4th of July / Shower / Blessings

Here it is, our "Lumberjack" parade float! I really thought Paul Bunyan, made by Eli, was pretty cute! Babe, the ox, not so much. It doesn't matter what I can draw, I cannot draw an oxen for anything! Finally Arthur made it after many attempts on my part, and then I ruined the face because I can't draw an oxen's face either! Josh amazed everyone by walking behind, juggling.

And then the fabulous maze crew passed out ad cards! More than any other year! See the silly face on Babe? I tried, really I did. Maybe I can fix it before the Roseau parade!

We had a 4th of July picnic at Arthur's parent's place with lots of great food and fellowship! 

On Saturday, Hosanna's sisters gave her a bridal shower at our church. Priscilla did a couple of games, including a "How we do you know Nate and Hosanna" and wedding emoji one. Naomi, Aimee, and Miriam made a salad bar and ice cream and brownie dessert. Karen and Rebekah decorated, and it was very pretty!  Grandma Krahn did a devotional. And everyone brought such nice gifts. As soon as Hosanna got home she unpacked everything and took pictures to show Nate and then repacked everything, really tight, to make sure there is room for everything! Arthur is bringing all of Hosanna's stuff down to Ohio later this month, with Hosanna of course! And the big day is August 3rd!!!

This is the front of the ad cards the maze staff passed out. If you live anywhere close, we'd love to have you come out! Oh, this really isn't the card we passed out! (Just noticed by previewing this post) The ad cards we passed out had 2019 instead of 2018 on it!

This is the back side of the card. To be honest, I really struggle with announcing all the things we're doing before we are even ready! It's just a little scary!  But God is faithful and somehow it always gets done.

Speaking of God being faithful, Arthur was working on the concession stand and we needed to get some flooring and a small freezer. We didn't have the budget to get them right away. Anyway, the next day, Arthur was mowing lawns with Aaron and heard someone call for him. He looked up and it was "Spud" who had just taken out some linoleum from a house he was remodeling and wondered if Arthur could use the old one. Yes! Then he kept mowing and saw a small freezer, the perfect size we were looking for, in a guy's yard for sale! God is so faithful!

 Then we decided a couple days later that we really needed some money. Remember we got rid of the dairy cows? Well, we haven't had a regular check since then and haven't had any problems because, again, God is faithful! Well, the same day we decided we needed to find some money, expecting that we should ship a couple cows, three different people who owed Arthur money showed up and gave him some. We hadn't expected any of it anytime soon! God just delights in doing this kind of thing! 

I think more than anything, God was using these blessings to confirm that we are suppose to be doing the maze this year. Our prayer was, that if we weren't suppose to do it, that God would not fund it. Our plan was to plow ahead until God stopped us, which I kinda thought He might! But no, He has confirmed to us again and again, we're on the right track.  So thankful!

One last thing, as a mother, Monday's are always hard after busy Sundays. I don't know if I'm alone in this opinion or not, but my wisdom for today is, "Schedule easy things on Monday!" That's why I'm blogging today. That's why I go through emails. That's why I do all those no-brainer things on Monday! That's why when the kids were young, instead of making Friday's school easy, we made Monday easy!  Just thought you might like the wisdom from this quickly-getting-older lady!:)

Have a great week everyone!

New Babies!

New little Lydia being enjoyed by her sweet sisters!

Lydia is Aaron and Naomi's little girl. 

Last night we had a baby shower at church for Rebekah and little Ilana. Great Auntie Linda got the honors of holding Ilana.

And Ilana will be one well dressed girl with all the fun clothes she got! Happy Mama, happy baby!

Tomorrow our family is on lunch at church. Hosanna is making birds nests for dessert. At least we can pretend it's spring!

With three fairly new little babies in the family, we've been doing a lot of babysitting. 

Arthur got me a new sewing machine for Christmas and I finally had time to get it out and test it out. It has an embroidery feature that I can't wait to learn how to use. Meanwhile, I just made an apron to test it out.

