Duane arrived here about 4:00 p.m. yesterday (Monday) after driving straight through from Oklahoma. I think he started out about 3:00 a.m. and drove in fog most of the way!! (Glad it wasn't me.) As soon as he arrived, he, Justin & Carrie started carrying all his supplies upstairs. Now our bathroom is more interesting than ever--not only is our tub filled with boxes of Christmas decorations, the floor is half-covered too.
Before long I could hear the sounds of pounding and crashing. That kept up until suppertime. Thankfully Duane allowed himself time to eat a good meal, relax and visit. He didn't start in again until 6:00 this morning! So we have a good idea of how this is going to go. He is taking out the walls of the closet where the new stairway will go. I think the ceiling will go too. It's the messiest of jobs to remove old plaster and lathe (as you know if you've ever done it).
We'll see where our progress is by tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
A NEW PROJECT!
The holidays are past; blizzards and snowstorms have changed the landscape of our town and the area in several states, and now we refocus on the promise of a New Year.
So what has occupied our past week and a half? Carrie and I have been emptying the one and only storage closet we have in our house in anticipation of converting it to a permanent stairway. That stairway will lead to our small attic, which will be converted into a kid's "hangout". This coming Monday my brother Duane will be coming to begin the project. Duane is one of those preachers who will tackle about anything and has done so many times. His experience with fixup and construction jobs (wiring, plumbing, sheetrock--you name it) will be a HUGE blessing to us. Since we don't know where or how to start, we are very thankful he has offered to come and do that for us.
I will try to do updates, so you will know about our progress. The neighborhood girls are very excited about this project, because they have been promised they will be the first to have a sleepover in the newly-converted attic. And the grandkids know of our plans, so they are excited to see what the room will become. I know at this point they can't visualize it at all. We did show the empty attic to Tori and Logan at Thanksgiving. I wanted them to see the "before", so the "after" will be very dramatic for them!
I guess today was partly prep for Duane's arrival. I ended up baking 3 kinds of cookies. We'll feed him good so he'll have energy for work!
So what has occupied our past week and a half? Carrie and I have been emptying the one and only storage closet we have in our house in anticipation of converting it to a permanent stairway. That stairway will lead to our small attic, which will be converted into a kid's "hangout". This coming Monday my brother Duane will be coming to begin the project. Duane is one of those preachers who will tackle about anything and has done so many times. His experience with fixup and construction jobs (wiring, plumbing, sheetrock--you name it) will be a HUGE blessing to us. Since we don't know where or how to start, we are very thankful he has offered to come and do that for us.
I will try to do updates, so you will know about our progress. The neighborhood girls are very excited about this project, because they have been promised they will be the first to have a sleepover in the newly-converted attic. And the grandkids know of our plans, so they are excited to see what the room will become. I know at this point they can't visualize it at all. We did show the empty attic to Tori and Logan at Thanksgiving. I wanted them to see the "before", so the "after" will be very dramatic for them!
I guess today was partly prep for Duane's arrival. I ended up baking 3 kinds of cookies. We'll feed him good so he'll have energy for work!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS
It's that time of year again. Carrie and I decided we would plan to take in all of the Christmas programs in which our Superkids were involved this year. Can you imagine that with about a dozen kids, that meant 4 programs to attend? We made 3 of the 4, but opted out of one due to the distance and very cold temps. Yesterday afternoon was the rescheduled jr & sr high program at Deubrook in White. Excellent job by the choirs and bands!! We had not been to a concert there in years and were pleasantly surprised at the level of musicianship and crispness of the music. And it was fun to see so many friends and family members of the musicians that we knew. Great job--all of you musicians!!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
A GREAT TRIP TO THE HILLS!!
Our annual trip to the Black Hills for deer hunting was a great time for both Annette & Justin. Justin got to hunt some with Dirk, and also with his lifelong friend, Leroy Larson. They began hunting on a Friday and Justin got a nice doe on the following Thursday. When he left that message on Nancy's phone we all set up a loud "PRAISE THE LORD!".
