Green Pastures Farm

Corn

2012-02-11T11:09:00.001-06:00

The corn seed for the corn maze came this week. It's amazing how God uses a pallet of corn to make a big field of it!

Isaac and Silas enjoyed the great outdoors again this week and brought home a nice catch of fish. Sure is beautiful!

We had our state caucus' this last week. I always find this such an enjoyable evening. If our local caucus ran this country it would sure be a different place! We do a couple of things, mainly vote for delegates to the county caucus' and vote on resolutions that anyone can put in. The resolutions that pass go on to the county level, district and state and finally national level if they keep passing. These resolutions are added to the Republican platform that basically is a document that says, This is What We Believe. Hopefully candidates read it as well and use the ideas to pass good legislation. We had resolutions pass such as: removing the US from the UN, keeping women out of combat, keeping us out of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, stopping funding for abortion including birth control pills that occassionally abort babies before a woman even knows she's pregnant. Now, most of us realize these things will be almost impossible to pass as law, but it is important to talk about them and to educate those attending on the issues. It sure brings up lively discussion and is a great place to meet neighbors and hash over the issues and leave good friends.

Yes, we had our straw ballot and Santorum won big in our state. Ron Paul came in a pleasant second place.

Amos,and Daniel helped Isaac this week putting up some new rafters in his barn. Isaac is hoping to move his herd of cows over to his place this spring.

Have a great weekend!

For the Beauty of the Earth

2012-02-07T11:30:00.004-06:00

This last week we had some of the most beautiful weather you will ever have in these parts of the woods. For several days we had fog with a gorgeous coating of frost on the trees. It was sure pretty and even more pretty when the sun finally came out. There's only about two - three inches of snow on the ground so the trees helped make it a little more winter like. In this picture the frost had already started melting / falling off with a breeze. A photo just can't capture it!

It was a real thick frost as you can see. We went to a nearby town to shop a couple days last week and did we ever enjoy the long drive. (Hey, if you want good shopping around here, it is a long drive! Especially if you want to go to Fleet Farm or Sam's Club!) Silas took lots of great pictures but once again I am having trouble getting them downloaded. Anyway, I think you get the idea of the beauty God bestowed upon us. We've had some pretty nice temps to go with the scenery as well. God is so good!

This and That

2012-02-01T12:07:00.002-06:00

It's been awhile since we've posted. We're too busy and yet not doing a whole lot worth posting about. Our church did have a bridal shower for Mae. She will make a wonderful wife for Nathan and we look forward to getting to know her better. It was a fun shower and we especially enjoyed hearing Mae's story of how they met and how they ended up where they are today.

Isaac and Priscilla went skiing with the homeschoolers one day down in Bemidji. Yes, they had fun. And yes, they came home with no broken legs, arms or anything.

Isaac and Silas went with the J. family fishing one day this week. It was actually their first time out this winter and got a nice meal worth of fish. You know we're busy when Isaac doesn't have time to fish!

Other than that, Arthur keeps busy teaching and the guys keep busy running the farm. We're getting some really cute little dairy calves which make extra work, but also extra milk in the tank.

Have a great day with God!

Today's Tea Party

2012-01-21T18:37:00.001-06:00

We went to our local "Tea Party" today. I'm afraid I get quite excited about political things. I think it comes from years ago when I was a girl. My Canadian relatives would come down or we'd go up and, wow, can they ever get excited about what's going on, both up there and down here. And they aren't all on the same side so it is quite entertaining. I always enjoyed it. I would give "campaign" speeches to my family to their amusment. (I was young!) As I got older, I realized not just the fun part, but the need to get involved.

This is Dan "Doc" Serverson. He's running for US Senate against Amy Klobuchar. He is a good man and stands for the right things.

This is Lee Byberg who is running for US House against Collin Peterson. This is always an interesting race. Peterson is a Bluedog democrat and votes right on so many things that makes him hard to beat. However, he does vote on a number of critical things, expecially financial things, the wrong way. We truly hope Byberg will win this race. However, what he said was true about the only real way to change our country back to what it should be is for Americans to be moral. An immoral people cannot live with freedom.

Sometimes this country and the news can get depressing. However, if every little town like ours can turn out a roomfull of people who want to take America back, and every city several rooms, maybe there is hope.

Take time to pray this weekend about how to best reach out to others with the gospel. That's where it all starts.

Libarary Time

2012-01-16T10:37:00.000-06:00

I've been proofreading some things for our church library and these are some books the kids will love. Maybe it's me, I've always enjoyed a good mystery, but these are really fun books about a boy detective who helps his uncle solve mysteries. His uncle lives next door to Sherlock Holmes who is involved in the stories as well. Found them deep in the pages of the CBD online catalog.

You probably recognize these. They are part of a series by Dr. David Menton called "Body of Evidence". These are so good! The first couple were a little deep because he is going over cell structure and so forth. But keep watching them! They get really interesting when he gets into studying the actual parts of the body. I bought these for Silas to watch as part of a physiology class. (One of my favorite classes when I went to school so all my kids are subjected to it!) As he watched them, the other family members would often stop what they were doing and watch as well. They are fasinating and he continually points out how it just couldn't happen by chance. If there are any drawbacks to the DVD's, it would be that he could have easily made it into a 40 DVD set or something! Dr. Menton has to go pretty fast to get it all in and I think a person would benefit from going over it a little slower. Probably watching them several times would work as well. The workbook that goes with it is probably geared toward your highschool students or advanced jr. highers.

Have a great day!

Our Bedroom

2012-01-14T13:03:00.000-06:00

Well, here it is. First, we got a new queen size bed after having a full size one. Then I painted the walls a light green. It's not really my favorite but I will live with it for a few years anyway. It kinda grows on a person. There's new brown curtains even though the burgandy blinds are still up. Yes, we have taken down our Christmas decorations but we leave the small trees up in our bedroom till later in the winter. It just looks too pretty at night to put them away. Seeing as we really haven't had winter, until today, after a nice cover of snow from overnight!

This is the other side of the room. I know the dressars don't match. One comes from Arthur's great grandma and one from my grandma so they are kinda special to us. The headboard matches this dressar but doesn't fit the bed right now. We still like it though, so Arthur will do some work with it. The cedar chest is from another grandma of mine. The quilt that was on the quilt rack, made by one of our grandmas, is now on our bed so I'm not sure what I'll put up there. I stuck a picture up to fill the space for the picture! (Sounds like our bedroom would be bare without the help of grandparents!) The wallwords went up beautifully with Miriam's help. I still have some staining of trimboards and the office and bathroom doors that have never been done. Maybe later this winter. If we were to get some overnight company it might get done faster! Someday, I hope to get the bathroom redone too. Already put up a new shower curtain and rug and got new towels. They just don't match the paint and flower trim though.

So, with that done for now, I need to get some other things done. Have a great weekend everyone! Don't just worship and praise God on Sunday! Delight in His love, mercy, grace, salvation, and blessings every day of the week!

Catchup

2012-01-10T11:57:00.001-06:00

Christmas went really good. We enjoyed having Aaron and Naomi and little Esther here for over a week. We enjoyed all the multiple family get-togethers we had with both sides of the family. We had a nice church program. We enjoyed making goodies to pass out to neighbors. This is our yearly Christmas Eve picture of the girls.

Isaac has been working hard on getting his furs ready for shipping this week. Left to right, top row they are: beavers, weasels, muskrats, mink (can't see those as good) Bottom row, otters, raccoons, skunks, fox, and coyotes (brush wolves) Apparently, most of them go to China, Russia, Hong Kong and other countries.

Now it's time to get all those winter projects done that have been hanging over my head. I've been painting my bedroom. I did some one day and then lived with it a couple of days and decided I couldn't live with it anymore and so I darkened the paint and it's a little better. Also working ahead on a few projects for the maze. I'd like to have as much done on it as possible before summer so I can enjoy gardening a little more.

Well, have a great day, in this gorgeous weather, praising God for His blessings!

10 Resolutions to Consider!

2012-01-02T11:02:00.002-06:00

#1 - READ YOUR BIBLE - if you already do, read it more! Even a few verses if you have never done this, is a great start!
#2 - PRAY MORE - I would guess everyone prays, but this year, keep a good prayer list and keep track of those miracles God performs in answers to prayer. Share the answers to pray with someone!
#3 - MEMORIZE - even if it's a few verses! A verse a week is a great goal. Some of you are capable of memorizing way more than that!
#4 - SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH SOMEONE - Somewhere out there, in the store, at work, a neighbor, a friend, someone needs to hear the gospel. Look for an opportunity to share with at least one person this year.
#5 - GIVE OUT TRACTS - Come on, anyone can do this! They're cheap, and even the most fearful witness can leave one laying in a waiting room or restroom. Give them to waiters, store clerks, in every bill and piece of mail you send. This is one of Arthur and Priscilla's passions! They make sure everyone always has some in their purse, in every car, by our front door, pretty much anywhere we are there are tracts. They say for every 1,000 tracts given out, one person gets saved. Maybe we should each put out 1,000 this year!
#6 - BE A BETTER SPOUSE, PARENT, SON OR DAUGHTER - This means to forgive each other, pray for each other, and put their needs and desires ahead of our own. Go on dates, obey your authorities, and in general, love one another.
#7 - DITCH THE TV IF YOU HAVE ONE - This includes anything that you are watching, reading, or listening to that doesn't glorify God. Sometimes we turn the TV on in a motel room. It doesn't usually take long to turn the thing off because of the commercials if nothing else. Very little can be found that glorify's God. Most, feeds the flesh and "I Wants."
#8 - GET INVOLVED IN POLITICS - I know, it's depressing. But I can't help but think back to our last state election. Remember the recount between Norm Coleman and Al Franken? I can't help but think if a few more people shared their reasons for voting for Norm, or wrote a few letters to the editor, donated a little more money, or passed out a few brochures, maybe Norm would have won. It was so close. We cannot neglect to support those with morals and values that support God's morals and values! We have very little time left as a free country. We cannot close our eyes and live in a dream world.
#9 - GET INVOLVED IN YOUR CHURCH - Wherever, whatever church you attend, do all you can to support it! Get involved, pray for your pastor and elders or deacons. Determine not to complain if you don't like all that goes on. Pray for God's blessing on those that attend. They say that those that are the most involved, enjoy it the most!
#10 - LIVE ON FIRE FOR GOD - A few people have told Arthur and I we do too much. Can we ever do too much for God? Can we ever serve to much? Every family and individual should take some time and think, brainstorm, and plan about what else can they do for God this year. What other project should we do? How can we reach our neighbors? How can we help our church? How can we get godly men elected? How can we make a difference? We cannot sit and do nothing! Our freedom to serve God is quickly disappearing and only by using our freedom can we ensure to keep that freedom! Get on fire for God this year and do everything you possible can to make a difference!

A Wonderful Birthday!

2011-12-27T16:52:00.001-06:00

Today I am having my ___ birthday! I can hardly imagine that I have lived to be this old!!! When I was a teenager I thought the year 2000 would never come. Certainly the Lord would return before that futuristic date! There have also been days when because of different health problems I didn't think I'd live this long. So, I am very, very thankful to be having another birthday!!! I am thankful for seven wonderful children, a wonderful son-in-law, wonderful daughter-in-law, three wonderful grandsons, and wonderful grandaughter!! I am also so thankful for a wonderful husband! We have an anniversary in a few days so maybe I'll share a little more then about just how wonderful he is! Also thankful for wonderful friends, and if you're reading this, you can include yourself in that wonderful! With my children around me, asking me "What can I do for you?" all day, I am having a wonderful day and I hope you all do too! (I would've let the kids do a post today but who knows what they would've written!)

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-24T11:49:00.000-06:00

Arthur took his students to the local care center to "practice" their Christmas program. They did a good job and I especially loved seeing the students interact with the elderly people. The school is within walking distance so they've been there a few times.

We're probably the only house around that has a variety of cows on our tree. Seems people think we like cows or something and give them to us! I don't mind, especially when I get to see Daniel and David walk over to the tree and look for the cows.

A couple days ago the school had their actual program with singing, scripture quoting and a skit. It went really good, which is a relief!

Hosanna and Miriam helped the school girls make this really good cheesecake dessert to serve their parents. Doesn't it look pretty!

Enjoy this picture of Miriam. She got new glasses since her old pair broke for the umpteenth time and were no longer repairable. So, next time you see her she should be able to see a little better.
I'm so sorry we haven't posted more often. Things just get so busy. Today we put a new bed in our bedroom. I've ordered new bedding and I'm excited to get it. A new coat of paint is coming after Christmas as well. Thank you, Arthur, for the nice gift!

I trust that you will all have a wonderful Christmas this year!

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners!"
I Timothy 1:15

Cattle Haulin'

2011-12-15T10:47:00.000-06:00

Well today is a cattle hauling day. Please pray for their safety today as the roads are really slick with the freezing rain we had yesterday. Notice there is a dusting of snow! Finally! Have a great wintery day! I'm so glad God made seasons and the variety of weather we have!

The Party

2011-12-12T10:20:00.000-06:00

Priscilla hosted a party yesterday. At first it was going to be just the girls her age but then decided to add sisters and so it was a nice group. They played some games, Miriam did a devotional and helped get some lunch ready while they opened some presents in a gift exchange. They did some other things and I think everyone had a good time. I am so thankful for the young ladies in our church and their desire to please God. I'm so thankful that we are not on an "island" in our walk with God and have other like-minded people to travel with!

