Catch Up Time!

Okay, we haven't blogged for a LONG time! I've had several people tell me in the last few months that they miss it though so I will try to do a few more posts than in the last year!

Probably the same where you live, but the news this week is the bitter cold! We've had quite a few days now where it hasn't reached 0 degrees F. My father-in-law keeps a thermometer in the valley behind our house and one morning it said 59 below!!! That happened one other time in my memory. It's been tough on the cows, and the water pipes to the cows. Poor Arthur is pretty busy keeping them with fresh drinking water.  

Backing up to Christmas, I had fun making a special pillow for each of the older grandchildren with my new Cricut machine.

The Christmas highlight was having Nate and Hosanna come up for a whole week with their adorable little Ruth. By the way, Hosanna is expecting again!

In January our nephew Josh, who has been on this blog a lot over the years, and Priscilla's friend Jessica got married! What a beautiful wedding with two of the sweetest people!!! I can't wait to see what God has planned for their lives.

It doesn't matter how cold it is, Arthur keeps on working, and anyone else he can get to help. Last week, he got a bunch of firewood with Eli and some grandsons. I hear their going out again today. Brrr! And I'm freezing in the house!

For Valentine's Day I made everyone in the family a hot chocolate bomb. They were so fun to make even if it took me a long time. I'd like to perfect them a little and then maybe sell some at the maze.

Speaking of the maze, this is the first 2021 project for the maze getting worked on in our kitchen. I also had the fun of attending a virtual agritourism conference. Getting together, even if its online, with a bunch of other maze owners is so much fun. Everyone shares their ideas and what works for them. They share pictures and farm video clips. Plus there were lots of workshops.  My brain is "amazed" at all the things we could do! My family wasn't so enthusiastic!

At our church we've been having a ping pong tournament. Pretty much everyone is in it from young children to us older ones. It has been so much fun watching people play that we don't normally see play. 

So that's about it for now. A quick catch up on the last few months. Again, I will try to do better. I actually like blogging way better than facebook because I like to write more than people read. I hope you all stay warm, and count your blessings from God, and name them one by one!

 

Busy Days!

I'm sure you are all getting tired of the Coronovirus shutdown like we are. One thing we have enjoyed is doing a drive in service at our church. It's not like being in person, but sure better than sitting home watching it!

We were looking through some old pictures and found this one of Arthur, far left, from back in our college days at Northland. Those of you that know us, should know who is standing beside him as well! This was taken in our apartment when they were getting ready for a nightime campus event.

Another oldie picture we found was this one from the April Morning drama. It hardly looks like Arthur! 

The guys have been out sucker fishing a couple of times and one thing I did with them was make some pickled fish. Okay, as a girl I loved pickled fish. Ate it whenever I got a chance. But then one day I made some and realized that its really just raw, pickled fish. Haven't been able to eat it since!

Today my project is to take some old beans I had, both black beans and garbanzo beans and cook them up. They've been soaking all night, and after draining, rinsing, and putting in fresh water, they are on the stove as I speak. I love both of these beans in salads, in chili, in omelets, you name it! This time of year I always get into "empty the freezer and pantry" mode for the new garden season coming up. 

Arthur enjoyed taking Daniel sucker fishing and teaching him how to filet a fish. He loved it! Suckers are a great fish to learn on because if you mangle the filet all up, who cares! There's more!

Backing up to Easter Sunday, the girls took time to dress up and fix their hair to celebrate our Lord and Savior's death and resurrection!

They couldn't resist a Coronovirus facemask photo!

Arthur and I went for a drive last night, which we very seldom have time for, and looked at the fields. This is last years flax crop that never got harvest because of the fall rains. The field is still too wet to harvest. Such is farming.

Meanwhile, we are having calves born every day and its so fun to see the mama and baby pairs in the field!

Meanwhile, Priscilla works hard to finish up the rough draft of a new book.

Meanwhile, Miriam got her plane tickets for this summer. We will sure miss her!

So that's it for now. Continue to pray for our country and its leaders. Pray too for church leaders around the country that they would have wisdom in when to reopen and how. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

End of February!

This isn't our family, unless you want to count Eli, who says he's our Swedish exchange student, or Priscilla's little brother!  If the church guys want to play soft air, one of their favorite places is the corn maze. With all the buildings, fort, corn box, deer stand, etc, its just the perfect place to run and hide and have fun, even in the winter!