While Justin was hunting, I was enjoying the beauty of the area as Nancy and I shopped and took in lots of activities. We visited the fun Christmas stores--Mistletoe Ranch and Christmas Village, ate at Bully's Blends (always a treat), went to the hockey arena for Thor to get his gear for the upcoming hockey season, enjoyed meeting the young moms and their little ones in Nancy's interactive Bible study at church, worshipped with our brothers and sisters in Christ at Dove Christian Center,
took the quilt top in to the woman who will machine quilt it, and did lots of visiting!
Of course, interspersed with all of that was plenty of Grandma time. Liv got to know us better and rewarded us with good-bye hugs when we left last Saturday.
Anika and I played American girl dolls, and we played games with both Thor and Anika. I even was there to see Thor recognized for making the 4.0 honor roll this first quarter of school. Thor is already in 4th. grade. Like Nancy says, "he's nine and that's halfway to eighteen!" Yikes!
We enjoyed balmy temps in Piedmont, but it's almost as nice here right now. We were interested to see how much harvest has been accomplished during the week we were gone. There is still lots of water standing in fields all along the way in East River. We thank God! for the balmy days we are having now to help the harvest along.
Soon it's Thanksgiving. We love this season of fall weather and enjoy every day when the sun shines and the air warms in the afternoon.
While Justin was hunting, I was enjoying the beauty of the area as Nancy and I shopped and took in lots of activities. We visited the fun Christmas stores--Mistletoe Ranch and Christmas Village, ate at Bully's Blends (always a treat), went to the hockey arena for Thor to get his gear for the upcoming hockey season, enjoyed meeting the young moms and their little ones in Nancy's interactive Bible study at church, worshipped with our brothers and sisters in Christ at Dove Christian Center,
took the quilt top in to the woman who will machine quilt it, and did lots of visiting!
Of course, interspersed with all of that was plenty of Grandma time. Liv got to know us better and rewarded us with good-bye hugs when we left last Saturday.
Anika and I played American girl dolls, and we played games with both Thor and Anika. I even was there to see Thor recognized for making the 4.0 honor roll this first quarter of school. Thor is already in 4th. grade. Like Nancy says, "he's nine and that's halfway to eighteen!" Yikes!
We enjoyed balmy temps in Piedmont, but it's almost as nice here right now. We were interested to see how much harvest has been accomplished during the week we were gone. There is still lots of water standing in fields all along the way in East River. We thank God! for the balmy days we are having now to help the harvest along.
Soon it's Thanksgiving. We love this season of fall weather and enjoy every day when the sun shines and the air warms in the afternoon.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
A PERFECT OVERNIGHT TRIP
I'll have to explain the title. Carrie and I took an overnight trip to Minneapolis this past Thursday and Friday. Our first destination was the Mall of America. Carrie had never been there before and especially wanted to visit the American Girl store. It was great "girly" fun to view all the dolls and their accessories! From there, we did a bit of browsing, especially enjoying the kid stores, including the Build-A-Bear store and the Lego store. (Guess I am a true Grandma!) We didn't see all of the mall by far, but really had fun (a very surprising thing for me--I'm not much of a fan of mall shopping). Amazingly, the freeway traffic wasn't even too bad going from there to visit and stay overnight with our friends, Dick, Kristi, Mia & Shayla. The girls are as cute as ever and had a great time dressing and playing with their American Girl dolls with Carrie.
We had a wonderful time of sharing about things of the Lord with our friends.
Friday morning we left Minneapolis in the rain, even drove through some snow, and were thankful all of it quit before we were 50 miles out of the city. In Hutchinson I truly exercised my "gift of shopping" when we spent 2-3 hrs. in the Joann's Fabric store! Christmas is coming and there are 5 grandkiddies to prepare for!!
