THEY'RE BACK!!

Good morning people (I guess it’s almost noon time though). Anyway, today is gray and overcast with temps at 16°.

Tommy and Tony went to the farm forum meeting in Delta today. Carolyn has to make “farm” fresh foods to send with them to exhibit what can be made from our produce here. Each place brings something for the potluck. Last year they had big posters up to represent each group or farm who brought things. To represent S & K farms, they blew up my picture of Robin kissing one of the work horses at potato harvest. :)

Today, the Tok EMT III students are being tested. It’s a big day for them. A crew from here went to be victims and helpers in the testing. Allyson spent most of yesterday making cookies and burritos and other foods to sustain the kids. I think the ones taking the class are: Pat Lou, May, Peter, and Jon Squires.

We are in the process of making a quilt for Stacey and Peter. As a way of an announcement to all you “square makers”, we need your completed squares back between the 10th and the 15th at the latest. If you get them done sooner, we would love to have them sooner. We have to check them over to make sure they are exactly the right size, and we are starting our thinking process of how the squares will go on the quilt. Also, if we could start putting it together, as everyone knows, the sooner the better! Esp with spring around the corner. We’d rather sew indoors now while it is still cool out so we can be outside when the weather turns nice. BTW, when I say “we”, it’s a very loose usage of the word. Erica is sorta heading up the quilt, but Ann is doing most of the masterminding and sewing. Anyway, turn in your squares ASAP.

--------------
later...

OK our EMT's got back. After 10 gruelling days. Sadly May did not pass her last exam duet to some what sounded like mix up on her test...that means that she has to go in to Fbks to the University probably an retest one item...bummer! She is pretty upset about it...and me too since it is hard for her to get away from her schedule. She was hoping to work at the clinic in Tok for a bit this summer....

Our trip is coming up in less than 2 weeks so I'm sad cause I know she will have that on the back of her mind and won't be carefree...oh well...cc'est la vie...reminds me of my school days in Northlands in BA. I usually had to go back to an awful auditorium full of kids who had not passed their "finales" and re take something or other, usually Math...

Must go...




You may be on the right track

but you'll get run over

if you just stand there.
- Anonymous

FORGOT TO TELL ABOUT MAY'S 19TH!!!!

Hi folks,

I totally forgot to close off the month of January 09, with a short blip on May's 19th. Birthday party! It is a tradition for us to put on a nice party for her.... don’t know how it started, my other kids have never asked for a big bash...we just bake a cake and open the presents, with some friends present.

May's do's have always been a great occasion. She likes to invite ALL her teachers past and present, and this is possible because we all live on the same property. The she invites ALL her friends from High
School and Junior Hi and not necessarily only her classmates. With us 6 Buongiornes, her grandmother and 2 cousins, it makes for about 30 people in our small cabin!

Anyway that is what happened last Jan. 1st. I get her presents months ahead and hide them, she usually hints at things she is wanting on liking and if we can afford to we will get them for her. Such as a new bow, all the accessories for making strings and arrows (yeah,...I know she was never a BARBIE girl! ).... Coloring books on various themes from the inexhaustible DOVER catalog. Knights, warriors, etc. this time she also wanted puzzles (the 5,000 variety ones) and a puzzle mat...I got her some BANANAGRAMS which is like Boggle or some other word tile game...Amazon had a sale on 2 at a time, so she can play with all the High school at the same time. It is rather a fun game.... not as involved as Scrabble and pretty fast...

Rachel T crocheted a lovely afghan for her, which I think she is planning on taking to Ireland.

We made an assortment of finger foods, cakes and cold cuts and everything was eaten at the end of it.... ice cream too.

I will include some pics and clips…

YESTERDAY...

This morning we woke up to a very light dusting of snow and 0°. Right now, mid afternoon, it is 18°. Spring really is right around the corner, somewhere. J

We did have a good time with Bro John. He got to spend all of Sunday with us. It was great. On Sunday morning, Thomas led worship before Bro John preached. Bro John preached on God’s government. He drew parallels between the legislative assemblies such as Congress or Parliament and the councils of God’s government.