Okay, I know this was a short post but I really felt like I needed to do a post, even without a lot of words!  Have a wonderful day enjoying God's blessings everyone! And if you don't have a place to go to church tomorrow, visit ours!!

New Baby and Parties!

We are excited to have a new granddaughter! Heidi is excited about little baby Martha! Mama and baby are doing great!

It was our turn to do the ladies Christmas Tea at church and we came up with the theme "Carol's of Christmas" and there was lots of singing. The young ladies also did a Christmas Caroling skit. We had little trees on the tables and each was decorated to illustrate a different Christmas carol. We used it for a game.

A young lady in our church and music teacher did a great devotional sharing the history of different carols.

We decided to try a charcuterie table for lunch. It was so good! I love all the fresh food and how simple it was to put together.

The grandchildren pop in almost daily and enjoy looking at the different Christmas ornaments and decorations around the house. Here's Gideon pointing out baby Jesus in the stable.

Earlier in December my sisters and I gave my dad an 80th birthday party with all his friends, relatives, and people from their church.  He requested pizza so that made it super easy and everyone loved it! It is hard for me to imagine that my dad is 80. He doesn't get around that great, and he moves like he's 80, but its hard to imagine that many years have gone by. God has been good to him in giving him a long life despite having had multiple heart attacks over the years. He is a living miracle in more ways than one.

I didn't get out Christmas cards this year. I wanted to but just had to let something go. Never-the-less, I wish you all a very merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior! May God bless you all and give you a wonderful time with your family and friends!

Mini Vacation

Sometimes you just need to get away! For the last couple of years we've been going on a short trip between Priscilla and Hosanna's birthdays to shop, and just have fun. We headed down to Iowa this time and after a lot of bad roads, and seeing tons of cars and semi's in the ditch, we arrived at our hotel. We love these suite hotels so the girls can have one room and Arthur and I the other. Plus there's the nice "living room" area and kitchenette.  We stayed in one other nice hotel like this one, and then in a Super 8 one night. Strange hotel. If you ask we'll tell you about it!

You can't go shopping for just clothes and such! Arthur needed to shop at Scheels and felt he was ready to guard the presidents! Too bad he didn't have his white hat on!

I posted this below, but one of the reasons we went to Iowa was to go to a Patch the Pirate Concert. Their team preformed the Ocean Commotion CD/book minus a couple of songs.  There were a lot of people so we didn't have the greatest seat but still really enjoyed it.  We would've been there earlier and gotten a better seat but the roads didn't cooperate! Anyway, the girls really enjoyed listening to Patch the Pirate when they were young and so we thought we'd go. We're glad for the picture too!

Another thing we did since we were in Iowa was visit missionary Bill Adams. I first got to know him and his wife way back in 1984 when I spent time helping them in France. Throughout the years we've kept in touch but he doesn't head up this way anymore, at least since his wife Mary went to heaven. So, we thought we'd go visit him! We had such a good and edifying visit and it was fun to reminisce about those days long ago in France. Believe it or not, this 86 year old man still travels to France every year to preach and serve in the church there! This picture was actually taken last time he was at our place and I neglected to get a picture of him now like I really wanted to.  It was especially encouraging hearing how the church in Europe, and the middle east are growing.

Other than that, we ate out, sang on the road, laughed, swam in a hotel pool, and shopped till we dropped! It was so fun! I treasure these days with our adult daughters because I know they can change so fast. God is so good! I'm so thankful for a husband that patiently waits in vehicles, or on benches so we can shop! We are so thankful too for Isaac and my niece Sarah who did chores so we could be gone!! Family is just so precious! 

End of Maze 2017 Review

Well, the 2017 maze has officially been over for over a week now. It went so fast!! One of the best things we did this year was to add a roof over the farm ball game and over the cornbox. It made it so people had someplace to go when it sprinkled or even rained and made it so they hung around till the rain stopped. Plus, it gave a lot of shade on hot sunny days. I'm so thankful to have a handy husband who can do this kind of thing along with the great help we had in the form of church boys, nephews, and sons!