We arrived home a bit after 6:00 p.m. and Justin was burning branches from the big old boxelder we had had sawed down a couple of weeks before. Carrie and I grabbed rakes, added leaves to the pile and helped him finish the project. It was good exercise after hours of sitting in the car.
After making the trip, we wondered why we had waited so long to drive to Mpls.
What an easy trip--4 hrs. at 60 mph. We won't wait so long before doing it again.
What we did see all the way on our trip was thousands of acres of unharvested corn and beans. We are praying according to the Scripture where God promises seedtime and harvest as long as the earth remains. God is faithful--the harvest must be brought in!!
We had a wonderful time of sharing about things of the Lord with our friends.
Friday morning we left Minneapolis in the rain, even drove through some snow, and were thankful all of it quit before we were 50 miles out of the city. In Hutchinson I truly exercised my "gift of shopping" when we spent 2-3 hrs. in the Joann's Fabric store! Christmas is coming and there are 5 grandkiddies to prepare for!!
We arrived home a bit after 6:00 p.m. and Justin was burning branches from the big old boxelder we had had sawed down a couple of weeks before. Carrie and I grabbed rakes, added leaves to the pile and helped him finish the project. It was good exercise after hours of sitting in the car.
After making the trip, we wondered why we had waited so long to drive to Mpls.
What an easy trip--4 hrs. at 60 mph. We won't wait so long before doing it again.
What we did see all the way on our trip was thousands of acres of unharvested corn and beans. We are praying according to the Scripture where God promises seedtime and harvest as long as the earth remains. God is faithful--the harvest must be brought in!!
Monday, September 21, 2009
PROCESSING APPLES---
It's Monday morning and my usual time to call Mom Lillian, catch up on our weekend news and receive communion together. We have an extra-long visit this morning while my apples bake in a slow oven. (The goal is to get them really mushy so I can put them through my cranking strainer and make homemade applesauce, which we love!). After our phone visit is through, I open the oven door to see how my apples have progressed. WHAT A SIGHT!!! The apples in both roasters have been happily cooking over for some time. There is cooked apple on the bottom of the oven (not the whole bottom, but probably a third of it), hanging from the roaster lids and on the sides of the oven racks!! Obviously, the apples are done!
I laughed--what else was there to do. You'd think I'd never done hundreds of quarts of applesauce in my life before. One good thing is that the oven was only on 300 degrees, so the apples were not burned to the bottom of the stove, just sticking in some places. I NOW HAVE A CLEAN OVEN!! And the batch that's cooking in there right now is doing so at a bit lower temp. So much for years of practice in the kitchen!!!
I laughed--what else was there to do. You'd think I'd never done hundreds of quarts of applesauce in my life before. One good thing is that the oven was only on 300 degrees, so the apples were not burned to the bottom of the stove, just sticking in some places. I NOW HAVE A CLEAN OVEN!! And the batch that's cooking in there right now is doing so at a bit lower temp. So much for years of practice in the kitchen!!!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
WOMEN'S CONFERENCE - Paynesville, Mn. - KEEP YOUR FORK!
Last weekend Carrie & Annette joined Pastor Joyce and a friend from Russell, Mn., to attend a women's conference at beautiful Lake Koronis near Paynesville, Mn. Despite driving through pouring rain for part of the trip, we arrived safely (thanks to Cathy's careful driving). We were joined by about 80 other women from 15 AFCM
(Association of faith churches & ministries) churches. Our speaker was Brenda Thomas, from the bay area of California. She and her husband pastor a church in Hayward. It was interesting to hear her testimony of how, when she was a teenager, God showed her faces of people from many nationalities, especially Asiatic. She began then to pray for the people she had seen, doing most of it in tongues, since she didn't know just how to pray specifically. She said she was just a young teen in Oklahoma who had never traveled the world, but surmised God had called her to be a missionary, probably somewhere in the Orient.
Well, that didn't happen. She met her husband, Mark, at Bible school in Oklahoma and they began pastoring in Minnesota. In 1982 they moved to the San Francisco area.