The beef cows did well in Tommy’s absence. Only one cow calved, and it wasn’t even one of the cows in the barn. It happily did it’s calving in the barn yard and was fine.

We haven’t heard much for the EMT trainers who are down in Tok for 10 days. The one night I chatted with Pat Lou online, he said they were studying real hard.
It is rather quiet at the cabin without the big kids. They shld be coming home this week end. I know that they are probably exhausted with all the study and little sleep. Rooming situation is rather hectic as they all stay at the instructors mayhem of a house....cheap though. I am hoping they will both decide to follow in that line of work. Hopelfully they cld find employment up here in Alaska.

For those who know Roberta Mack and don’t get the IMA mail, she passed away on Sunday. Information can be found at: www.paulkfuneralhome.com/obituaries.

No more for now....


You have to stay in shape.
My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60.
She's 97 today and we don't know where she is.
~Ellen Degeneres~

just normal life....

Hi everyone. It is still winter here. It sure seems to be lasting for forever. It is 8° tonight.

Hmmm… Wednesday night, Andrew Giles will be preaching here. I guess him and his wife, Kathy, have been in the area and they will be here for a very short visit. I wanted to get May to talk to him before she leaves for her EMT course in Tok, looks like that won't be happening. They leave early am. on the 18th.
wd have been nice for them to touch base since May will be visiting Ireland come Nov.

John Jeffreys, due to some unfortunate events, will be passing through on his way home to Haines this weekend. He’ll preach on Sunday morning, spend the night (with us), and drive home on Monday.

For those of you who remember Betty McCaffery – she passed away last week. If you want more information about that, let me know, although I don’t know much. I have Robin’s email address. And, I have the messages that were sent out about her passing away.

Prins, Linda, and Laura Jennings recently went to Srilonka to preach. They sent out a report recently. If anyone is interested in that, let me know. I can send that along. Here is a link to view their pictures. They’re very interesting. http://albums.phanfare.com/4732599/3403635#imageID=60554130

Am gonna miss Pat and May, this time they will be gone for almost 10 days doing their last stint with the EMT. After that they can go into Paramedic stuff. May wants to spend some time at the clinic to get experience. They have done some ambulance runs and stuff like that but they need more hands on. Hopefully they will continue to pursue this line of work which is quite needful up here in the bush.

Sun is shining more and more.....

Today Rob spend his morning on the water wagon with Tony. He missed school cause I had to take May's place in the kitchen. I brought some homework back with me, he doesn't know this...hehehe......

Have a great week.

'Tis an old maxim in the schools,
That flattery's the food of fools;
Yet now and then your men of wit
Will condescend to take a bit.
~Jonathan Swift, Cadenus and Vanessa (l. 769)~

ALL IS WELL....

in the Land of cold weather and full moons shining brightly all night long. It is 18° below zero, but the folks across the highway say it is only -5° and breezy over at their cabins. Must be nice. They get the sun now every day for way more minutes than we do!

The loggers are very busy right now hauling logs in from the woods and making pellets. They said that they have two log cabin packages to make and deliver this month along with their tongue and groove orders and firewood orders. One of the logger guys was interviewed for a blurb on the radio about pellet mills. Here’s the link to that if you’d care to hear it. One of them speaks at the very end of the short interview blip. http://aprn.org/2009/02/03/alaska-gets-its-first-large-scale-wood-pellet-plant/

As of last week, one of our new graduates Chris Jepsen, started working at DIS in Delta. He works out in the shop on Nistler Road mostly with Michael Crouch and Darryl Johnson. Chris is really enjoying that. He’s been taking a class on Tuesday and Thursday nights to brush up his welding skills; thus, he arrives home pretty late on those days.

I was hoping that our Pat would follow suit but he is waiting on the sidelines until the guy who does the hunting guides come through. He wants to be in the big outdoors so bad, hates to be cooped up....I think this guide and Pat are planning on a short stint into Canada to buy some more pack horses and in early spring starting the guided hunts into the mountains. We probably won't see him for the rest of the spring and summer.


Jennifer’s parents from New York went home on Tuesday. They were quite the hoot. We all enjoyed them immensely. Bonnie Mason from Missouri, is still here – cutting everyone’s hair. We are keeping her quite busy.