Isaac

2011-12-10T13:01:00.001-06:00

Isaac always keeps busy. We've been doing a lot of work with cattle the last couple of weeks and so he's been taking pictures of each of his cows, bulls, and calves. They're so cute!

Isaac's also been doing lots of trapping this fall. Today he was pleased to get a fox, a raccoon, muskrat, and otter. The otter especially is a prize when trapping. The fox he got in a snare. And so, that's what's been keeping Isaac busy. The rest of us are busy too, we just don't have pictures to prove it!

Have a great Lord's Day tomorrow!!!

Hockey Time

2011-12-09T10:59:00.001-06:00

Well, it's that time of year again. It's so nice having a few arenas to choose from that are free for using during the day. On this particular day, Wednesday of this week, it was my kids, the J. kids, and the C. kids. I am glad this time of year to have everyone out of the house to do some gift wrapping!

Oops, I should of rotated this one. Wow, you look tall J. in skates!

Some days the girls play hockey with the guys and some days they just skate around.

Looks like E. is working on being a hockey player some day, too!

I would guess you'll see more skating pictures before the winter is over. Meanwhile, we still don't have a cover of snow on the ground. Amazing! No, I'm not worried about having a white Christmas. It will come, eventually!

Ladies, girls, you are invited to the Christmas Tea at our church! Tuesday the 13th at 7:00 PM.
Have a great day!

Ham it Is!

2011-12-06T19:58:00.001-06:00

Knowing it was time to post something, and knowing that we really haven't been doing too much worth posting, we thought we'd share a recipe with you that a friend gave me a couple of years ago.
You can fool anyone into thinking this is ham! And just for the record, this is a sandwich for Arthur's lunch for tomorrow.

Venison Ham
(In this case, it was buffalo)

Take one large roast.
Poke holes it it all over.

Boil: 4 Cups of Water
1 Cup Tenderquick

Cool to room temperature.

Put roast in ice cream pail and cover with water/tenderquick solution.
Soak 4-7 days in fridge. (It's so cold right now we use our entryway as a fridge :)
Turn 2 times a day. (Oops, I forgot most days but it turned out anyway)

Rinse after 4-7 days depending on how strong you want it.
Put it in a pan and cover with water.
Add 2 oz. liquid smoke.
Boil / cook for one hour.
The meat will be pink.

Enjoy!

In Case You're Wondering...

2011-11-30T16:29:00.001-06:00

why you've left a comment and it hasn't appeared, I have no idea! We don't approve them before posting so that's not it. But, we do get them through email so we still enjoy them even if they aren't posted. Any suggestions are welcome to fix this problem. We do love comments! Is there any blogger that doesn't? I'm not asking for a comment to that question. Just making a statement. Have a great day!

It's a Cow Day

2011-11-29T11:40:00.001-06:00

Today is hopefully the last time our cows need to be tested for TB. Our area is "officially" TB free, but they're still making the farmers test one last time. We'll be glad when this is over! It is a good time to pregnancy check, vaccinate, delouse, separate or whatever else needs to be done since every head goes through the chute. Well, the calves don't get tested. After today, the vets come back one more time to "read" the results. Then maybe we can think about shipping while the prices are still high.

If you look at the photo, you will notice there is very little snow and even some green grass! It's not very often that snow actually melts this time of year! I don't know how you southerners do it, but it makes it really hard to get in Christmas mode! Isaac said the Bulldog is frozen behind our barn though so it's not too warm! I'm not complaining. Really.

Ask God what you can do for Him today!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Bible Bee!!!

2011-11-24T10:25:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!! We have so much to be thankful for!

I have a little time this morning so I thought I'd share about the Bible Bee.

On the way down to Nashville we stopped at the P. house. Thank you so much for your hospitality, Jill and family! We're so thankful for all the fun, food, fellowship and laughter we shared!! ON the way home we stayed at Rebekah's parents place. We're thankful for them, their children, and the good fellowship we have!

If you look close, you can see Hosanna coming out of the testing room. Talk about high stress for both the contestants and their parents! Out of the 100 contestants in each age category, fifteen go on to semi-finals. Hosanna was not one of those but we know she did her best and are so thankful that she even got to go!

Each contestant goes on stage and receive's a ribbon.

Kirk Cameron was one of the speakers. I'm sorry my camera didn't do a very good job taking pictures in this large building. Anyway, we did get to talk to him, a little anyway.

Who are these guys? Well, we don't watch veggie tales but everyone knows who Bob and Larry are! Esther wasn't too sure what to think.

They had a few "400 years of the KJV Bible" birthday parties. We're sure thankful for the KJV Bible that we use!

Hosanna, along with her sisters, learned so much through the Bible Bee. I guess next year it will be way, way, way easier so everyone should be able to learn all the verses. We are so thankful for your sweet spirit, Hosanna, and good attitude. You are very special! (She actually reviewed her verses on the way home so she wouldn't forget them!)

One thing that made the Bible Bee so fun was meeting friends. The M. family, who's blog is on our sidebar, were there and it was just like the girls had always known each other. We also had time to visit Teresa G. and her son, which we really enjoyed. And of course, Aaron and Naomi came to most of the Bee and we went to their place a couple of times.
We're thankful for our friends!

We went to a picnic luncheon with Bill Gothard and Tim Harmon speaking.

Quite the picnic isn't it!

There were a lot of workshops going on and one I went to was on facepainting. The lady and her husband do kinda like our church does at the fair, and shares the gospel with the kids as they facepaint.

Sweet little Esther! We're thankful for our grandchildren!

We were thrilled that Kari E. won first place! Congratulations!!!! We know of Kari because she goes to the H. family's church down South Dakota way.

We really enjoyed all the music at the Bee. The M. family played a couple of times, as did a few other families. They also had an awesome choir and orchestra that played for the opening ceremony.

Overall, we had a fantastic time at the Bible Bee. After three years of going Hosanna had made a lot of friends that were also there so that made it special for her. The night before we left it was 67 degrees in Nashville. The night we got home it was like 17 degrees and snow on the ground! 50 degrees different! I'm thankful for our weather though as I feel much better with cold than heat.

The guys fared pretty good when we were gone. Isaac celebrated his 22nd birthday. We're thankful for you, Isaac, and the man of God that you are! May God bless you and give you another blessed year. They hunted and Silas got his second deer for the season. They made apple pies for our church's Thankgiving potluck last Sunday. They saved us some and it was good!

Have a great day being thankful for all the blessings God has bestowed on us!

Final Harvesting

2011-11-11T10:52:00.001-06:00

Isaac decided to take his nephews out fishing for the first time. As you can see, there's ice on the river that the boat is breaking through! Must be the final time for fishing by boat for this year.

Daniel seemed to enjoy the fishing, but not as much as David I'm told.

David does look like he knows what he's doing doesn't he!

The guys have been doing some final harvesting of geese when they get a chance. I love hearing flocks fly over and hearing them come in to land.

And the final deer harvest is almost done. Arthur's gotten three, Isaac two, and Silas got one. Some of the meat will be shared with others whose freezers are emptier than ours! There's still a while yet for hunting but the guys will be helping others fill tags.

It's only five days till the National Bible Bee! Hosanna is getting excited and nervous!

We're doing our final apple harvest work.

The garden harvesting is finally done. I did pick some chives and cilantro yesterday for a last fresh garden taste.

As I listen to the news I can't help but think our time for the final harvest of souls must be drawing to a close as well. It seems like things get more set up for the end time every day and one of these days we will have the joy of seeing the Lord return in a cloud!!! The time is now to do everything you and your family can think of to bring souls to Christ. I never feel like we are doing quite enough. If anybody has ideas of how they do this, or have any great ideas on how familys and individuals can win people to Christ, we'd love to hear.

Hunting Season

2011-11-05T13:10:00.000-05:00

Today is opening deer season. Isaac came in about 11:00 with a nice six point buck. It would've been an eight but two tines were broke off. Anyway, it's a nice deer.

One thing I've been enjoying lately is watching the chicken stratch around the fallen leaves for bugs.

We watched the grandsons last night and Hosanna and Miriam taught the older two how to play this fishing game. It was so fun watching Daniel as he decided to pretend to eat them as he caught them.

Last week Hosanna made a few cakes for a small wedding reception. They didn't want a wedding cake and wanted it really simple. Very nice, Hosanna. The picture makes it look a little distored but it really wasn't.

I'm so thankful for meat for the freezer and for how God provides. Bear and llama meat are okay, but venison is soooo good!

Saturday

2011-10-29T20:30:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's Saturday. I don't have any interesting pictures but I thought I'd ramble a little. Isaac and Jonathan are working on the "Hunter's Service" tomorrow night. Everyone is welcome. 7:00. I had some fun today. I cleaned our bedroom closets, my dressar, and rearranged the furniture some. Hosanna made some cakes for a wedding. Priscilla has her nose in the book "Monster". Isaac is home for good from beet harvest. And the fall work continues. We did have some white stuff this week but nothing that stayed on the ground. It was pretty and makes me kinda excited for the outdoor work to be done and to have more inside days. We enjoyed having Rebekah's family here. I guess that's about it. Have a great Lord's Day tomorrow and if you think of it, pray for peace for Israel, and that, in the turmoil in this world, that many would come to Christ.

Goose Hunting

2011-10-26T11:54:00.003-05:00

Okay, I'm having trouble downloading pictures again today. I'm trying to get around it by making several posts since it won't download more than a few pictures at a time. Rebekah's brother and sister have been up for the last couple of weeks and the guys went goose hunting. They spent the night in the guys cabin a couple of nights to make it feel more like a hunting trip. Nice decorations, Isaac, and nice goose, Nathan.

Nice harvest and good meat!

Keep reading for the last post.

This and That

2011-10-26T10:59:00.004-05:00

We enjoyed having Aaron, Naomi and Esther for a very, very short visit this last week. Esther is learning to walk and is so fun to watch.

My nephew, Matthew, shared in his church about his trip to Australia. He'll be there for two years working with YWAM in a skateboard park ministry. There are few young men as on fire for God as Matthew. There will be dozens, if not hundreds, of souls in heaven as a result of his strong desire to share God's gift of salvation. Amazing how God finds just the perfect area for each of us to serve and skateboarding one of Matthew's passions. Pretty cool. We'll miss you, Matthew!

I love how the water looks like diamonds in this picture. I'm not sure how it turned out that way but it's a neat picture. Isaac took Nathan and Silas out fishing.

Have a great day walking with God!

Combining Corn

2011-10-18T15:51:00.000-05:00

My father-in-law is combining the maze corn today. Yeah! I love the maze and I love to see is cut down! So far, the corn they've combined is fairly dry which is nice change from some years. Isaac has a nice grain bin at his place for drying corn if we need it. This is the end of the cropwork for this year. Of course there's still bales to be moved home, cows to be moved home, fields to work up, and that kind of stuff.

I did try posting two other times which is why you haven't seen a post. One time, I did a long post with lots of pictures, posted it, and discovered I'd put it on the maze blog. :( I did another long one but that one the pictures wouldn't download.

School is going good for Arthur. He beat all the kids at a game of softball.

Yup, it was him against the kids!

We only have carrots left in the garden and then that will be done.

There were 714 seeds in the "Guess the # of Seeds" pumpkin at the maze.

Jessica J. and Matthew M. should've been winners but what good would a season pass do them!

There were a few snowflakes in the air this morning.

Isaac is driving sugar beet trucks for a couple of weeks. We miss you, Isaac!

Most of us don't think of sugar as a farm crop, but Isaac does!

Sold some more coonskin hats yesterday. The Granary store best seller!

Deep cleaned house yesterday and today.

Aaron and Naomi should be here any time!

Only for one day. :(

We're glad anyway for whatever time we have with them.

Have a great day in the Lord!

Maze Weekend Seven (Only One Week Left!)

2011-10-03T15:50:00.000-05:00

I'm sure some of you are getting really tired of maze pictures. Hang in there - we're almost done!!! Only this week left! We have a chicken at the maze with chicks. They're getting big as you can see and they won't stay in their pen. It's not too bad, we like seeing them run around as do most people. We did have one lady though who has fowlphobia, or whatever you call it. A fear of birds. This is a picture of the corn toss. Last week it was mostly men that played, this week it was the ladies, so it seemed. I thought Rebekah would like this picture. This little girl is wearing a "hair pom" that Rebekah made and that she bought in the Granary. Cute isn't it! We've sold a lot of these in different school colors. Ronnie, my nephew, helped out on Saturday as Parking Attendant. You'd be amazed at how people ignore parking lines and park in any direction they feel like! Ronnie kept them in line and directed traffic when things got busy so they didn't have to park way down the road. Thanks, Ronnie! The goats are so cute and friendly. I found this poem today and kinda liked it. It's so easy to be discontented with the simple things. Delight in Simple Things

Learn to like what doesn’t cost too much.
Learn to like reading, conversation, music.
Learn to like plain food, plain service, plain cooking.
Learn to like fields, trees, brooks, hiking, rowing, climbing hills.
Learn to like people, even though some of them may be different from you.
Learn to like to work and enjoy the satisfaction of doing your job as well as it can be done.
Learn to like the songs of birds, the companionship of dogs.
Learn to like gardening, puttering around the house, and fixing things.
Learn to like the sunrise and sunset, the beating of rain on the roof and windows, and the gentle fall of snow on a winter day.
Learn to keep your wants simple, and refuse to be controlled by the likes and dislikes of others.

