, Stacy in retail and office, Dwayne does wholesale. Rae Ann, Nicole & Kaitlyn are the cheese cutting girls. Jeff is mostly in the office as general manager and Junior’s assistant, he also helps out on the floor as necessities arise. Doug also takes care of the aging rooms, Russ works 2 days a week. Jay Alan still faithfully hauls milk and does maintenance. The newest employee is Chris, who will be manager of the cheese cutting, orders, shipping, the general flow of things. She will be taking over most of my duties so I can cut back to part time. There is a lot to learn, but she is doing well.
The orders have been rolling out of here, we have never sold this much cheese before, we are happy to be able to do so. It keeps everyone stepping in the cutting, packaging and shipping departments. And now we are in the gift box season, we have already sold a nice amount and Christmas is still 3 weeks away. The FedEx drivers will be keeping busy in the next couple of weeks.
Rufus was very busy with demos and food shows the last few months. He was in Fairfield, Coralville, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City this week. In 2 weeks he will be in Chicago for 4 days and that will wrap it up for 2016. He is ready for a break but will be ready to get back on the road again in a few weeks.
Junior took off early yesterday to work at getting things ready for winter on the farm. This will be his first winter at this place, he may need to do more to get ready. The children sure like living there. Jessica’s kitties are Mittens & Boots, Cupcake & Cookie. Junior found the last 2 in the cornfield, rather wild, but the one was a Calico and he chased it till he caught it. The children and Crystal are getting them tamed. Austin, 22 months, is a chubby blue-eyed blond, full of energy and a winning grin. He gets so excited when we come, he hardly knows how to act. And Jeremy is the big boy around there, Daddy’s helper. He takes his time to things, seeming almost slow, but the wheels are turning in his head. Jessica on the other hand is quick, impulsive.