MORE CONVENTION 2009

Today was a little bit of a blur so I may not have much to say because I’m still processing it all. I was late to the praise service because I was supposed to put out the mail and there was sure lots of it. I finally quit and just did it later on.

Seth Fouse led worship, then Bro Joe preached a word on Divine order. It was excellent, but I might have to listen to it again, because I’m a slow listener.

Tonight I came in a few minutes late to praise and Thomas and Jim Dandurand were leading praise with the help of Chris, Liz, Kathryn, and Joey. They were horrified that Bro Jimmy kept singing older move songs that they had never heard of. It was pretty funny. Lizzie said she decided to just stand there and smile when that happened. She did a good job. Bro Ernest preached tonight on not having guile found in us. David DiGloria ministered on God’s fire.
Bro Buddy closed and then had us sit down for a quick talk on the economics of our nation and of the world. I might have quit listening when he was talking.

Tonight it is still and -12°. Everything outside looks grubby and wind-blown. Oh well.

Some of the guests that I either forgot to mention yesterday or that came today are: Flori Stoeber, Melody Reed, the Grappengetters, the Horenders, Katja & Curtis, Paul & Wendy Jennings, Rick Stille, Mike Bear, Julia Phelan, Adriel Fouse, Woan Chuei, Chuck & Cindy Miller, another lady from Tok, Jay & Lonnie, Susan & Joseph, and the Wilson family. Some of the ministry that I forgot to mention is Bro John Jeffries (he’s staying with us) and Bro Ernest Watkins.

Yes, Jarred’s in laws – Robin and Gary Horender – are here for ten days. They seem to be enjoying the convention and their family.

LAST DAY

I’m sorry that I never reported on the last day yet. Yesterday got hectic. J Yesterday we woke up to -20°, but it warmed up a little during the day. This morning it is -4*. Rich read in the news that we are supposed to have a severe cold snap soon.

Anyway, back to convention – We only had one meeting that day. Patrick B led another rousing praise even though he had lost his voice since the last time he’s led the worship.

Bro John Jeffreys brought the first word even though he still was feeling a little puny. Bro John’s text was Galatians. He spoke of the cross, saying that it is only on the cross where a new man can be made because we are putting away our way and going God’s way.

Bro Buddy then preached, and he was still feeling puny too. I’m not sure what his theme was, but he did say he wanted to give us some “walking” tips. I have a lot of notes, but they are all random thoughts – Bro Buddy’s word was not random, though, just my notes are. Here are a few of my quotes, “We know we have found grace in God’s sight when He shows us the way. … Any man that is willing to do God’s will, will be shown what to do. … It is one thing for us to receive God; it is another for Him to receive us.”

Bro Joe closed the convention.

Chris’s friend’s family seemed to do okay at the meeting. They seemed to have witnessed to the word and they were singing during worship. Rebekah’s parents and four siblings came with her.

Yesterday we were all recuperating from the hectic convention time. Thomas and Jeni and family with Jim Dandurand came over for brunch at my house. Then we went over to Tom’s house for dessert later in the evening.

The ministry left at 7 am for the Haines farm.

Today, it is back to school and work! Later today, Rich and I are going to take Jim Dandurand to Fbks so he can fly home. They are having freezing rains in MO where he comes from. Hope that goes away!

Folks are suffering from post convention flus....

Pat had a good chat with some of the FM and TM and on the last supper we make for all of them, Bro. Joe talked to Pat and self for a long time about all sorts of stuff and things that are going on around the world and in this move. Annie our 16 yr. old was listening very intently which is a good sign.

Have a great week.

ROB GOT A NEW ROCKER BOARD FOR PD !!

Hi All,
State of Alaska procured a large rocker board for Rob's upper body therapy. He and his classmates are really enjoying it!

THE LAND CONVENTION 2009

Hello all,

It is still very windy out, but nearly as windy as it was this morning when we first got up. The wind positively howled all last night; I hope it’s quieter tonight. It is -5° and windy tonight.

Patrick started off the first meeting today with a rousing praise service. Bro Bill Grier was the first preacher. He talked about being in a war and using the sword of the Spirit to cut all the way to the marrow. Bro Buddy preached on the need to die in order to live.

Tonight Thomas led worship. I was on cook so I don’t know much about this meeting. Bro George preached.