My favorite thing in the store this year was the jars of candy. Not that I liked the candy so much but I loved the long row of jars. 

To show our workers how wonderful we think they are, we took them bowling. Caleb M. and Jessica J. had the top guy and girls scores!

Then our wonderful workers joined us for an afternoon of cleaning up the maze. It always amazes me how it takes weeks to set up, and just hours to take down! Maybe we need to have a workers set up party as well to make it go faster!! 

Last year my sisters decided I needed to get away after the maze so we went to Fargo to shop. We did it again this year and enjoyed a couple of days together not only shopping but laughing and talking. I love these ladies!! (Even if I do look the oldest with my grey hair, I'm really the youngest!)

Arthur loves this time of year and when he needs a break, he goes duck and goose hunting. There are always willing people to go along to make it easier to leave the work behind! Here Daniel and Jeriah enjoyed an early morning hunt with their grandpa.

Okay, this is out of order but when I downloaded pictures, I thought you might enjoy seeing Priscilla's table full of pretzel sticks decorated to sell at the maze.

Hunting with Eli, Will and Josh.

And one more early morning hunt with a bunch of ducks and a goose. Will, Eli, Josh and Arthur.

Meanwhile, Josh went home again and we will miss his wonderful help around the farm and his humor in the house. He is a wonderful young man with a heart to please God.

As far as the maze goes, it was our 9th year, and our biggest so far. We also had the biggest day we've ever had! If you know our area, you probably wonder where they come from.  A lot come from Canada and the rest from towns around here. It was a good year and no one got seriously hurt, we got a lot of tracts out, and pretty much had a problem free season. A big thank you to our workers and others who prayed for us. It is very emotionally and physically tiring but we survived! :)
Next on the list is finishing up a few fall things, like cleaning out our very messy garage and getting the rest of the carrots dug up. Priscilla wants us to do the Roseau craft show again so there's things to make for that. My winter "after the maze is done" project is to paint / fix up our stairs and hall upstairs. Maybe even this fall if I can get to it. Our office is also a disaster from not being cleaned during maze season. So there's all that paperwork and craft stuff to deal with.

So, that about sums up the last few weeks. I'll try to post more often now that the maze is done. God bless you all and don't forget to memorize a verse this week!

July is Almost Over!

My July file of pictures is pretty big as we've packed a lot into this month. It almost makes me glad to turn the page on the calendar on Tuesday! Here's a brief summary of the last couple of weeks!

This week Arthur had "Farm Camp" here on the farm with a great group of boys and other leaders! We're missing a few on the picture, but you get the idea!

They got a lot of work done, including putting up part of a fence at the maze. I can't wait for this project to be done! It will look so nice!!

Most people play capture the flag, but up here, we play "Capture the Bones" with old cow bones!!

The guys put up a ton, literally, of hay and stacked it in the shed, all in very hot weather!

Aimee, Ella and I did cabin inspection each morning and then gave a noon report. It's a good thing. I can't imagine how the bunkhouse would look if there wasn't a daily clean up!!

We all headed over to the maze one night so Silas could grill burgers. Mmm! Thanks, Silas!

And the roof for the farm ball game got a long ways done. This will be great for keeping balls from flying over and keeping out of the rain.  I'm told it's tall enough to back a trailer under if we need to store hay from the rain :)

Before farm camp, my wonderful sisters and I gave my mom a surprise 75th birthday party!

I was so glad to have Ella around to help since the girls are at camp. She came along to get things ready and to pour punch. Thanks, Aimee, for sharing her!!

My mom was really surprised! It was their wedding anniversary so my dad used that as an excuse to get her to town. She was really surprised that her brothers and their wives came up, er, down, from Winnipeg.

We also did the maze float for the Roseau Fair Parade. Between the two parades we passed out about 4,000 maze flyers! We feel so blessed to have such wonderful young people to help us when we get desperate!!! You too, Linda!! Roseau County Ford let us drive a brand new 2017 truck in the parade! Probably hoping that Arthur will take a hint when he test drives it ;) Maybe someday!