–Lowell B. Bennion

From: The Best of Lowell L. Bennion: Selected Writings 1928-1988, Edited by Eugene England,

Happy Birthday!

2011-10-01T10:18:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday, Arthur!
We love you!!!!! XOXOXOXOX

You Wanted People, Naomi!

2011-09-26T13:29:00.000-05:00

Naomi said she'd like more pictures with people. Okay, you asked for it! I really don't have many of us or the farm because the maze is keeping us quite busy. I do have pictures though with lots of maze people on them so here we go. This week we decided to do a couple of games, one of which was a "Needle in a Haystack" hunt. There were about 30 kids all looking for candy and little "stuff" hidden in the straw. It was really fun watching them! We also did a corncob toss which went over really good.

Okay, the people are in the background, but what I wanted Naomi to notice is, if you look really carefully, you can see cars and cars, all the way down the gravel road pretty near to the highway! We've hardly ever had anyone park outside of the parking lot because it was so busy, but this Saturday, it was busy, and so there were lots of people, Naomi! In the background you can kinda see Silas and Priscilla grilling burgers at the edge of the cornfield.

Another place you can always find people is at the admissions / concession stand. We get lots of people that just hang out there and visit with the workers, especially the kids. We like it. The more they hang out the more they buy ;) Actually, I think they like the attention from our sweet workers!

Okay, no people on this one but I wanted Naomi to see the straw bale maze in the background.

We've had some gorgeous sunsets to watch while at the maze.

Thanks, Naomi, for letting me have some fun at your expense! Remember I love you!

Straw

2011-09-22T10:42:00.000-05:00

Miriam picked what was left of the peppers and has been cutting some of them up for freezing. I've never had such good peppers as this summer. Since Miriam has been doing a good share of our canning, and since she was tired of plain old salsa, she took lots and lots of hot peppers and made "Super Salsa" that I doubt any of us will want to eat! We'll get it out when we suffer from colds this winter!

The guys finished harvesting the flax and along with that comes baling flax straw. We sell a lot of it for people to bank their houses and septic systems for the winter. It was a bumper crop and some of you might remember our old flax bale mazes. Well, Arthur decided we should build one over at the corn maze, so we did. It's not nearly as big as the ones we built in our horse pen, but it's kinda fun anyway and is a neat new attraction. We got some rain so the rest of the straw will have to wait.

School is going good for Arthur, and his students. We miss having him around. Isaac has turned his thoughts to bow hunting deer and getting supplies in order to finish barn repairs on his barn and to side it in barn red tin. Miriam is keeping the house going while I keep the maze going. Hosanna is working hard on her Bible memory for the Bible Bee. Silas and Priscilla are in the grind of doing school again. It's hard to believe we are down to two left in school. Our married children are doing great and raising some really fun kids! My how the years have flown! I'm sure when we get to heaven, this time here on earth will quickly be forgotten and it will just seem like a little blip in time. How important it is that we use what little time we have, in light of eternity, to serve God and bring Him glory.

Maze Prep

2011-09-14T16:44:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a nice, pleasant home day. Today is pleasant too but we have two groups coming out to the maze this evening so we go through "Maze Prep". Priscilla makes pretzel sticks.

Priscilla also makes cookie dough brownies. Hosanna makes popcorn balls. She's made 378 giant popcorn balls so far. Miriam fills water balloons for the giant slingshot. Last weekend she filled over 1,000 of them!

Today I priced food from Natural Way Mills to sell. A great place to get good organic food and not too far from here.

I also made a few more jar mixes and post-it holders. They're really cute, I'll post on them some other time.

Plus, we make more maps and game cards. I had promised myself I would have them all printed at once this year but it never happened. We clean up the maze from the last maze day. Straighten the Granary and concession stand and restock everything. And whatever else needs doing. Like today for example. It froze pretty hard last night so today, with a lot of help, we picked all the pumpkins and put them in piles to make it easier to cover tonight when we get another hard frost. Kinda hoping the frost would've held off a couple more weeks. It makes the corn in the maze kinda ugly and thinner. It will still be a You-Pick type patch but people will have to pick them from our piles!

A dark picture inside the Granary. It's a great place to hang out if we get a quick rain shower. No, we haven't had too many of them. It's still really dry.

Miriam having a little fun this last weekend when it hit the upper 80's. Quite a change from today.

Thank you girls for your help!

If you think of it, please pray for the family of a young man who was killed in a motorcycle accident close to our place.

Please pray too for us and the next few weeks. We have a lot of groups coming in addition to our regular days and we all get tired, and cranky, and it's hard to survive! Did you know that being really busy and under stress is a great way to test a person's character and walk with God?! Ah, we do love the maze, tiredness and all!

Have a great evening!

It's a Home Day

2011-09-12T15:02:00.004-05:00

Ahhh, a nice day to stay home, clean house, bake, and enjoy the cool weather.

Nice, Isaac!

2011-09-04T18:27:00.003-05:00

Isaac got his first bear yesterday. 215 lbs. Nice boar. Yes, I believed him when he said it started climbing the tree he was in after he shot it and then it fell back. Not quite that dramatic, but it's nice, Isaac!

Congratulations, Thank You!

2011-09-01T09:36:00.000-05:00

First of all, Congratulation, Hosanna, on advancing to the National Bible Bee! In fact, the entire local group did really good even though all the scores we're quite high enough. This means a trip to Nashville in November, which also means visiting Naomi and Aaron!!!

Also, I just wanted to thank all those that answered our plea for help on getting the maze ready to open a couple of weeks ago. There's no way we could've done it without those of you that helped. Thank You!!!!!

If any of you prayed for rain for us, we got it!! There's been so many times they've forecasted rain in the last month, even up to 60-70 percent chance and we still didn't get it but this week we've had a couple really nice soaking rains. One was during a large group that came out to the maze. They were good sports and brought umbrellas and rubber boots and had a good time anyway.

On another note, Isaac has been spreading manure with the help of two very helpful cousins of his. Would you believe that they struck ice in the manure pile!! It's August and there was still ice buried under some of it! No, we don't live so far north that it's permafrost either! Not sure if the rain will slow them down today.

Have a great day enjoying God's blessings! And pray for Aaron and Naomi and their move tomorrow. It's a long way to go with a large moving truck, their truck and van.

The Hay is Done, The Wheat is Done, The Oats are Done!

2011-08-29T20:55:00.001-05:00

A relief that the the fall work is drawing to a close. Soybeans and Corn left. Isaac and Silas have spent a lot of hours working in the fields leaving Arthur free time to work on the maze. Thanks, Guys! There wasn't as much hay as we need so Arthur's looking to buy some. It's been really, really dry around here which hasn't helped. So dry that the pastures are pretty much brown, meaning the cows need hay already to stay happy and healthy. I don't think we've really had any rain more than a few sprinkles in over a month. If you think of it, you can pray for rain!

Sweet little Esther! We will miss her, and Aaron and Naomi so, SO, SO, SO much when they move down to Tennessee on Friday.

I'm so glad for little Daniel, David and Jeriah that live so close! Here's Daniel on my dad's old Ford tractor. If you look in the background, you can see the results of a fire at my parents.

My kids actually got there before the firemen and DNR firecrew. (We were gone). Accidentally, their barn started on fire and with how dry it is, it just spread all over and into thier yard and woods.

And this is the barn now. No, there wasn't anything really valuable in it other than an old tractor that was my Grandpa's. And maybe that wasn't even valuable to anyone but Arthur and my dad. Most valuable were all the memories that are gone! My sister's and I's old playhouse corner in the sheep barn. The tricycle that my sisters and I used and each of our children used when they visited. Old jars that Silas was slowly collecting. That kind of stuff. Oh, the fun we had in the big old barn as girls. Kept some calves, pigs, and sheep at times but for the most part it was like a big empty playground with old stuff that no one wanted to throw out but didn't know where else to store.

What a good reminder that we cannot take "stuff" with us. Someday all our possessions will be worthless and what really will matter is whether we trusted in Christ or not. After two days of firemen and dnr guys working on putting out hot spots, the fire was finally out for good. It was really windy and dry so it kept spreading in their woods. Good thing my dad has trails all over in his woods that made it easy for them to drive around.

The Bible Bee locals for 2011 are history and we wait for the results of who made the top 100 in each category. They post it on Wednesday! The girls enjoy this so much and don't really care whether they win or not.

Weekend two at the maze went good. We had a good turnout and the weather was nice. People like to comment to us on things we've changed or added. One person told Arthur, "Next year you should add a farris wheel". How did she know!!! ;)

Opening Maze Weekend

2011-08-22T14:29:00.000-05:00

Well, we survived our opening maze weekend, exhausted but happy and grateful. We don't expect too many opening weekend but we had enough this year to make it fun. First, let me tell you about the granary since a few of you asked about it. Here it is after the hard work of scrapping it, putting in windows and replacing some floor boards, putting in doors, and painting it. Thank you so much to those of you that worked on this fun project!!! We appreciate it so much! In fact, we couldn't even have the maze at all if it wasn't for good friends and family. Thank you all!

The girls and I spent an afternoon making up lots of jar mixes that look so pretty on the shelves.

Rebekah made some "hair poms" and hair flowers. The poms are in our local schoool colors and we sold a few of them already.

My sister-in-law, Ellen, made some dish towels to sell. Ellen is also helping me out by working in the store some. Thank you, Ellen! If you look close, you can see the shelves are made with chicken wire. I wanted something unique that you don't see other places and it works nice.

At the store counter we sell a little candy. In the store you can also find Isaac's furs - coyote, skunk, otter, beaver, and racoon. Yes, we sold the skunk fur! You will also find, jewelry, toy rubber band guns (which sold out!), organic flour and stuff from Natural Way Mills which is not far from here, and decorations and other "stuff". Oh, I didn't mention Silas and Priscilla's bleached and cleaned cow skulls!! At least they are unique to our store and no one else has any just like them!!

I was too busy to get pictures of the maze but yesterday we had a church and friends going away party for Aaron and Naomi, Rueben, Emily, and Julie. This is our concession / admissions stand. Silas and Priscilla run the "Pitchfork", better known as a grill.

The bale mountain made a great place to get a family picture of the K. side of the family.

Then the cousins got a picture.

The little guys loved playing in the bale castle.

Priscilla is always excited to get together with her cousins.

And these are the great grandchildren. Cookies kept a David and Daniel happy but I'm afraid the others just cried so we took the picture quick!

Need a place that tons of children can play on at one time, build a bale mountain!

Cousins, Jonathan, Elizabeth, and Silas are all the same age.

Arthur did a lot of hayrides this weekend.

I love this picture of Melita and David. They were both so happy.

Daniel hardly left the sand pile all day. So, we had a good weekend. God is good!

Up in the Air

2011-08-13T20:46:00.000-05:00

Arthur and Silas finally got a chance to go up and get an arial photo of the corn maze. Taking pictures along the way, this is a picture of our lake that the guys fish in. You can see a few boats out there if you look hard.

Over by Zipple Bay you can see a sand bar under the water and the dropoff. We thought it was kinda a neat photo.

Amos and Rebekah are painting the ark for us. Thank you both!!!!! Jeshua helped some one day too. If there's any other people out there who have nothing to do this week and are strong and willing to work, head on over! We sure can use the help with one week left before maze day! I'm serious!

Silas up in the plane. He loves going up and liked how adventuresome the pilot was. It was hard finding a pilot. They said since 9-11 most all the private pilots have quit flying. As for the actual maze picture, well, well, I must've had the map upsidedown when we cut it or something because we made a few mistakes. With a little, okay, maybe more than a little work, we can fix it in the field and then I'll post an accurate photo the way it really should look! Well, we can't fix all the mistakes we made but it still looks like it's suppose to anyway!

My father-in-law and nephew Matthew were working on getting a few grain bins ready for cement. Always something going on. It is nice having more space for grain, especially since I took the wooden grain bin off their hands. ;)

Silas found this snapping turtle. Pretty scary guy. If you double click on the picture you can see him, or her, real close up.

With how busy we've been, and will be, I often think, we can't do this! It's true, we can't. At least not without God's help. I always need to remind myself that whatever we do, we only do it because of God's grace, mercy, and love. Also a good reminder that what we can't do, it's probably because God doesn't want us to!

John 15:5

I am the vine, ye are the branches; He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.

Lots of Things Going On

2011-08-09T21:25:00.001-05:00

After what seemed like hours of picking raspberries, things got rough, and a raspberry fight broke out. They never did tell me who got the idea.

Not many things sweeter than seeing your grandchildren playing together!

The maze yard really needed mowing and Priscilla obliged.

Hosanna helped me give the concession / admissions stand a new coat of paint.

Hosanna and Priscilla also helped paint the granary.

We had the fun of going to Sam's Club to stock up on maze stuff. This is the stuff that didn't fit in the pantry. It was almost embarrasing with a flatbed cart loaded with candy!

The guys had their "Deserted Island Bible Camp"last week. It's really tough to get the guys to stand still long enough for a picture when they really want to get going. No break downs this year and the boats worked without major trouble. Yes, there were quite a few bruises and cuts and poison ivy but that is to be expected!

I was really relived to have the J. family take care of the food this year. The guys assured me it was very good and that Bob is a great cook.

It's really pretty out on the lake. These guys were headed out to get fresh water.

And such gorgeous sunsets!