Several of the preachers are feeling a little queasy tonight. Mike Crouch went home sick today. I sure hope everyone is feeling better by the morning.

We are enjoying all of our guests – the Hudgins, the Marshes, Bonnie Stille, Becky Riche, Ann Bear, Mike Phelan, the Crouches, the Underhills, Rose Dunning, Audrey Seman, Terry Hardman, Rosita someone, Mike and Clara Buerge and children, David Digloria, and others maybe. The ministry includes Bro Buddy, Bro George & Sis Val, Bro Bill, Bro Joe, Bro Wayne & Sis Ann, Jimmy Dandurand, and maybe others. I’ll complete the list tomorrow.




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STILL WARM.....

Hi folks,

We’re still having nice weather. I sure hope it holds through the weekend so that we have a pleasant convention. It snowed about an inch on Saturday night, covering up the slick roads. That was necessary! I was preparing to start wandering around in my ice skates. I noticed that a lot of people had out their cleats. Anyway, at 9 pm tonight, it is 27°.

The guys had fun going to Fish Lake. I guess the wind was blowing strongly back there in the wide open spaces. They came home in time for supper last night. That was good as Bro Rus had bought flowers for Sis Millie’s birthday. He’d also asked Allyson to make a special meal and to make Sis Millie’s favorite cake – carrot cake. It was a low key but festive time.

Rob had his yearly psychiatric eval and passed with flying colors! The doc was very impressed with his progress in social and language skills....

Pat went to Valdez again for a quick one day stint...tuning their grand piano again for a show...May is in Tok getting her last patient contacts and getting ready for her EMT 3 course coming up in Feb.


OK talk to u later gater...

GETTING READY FOR CONVENTION~~

Forethought is easy, repentance hard.
~Chinese Proverb~
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MORE WINDS AND CONVENTION READINESS...

Hello All,


We’ve had extremely high winds off and on for the last couple of days. The temperature has been staying steadily at 38° or higher, as much as to 50° a couple of times. Much of our snow has melted due to the wind and some slight precipitation.

Thursday, Jon and Pat Lou grabbed a tarp and a sled and slid down the sawmill/shop road and into the softball field all the way to Milliron’s new home with the wind as their power. They were going so fast that Pat Lou had to let go of the tarp and jump out so they didn’t go flying through Garth’s new windows.

Wendy and Lizzie had a tire blowout the other day as they were driving to Fbks to do the shopping. Some nice man helped them put on their spare. Wendy drove 40 mph until she could get to Fbks to get the tire changed. That gave them a very late start for their day.

Jeni and Thomas took Manda into the orthodontist that day to get her lower (?) braces put on. She is happily living on shakes and yogurt for a few days.

Andy went off the road on his way to preach in Tok the other night. The roads were icy and it was drizzling a little bit. The person who tried to help Andy get out of the ditch ended up in the ditch as well. They had to get a tow truck to get them both out. No one and neither car was hurt. Pat took Flo into the doc in Delta. She has been having some probs and is in need of a surgery which she is considering...
Fortunately they did not have any mishaps on the road.

Whitestone is having some problems with this wonderful warm weather. Their ice road has gone out so they’re having to boat in the icy water and mostly darkness since it is January. Their convention starts this morning so I’m sure they’ve been having a nice time getting Ministry in and out and other visitors. Garth, who safely delivered the ministry to Whitestone, is now home for a few days.

A bunch of guys are preparing to go to Fish Lake today. I heard they are going the plateau way, for those of you who know our back yard. They plan on staying overnight.

Steve and Chris went to Fbks yesterday to buy some equipment for our wood shop since we needed to upgrade a few things.

Some of the young children have had a flu bug going around. I sure hope they’re the only ones to get it.

We had our yearly pre convention cleanup last night. There was a good turn out mostly kids though....it was rather low key from other years I remember. Everything got a touch or cleanup, stoves, ovens, ceilings, lights, wood panels, floors, light fixtures, etc. My arm is sore today!!

That’s all for now. There has been nearly 80 to 100 degrees difference in temperature since exactly this time last week. It is still quite unbelievable!

Have a great weekend.



"If you can't find the time to do it right the first time,

when are you going to find time to do it over?"

from "Think Big" by Dr. Robert Anthony

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Hello,
If you enjoy this blog, please become a follower. This will automatically set you up so that you can get the latest posts and news from The Land....
thankyou
Griselda Buongiorne

BLUSTERY WARM CHINOOK!!