Well, I know I'm missing things, like how wonderful of time the girls are having at camp! Two weeks left and they'll be home. Yeah!!

Have a wonderful Lord's Day tomorrow!!

We're Done!

On Monday we started cutting the maze and by Wednesday morning we were done. Yeah! Sore muscles and all, its nice to have that part done with and it seems "right". I guess we'll have to wait for an aerial to see if it really is! Next on the list is to get the parade float ready among a list of other things.  

We spent Father's Day at my parents house this year. My dad is a great "griller" and he makes the best chicken! I'm so thankful to not only have a great dad but a great father-in-law as well! God is good! While my dad has not always been the man he is today, he was just the man I needed growing up so I'm thankful.

Other things - Miriam is leaving to join the girls at camp in a couple of weeks so we are busy trying to get a lot of things done. I'm not sure I can handle all the girls being gone and still work on maze stuff, but God doesn't give us more than we can handle, so I guess I'll handle it!! After so many years of having girls helping with the cooking and cleaning and gardening and laundry, etc, I'm not sure I can do it anymore! I told the boys they might have to live on frozen pizzas and they were pretty happy so I guess we'll live!

Meanwhile, we wait for Naomi's baby to be born.
Meanwhile, the hay is growing and so baling hay is just around the corner.
Meanwhile, life goes on.

Have a wonderful day everyone while enjoying God's blessings!

Easter and Bathroom Re-do!

We had my family at our house this year for Easter. I was a too busy to take a lot of pictures but I got a few. My sister Kim brought these adorable "nests" for all the kids, as well as Cherries in the Snow and a Caramel Apple Dessert. Mmmm! This was after we had a very nice service at church this morning celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord!

After a big meal, you need to sit back and relax!

This is my Uncle Norman holding his great, great niece Heidi.

Backing up a bit, our project for January / February was to redo our downstairs bathroom. And how badly it was needed! Well, we didn't get it started until early April and then we really had to hurry to get it usable by Easter. This is a before picture. There were actually mirrored doors over this tiny closet.  Cracked mirrored doors! In layers, there was lath and plaster, wallpaper, foam, old linoleum, and some paneling.  I know this will grieve a lot of you, but I suggested Arthur put the sheet rock over all the layers. For some reason I love knowing the history of the house is buried for future re-doers to find! On the top left you can see where there was probably a light at one time. We always wondered what the switch was for in the kitchen, and now we know!  It's a plug in now!
We had a lot of problems with pipes breaking, plumbing leaks, wiring challenges, unsquare walls, etc.

And this is how it looks after we got done. I didn't have time to stain the shelves. I kinda like them like this. Anyway, I don't have time to change them for now so it will have to do. The things that were in the closet now are stored in the baskets. Spray paint make the toilet holder and towel rod match the dark woodwork. The paint is called Canterbury Cream. I wanted to do a tile floor but it just didn't happen this time.

And this is the rest of the bathroom. Arthur cut the mirror down and added a frame. I also spray painted the light fixture. We couldn't fit sheetrock behind the toilet so we put milkhouse board behind the toilet and sink area. There are still a few little things we need to do, but I'm just happy that it looks so much better than before! I'm thankful for a handy husband as well!

When we moved into this house about 26 years ago, this little corner off the kitchen was the laundry area. We moved the laundry upstairs, best thing we ever did in this house, and made the little bathroom with supplies we could afford at the time. It was really nice for little ones who struggled to make it to the bathroom fast enough as it's the only bathroom downstairs. 

Don't you just love the cute little chicks on the shelf?! Yes, Priscilla, that's your mug I used!

And the big metal flower came from Hobby Lobby.

I really wanted to get rid of the old pocket door which was a thin hollow core door. I found an old house door in the garage from years ago and it worked just right for the bathroom. A little paint and it looks as good as ever.  Someday I'll stain and varnish the other side because it doesn't look too good right now.

Well, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend remembering the victory we have in Jesus! Just remember, we can, and should be celebrating it every day!! Have a good one!