Lots of visiting, games, eating, sleeping,

and having devotions. The "staff" guys all shared quite a few times as well as Evangelist Crowe.

Another nice sunset.

You can't have a campout in Minnesota with tons of mosquitos! I guess Silas just shot with his flash in the dark and they showed up. This isn't Silas's camera but Miriams.

And I thought this was a nice picture of some of the younger guys.

Have a great evening!

For Those Wondering About the Changes to MN Homeschool Laws

2011-08-03T14:43:00.002-05:00

I've had a number of people ask about the changes in the new homeshool laws in our state. Today I listened in on a webinar hosted by HSLDA and thought I would pass on the things they talked about.

First, the changes are a result of having a some great senators working for us. Senator Gen Olson was very helpful especially. Mary Kiffmeyer did a lot of work on this as well. Congress basically came to the conclusion that parents were primarily responsible for their children's education (which is stated in the law) and whether you were rich or poor, educated parents or not educated parents, the homeshoolers still average at the 80th percentile compared to the public school's 50th percentile. Even more important then congressmen, a lot of prayers were answered and we know that God had his hand in this!

Changes:

Intitial Reports - This is done one time and is a simple one page report and is sent in to your superintenant by Oct. 1st. After that, you simply send in a yearly "Letter of Intent" which can be a form letter or simple handwritten letter that says something like, "We intend to continue homeschooling and there are no changes. Have a great year." You need to list changes if there are any. This really is a short form with almost none of the questions on the previous form.

Visits by Superintenants - Previously there was room for them to visit you or request to see your materials and they can no longer do this. You are required to keep materials / records by law in the required subjects: reading, writing, literature, art, math, science, history, geography, health, and PE. They recommend teaching all subjects yearly in the elementary years and then not necessary all each year of high school and junior high.

Quarterly Reports - Parents that did not have college degrees previously had to send in quarterly report cards. You no longer need to do this. In other words, they have decided all parents are qualified and some do not need more regulations than others.

Immunizations - You need to report them when a child turns 7 and 7th grade. Yes, you can still get notorized letters stating you object to having them if that is the case. The nurses view on this was, and I quote, as long as "sufficient number of the herd are immunized"!

Testing - This was not changed. You still need to test yearly with a standardized test. If you have a child who is 16 at the beginnning of the school year and turns 17 during the year you do not have to test them or children who are not 7 as of Oct. 1st. This was one thing that they wanted changed but it wasn't.

Driver's Ed - Previously we had to go to the public school to get a paper stating our child was homeschooled. According to my understanding, the department of transportation is working on a form so that parents can testify they homeschool themselves or they may waive this totally.

It was recommended that if you have not sent in your form this year so far, to wait just a bit for the schools to get educated on the changes. They encouraged us to be patient with them. Also if you have no changes at all, you can already send a letter of intent to continue rather than the initial report.

They also emphasised that you should not report more than necessary. If you test your six year old, do not report them or that they were tested for example.

They recommend keeping school records for two years before tossing.

While a lot of this doesn't seem like a big deal, a lot of work went into these changes. It is nice to see congress recognize homeschool excellence. More changes might have been included but with the big budget and shutdown problem they were all a little nervous and so some things had to be left out in order to pass some rather than none.

I think this about covers it. If you have a question I might be able to answer it because it was a long webinar and I didn't take notes on everything.

If you're not a member of HSLDA, wherever you live, it's a great way to invest in our children and grandchildren's freedom! Anyone can sign up for their free e-lert emails. Information in on their website.

Oh the Beauty of God's Creation!

2011-07-30T11:22:00.000-05:00

Thanks, Silas for the gorgeous pictures.

Have a great Lord's Day tomorrow!

Camp Bemadezewin (Means 'New Life')

2011-07-25T22:26:00.001-05:00

Miriam here -
Isaac, Hosanna and I were up in Canada as counsellors / kitchen help / maintenance the last two weeks. The camp is about an hour north of Kenora, Ontario. It was hard to narrow down the pictures we took but here's a few of them.

These are Hosanna and I's cabin girls. We had to get this picture for a scavenger hunt.

There were 28 girls the girls week. Eight of them made professions of faith and it was so neat to see them grow throughout the week. Most of the campers come from pretty bad families. Some girls and some of the guys rejected salvation even though they knew why and how to get saved. I have never seen such young girls so hard to the gospel. Isaac said it was like something out of a missionary story because of some of the stories these kids had.

It was pretty country. The camp is located on a small lake. There are tons of lakes and lots of rocks.

Tube tug was one of the kids favorite games.

We did a lot of canoeing including having canoe tug of war.

Cooking was a challenge as the camp has no electricity or plumbing. We used lake water, boiled, and with bleach for doing dishes and drank water brought in. It was good food.

The tables we ate at were all on a deck. The guys week Hosanna and I helped in the kitchen. Some people couldn't tell us apart.

One day we took a half hour canoe ride to the other side of the lake. We had different camp speakers come in. The girls week they spoke on creation and the guys week they spoke on Ephesians. We did devotions with the girls in the cabin in the evening. One night a bear visited the camp and looked in one of the cabin windows. Thankfully not ours!

Just having fun with Isaac on the bottom. It was part of the guys scavenger hunt.

Isaac with his cabin of guys. Some were already saved before they came and by the end of the week each of them was able to share a testimony of salvation.

Isaac did a lot of the filleting of the fish. (Did I spell that right, Isaac?) Whatever the kids caught we ate at meal time.

We really enjoyed our time there and being able to work with the kids. Please pray for these kids as they are going back to hard situations, broken families, medicine men, and such like.

Great News!

2011-07-21T21:25:00.000-05:00

Great news for homeschoolers in Minnesota that is! For those not from MN, there has been a government shutdown for the last couple of weeks in our state because of not being able to settle on a budget. Well, they solved their differences and went back to work today. As part of the budget negotiations, they passed an education bill that is great news for homeschoolers in our state! This bill will bring us from being one of the worst states to homeschool in to one of the best.

We did a maze float in the county fair parade. It was really hot but the workers did great! They're the ones in the orange shirts if there is any question of who they are :)

Alltogether I think we had 10 people passing out flyers. Our favorite comment was one Arthur heard. It was a young boy and he said, "I want to go to the corn maze right now!".

Jeshua out helping Arthur today over at the maze.

The "Pickin' Patch" is looking really good! Our pumpkin man does a great job of growing nice big ones.

This is the ark in the distance. If you look really close, Arthur is by the door working. The front isn't done yet, but when it comes time to paint, it isn't going to be easy!

One thing this heat has been really good for is growing corn.

The fair has been going good. I think they've shared the gospel with over 150 kids and had a number of them get saved. Quite a few adults listen as well.

Have a great evening in the Lord!

Happy birthday, Silas!

2011-07-18T21:07:00.001-05:00

Okay, I'm a little late, but yesterday, July 17th was Silas' 17th birthday. We're excited about what God has planned for your life, Silas, and appreciate all that you do on the farm and your good attitude. Hope you had a great day! Silas got a nice Canon camera for his birthday and I told him, if you don't do anything else, I need a new header photo! Well, it was quite sunny when I told him and the cows didn't want to go out on pasture seeing it's so hot out, but at least you won't be reminded that winter is just around the corner!!! I'm sure if you look really close there must be heat waves in the picture! New profile pictures are next!

I knew Silas would enjoy the special features on his camera and this one he took with a colored filter. Anyway, Arthur took Silas out fishing early this morning before it got hot out. I guess we're surviving the heat but it is hard on the cows. I never thought 80 would feel cool, but it just might after this heat wave! I guess I get overheated when it hits 70 so I'm not a very good judge of heat.

It's fair week. That means Priscilla will be busy with the church tent. We're missing the kids and look forward to them getting home this weekend. Made some raspberry jam today and some delicious mint jelly that I've never made before. Yes, it's to sell at the maze.

Well, have a great evening, and if you visit the County Fair, stop by our church tent and say hello! You can pray too for lots of seeds to be planted and for people to get saved. We'll be doing a maze float again for the fair parade tomorrow so if anyone wants to pray that our wonderful maze workers won't faint in the heat as they pass out maze cards, that would be great as well!

Cemetary Blessings :)

2011-07-12T21:15:00.000-05:00

For a few years now, my mom has been talking about going up to Rose Farm, near Altona for those of you who know your Manitoba geography. The Rose Farm / Lowe Farm area is the area that my grandparents on both of my mom's side of the family grew up. Well, yesterday was my mom's birthday so my sister Kim and I took her on a small day trip to see the area. We spent a lot of time at the Rose Farm cemetary which is basically all grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives.

This is my great grandma's gravestone. I won't show you them all! I do remember being at this cemetary before but it was really cold and rainy so I didn't look around.

One thing I really enjoyed and was blessed by were the epitaths on the stones which I took as evidence of their walks with God. Imagine being known for daring to be like Daniel!

I love cemetaries! There is so much history and is a good reminder of the brevity of life. It's so easy to just live each day without thinking how it could be our last. I also can't wait to see all these relatives in heaven!

Anyone know their German? I know the word Vater is father but would enjoy knowing what the bottom says. In 1875 my mom's grandparents arrived as German Russian Mennonite immigrants. German because they still spoke German and had roots in Germany but Russian because they had been several generations there. They left because of the pressure to put their young men in the military and fear of their children growing up too Russian. They wanted more freedom to worship like they wanted and to train up their own children in their own schools. Upon arrival in the United States, they took rail to the Great Lakes, boat across the lakes, rail from Duluth, MN to the Red River. They went north on the Red River in a paddlewheel steamboat and settled in southern Manitoba on the prairie. At least that is what I remember. I hope my facts are correct!

This cemetary wasn't taken care of really good. Proably because it's not used anymore. Anyway, the small grave in the back had a very deep hole dug in it! Didn't look too close!

Southern Manitoba has lots of Ukranians and their churches all have the onion shaped domes. A lot of my relatives were living in the Ukraine but then it was a part of Imperial Russia and they were Mennonites, not Russian Orthadox which is what I think these churches are.

This was taken a long ways away but it's the house my grandma grew up in and my mom remembers it pretty good.

Well, we went to Steinbach too and did some shopping. A really fun day with my mom and sister! Interestingly, I was in Canada, Arthur was fishing up in Canada, and Isaac, Miriam and Hosanna were also in Canada, all on the same day but different places. No border problems, thankfully. I know some people have a lot of problems getting back into the states. Well, have a great evening and live each day so you have no regrets when you live this world.

Catch Up

2011-07-08T10:09:00.001-05:00

Yesterday Aaron and Naomi came over to help work on the granary over at the maze. Naomi and I scrapped old paint off...

While Aaron gave the windows primer and a nice dark green coat of paint. Esther was a good little girl and slept most of the time. Thank you for your help, you two!

Backing up a bit, thank you so much for all your nice comments everyone. I think it cheers all of us to read them. Yes, I know we need some new profile pictures and header. As soon as there's time! And yes, Arthur has been asked to teach at our local christian school this next year. He's excited. He taught about five years when our kids were young and has always enjoyed teaching. Back then, it all started when they asked him to substitute one day. Well, the teacher never came back and so he stayed on. We have always homeschooled our kids and will continue even when he teaches elsewhere. Speaking of homeschooling, we only have Silas and Priscilla left :( I will miss this part of life when it's over. Like Naomi says, it's one of those identity things. If you're not a homeschool mom, what are you? Guess I'll have to really settle in to that Grandma mode! I'm already enjoying that! Have a few years to go before we're all done though. As for Arthur teaching, I'm not sure how we'll swing it with how busy we are but we believe it's God's will and so it just has to work out.

Lori, yes, both Arthur's dad and my mom have a number of double cousins. Kinda neat.

Isaac, Miriam and Hosanna are getting ready to leave for two weeks of camp tomorrow. They are really excited! It's up in Ontario and they'll be counsellors, teachers, and kitchen help or whatever. It's quite primitive with no plumbing or electricity. Anyway, we've been preparing them by having a plumbing issue at our house this last week. After having just bits of time here and there to work on it, we think it's finally fixed. Thankfully!

Well, enjoy your nice day wherever you are and be not weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not!

The Last Week

2011-07-04T18:26:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy week. Last Sunday was Miriam's birthday and one of the things she got was a Tracfone. I'm glad, she's always borrowing mine!

It was also my in-laws 50th anniversary and Hosanna made a few beautiful cakes.

They don't look like they've been married 50 years! Lord-willing they will have many more!

This lady, a double cousin of my father-in-law, was captured in WWII by trickery and was forced to work for the Germans. She has quite the story to tell and she met her husband over there who was in the US military. Anyway, we enjoyed the fellowship at the 50th.

Yeah! We got our maze cut! After being sick for two days I finally dragged myself out to the field and marked trails for Arthur to cut. It's called "Mystery Castle" and I sure hope it looks like a castle from the sky!

Scrap metal is worth a lot these days and so Arthur and his dad had a guy come in and crush a bunch of old equipment for scrap metal. You could hear this rock falling on the metal all over the farm.

Then today is the 4th of course. We had a get together with my family on Saturday and then Arthur's side today. Aren't these little nieces cute all dressed in red, white, and blue?!

Jeriah was really intent on getting all the watermelon eaten.

We did a maze float and so Priscilla, Silas, and their cousins and friends helped by passing out over a 1,000 maze advertizing cards.

And here it is going down the street.