When they drove to this area, she saw the faces she had seen as a teen; the presence of the Lord filled the car and she began to weep. Her husband wondered why she was crying. She answered that these were the people she had seen decades earlier in prayer; she knew she was "home" and this was their calling--to minister to the many different ethnic groups of people in the bay area. So their church is a kaleidoscope of nationalities. Isn't that a great testimony of the leading of the Holy Spirit?
Despite not getting the greatest sleep the first night, we enjoyed our time at the conference. The weather was perfect! We had time to take walks around the campground and enjoy the mild air, sunshine, gorgeous Lake Koronis, the good and ample fare of food, and the meetings.
The speaker had brought her daughter-in-law with her, who shared her own testimony of redemption. The young woman's parents "stood in the gap" for her during the years she spent in rebellion against God and His call on her life. After her testimony an altar call was given for those moms who have wayward children for whom they are praying. It's always unnerving and sad to see at least one-third of the women respond to such an altar call. That is when I thank and praise God that I never had to go through the agony these moms are experiencing as they pray for their kids and watch them struggle against God.
Pastor Brenda left us with this reminder: KEEP YOUR FORK--THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
She reminded us that God is not done on this earth yet; He has not forgotten this nation; He will answer our prayers for deliverance. When we eat a company meal, and the hostess tells us to "keep your fork", it means there is still something else coming that will taste REALLY good. And that's what she was reminding us of--we should "keep our forks--THE BEST (with God) IS YET TO COME!!"
I was home by mid-afternoon on Sunday. It's good to be unpacked and know I can stay home for awhile now. It's still my favorite place to be!
(Association of faith churches & ministries) churches. Our speaker was Brenda Thomas, from the bay area of California. She and her husband pastor a church in Hayward. It was interesting to hear her testimony of how, when she was a teenager, God showed her faces of people from many nationalities, especially Asiatic. She began then to pray for the people she had seen, doing most of it in tongues, since she didn't know just how to pray specifically. She said she was just a young teen in Oklahoma who had never traveled the world, but surmised God had called her to be a missionary, probably somewhere in the Orient.
Well, that didn't happen. She met her husband, Mark, at Bible school in Oklahoma and they began pastoring in Minnesota. In 1982 they moved to the San Francisco area.
When they drove to this area, she saw the faces she had seen as a teen; the presence of the Lord filled the car and she began to weep. Her husband wondered why she was crying. She answered that these were the people she had seen decades earlier in prayer; she knew she was "home" and this was their calling--to minister to the many different ethnic groups of people in the bay area. So their church is a kaleidoscope of nationalities. Isn't that a great testimony of the leading of the Holy Spirit?
Despite not getting the greatest sleep the first night, we enjoyed our time at the conference. The weather was perfect! We had time to take walks around the campground and enjoy the mild air, sunshine, gorgeous Lake Koronis, the good and ample fare of food, and the meetings.
The speaker had brought her daughter-in-law with her, who shared her own testimony of redemption. The young woman's parents "stood in the gap" for her during the years she spent in rebellion against God and His call on her life. After her testimony an altar call was given for those moms who have wayward children for whom they are praying. It's always unnerving and sad to see at least one-third of the women respond to such an altar call. That is when I thank and praise God that I never had to go through the agony these moms are experiencing as they pray for their kids and watch them struggle against God.
Pastor Brenda left us with this reminder: KEEP YOUR FORK--THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
She reminded us that God is not done on this earth yet; He has not forgotten this nation; He will answer our prayers for deliverance. When we eat a company meal, and the hostess tells us to "keep your fork", it means there is still something else coming that will taste REALLY good. And that's what she was reminding us of--we should "keep our forks--THE BEST (with God) IS YET TO COME!!"
I was home by mid-afternoon on Sunday. It's good to be unpacked and know I can stay home for awhile now. It's still my favorite place to be!
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