Today there was a broomball tournament fundraiser in Roosevelt and a bunch of our church guys, including Arthur, had a team. They got 1st place!

Meanwhile, Arthur and his dad decided that the corn, still standing in the field waiting for harvest, had too high of moisture content to harvest, and since we're a little shy on hay this year, put the beef cows in the corn. They love it!

I've been working on sewing aprons for the corn maze Granary.
Priscilla did a test set up of her table for next weeks home school convention.
Miriam's been plugging away on updating our church's photo/scrapbook.
We tore down last year's escape room to start on this years room.
The days are getting noticeably longer, both morning and evening!

Have a great weekend! If you need something to add to your prayer list, please pray for Mrs. M and Mr. G who both have cancer.

Loving Winter!

Okay, you wouldn't live in this part of the world if you didn't love winter! I could live without the icy roads, but other than that, its pretty nice. One thing everyone up here loves is hockey. You can't live in Warroad without loving it some anyway!

Once a week a group from our church, plus a few others go skating and play hockey. This week Esther and Anna showed up and Miriam helped them skate around the rink some since they're just learning.

Arthur and Caleb going for the puck. 

Eli as goalie. Yes, they miss Hosanna because she was a fabulous goalie. Eli is good too!

Okay, I was a little disappointed when I dreamed it was summer the other day and woke up to a very cold, windy day!

Other things we love about winter:
Getting house projects done.
Time to work on maze things.
Time to fix tractors and equipment.
The crunch when you walk in the snow.
The crisp, clean air.
It's easy to cool a room down for sleeping.
Everything looks so clean outside.
A little extra time to sleep.
Bright days- the snow reflects light!
The reminder that God can wash away our sins white as snow!
Ice fishing!
Snowmobiling (We don't do this a lot but those that do, love it!)

Tonight some of the grandchildren came by and we got a smile out of little Glorie! So adorable!!!

On the farm this week, Arthur butchered a couple of cows to feed various family members with help from a few nieces and nephews and friends to cut and wrap.  He also worked double hard to keep the cows fed with how cold it is this week.

I finished up another macrame project and then did some dishtowel embellishment using my Cricut machine. Both maze Granary projects. If you remember back awhile we made a "Come and Dine" cookbook, well, I remade it, with some changes and additions and am having it printed in magazine format. This is way cheaper than the hardcover and hopefully I can sell some at the maze as well.

Have a wonderful week! God loves you!!!

Christmas 2019 - So far!

It seems as if the whole month of December we have events that remind us that we should not be celebrating the birth of our Savior only one day of the year!  These are Aaron and Naomi's children at the Immanuel Baptist Church program this last Sunday. For as many programs as we've seen over the years, each one is still special including this one!

Okay, this isn't Christmas but its something that happens most years in December. We ship the calves that were born in the spring. They sold okay and we are happy. It sure cuts down on Arthur's work this time of year! Some years I go along but this year I stayed home and watched it online.

Our church ladies had a Christmas Tea. Jaime D. was in charge and she did such a good job! The theme was Christmas around the world and included foods from around the world, a skit about how Christians aren't able to celebrate Christmas in some countries, and devotional by Arlette, and more.

The young ladies in our church have a Christmas party each year as well and take turns hosting it. Priscilla took the job on this year and made "Gingerbread" houses for the girls to decorate. I wish I had picture of it, but they did an awesome job with them! They sang carols, exchanged gifts, ate, watched a Christmas movie, and had a devotional.

I was asked to share a devotional at the Berean Baptist Church ladies tea this year. I did it on the shepherds and how they were anxious to tell everyone the good news, as we should be. Priscilla, Jessica and Krystal came along and did a couple of music specials. Miriam came along for moral support! I only got this one picture because I thought this wreath made of clothes hangers was pretty creative!

About 35 years ago this year, I returned home from a visit to France and gave Arthur a sweater I had bought for him in France. We got engaged that Christmas! Anyway, every winter he digs it out and wears it. A LOT! It looked good for quite a few years but now he just wears it for work on the farm because its almost see through in places! Last year I thought he must've misplaced it because I didn't see it or that that maybe I chucked it. But one day a few weeks ago, here he was again in the sweater!

We watched Amos and Rebekah's children one day and Miriam and Priscilla entertained them with 5-Day club style Christmas songs, and stories and taught them the verse I Timothy 1`:15 ...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners...  Such a good reminder that it isn't just about the baby Jesus, but why He came, to save sinners, all of us!