Little Daniel in the striped shirt enjoyed seeing all the trucks and snowmobiles.

It also didn't take long for him to figure out how to get candy. They throw so much candy and it seems like everyone felt sorry for this little boy and I think he ended up with more than anyone!

Aaron and Naomi also had a church float and passed out tracts.

Also, Silas got his drivers permit. It's also been really hot and about ready to storm so I better shut this off. Have a great day of freedom!

Overwhelmed!

2011-06-25T16:49:00.000-05:00

We've been working on maze things this week. It's quite overwhelming. Arthur and I have spent a lot of time praying about the maze and our vision of having it give God glory. The more we pray about it, the more helpless and insignificant we feel. Anyone else ever feel that way? I guess it's the realization that it is too much for us and only with God right in the center will it get done. I also realize how little faith I have and that is humbling.

Arthur traded some hay bales for some work this week on "The Granary". The windows are all in which makes it so bright inside. Also the bad boards on the bottom have been replaced. The guys already have plans for the store when it fails, (Talk about little faith!), they want to make it into a hunting cabin! It would make a cool cabin, but not just yet! Maybe I should paint it pink!

Well, we have two special celebrations tomorrow in our family. We are celebrating my in-laws 50th anniversary. Congratulations!! Having a marraige last 50 years in this time of history is really something to celebrate! Arthur's sisters and I are having an open house at church tomorrow afternoon and everyone is invited from Noon - 3 PM. It's also Miriam's 20th birthday tomorrow! Happy birthday, Miriam! We love you and appreciate all you do and your good attitude! You are a wonderful young lady and we are so thankful you have a heart for God and a desire to learn His Word. Have a great day!

Biggest Cow in the World! Our Mini-Trip

2011-06-20T11:22:00.000-05:00

Once a year we try to go on a mini-vacation with all the kids at home. This year we headed out to a small farm west of Bismark, ND. On the way there we couldn't help but see this huge cow on a hill in New Salem, North Dakota. As we got closer we just had to drive up the hill to see the world's largest holstein cow. After a short discussion on how we'd get cows this size in our barn...

We realized we'd only need one to fill our tank! This is way bigger than any hill we have at home with the exception of Bemis Hill so the family was excited to hike up to the top. I guess the town's sports teams are know as the New Salem Holsteins. Go, Holsteins!

We went to a one day Project Appleseed as part of "Prairie Days". The Project Appleseed is put on by the Revolutionary War Veterns Association. They tell lots of history of the founding of our country along with tons of marksmanship training. Everyone loved it, except for Miriam and I who weren't in it, although we enjoyed watching. I thought our guys were pretty good marksman but they learned a lot anyway and look forward to going again, somewhere, someday, maybe even here!

It was a really, really windy day so the targets were actually moving around some. They teach you to shoot in different positions.

As part of the Prairie Days, with quite a few homeschool families, they had different people give old time skill demonstrations. Isaac did a trapping demonstration that the guys especially enjoyed. I noticed afterwards they got Isaac to hike down around the river to look for beaver evidence. He came to the conclusion no beaver is going to stay in one place long because there just aren't enough trees anywhere! North Dakota is pretty barren. The hills are beautiful though and it wouldn't bother me to live where I could see for miles!

There was an old time spelling bee that Priscilla participated in. Dads and Moms were included too if they wanted.

If you haven't noticed, different people are dressed different. They encourage people to dress in prarie time outfits. I loved seeing the creativity of some.

Hosanna and a couple others played recorders for fun.

The valleys have trees and the hills often had cows on them. They remind me of the song, "He owns the cattle on a thousand hills..." Not too many things prettier than a sight like this.

Cora of the "Maiden in a House of God" blog encouraged us to come. Thank you, Cora, we had a wonderful time! Cora is very sweet and we enjoyed getting to know her, her brothers, and her mom.

A good game of volleyball. See Davy Crockett? Not sure who he was but Arthur enjoyed fellowshipping with him about this and that.

Miriam on stilts.

And Cora on stilts.

Well, that is our mini-trip for 2011. It's hard to get away with the whole family more than a couple of days. I actually was dreading going because we were camping out and I'm not much of a camper but I had a good time and actually look forward to going camping again sometime. At least our tent didn't get wet like the girls ;) And we didn't choose to sleep out under the stars, I mean rain, like the guys.

Now that VBS is done, and our trip, getting ready for the maze is next. It's quite overwhelming to say the least! My have-to-get-done list is a mile long and growing. I'm so glad God gives us sleep at night! Well, the weeds in the garden are calling me!

The "Indian" Princess

2011-06-14T17:14:00.000-05:00

She just showed up today, apparently kidnapped by the Chippawa as a baby from some settlers in Minnesota, and is recently back in white man world. She let us know that her shirt was made from a buffalo leather coat and her skirt from the heap big buck she shot this last fall with a piece of it from her Chief father who shot a doe. The mocassins were stolen from a squaw's wigwam. We have decided we better adopt her lest she end up who knows where!

A lot of you probably already know this, but I didn't. (I did know they were edible but always pulled them off) You can use those wonderful chive blossoms to make a really tasty, colorful salad. So glad to finally have something we can eat out of the garden!

I thought our nephew, Jeshua, would like to see this nice picture we got of him with the biggest northern he's ever gotten. Nice, Jeshua! While the rest of us slept off our tiredness from the last two weeks Isaac took his cousins fishing to relax. Nothing like fresh breaded walleye fried in butter! Yes, we know the butter and breading makes it not as healthy but it sure is good. Quite often we do bake them the healthy way with a sprinkling of dill weed on them.

Have a wonderful day. How!

Psalm 95:3

For the LORD

is a

great God,

and a great King

above all Gods.

Catch -Up Post

2011-06-10T21:26:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was my niece's wedding. They make such a sweet couple!

We helped a lot with the decorating and food, including serving. The church my sister and her family goes to had quite a few of their rafters break this winter from the heavy snow. It wasn't fixed yet so they had the wedding at another church and the reception at our local arena. It actually worked really nice and was quite big and had lots of kitchen room. Here's Miriam giving Aaron some punch. It's Banana Brunch Punch, even though it was evening, and is the best punch I have ever tasted and we make it for all kinds of family events.

Naomi, with her sisters' help, made 250+ petit fours. They were very beautiful and lots of work! The rest of the food, appetizers, were really good too.

Well, VBS was this week. We had a total of 75 children and about 38 workers. I have to say that it was the best VBS I think we've ever had! Everyone was so good and we didn't have any problems, at all! Plus, at least five children that I know of got saved, maybe more.

We made mini scrapbooks for a craft with pages with the verses printed on, a missionary page, a prayer page, autograph pages (which the children really loved), and a few others including some pictures for them. We got one nice one of each child plus team pictures and skits. I thought you'd like to see some of our favorite individual pictures. This is my nephew Matthew looking like a real cool cowboy.

This is Stephen, a boy from our church. This picture captures his personality so good!

Then, for those of the J. family's friends out east, here's Mr. J. in his finest!

We had a theme skit and Miriam and her cousin Reuben were Snidley and Jane, the bad guys. Yes, they ended up in jail, got saved, and went home to their mother who was praying for them.

Rebekah and I took some time to make some "Mosquito-Be-Gone" with a recipe from some friends down in Illinois. I think it works. My kids think it smells so bad that we might keep eveyone away! It's really not that bad, and certainly not worse than store bug spray. I kinda like the smell!

Also-

The 2011 Bible Bee boxes arrived with the verses and study book. Hosanna and Priscilla are really excited!

It's been a cold week. One day it was 40 degrees warmer in southern Minnesota compared to up here! They were all breaking heat records and here we were in the 50's. Oh well, the cows love it cool and I do like the cold better. I guess the corn could use some heat but the long range forcast isn't very promising.

Isaac says the fishing is good.

The garden is up and growing, a little anyway.

I'm tired! It's been a long two weeks so I better get to bed. Have a wonderful evening enjoying God's blessings!

Vacation Bible School

2011-06-06T05:39:00.000-05:00

Please pray for our Vacation Bible School this week if you think of it. We're praying specifically for good weather, safety of the children and workers, and that all of our hearts would be challenged.

Basic Ministry Training

2011-05-31T18:03:00.000-05:00

The last couple of days we've had what we called, "Basic Ministry Training" for the young people that help out with VBS, fair ministry, and other things our church does. I think everyone had a good time and learned a lot. Here's my nephew Matthew telling the wordless book for practice.

My nephew Ronnie also practicing outloud to himself. You can see Miriam and Elizabeth in the background telling the Wordless Book to a wall. Sometimes it's easier to practice by yourself before telling a lesson to someone else.

My father-in-law, Arthur, Isaac, and Reuben did the teaching with lessons on telling the Wordless Book, counselling a person for salvation, and lots more. You can see some of our VBS decorations in the background. We try to get them up before Sunday of VBS to get the kids excited.

Here's Josiah leading a song. Reuben taught Basic Songleading.

Jeshua leading a song.

I think the highlight for some of them was practicing for a skit for VBS. Every day we have a theme skit that continues each day and this year it's a western skit.

Well, I thought Mr. and Mrs. B. would enjoy seeing these!

Petunia Planting

2011-05-26T17:27:00.001-05:00

Around 13, 508 Petunia plants!

1 1/2 miles!

Lots of hard work. Thanks for the steamers on a cool day, Aunty Kim!

Exhaustion.

Two semi's loaded with the flowers.

Isaac marks holes about 8" apart.

Waving to passerbys.

Nine colors - White, Hoola Hoop Blue, Red, Yellow, Plum, Burgandy, Pink, Strawberry, Red Frost.

Giant game of leapfrog - after you've planted your set of four.

One guy full time picking up garbage.

Hosanna and Karen arranged the flower design and helped plant some as well.

Long day. Tired People. Need sleep.

Tractors and Dandelions

2011-05-21T16:53:00.000-05:00

Arthur thought you would like to see a picture of him rolling a soybean field. After planting the soybeans they roll the field with these very large rollers which makes it much easier in the fall to harvest the soybeans. With the nice weather the guys got a lot of the planting done and so it's nice to see the end in sight. (The bales in the back are the neighbors. We try to put ours away in the fall!)

The girls and I were looking at the abundance of dandelions in our yard and decided to do something about them.

Priscilla made some dandelion fritters. They were really good and tasted kinda like doughnuts with the cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top.

Then I made a few jars of dandelion jelly. It's kinda pretty and tastes like, like, like dandelion jelly!

While in the yard I noticed the burning nettles in my raspberries. I got out one of Isaac's outdoor books and found a recipe called, "Lemon Garlic Nettles". We were all a little skeptical but it was really good! We'll make it again sometime.

God is good to provide so many things for us to enjoy! Things that most people use tons and tons of weed killer on every year. Well, we don't like them in our fields or yard either, but it's nice to know they are good for something, and will try to think of more ways to use what God has naturally provided for us.

Hosanna has been going over VBS songs. I love hearing them playing and having such good things going through my head all day. By the way, VBS at our church is June 6-10 if anyone wants to come! Well, Arthur just came in so I need to go. Have a wonderful Lord's Day tomorrow!!

llama Burgers Anyone?

2011-05-19T09:32:00.001-05:00

Nacho Llama is quite the pain and maybe should be on our plates! The other day we moved some cattle in with the llamas and horses while moving cattle around to spring pastures. Well, Nacho figures he's the head honcho and loves chasing the bulls around. At the end of the video clip, you can see how the llamas treat each other. When they get too close, they both stick their noses up in the air and put their ears back and turn their heads away from each other. We think they look quite proud and vain. Being close to the kitchen window, they give us quite the entertainment!

The fields are getting planted with this nice stretch of warm weather and the cows are being split up into different pastures. I love seeing how excited they are to get out on fresh grass even though its not too long yet. Priscilla has her chicken hutch all cleaned and ready for new chicks and one lone tulip is blooming in my flowerbed. Never could get tulips to grow good despite the many, many bags of bulbs I've planted over the years. The mint is prolific in my herb garden and we can't wait for it to grow a little more to have ice tea that's not from bags. Silas is plugging away on a long list of farm projects that need to get done as well as spending a heap of time in the dairy barn. Isaac cleaned the inside of his new barn. He's busy planting for another farmer but his summer project is to get his barn fixed, sided, and some fencing done. Despite the many people around the community who think Isaac's getting married because he bought this place, thought you'd like to know, no, he's not! Hosanna and Priscilla are counting down the days till the Bible Bee boxes arrive in the mail. Miriam has started the never-ending summer job of mowing our lawn. So, spring seems to really be here.

Have a great day enjoying the beautiful life God has given us!

Priscilla's Promotion!

2011-05-13T13:37:00.002-05:00

PRISCILLA HERE-

How much time do you spend memorizing?

Hosanna and I are competing in the Bible Bee this year for the third time. I would strongly encourage

EVERYONE!

from the ages of 7 to 18 to be in it. Now you may be thinking, "I could never do that." Even though it is hard, if you learn just half of the verses in the Bee and do really bad at the local competition day,

you can never go wrong learning scripture!

If you learn the verses really well and ignore the rest, you're learning more than if you weren't in the Bible Bee. You don't have to do the family work book or learn all the verses but

you should at least try!

And if you're going to be in it,

you might as well do your best

and learn as much as you can. I've been in the Bible Bee two years and I've never learned all the verses, and I've never gone to the National Bible Bee as a competitor, and even though it's been hard and I could have done better, I think I've learned a lot and been blessed. I want to learn all the verses in my category this year and do my best but it would be

a lot more fun if you were ALL in it too!

