Freezer Camp!

 Yesterday was freezer camp day!

We headed down to Vero to pick up the beef.

It all fit in 5 large Coleman ice chests.

(We borrowed 4 from Brock, next door...)

Once it was all in the coolers, we headed

back north to the house.

The entire process took 2 hours.

When we got home, we brought all the coolers

into the house and started on ear tag #8.

(The white coolers)

First we took all the meat out and put it into

piles of like kind of cuts.

Kyle was our scribe and did a great job

of keeping count of all the different

cuts of meat. (There were 20!)

Once they were split into kinds, we then

split them into quarters. Many split nicely,

and some we ended up with 1 or 2 packages left over.

Then it was time to take the left over,

random pieces and split them between

the 4 quarters.

There were still some leftovers, and they

went into our freezer.

Next we weighed the boxes and wrote the pounds

and that it was steaks and roasts on the outside

of the box.

Then it was on to the #28 ear tag.

(The blue coolers)

Same process.

Once they were all weighed and marked,

it was time to work on the ground beef.

We counted it all and ended up with 154 packages

of ground beef - each weighing 1.5#.

We put split all those up and into their boxes.

Then we had to take a couple of the quarters and

turn them into eighths! That was kind of a pain

in the neck, but we got it done.

Boxes of meat EVERYWHERE!

The boxes fit perfectly back into the coolers

(with 2 going in our chest freezer for one family,

and 1/2 of a beef going into the standing freezer

for our meat consumption this year.)

People started showing up to pick up their beef.

They all stayed for a bit to visit - most of them 

are from the ward, so they are all friends with each

other, so it was a fun little get-together.

And then... we were DONE!

Whew!

Except that we weren't.

We still needed to go grocery shopping.

I have been doing a pantry/freezer cleanout month

this month and haven't been to the grocery store

for a few weeks except for things like oranges and milk.

So the cupboards are looking pretty bare!

Kyle and I went on a quick trip to Sams and then WalMart

while Rod fed the animals and took care of the dogs.

When we got home, Kyle and I made some chicken, rice and

mixed veggies and then we all sat down to eat.

And we all fell asleep.

It was a long, busy, productive day.

We were all tired!

(And pretty sore today... those boxes were HEAVY!)

But it's all done now!

Lots of happy families with lots of good quality beef.

One family bought an eighth, and when they got home,

they took a look at it, jumped in the car and came

straight back to claim the final unsold eighth!

So it's ALL sold.

The money is deposited.

And we are done with beef until we move to Kansas.

It's been a fun ride!