The wind came up yesterday; now the wind is whipping around here – I guess you could call it a chinook. It is 38° right now!!!! The local weather advisory said to tie down anything that we didn’t want blown away!

These winds can be quite destructive. It blew Pat's expensive FM antenna down and it looks rather sorrowful lying on the snow outside. A nearby spruce fell on part of our wire fence...other folks have had things blown away, broken or otherwise damaged in some way..

The warmth is making all our frozen meats and stuff outside start to thaw....not too good! the place looks pretty nasty with all the dirt and branches dirtying up the nice white snow...but it is better than -50!

Hope it cools off a bit for Convention, since the paths and roads are extremely slick and dangerous. Folks have taken out their ice cleats to just walk around from building to building.

I hear Whitestone's winter road which is actually just a build up of compressed ice and snow spanning the river, and which leads into their property during the winter months, has colapsed due to the intense wind and melting conditions. They are asking that no people from off of the farm go to their Convention, since they have had to start boating people across again and it is rather dangerous in the winter, because of ice chunks and such. I hear that the Delta church is now coming to our convention so that should swell our ranks considerably....

Yesterday Wendy W went to Fairbanks for farm shopping and had a flat tire on the way there. The whole thing was quite the ordeal, especially for a woman....she was fortunate to find nice guys who wld help out and eventually she got a new tire and a new rim since the old had got bent out of shape...she came back last night at about midnight...poor girl....glad to be home safe and sound!

Took Annie into the doc yesterday, with Rob...she had an ear infection. Feels better now...people are coming down with the "preconvention" virus bugs....

I just saw Bro. Rus (80) riding on the back of Pat Jr. snomachine...looked pretty funny...it is so slippery outside that I think that it why Pat gave him a ride....

Have a nice day!

English as a 2nd Language

Dear ones:

Will try to transcribe some literature that came my way on the English language. Thought you might be interested....
SUBJECT: English as a 2nd Language

This is oh so true and pretty funny, too. You'll be glad you didn't have to learn English as a second language... enjoy.

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice;
yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn_t the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine, she shis and shim.

Some other reasons to be grateful if you grew up speaking English:
1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8. At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.\
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.
19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
22. I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.

Screwy pronunciations can mess up your mind! For example: If you have a rough cough, climbing can be tough when going through the bough on a tree!

Let_s face it , English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren_t invented in England.

We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don_t fing, grocers don_t groce and hammers don_t ham?

Doesn_t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of the, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn_t preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while wise man and a wiseguy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

Interesting eh?

KIDS IN CHURCH....FUNNY...ENJOY!!

KIDS IN CHURCH
3-year-old Reese:
"Our Father, Who does art in heaven,
Harold is His name.
Amen."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little boy was overheard praying:
"Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it.
I'm having a real good time like I am."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the christening of his sister in church,
Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.
His father asked him three times what was wrong.
Finally, the boy replied,
"That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,
and I wanted to stay with you guys."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had been teaching my three-year old daughter, Caitlin,
the Lord's Prayer for several evenings at bedtime.
She would repeat after me the lines from the prayer.
Finally, she decided to go solo.
I listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word,
right up to the end of the prayer:
"Lead us not into temptation," she prayed,
"but deliver us from E-mail.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One particular four-year-old prayed,
"And forgive us our trash baskets
as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they
were on the way to church service,
"And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"
One bright little girl replied,
"Because people are sleeping."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old
brother, Joel, were sitting together in church.
Joel giggled, sang, and talked out loud.
Finally, his big sister had had enough.
"You're not supposed to talk out loud in church."
"Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked.
Angie pointed to the back of the church and said,
"See those two men standing by the door?
They're hushers."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Rogan 3, and Ryan 4.
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.
"If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,
'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,
"Ryan, you be Jesus!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A father was at the beach with his children
when the four-year-old son ran up to him,
grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore
where a seagull lay dead in the sand.
"Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked.
"He died and went to Heaven," the Dad replied.
The boy thought a moment and then said,
"Did God throw him back down?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A wife invited some people to dinner.
At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,
"Would you like to say the blessing?"
"I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied.
"Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered.
The daughter bowed her head and said,
"Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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FUNNY!!..DO NOT READ IF U ARE RELIGIOUSLY SENSITIVE!!

Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who was better on
the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was
tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to
set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I
will judge who does the better job."

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.

They faxed.

They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments.

They downloaded.

They did spreadsheets!

They wrote reports.

They created labels and cards.

They created charts and graphs.

They did some genealogy reports

They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed
across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power
went off..

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in
the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their
computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming:

"It's gone! It's all GONE! "I lost everything when the power went out!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the
past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate.

"Wait!" he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all
his work and I don't have any?"

God just shrugged and said,

JESUS SAVES

FUNNY...ENTIERRO CUBANO

ENTIERRO CUBANO

Toda la familia en CUBA, se quedo sorprendida cuando llego de Miami un ataud con el cadaver de una tia muy querida.

El cuerpo estaba todo apretado en el cajon con la cara aplastada contra el cristal de la tapa. Al abrir el cajon, la familia encontro una carta prendida a la ropa con una aguja que decia:

Queridos Papi y Mami: Estoy enviando el cuerpo de Tia Jimena, para que hagan el entierro en Cuba, tal como ella queria; disculpen por no poder acompanarla, pero los gastos fueron muchos, con todas las cosas que 'aprovechando las circunstancias', les estoy enviando.

Abajo de tia, en el fondo del ataud, encontraran, 12 latas de Bumble Bee, 12 botellas de acondicionador y 12 de shampoo Pantene anticaspa; 12 frascos de Vaseline Intensive Care (muy bueno para la piel, no sirve para cocinar); 12 tubos de crema dental Colgate; 12 cepillos de dientes; 12 latas de frijoles Span (espanolas, de las mejores); 4 latas de chorizo (de verdad). Dividan con la familia, (sin peleas !!!).

En los pies de tia Jimena estan un par de tenis Reebok nuevos talla 9, son para Juan (pues con el cadaver del tio Esteban no le mandamos nada y se quedo enojado).

En su cabeza hay 4 pares de calcetines nuevos para los hijos de Antonio, son de colores diferentes. De nuevo, por favor, sin peleas!.

Tia Jimena esta vestida con 15 sudaderas Ralph Lauren: una es para Robertito y las otras para sus hijos y nietos. Ella tambien lleva una docena de sostenes Wonder Bra, dividan entre las mujeres, al igual que las 20 botellitas de esmalte para unas Revlon que estan en las esquinas del ataud.

Tia tambien lleva puestos 9 pantalones Dockers y 3 jeans Levis. Papi: quedate con 3 y les regalas los otros a mis hermanos. El reloj Seiko que papa me pidio, lo lleva puesto en la muneca izquierda; tambien usa los aretes, pulseras y anillos que Mama queria y me pidio.

La cadena en el cuello es para mi prima Carlota; los 8 pares de medias Channel son para repartir con mis amigas y las vecinas, o si quieren pueden venderlas (por favor no las den baratas, que son de las caras). La dentadura que le pusimos es para la Abuela que hace anos esta sin dientes y no puede masticar (con estos dientes va a poder comer pan sin antes mojarlo en el cafe). Los lentes bifocales son para Alfredito, pues son del mismo grado que el usa; tambien es de el, la gorra de los Orioles que lleva puesta.

Los aparatos para la sordera que usa tia, son para la Carola; no son exactamente los que necesita, porque son de segunda mano, los nuevos estan carisimos.

Los ojos de tia no son de verdad, son lentes de contacto; quitenselos que son de Marcela, se los debia desde sus 15 anos. En los dedos de los pies, van los anillos de oro para el casamiento de Josefina, para que este super hermosa ese dia. Espero que nadie se queje esta vez...

No le cuenten a nadie todo esto y saqueenlo rapido, antes de comenzar a velar el cadaver. Con mucho amor: Maria Dolores.

P. D. :

Por favor consigan ropa vieja para vestir a tia Jimena para el entierro, manden decir una Misa para ella ya que los ayudo hasta despues de muerta. Como veran, el cajon es de muy buena madera; no agarra termitas, deshaganlo y hagan las patas de la cama de Mama, comprenle un cajon de los baratos, pues a ella le gustaban las cosas sencillas. Saquen el cristal de la tapa y arreglen el portarretratos de la abuela que esta roto hace anos; una bolsa plastica sera suficiente para volverlo a arreglar.