The lessons you will learn by spending your free time memorizing

will last you a lifetime!!

You'll find out that you can actually do a lot more brain work than you think you can! So go to

www.biblebee.org

and sign up!

Guys Campout / Mother's Day

2011-05-07T19:35:00.000-05:00

Our church guys went on their annual campout last night. Silas and Isaac each built themselves a shelter instead of using a tent and this is Silas'. Looks pretty cozy to me!

I just loved this picture Silas took of the tall, majestic trees.

Mr. H. did the cooking and planning. Looks like some of the younger guys enjoyed watching. They had a good time fellowshipping and having devotions, target shooting and tomahawk throwing. I think it's good for the guys to do this.

Today we had our Mother / Daughter church tea. It was really nice and encouraging. There was some sharing about the Proverbs 31 woman. The Bible I used for many years was missing this chapter. Shortly after I got the Bible my oldest daughter, not to name names ;) was just a baby and tore it out and ruined it. Of all chapters! Oh well! I'm happy for my two little mothers pictured! I'm also happy to be a mother, and out of all the jobs I could have dreamed of to do, God allowed me to have the best one of all! It's not easy, especially for these young mothers, I remember! It's still not easy, just a different kind of hard. I hope all you young mother's out there have a wonderful weekend! Try to have a long range look. Things that seem so hard today will be rewarded tomorrow. If I could start all over again with little children, I would love them so much more. I would be more patient (at least I hope I would be!). I'm glad for a chance to be a grandma with little people to love and to practice patience. I also feel so blessed to have a wonderful mother of my own and a wonderful mother-in-law! God is so good!

"Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her."

Proverbs 31:28

I'm So Excited!

2011-05-04T17:02:00.000-05:00

Since we've started the cornmaze, I've been wanting a small building for a "country store". Well, when Arthur asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day this year, I told him I'd love that old grainery in our yard moved to the maze for my store. Dad, Arthur's Dad, who owns the bin, gladly gave his okay, actually a while ago, and helped Arthur move it today. I'm excited! Yes, It needs some work but it has a lot of character. As for the store, well, I'm not sure what will all be in it. Silas said we could make it into a family museum! I think he's just looking for a place to store his bottle collection. Maybe we'll sell some of them!! I'm thinking more like tee shirts since we've had a number of people ask why we don't sell them, maybe a few crafty things. We'll see.

Naomi was over last night since Aaron was out of town. She was practicing making petit fours. For those that haven't made them, they are really messy and kinda difficult. Anyway, she tried four different glazes to see which was the best. Some were thick and globby, others were perfect. We thought they were cute and gave the chocolate ones the best rating. Red and pink? Well, those are the colors of my nieces wedding so she figured she better practice in the wedding colors.

Well, have a wonderful evening and count your many blessings, see what God hath done!

God's Creation

2011-04-28T21:06:00.000-05:00

Isaac and Jonathan enjoyed their short trek out into God's seldom seen creation. In fact, they met a road grader on their walk out of the bog, who asked if they were lost, and after hearing that they had actually camped out there, said he thought they were the first white men to ever see that area! Yes, it's really remote!

They managed to pick up a few friends on the way back - beaver they trapped.

Silas has been working for a guy washing his equipment. Nice job when you love John Deere equipment like Silas does!

Life's hard when you're just a little cowboy! Looks like a little guy from the old prairie days.

Isaac, Hosanna and Priscilla went fishing today up town. Sure a beautiful day! And yes, that white stuff in the distance is still ice on the lake.

Whatcha looking for, Priscilla? Actually, she was looking at loons.

Arthur and I headed to flood country today to do some "city" shopping. Talk about water!!! Mile after mile of fields of water. I wonder if they will even get in the fields this summer. One field was full of pelicans, like hundreds and hundreds of them if not thousands! A nearby road was completely white with them. What a marvelous sight of God's creation! Not sure the farmers would agree! Saw quite a few farms dry behind their personal dikes, but with roads under water, they were using boats.

God does care about the little things and delights in giving us the desires of our hearts. A few days ago after cleaning up flower beds and our herb garden, I thought to myself, "I sure could use some new mulch. Like maybe three bags of red and one or two brown." Never gave it much more thought because mulch up here is kinda pricey and we have more important things to spend our money on. Well, today while at Menards, I spotted a bargin section out in the lumber yard. There was a palllet shrinkwrapped with red and brown bags of mulch! Seven bags to be exact, all for the wonderful price of $5.00! Sometimes I need the reminder that God cares about even the little things!

The Last Few Days

2011-04-26T11:17:00.000-05:00

Sorry these pictures aren't the best. For some reason my camera pictures have been a little blurry. Anyway, I thought the markings on this new dairy calf interesting. We've been having so many calves which is keeping Arthur and Isaac very busy. It's a hard job because so many of the mothers like to hide their calves in the woods or get mad when you try to eartag their calves. With all the very late night checks and very early morning checks for new calves, the guys are getting quite tired. Well, I'm not sure if Isaac is tired today or not - he should be since he and Jonathan J. are camping out in the bog (think "fens" for you GA Henty fans) for a few nights for a break. Doesn't sound like fun or a break to me! And I hope Isaac's leg can handle it!

We spent Easter at my parents this year. (These pictures are out of order) Daniel thought Grandpa's birdfeeders were so interesting.

Isaac snuck out fishing one day with some cousins and got himself a nice 41" northern off the dock in town. We gave one fillet away and still had a good meal. It's the longest fish Isaac's ever gotten so he was quite happy.

Ester was so delighted with Grandma's doll. She even gave it kisses.

And my mom delights in her great grandchildren.

Silas entertained the boys by giving them wheelborrow rides. Not sure about Davy but Daniel sure loved it.

The guys found time yesterday to butcher a cow. Jeshua was the meat grinder. Thanks, Jeshua!

Aaron also came out to help out. Thanks, Aaron! So, things have been busy around here. I'm working on getting a new library table out for this coming Sunday. Hosanna is busy perfecting her birthday present. Well show pictures of that someday. Miriam is finally enjoying having a dry trail to walk on in the woods. Also took some time to clean up flower beds and the herb garden. Priscilla and Silas are trying hard to finish up school. I'm so glad for busy times. I can't stand being bored without lots of things on my to-do list. Have a great day in the Lord!

He Arose! He Arose!

2011-04-23T22:14:00.000-05:00

Have a great weekend celebrating the

resurrection of our Savior!

To God be the glory

Great things He hath done!

So loved He the world that

He gave us His Son!

Mud - Farewell - Games - The Winner Is - Please Pray

2011-04-21T18:20:00.002-05:00

Mud! Farm work is just a wee bit harder when you have to deal with this stuff. It's dried up a lot in the last couple of days but rain is in the forecast. Also on the farm we've had calves, calves and more calves. It's Arthur's favorite time of year and there's nothing he enjoys more as farm work than delivering complicated deliveries. So far none have been too complicated this year. This weather is hard on the calves but they seem to be doing okay.

Farewell - Arthur's hauling this truck, our big white van, plus a bunch of stuff to the scrap iron dealer. Yes, he's leaving the truck and van as scrap metal. Lots of memories in that van but we're pretty confident no one would buy it or this truck. Plus, the price of scrap metal is really high right now and so it's a great time to clean things up a bit.

Games - Good thing to do with friends.

And the winning name for our new llama is "Nacho"! Thank you Louise for the cute suggestion. If there was a runner up it would be Cocoa. Thanks everyone for the great ideas!

Also, if you think of it, please pray for Texas and thier desparate need for rain. Gov. Perry has asked for a weekend of prayer and I think as christians we should all be praying as well.. Here is his proclamation:

Proclamation

By The
Governor of the State of Texas
To all to whom these presents shall come:

Whereas, the state of Texas is in the midst of an exceptional drought, with some parts of the state receiving no significant rainfall for almost three months, matching rainfall deficit records dating back to the 1930s; and

Whereas, a combination of higher than normal temperatures, low precipitation and low relative humidity has cause an extreme fire danger over most of the State, sparking more than 8,000 wildfires which have cost several lives, engulfed more than 1.8 million acres of land and destroyed almost 400 homes, causing me to issue an ongoing disaster declaration since December of last year; and

Whereas, these dire conditions have caused agricultural crops to fail, lake and reservoir levels to fall and cattle and livestock to struggle under intense stress, imposing a tremendous financial and emotional toll on our land and our people; and

Whereas, throughout our history, both as a state and as individuals, Texans have been strengthened, assured and lifted up through prayer; it seems right and fitting that the people of Texas should join together in prayer to humbly seek an end to this devastating drought and these dangerous wildfires;

Now, therefore, I, Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution of Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. I urge Texans of all faiths and traditions to offer prayers on those days for the healing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal way of life in Texas.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name and have officially caused the Seal of State to be affixed at my Office in the City of Austin, Texas, this the 20th day of April, 2011.

Rick Perry
Governor of Texas

Luke 18:31-32

Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them,

"Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spit on: And they shall scourge him and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again."

This is Getting So Embarrassing!!!!

2011-04-16T17:56:00.000-05:00

Arthur went to the auction again! They say llamas need to be in twos so he got another one! Kinda embarrassing! As a dairy farmer and beef farmer, you'd think he'd buy a cow!! Actually this one is friendlier than Valentine and I don't really mind having llamas in my yard. But what should we call it? Any suggestions? They called it "Obama Llama" but we would rather not keep that name! We need a smaller halter as you can see.

We woke up to a nice cover of snow. It was pretty if nothing else. Made the roads a bit slushy.

They had to check each other out. The llamas don't spit at the horses, which are in their pen, but they do kick or even bite them if they get to bothering them. It seems to me the white one kinda protects the black one from the horses.

Okay, another thing Arthur loves to do at this particular auction is buy stuff from a seller of outdated food. It's really really cheap but fun to get what he might have. Today it was cases and cases of yogurt. Not just any yogurt but the kinds we never would buy like White Chocolate Strawberry, Strawberry Mango, Key Lime, Pineapple, etc. Also got a box of bannanas, lots of Bounce, and a few other items. Fun! The kids are excited to eat all that yogurt which we froze and eat it frozen.

We also had a busy day today with a bridal shower for my niece, which was very nice. Also our church ladies / girls secret prayer pal reveal / exchange day. I love knowing there is someone out there praying for me. I also love praying for someone and looking for different ways to bless them and finding things to pray for them. I always thought if our church didn't have a program like this, I would just pick someone and do it anyway. Good idea for some of you girls out there.

So, give us your ideas for a name for our new maze zoo addition. I'd give a prize for the name chosen but you'll just have to settle for knowing it has the name you chose, if we choose one!

James 5:16

...pray for one another...

The Grandchildren

2011-04-12T10:30:00.000-05:00

Isaac was holding sleeping Jeriah when Daniel and David came over and then Naomi gave Esther to Isaac so we got our first picture with all four of them. Isaac went to the chiropractor today and had his knee joint put back in. There is some cartilage and ligament damage so he's going to have to take it easy for awhile yet but got the okay to put some weight on it. It's still swollen so until that goes down it's kinda hard to get an accurate feel for exactly what's wrong but he's chosen to go the patient route rather than rush to get an MRI and surgery. He might need it anyway, but he'll be patient for awhile first and see if that helps.

Meanwhile, what gorgeous spring weather!! I was excited to see a few things poking out of the ground!

II Corinthians 4:16-18

for which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Isaac's Bad News

2011-04-07T09:26:00.000-05:00

Last night at chore time, Amos calmly came in the house and said, "Mom, Isaac got hurt." I asked questions and went out to see Isaac who was lying on the ground by the barn. He had been getting ready to spread manure with the manure spreader, was standing on the edge of the spreader and slipped, his leg going between the tire and spreader and his body going the other way. He said he heard a few cracks and we figure he must've broken his leg in a couple of places. Arthur wasn't around so, overlycautious, protective mother that I am, I called the ambulance. If it was broken bad I didn't want to move it. Well, after a couple of xrays, they decided he did not break it, but most likely heard tendons popping. He needs to go in next week and have them do a more thorough check. So, he just needs to rest it. He said it feels kinda like a cow kicked him in the knee. Right away he prayed that God would help him use his time wisely, followed by a thought about how he was going to do his trapping!

The poor ambulance and hospital! When he fell, this is what he fell in! A nice, ooey, gooey, manure puddle! He though he was going to faint so he quickly got to the barn on one foot to tell Amos and layed down on the ground so he had all kinds of straw stuck to the mess he fell in.

Look! Green grass, at least a little bit of it. There's still some snow piles here and there in the yard. Well, if you think of it, please pray that the damage won't be too bad on Isaac's leg.

Isaac's Exciting News!!

2011-04-05T11:03:00.000-05:00

Isaac's excited! He bought some property! Ten acres to be exact and it has a barn, grainbin, garage, and trailer house on the property, plus a few really old broken down sheds. He's had his eye on it for about a year now, and, as broke as he is now, it's all paid for, and he has a nice fixer-upper place. The barn has a pretty good roof and is in good shape although it looks like it needs some fixing. The trailer is small and older so I'm not sure what he'll do with it. Maybe fix it and rent it out or sell it or something. The grain bin has our corn maze corn in it, at least what is left of the corn.