If you have time this special season, take time to pray for our brothers and sisters in countries of the world where they are persecuted, tortured, or even put to death for celebrating Christmas. Pray that God would bless them and allow them to celebrate it in their hearts with joy and for His protection.

The 2019 Corn Maze

Well, the wedding has been over for a few weeks now. Hosanna is quite happily married and they are enjoying their new life together! She has made some new friends, met the neighbors, done some canning, and unpacked most of the stuff they have.  She's also helping with a homeschool co-op group so she's keeping busy. Meanwhile...

The maze has started! This is an older picture taken the day that everyone was leaf whacking.

Okay, this isn't the maze, but a normal part of life around here. Fixing fences! Amazing how cows can find the one weak spot in a mile long fence and get out of it!

We try to have a staff meeting a few days before we open, and sometimes it gets a little out of hand! I know, scary! Hard to believe that these are the best workers you would ever find in Minnesota!!!

That's better! You can fit a lot of people on that Paul Bunyan chair!

Handsome isn't he!!!

We took a Sunday to watch Aaron baptize our two oldest granddaughters! What a joy to know they are saved!

I think one of my favorite parts of the maze is the Sven and Ole Escape Room!  It's a little different this year in that it's three different levels, each ten minutes long. Sven and Ole are loggers in the Paul Bunyan logging camp. Uffda is right!

One evening at the maze, God sent a reminder that He would never flood the earth again!

That's it for now! Have a great weekend enjoying the creation God made wherever you live!

The Wedding, The Maze, The Baby!

Our family was so happy to share in Hosanna's special day!

The wedding was so beautiful! It was the hottest day of the summer, but I'm not sure that bothered anyone except maybe me! Hosanna thought through each part of the wedding, making sure that each thing would bring glory to God so that made it extra special.

Hosanna and Nate cutting the cake that the two of them decorated together!

Amos leading the reception program like a good big brother!

Nate and Hosanna thanking people for coming.

Our girls! All seven of them are very special to us and we love them all!!!!!

The happy couple! Hosanna did most of the planning and work for the wedding and she did a fabulous job. The Dunton family ran the kitchen which was a huge blessing! So many other people helped with food prep or setting up or taking down. Thank you to those that helped!!!!

Awww! One of my favorites!

The wedding party! The little girls were so adorable as they threw their petals.  The bridesmaids looked so lovely in their dresses and Hosanna was stunning in her dress! The smile never left her face from the moment Nate arrived a few days before the wedding till we waved them goodbye!

Apparently they had a good honeymoon and should be at their home in Ohio soon.  One restaurant even gave them a bag of doughnuts that said on the bag "Cutest couple award"!

I must say that weddings are a little bittersweet. You can't help but be happy for a young couple that loves the Lord, who find each other and get to the marriage altar still pure. But at the same time, a family loses a daughter, a sister, a friend. One that's been around for 25 years! So there's been some sad days around here but we all know that eventually we will quit expecting Hosanna to come skipping down the stairs and life will take on a new "normal", whatever that is in this house!!!

To finish off the wedding celebration after the church was cleaned up, and the newlyweds were gone, we spent an evening with Nate's family over at the maze. Nate's brother John brought his guitar and we sang hymns and camp songs, and shared around the campfire.  All six of Nate's brothers made it to the wedding as did his sister so that was special for their family as they are scattered all over the country.  We are so happy Hosanna is married into a family that we can appreciate and know they love the Lord.  We actually knew his parents from back in our college days so there was a lot of reminiscing going on those few days as well.

There hasn't been a lot of time to sit around and think about the wedding though. Maze work went into full swing this week. Mathias and Eli posed for a photo to show how the corn is Paul Bunyan tall this year!

Also, a big blessing this week was Silas and Karen's new baby, Bethany!  What an adorable little girl!!! The delivery was long but went good. Bethany has the distinction  of being #20 of the grandchildren. If you would have told me I'd have that many grandchildren when we got married I would never have believed it!!

So, life continues here on the farm! The hay is being baled, and Arthur says the wheat harvest is just around the corner. The calves are growing and with all the rain so are the pastures. The cows still get out and fences still need fixing. Our "microdairy" cows still need milking and the garden needs harvesting.

If you think of it, pray for our family. We are tired and our "busy" season hasn't even started. Well, we're on lunch tomorrow at church so I gotta go get some things ready.

Have a great Lord's Day tomorrow and don't forget to count your blessings, naming them one by one!