Con el forro del cajon, que es de satin blanco de 20 dolares la yarda, Josefina se puede hacer su vestido de novia. No dejen que toda esa alegria les olvide vestir a tia para el entierro.

Con la muerte de Tia Jimena, la tia Blanca se quedo muy triste y enferma; creo que pronto les estare mandando mas cositas.

some more news...

Hi again,

I thought I would write to fill you in on a little more news, if I can find any. The last couple of weeks have been a blur of very cold weather.

When it gets cold like that, we have to do a lot of wood hauling and stoking of the fires. Jarred was on evening watch this past week, which means he stokes the boilers for the public buildings. He did a very good job, keeping us all as warm as could be expected in such weather. Something went wrong with the school boiler, but Merlin was able to patch that. Now we are toasty warm again.

Various people had trouble with frozen drains--us, Jannis, Kim Milliron, and maybe others. Our frozen drain was caused by an ignored drip from one of our faucets.

Sis Marilyn is continuing to improve while undergoing some physical therapy in Anchorage. I heard that Garth with Ann and Wayne Gentry went to visit Sis Marilyn. They passed all these very sick people before finally happening upon Sis Marilyn who looked very well and was grinning from ear to ear.

Allyson and Jo had a scare today. Bro Rus dropped them off at Chasz to pick up the Dodge minivan that’s been in the shop for a month for body work. The heater wouldn’t work, and it is -10° out. Allyson firmly told Chasz to get it fixed, and they did. (It had worked when we dropped it off so…)

We did have service yesterday, but I was in the kitchen so I don’t know what was said. I do know that Ben led worship and that Bro Steve and Bro Andy preached. Many people were missing due to sick children-hopefully we will be all “healed” before convention time.

The pellet production is going well, but the guys are looking for a good market for selling them.

Kathy Casey has started planting begonia seeds. It’s too cold to start the greenhouse so we just plant them in the upstairs of the tabernacle using grow lights for sunlight.

Erica Mehaffey turned 18 yrs yesterday. Seth and Olivia put together a little party for her.

Speaking of birthdays… Sis Millie’s 80th birthday will be on the 21st of this month. We plan on having a cake for her or something this coming Sunday. This is a surprise so NO ONE tell, NO ONE mention it to her!!!!!!!! Thanks.

Convention starts on the 23rd. We will be starting to do the pre convention cleanup soon. Everything gets a scrubbing, lights, floors, walls, ceilings, ovens, etc. It is a good time to get together and the kids especially love it, all that water sloshing about.....then usually have a snak to top the evening off...

We are happy for the warmer temperature. It is now happily at -10°. Everything that was frozen to windows and doors is now merrily melting and bath towels are coming in very handy to stop the flow of water....

Big Pat went to Delta to tune for Whitestone so they can get ready for their convention. People are planning -before convention- trips as fast as they can, now that the weather has warmed up some. Flo has a medical in Delta coming up and I will probably be taking her in.

May's 19th. is coming up at the end of this month and we are planning a big party at home. She always wants all her ex teachers and her old school friends so it makes for quite a crowd.

Again, have a great week,

Talk to you all later....

HEAT WAVE!!

OMW, the temp has warmed up to -15*. After having such extreme cold temperatures for so long now, this feels wonderful. Seriously, people have canceled appointments and scheduled town trips for these two week unless they just had to go somewhere (which wasn’t many people) because of the temperatures. We are running out of food (not really, but out of the extras that make food fun).

Because of the milder temps, some people are finally able to get out and go to their appointments—Ann with Micah for his foot brace appointment; Rus and Millie for a dental appointment; and more – I just can’t remember them all. Allyson and Jo are going in with Rus to pick up the Dodge that’s been in the shop for quite awhile. Then they will do shopping so we can prepare for convention which is only approximately 10 days away.

Ok, I better do the breakfast thing. Just wanted you all to know that we are alive and well and that the temperature has finally broken, hopefully, for awhile.

Have a great week!!!!

CAN U BELIEVE IT IS STILL - 40 !?

Well, this has gone on long enough...we are definitely ready for warmer climes! According to hubby Pat, this cold spell is a record going back 2 decades.....going into our 3rd. week...ouch!