The trees in the background are on his property and have the Bulldog River that goes behind our barn going through the woods. Our place is on the other side of the power lines in the far back left corner of the picture. It's really a neat, quiet place that has lots of potential. I believe his first plan of action is to plant more trees (when it warms up some!) and do some fencing to put some calves over there or maybe his herd of beef cows that's currently with our cows. I'm happy for you, Isaac! God is so good!

We had the privilege of watching grandchildren this week. One of the first things Daniel does when he comes over is say, "Papa's cowboy hat?". He loves wearing it.

The boys also love Jeriah and can't seem to hold him enough. Davy says, "Hi, baby." over and over.

Here's the Fried Ice Cream Dessert recipe. It's so simple but so good!

12 Tblps. butter melted

1 1/2 Cup brown sugar

4 Cups corn flakes crushed

2/3 Cup walnuts crushed (we used pecans and peanuts would work too)

1/2 Gallon ice cream, slightly softened

Combine the margarine and brown sugar, mix in the corn flakes, nuts, and coconut. Layer most of the crumb mixture in a 9x13 pan. Spread ice cream evenly over the top. Sprinkle with remaining crumbs. (you can't ever have enough of the crumbs!) Freeze until ready to serve. We drizzle honey or chocolate over the top when we serve it.

Have a great day!

Cooking Day

2011-04-02T14:43:00.002-05:00

Well, we had time yesterday so we took a few hours to see how much we could get done. One thing Miriam and Priscilla worked on were Frozen Fruit Cups. I think they made over 100 and they are such a nice, healthy snack or dessert. Miriam also made two different kinds of freezer meals.

I made a couple of different meals as well to freeze. Just so you don't all worry, I don't use aluminum pans, or foil, and never have. These ones I lined with saran wrap and am hoping once they're frozen it will be easy to peel off and plop in a glass or stainless steel pan. Every since we first got married I decided never to cook with aluminum or aluminum foil. I've always heard it could cause a variety of health issues so I just don't bother with it. Kinda like hair dye. I had my hair dyed once but after I heard about all the potential cancer risks I'm just not sure it's worth it just to look better. I know, I'm a little over cautious, oh well. I probably will dye my hair again someday but not for awhile!

Hosanna made tatar tot hotdish and some frozen "Fried Ice Cream" type dessert. This is so good and tastes quite similar to what you might get deep fried in a restarant. Plus it's so easy to freeze and have on hand for company. Hosanna also took her drivers permit test yesterday and got a perfect score!

We made a couple kinds of soups including corn chowder and my sister-in-law, Linda's, cheeseburger soup. It's similar to a corn chowder but it has lots of cheese in it and you serve it with cut up pickles and mustard and ketchup in it if you want. Priscilla also made some loaves of french bread to go with the lasagne. Thank you everyone for your suggestions! I want to try the Thai chicken sometime, and yes, we agreed with Krystal that the best frozen food is ice cream!

Now we need to get busy on the Homeschool Tournament next Friday. Anyone within driving distance is welcome to come! Have a great day in the Lord!

Cooking Question

2011-03-31T17:23:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I've cooked with the intention of freezing a meal. Leftovers are so easy to eat the next day. However, I noticed that I have room in my freezer and thought it might be a fun thing to do with my girls. I'm curious, what's your favorite freezer meal that doesn't call for too many exotic ingredients?

This and That

2011-03-29T16:32:00.001-05:00

Backing up a bit, we had a "family" birthday party among the relatives and a few friends.

We scattered around the house with some of the kids playing games.

And the birthday people within those eight days, Mom K. (my mother-in-law), Hosanna, Cilla, and nephew Ben.

Here's the shower cake Hosanna made. She hasn't made very many so we thought it was pretty nice!

Couldn't help but take a picture of this ad in a local paper. The poor, in-love guy, is being snared by a pretty girl, not realizing how she's tangling him all up. Reminded me of the verse:

Proverbs 6:25 "Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids."

Now, I haven't seen this movie, and most likely never will, so I don't really know what it's about. Never-the-less, I thought it was a great illustration for my sons not to be snared by a lady's beauty like so many young men are. Not that a godly lady can't be beautiful, but it should be the inner beauty and godliness a man should look for.

Isaac taking Valentine for a walk. And for those that really care to know, it's a "fixed" male. I guess in cow terms, we'd call it a steer :)

We thought you might like to see Valentine close up. I caught him eating with his mouth open, if you can forgive him for being so rude :) Someone asked what we do with him and I let them know that he is a lawn ornament! He really doesn't like anyone to touch him unless they are scratching his neck, otherwise he runs off.

No, Arthur doesn't look good on this picture but he said I should post it anyway because of the cute little grandaughter he's holding. She has this cute way of "twinking" her eyes when she smiles. It not really a wink or a flutter so I call it a twink!

Happy 18th Birthday, Hosanna!

2011-03-25T09:36:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday!

So what is Hosanna doing on her birthday? Well, right now she's baking a cake to decorate for a shower tomorrow. She's checking out her birthday gift while it bakes. It will be a quiet day since we had a party for both her and Cilla last Sunday. Have a great day, Hosanna! We love you!

(she wouldn't let us tell about things you don't know!)

Happy 14th Birthday, Priscilla!

2011-03-16T20:21:00.000-05:00

Priscilla Joy

March 17th

Happy Birthday, Dearest Priscilla!!!

For fun, we thought we'd tell you some things about Priscilla that you might not know, like...

...when she was three months old, if you held her feet, she would do sit ups!! Really! We should've videoed it but some of you saw her do this.

... Priscilla enjoys writing books.

...She likes eating fish eggs. Ug!

...Shot herself in the ear with a soft air gun. We had a house full of company and it took a long time to get that little thing out.

...She can read a book three times or more and still sits and laughs outloud as she reads.

...And you probably all know that Priscilla keeps our house lively, with her laughter, humor, and ideas. Priscilla also loves God and shows it by her sweet spirit and attitude and helpfulness around the house.

We love you, Priscilla! Have a great birthday!

Please...

2011-03-15T11:40:00.000-05:00

Encourage the Mitton family this week by praying especially for Victoria's fever/bacteria to go away. It's been a month now for her and Linda in the hospital and it's very hard on their family. If you really want to encourage them, leave a comment on their blog. It's the Mitton Clan blog posted on our sidebar under "Relatives Blogs".

Saturday

2011-03-12T19:01:00.001-06:00

We've talked about making tortillas for a long time, and, having not done it since our early married years, we decided to do it today. We went with the Maxwells's recipe on the Titus 2 blog using whole wheat flour and a little white. It really isn't all that different from making lefse. In fact, we got out the lefsa equipment to make them. Miriam was so good at making them almost perfectly round! I would say lefse is harder to roll out.

Look good don't they?

So we had a delicious supper. Our beef taco meat, black beans, garden salsa, tomatoes, cheese, onions, peppers, sour cream and store bagged lettuce. Mmm! Thanks, Miriam, for doing the bulk of the work. Now that we've done it, we want to take a day and make tons of them so we can freeze lots of packages. Yes, we did freeze some of these too. We're game to try some other recipes if anyone has a favorite that they think is the best! Miriam also made enough blueberry pancakes for breakfast that there's enough for tomorrow. Sunday mornings it's a "fix it yourself" breakfast but we usually try to have something ready that's easy to make.

Well, it's Saturday and we usually do a little better job cleaning the house for Sunday. The guys try to get everything in the barn a little cleaner and feed the beef cows extra so Sunday is a little easier as far as the cows go. We've started having a few dairy calves which is always fun. It would be nice if it warmed up a bit more before the beef take their turn. We have had a few days where it's melted but not today. Well, I hope you all have a great day tomorrow worshipping God and fellowshipping with brothers and sisters in Christ! Just imagine how sweet that fellowship will be in heaven!

Skating and Fishing

2011-03-08T10:05:00.000-06:00

York loves to go along ice fishing and for rides in the truck. He hunts around for dead fish that people might throw out on the ice for his snacks.

One day the M. cousins came along.

My family, the J. family, and the C. kids all went skating like they do most Mondays. Arthur is trying to get some practice in for a tournament he's playing in later in March.

It always makes me a little nervous when I see the pictures Silas takes out on the ice. This one is them going over a crack in the ice. See the water splashing. Silas tried to comfort me by telling me most of them got out before Isaac drove over it, just in case!

Almost over the crack. Once again you can see all the water under the truck.

Whew! Finally over. I guess everyone drives over this crack because that's where the road is but it still makes me a little uneasy. The fishing hasn't been that great this winter so they haven't been out too many times.

Well, have a great day! Don't forget to pray for our country today!

Jeriah's Baby Shower

2011-03-05T11:03:00.006-06:00

Last night our church had a shower for Amos and Rebekah's Jeriah. Pam J. did a devotional about the blessing of children. It was so good! I'm not having children anymore but still want to keep the attitude of children being a blessing and to support younger mothers. She gave examples of how the world is against having children and how they view them as a bother and expense. It was so encouraging that there were even a few tears among the ladies.

The girls and I led in a game called, "Who Stole the Baby" based on the Clue game. Rebekah was one of the "suspects", kind of anyway, who you went to to ask questions. I wasn't sure how it would work but everyone seemed to enjoy it. For those that want to know, Matthew M. took baby Nellie, put her in the church outdoor nativity set, in order to sell her, and he did it during Sunday School. It was interesting anyway!

Naomi and Essie were there. Essie was full of smiles. Overall, there was a really good turn out considering all the flu going around.

Rebekah got lots of nice gifts which will make Jeriah one well dressed little guy. I'm afraid I don't have a picture of him because the battery on my camera went dead so this is all the pictures I got, that were nice anyway. Thank you Jaime, Ellen, and Stephanie for doing the shower! It was very nice! Thank you, Rebekah, for being such a wonderful daughter-in-law and for blessing us with grandchildren! And thank you, Pam, for that wonderful reminder of the blessing from God that children are. Makes me want to go out and adopt a whole bunch of them! For those of you young mothers out there, don't get discouraged with all the hard work children are. They are worth every bit of bother and expense, and are the best way to raise up disciples for God. They truly are a blessing and the rewards of godly raised children are, are, are, well, I can't think of a word to describe how wonderful they are! It is my desire and prayer that all my daughters and daughter-in-laws be blessed with many, many olive plants!

On another note, I can't hardly wait for spring! To be able to open the windows and to feel the ground under my feet sounds so wonderful!

Blog Infomation

2011-03-01T10:35:00.001-06:00

It seems like people are always asking, ""What are some good books for my girls or children?" or "Do you know of any good movies?" Well,I've been working on some of our favorite lists and have posted two of them as pages on this blog. (Click on the top links) I've been working on book lists, but it takes awhile. I'll try to get them posted soon too. I'll also try to update them once-in-a-while. The movie list isn't very long and most likely anyone reading this will have seen all of them. The shopping list has everything from a great place to buy garden seeds, to books, to just about anything you'd want to buy. There isn't much for clothing because we just haven't found any real favorite places to clothes shop. I've tried to add our personal opinions rather than just a review. It might be more conservative than some but comes from our point of view and isn't intended to offend anyone. Well, I have stuff to do. Have a great day!

You Bought a What?!!!

2011-02-26T16:57:00.002-06:00

1st Things First...

For the last few years, I've had a personal "scrapbook marathon". Usually in January, I'm late this year, I take a day or two and scrapbook the entire year so I'm done for another year. Well, in a day and a half I did lots and lots of pages. Sometimes I feel so tired but now I know why. We did so much this year from having a wedding, graduation, some trips, conferences, new grandchild, two important funerals, and so much more. It is a reminder of how good God is to take us through so many experiences, keep us safe, and teach us at the same time. Yes, I do make quite a mess. I just throw stuff on the floor and when I'm done I clean it up. Kinda my own style of speedscrapping I guess.

Today Arthur took Miriam and Hosanna along to the cattle auction. Some of ours and a neighbors bulls. It was quite cold with a -35 wind chill this morning. Brr!

No, he didn't buy an Amish wagon although Miriam took this because she thought it was neat.

And no, he didn't buy sheep although he thought about it. Even called to see if I wanted any.

Instead, Arthur bought a llama! He called up and said, "Honey, guess what I bought you for Valentine's Day?" Right, a llama! Little late, Arthur! :) He thought it might be a nice addition to our maze zoo. Mmm. We're not ever sure if it's a girl or boy. When Miriam tried to check she kicked! At least she didn't spit at her which they're known to do. Anyway, we don't know a thing about llama's other than what we read about today. Any advice anyone? What should we call this big guy? Or big girl? It seems curious and it's in the pen with the horses which it doesn't seem to mind. I don't think I've ever had such an interesting "Valentine's Day"gift! I guess the auctioneers thought it was funny seeing Arthur buy a llama so after that, when they had a little horse with no bids, they said, "Hey, where's the llama man?" Miriam was embarrassed! It does have beautiful eyes. Have a great Sunday tomorrow!

Cleaning Barn

2011-02-21T11:03:00.000-06:00

The barn cleaner repairs still aren't finished. Arthur's been working on welding about 100+ paddles that have worn thin to make them last a few more years. So, it takes time, and it's being done in spare time so it might take awhile. Meanwhile Isaac, and his younger cousins are doing about 30 - 40 loads a day with the wheelborrow. That's a lot of "stuff" to clean up! Meanwhile, the manure mountain is growing by the day and will be a "mountain" of work in the spring to haul away.

Arthur's dad is going through the "Financial Freedom" seminar with a bunch of the guys from church Saturday mornings. If you haven't seen this seminar, it's very good and is put out by the IBLP. Lots of great Biblical principles regarding finances. Isaac volunteered to make the snacks so he made a bunch of blueberry muffins. It was so funny because Miriam and Hosanna were coaching him and saying things like, "we don't follow the recipe for muffins, just to check the ingredients", "oh, you don't need to put that in", "add a little more of that", "substitute this for that", and so on. He wondered how we ever had edible food! His muffins did turn out very good, even though he left off the good cinnamon-sugar topping to make them more healthy.

The flu has been going around. It seems like there's two strains of it. The "upchuck" kind of flu and a more respiratory type. We've had both kinds in our house although not for as long as some people. Poor Amos has been sick for quite a few days as has Daniel and David a little.

Sunday evening's are usually our "family night" and so Amos, Rebekah and the kids, and Aaron, Naomi and Esther all come over. Last night it was just Naomi and her family. It doesn't get much sweeter than having all the children home and having little ones around to make us smile. God is so good!

Broken 706

2011-02-15T16:52:00.001-06:00

Arthur here -

"Even the best of equipment sometimes has problems. After roughly 45 years of use, the axel of our 706 IH fell into a rut from someone driving it a little too fast. The 2nd law of thermodynamics works on everything. After much labor from my dad, myself, and some helpers it is finally back together and working again.

When a person has a problem in life it can be taken care of too. Taking problems and failures to the Lord is the best way to get help, forgiveness if needed, and have your life working the way it should."

After Arthur wrote that, I thought I would add another interesting thing he's been doing. It's been really nice weather and the snow is melting some. Well, when you get a big 1,000 pound, or more, black cow laying in the snow, sometimes it melts under them to the point they can't get back up and struggle till they die. They get bogged down in a melted hole. It's happend around here a few times in the past so Arthur's been really diligent at checking the cows a couple of times a day especially for this. But not for long, colder weather is suppose to return in a couple of days. That's okay though, at least we've had a reminder that spring will come sooner or later. Even opened the windows for an hour or so to get fresh air in the house. Took advantage of the nice weather and did some shopping in a nearby town. I really enjoyed the closeout carts they had and got some great deals for very little.

Well, have a great day enjoying the gorgeous weather God is blessing us with!

Happy Valentine's Day1

2011-02-14T09:07:00.001-06:00

Isaac took a few of his cousins out fishing one day. Matthias sure enjoys fishing!

York loves being on the lake and having freedom to run around.

Just one of the many barn cats we have. Cute, isn't she?!

Silas keeps taking picture of the moon. We thought this was kinda cool because you could only see the bright part but the picture captured the "nightime" part of the moon.

Hosanna pulled out a really beauty but it was in the release size so she had to put it back.

It melted just enough to make the snow very shiny and hard to see. There's lots of houses out on the lake and it looks like towns all over.

Have a great day loving God!

Rambling, Valentine Princesses

2011-02-12T17:40:00.000-06:00

Okay, I have had several people tell me it's time to post. So, today I got out my camera that Silas takes pictures on, dowloaded them, and was about to post when Google informed me I was out of picture space. Mmm. Well, I bought more space for $5 a year but it doesn't show up till tomorrow so you'll have to wait.

Meanwhile, we're enjoying a gorgeous day of weather! I've been working on Vacation Bible School for our church so that's made a mess of our office and takes lots of time. It's okay. There's not too many things I get more joy out of than planning VBS. I did take a few days off for Arthur to work on our taxes which is really, really complicated with income from here and there, and other problems from being self employed. Anyway, I like getting VBS done in the winter so I can put it away and feel like I had a little break before we actually have it and get busy with spring stuff. For those that care, it will be May 30 - June 3.

I have a couple of other computer projects going on so posting kinda gets put on hold. After an hour or so of work on this thing I really need a break! Multiply that by several times a day and I get really sick of computers!!!

As for Valentine's Day coming up, I've been thinking that maybe we have it all mixed up. I mean, as ladies we expect the men to be our knights in shinning armour and us the pampered princess. Bring us flowers, candy, get our car door, lift our boxes, etc. We kinda expect the guys in our life to be our "heros" and do everything for us. The Bible says we are to be our husbands helpmeet, not them ours. Wouldnt it be cool if the next time you went out to the DQ you said, "Honey, you sit down, I'll go get our food." That is, instead of him getting it and bringing it to you. Or how about if we got his car door!! (After we braved the cold to warm it up!) Would'nt it be neat if the next time he was carrying something we said, "Here, let me get that." Bet he'd choke!! ' How about baking him that favorite meal instead of having him take you out for Valentine's Day? Wow, hopefully I don't have anyone mad at me but I know I could be a better helpmeet instead of expecting Arthur's help. Not that they shouldn't help and a godly man will help and should treat you pretty awesome. But, it would be good if we were like Rebekah and got the water for the camels. Pampered princesses sounds nice but I'm not sure it's the end of the story. The princess should thank the knight for the lovely flowers he's sure to bring and proceed to wait on him and bring him his favorite drink while he reclines on the throne. And no, I'm not against women! Just thinking about what maybe things should be like! Like the title of this post, Rambling.

Have a great Lord's Day tomorrow!

This and That

2011-02-03T22:39:00.000-06:00

Miriam reminded me today that I really needed post something. I told her things haven't been blogworthy but we'll do our best! Silas took the boys out for a pull in the sled. Daniel enjoyed it and Davy looked like he could fall asleep!

We took a new sidebar photo of Amos, Rebekah and the boys but thought you'd like to see it close up. What a fun bunch!

Arthur's been gone this week so it's seemed kinda long but he should be home tomorrow. Meanwhile, Isaac is in charge of a Bible Memory program at our church. I told him I really couldn't memorize. I work so hard on learning a verse only to have to do the same thing all over again the next day, and the next. Yes, he got me to sign up. It led us in a discussion about doing our best. Sometimes we say we can't do something, like talk in front of people, or memorize, but if someone offered us $10,000.00 we would all of a sudden find a way to do whatever it was. Sometimes our "can't" is our "won't".

I reminded the kids that whatever they do they should give it a 110%. What's that? Well, what most of us think is 100% really isn't. It all started when one of the guys came in and said they couldn't move another muscle it had been such a hard, long day. After talking about it, we decided that if we were in a concentration camp, with very little food, very little sleep, and likely no shoes, we'd find out we can work harder. So, the lesson is, to give God our very best whatever it is He calls us to do. Whether it's housecleaning, memorizing, cleaning barn, singing, playing hockey, whatever. How can we give God less than 110% when He gave his very Son for us.

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,

do it with thy might;.."

Ecclesiastes 9:10

The "Little People" and Hard Questions

2011-01-26T11:17:00.000-06:00

We've been watching Daniel and David while Amos helps with evening milking while Rebekah recouperates. Daniel especially just loves "horsey" rides and blanket rides from Grandpa.

Aaron and Naomi were by one day and we enjoyed seeing how Aaron and Naomi treasure this little sweetheart.

Daniel of course treasures David and gives him big hugs. Isaac mentioned how he saw Daniel was dragging a chair to the kitchen sink and David was on the floor in the way. He didn't want to push him over, this time anyway, so he dragged him out of the way by his head! Brotherly love alright! We've sure been entertained with these little guys and Esther.

And a neat picture Silas took of the moon.

Otherwise, Arthur's been busy getting rid of some old equipment by cutting it up to sell for scrap metal. A hard job but nice to get rid of some things. He made a call yesterday to another corn maze operator and if there's anything that creates instant fellowship other than both being christians, it's two farmers! It always amazes me how two farmers can talk and talk without having ever met! About cattle, tractors, and mazes of course! I guess two homeschool mothers probably could do the same thing about school!

We've been watching the "Demolishing Strongholds" videos in the evenings. Very interesting and have provoked lots of fun discussion as a family. I think of all the things we do as a family now that the kids are older, there is nothing I enjoy more than our evenings together after the work is all done and we can just visit and fellowship with each other. Inevitably, conversation turns to "what should Isaac be doing?", "do we really have to have a maze this fall?" (that coming from Miriam who is not a social type person), "what else needs to be done on the farm?", and, "is there anything else we should be doing to serve God?"

Lately we've been doing lots of talking about what we should do to serve God. If we knew we only had two years before the Lord returns, what would we do? If we have many years to serve, then what should we do? How is the best way to reach lots of people for Christ? Is it better to get lots saved or to disciple one or two? Knowing God's will is not always easy when you ask such hard questions. Anyway, it leads to lots of discussions and desires to serve God in anyway that we can. I hope and pray my children will all be, "I'll do it!" kind of people and not be afraid to serve God in anyway they can.

It's A Boy!!!

2011-01-20T13:34:00.001-06:00

JERIAH ALVIN

January 20, 2010

7lb. 9oz.

20" Long

Born at 4:14 AM

(Rebekah wanted me to post this!)

Congratulations, Amos and Rebekah!!! He is adorable!! We praise the Lord that though the labor was long, it went good!

Another boy in Amos and Rebekah's quiver! Grandma here thinks he looks a lot like David with a rounder face than Daniel. Rebekah says he liked to eat from the start!

Daniel and David getting a first look at the new little brother.

Hosanna enjoying being an aunt again! Again, Congratulations from Grandpa and Grandma, Amos and Rebekah! Now, get some rest, okay!!

Trip Post 2

2011-01-17T15:52:00.003-06:00

Actually, as I was putting things away today I remembered about one very special visit we had on our trip. In Spooner, Wisconsin is a great coffee shop called the "Alley Cat". My cousin Robert and his dear wife own this shop and I hadn't seen my cousin for five years so this was a very special visit! Growing up with just sisters, Robert was more like a brother to me and we have some great memories that we enjoyed talking about as well as what our kids are doing, etc. Even though we hadn't seen each other for so long, there's instant fellowship not only because of being family but because being brothers and sisters in Christ. How special! So if you're ever in Spooner, be sure to stop by and order yourself one of his specialties!

Our Trip

2011-01-16T17:02:00.000-06:00

Well, Arthur and I have had a good week. There were some disappointments, one of being half way to Tennessee and finding out the conference we were headed to was cancelled because of the weather. We also didn't get to visit the S. family or the G. families down there like we had planned. Someday! Another being the long way through Ohio we went to see something Arthur really wanted to see and then being told they didn't give tours. We did go to the Creation Museum - someplace everyone should go. We spent two days reading everything and watching all the videos and two planetarium shows. It was nice that with the storm, we pretty much had every place we went all to ourselves!

We loved how lifelike the "people" seemed.

Here's an animated Noah telling us about the ark.

And the dinosaurs were fantastic! Unfortunately due to the weather we didn't get to see their outdoor things.

Of course we spent a lot of time in the Dragon Hall bookstore!

This dinosaur moved it's head and tail around as it "ate" leaves.

We stopped by a model T museum next to a fantastic candle store. In fact, we stopped here and there a lot!

One night we splurged and got a room at a theme motel. This room was the Tennessee cave room with stalagmites and all. Really neat! You can see the whirlpool tub on the right.

And the other side of the room. The motels were almost empty so we had the pools to ourselves which Arthur really enjoyed. Overall, we just plain had a good time together, spent a lot of time praying for our children, and eating out. We tried to hit all places to eat we'd never been at least once a day. Not hard for us because we don't eat out much, but at least now we know what a Steak and Shake is, among others.

I guess the kids didn't post while we were gone like I suggested. They skated, watched tons of videos, and waited for Rebekah to have that little baby! It's okay, Rebekah, we're patient!

They were kinda scary! :)

Barn Cleaner / Snow / New Years

2011-01-08T10:21:00.001-06:00

The last week of December, over New Years, the K. cousins went to Bemis Hill to go sledding. Looks like a nice line up.

The cousins also went bowling. Hannah always takes such nice pictures.

Blacklight bowling.

Dad K. holding his great grandaughter, Kaleigh. She has such cute blue eyes.

Meanwhile, the guys have been shovelling the roofs of a neighbors barn, sheds, and house. If you have lots of trees around your buildings so the wind doesn't blow, the snow sure builds up, and we've all seen sheds that have caved in from snow so some people like to get the stuff off before it's too late. (I think that was a run on sentence!)

The barn cleaner also broke down. Not good. Means lots of cleaning by shovel and muscles till we figure out if we should buy the pricey part we need, have the nearby factory make us one, or find a used one sitting in someone's barn. We use a Patz left turn barn cleaner if anyone knows of one sitting around not being used.

So, the guys are busy while the girls and I get the house back to normal after Christmas and start winter projects. School has resumed and I think everyone is enjoying routine again.

Next week Arthur and I are going on a 25th anniversary trip. I'm really excited! At least I was till Friday afternoon when I got a letter saying I needed to do jury duty next week. I couldn't believe it. I called and the secretary said our trip was not a good reason to get out of jury duty but I could write a letter to the judge if I felt like it. That was depressing but I wrote a nice, humbling, appeal letter to the judge and she let me off jury duty. I was so thankful. That night when I was about to do some praying I thought about how much God is like our judge and how humbled we should be to ask things of Him. I was quite scared to write the judge a letter after hearing the secretary. Likewise, we should have a fear of God, in a sense, when coming before Him. We also should show our gratefullness for all He does for us. How wonderful to know that the God of the universe cares about us and hears our prayers and takes time to answer them! How great to know that as Judge, God will pardon us from our sin when we put our faith in Jesus!