Even for us Alaskans, we have had enough and some of us are going thru the dreaded "cabin fever" syndrome....

Rob and the guys did go out this Sat. to chop wood for the community and I was worried all the time somebody wld end up with frost bitten appendages....especially Rob who does not like to wear his muffler over his nose...but all was well and after about 2 hrs. or so they all came trooping in again to the warmth of the indoors. Rob even helped Dad fill the wood box and was feeling very proud of his accomplishments indeed!

He actually tired himself out so that we found him at one point sleeping in his bed...in the middle of the day!!

Underground weather report has it that it will warm up again soon...maybe tomorrow...?? ha ha, heard that one before.

Here's to warmth, wood stoves, hot chocolate and log cabins!!

more later...and....

"warmest of wishes your way"

grib et all

STILL COLD

Evenin'

Cold snap still with us I'm afraid. This morning Pat decided he just absolutely HAD TO GO TO VALDEZ TO TUNE PIANOS!! At -45...he called a while back saying that he had made the mountain pass in the big van OK...so we're thankful for that. Seems folks up in the University there are having some winding show or something and just had to have their Steinway tuned again...Pat usually is done with piano trips by this time. This was an "extra"...and then again at the end of the month.
This month is gonna be a busy one, what with medical trips into 'Fairbanks (150 miles away one way) and our annual church Convention, plus May's 19th. birthday celebration....she likes to invite all her past teachers and all the young folks so our cabin rocks with about 30 people which is alot for us!!!

The temperature has stayed between -26° and -55° for about ten days now. Tonight a cold wind is blowing warming the temps up to -40° so far.

Bro Russell Stendal was here for a couple of days. We had meetings with him on Sunday morning and Monday night. (We won’t have service on Wednesday night). He had many good things to say. Sunday he talked about community and being “friends” with God. Last night he talked about, among other things, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit having their own very special jobs. Pat and Ben each led a praise service.

Garth took off today, with Russell Stendal, for the Wasilla convention. Garth will be traveling on the Alaska convention tour. He is using one of our big vans to transport the ministry around. I’m not sure where Garth quits being chauffer, but I can tell you that at a later date.

The loggers have been running the chipper (the machine that chips slabs into smaller pieces for the pellet machine) and the pellet machine despite the cold temperatures. So far, everything is going well with that.

Not much is happening in these cold temperatures. We are all staying close to home right now.

Ok...good night to y'all

stay warm.....

HOMESTEADING ALASKA STYLE....

ABOUT WOLVES ...GOOD ARTICLE,,,CHECK IT OUT!

SOME CLIPS OF ROB ...

Here are some of Rob helping out with wood...he says he's a big boy now.....starting to help out which is good. Creek out back froze over and left a nice little ice patch for Rob to practice his skating..

HOW WAS YOUR NEW YEAR'S EVE??

How was your first day of the New Year?

Jon installed a pellet stove in Marilyn’s house. I see that there are bags of pellets outside her house. Those pellet stoves burn so clean that you can’t even see the smoke coming out of the chimney. How will we ever know if the fire is running or not by just looking?

Allyson came home from Anchorage, leaving her mother in the hospital there. From what I hear, Marilyn is doing well. She’s doing some physical therapy and such like things.

School is out for a few days over the Christmas/New Year holiday.

Temps are still rather low...everybody still kinda holed into their cabins.

This month is gonna be busy with Convention and all.....

More another time....

gri et all


You can't expect to prevent negative feelings altogether.
And you can't expect to experience positive feelings all the time.
The Law of Emotional Choice directs us to acknowledge our feelings
but also to refuse to get stuck in the negative ones.
~Greg Anderson~

FELIZ ANO NUEVO! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

FELIZ ANO NUEVO!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND A BLESSED ONE TOO!

We just came back inside from enduring about 30 minutes of 45 below zero weather to witness the yearly firework display put on by the young men here on the farm. This one was very good one, they are getting better and better at synchronizing it and it was a very colorful display.

Robin does not like fireworks so he took his bath early and went to bed...I think the noise and bright lights bother him....despite the freezing cold weather and the danger of frostbite, there was a pretty good turn out, including children.

Then we gathered AT the Tab again for more food and hot drinks....

It is now past midnight and everybody is starting to drift home.

Hope you all had a great festivity and here are prayers for a blessed 2009!

See you next year!!