We had a good meeting last night. Seth Fouse led worship. Bro Steve preached on the New Covenant we have in Christ. Oh yes, the High school students sang two songs for us before the service started. One song was written completely by one of our highschoolers, Kathryn Nerbonne(music and words) I was impressed....

Pat and May are hoping to get their EMT 3 certification soon. I think this is the highest they can go before getting into serious Paramedic stuff. they still are not sure what they want to do with all this training. It is a good career choice up here in the rugged frontier. Can be dangerous though, flying in the choppers and looking for people in the frozen rivers. May is still planning on making a career in the US Air Force when she returns from her visit to Ireland...big plans...

I plan to enjoy my week end and hope it is a restful and uneventful one, without any surprises.

Pat got me lovely rose for Valentines and I am giving him some sugar free chocs and a card....going on 21 years....!!

Have a nice week end folks

Tara for now

gri



How beautiful, if sorrow had not made

Sorrow more beautiful than Beauty's self.

~John Keats, Hyperion (bk. I, l. 36)~

ANNIE'S MURALS

ANNIE (16) HAS RECENTLY TAKEN UP MURAL DECORATIVE PAINTING AND IS QUITE GOOD AT IT...EVEN IF I SAY SO! HERE ARE SOME OF HER MURALS WHICH SHE HAS PAINTED AROUND THE COMMUNITY FOR DIFFERENT FAMILIES. SHE IS HOPING TO KEEP GETTING COMMISSIONED FOR MORE AND WILL WORK FOR A SMALL DONATION THAT GOES INTO PURCHASING MORE SUPPLIES....HAPPY PAINTING ANNIE!

BACK TO NEAR NORMAL AFTER CONVENTION.....

Hi all. Sorry I’ve been a little delinquent with the emails.

We had some mild below zero weather last week. It was bearable. Today the temps have been hovering between 0° and 4° and we’ve been getting some snow to make everything look pretty.

Oh, we finally got our new chairs in the tabernacle that we’d sort of hoped to get before convention. No such luck. So, by convention time next year, they will be dirty and “broken in”. L

We had a nice sharing meeting last Wednesday. Today we had a short service – Ben led worship. Sis Wenda shared on “he that is faithful in little is faithful in much”; then Jennifer’s father, Gary, shared about the “sacrifice of praise”.

A bunch of kids went up Horn Mtn on their snow machines. They took a bunch of extra kids and sleds with them and they had fun sledding around out there.

Last night, the young people had a pizza party at the tabernacle. We had a lot of fun.

Pat Jr. has gone to Tok to get his EMT stuff done before the final EMT 3 course. May and the rest will follow shortly for 10 days straight! Now they only have to get the experience to back up all their certification right?

Pat is back from tuning pianos around Alaska for a bit. Back to normal after convention but still sickness going around.

ROB GOT HIS NEW PD EQUIPMENT FROM THE STATE OF ALASKA. HE IS REALLY ENJOYING IT WITH HIS CLASSMATES!!

More some other time.

bye now

POST CONVENTION NOOS

Dear Family,

This is a more detailed report of the one we just sent. Bro. Buddy came down with a bug while we were in the conventions in Delta, with a lot of gastric problems, and he still had some of the lingering symptoms of that when we arrived here in Haines. So, he has not been eating much more than yogurt for the past few days, and we were all attributing the lingering pain to the situation that he had just had.

Then, last night during a question and answer session with the convention, he began to feel a lot of pain, which caused us to end the service and take him into the clinic. Bros. Joe, Wayne and George all jumped into the Yukon with us, and off we went to town through less than desirable road conditions. We arrived about 8:30pm, and the doctor tested him and realized that he needed to be medivaced to Juneau. The only way that could be accomplished was if the Coastguard could get one of their night-vision helicopters through the weather. They were able to get through, and set down on the Haines runway about 2:00 this morning. The crew would allow one person to accompany Buddy to Juneau, and Bro. Wayne felt to be the one to go. The doctor accompanied the ambulance to the airport, and while the coastguard medics conferred with her, part of the crew got Bro. Wayne into a flight suit and helmet. (He sure looked like the real thing). They lifted off about 2:30am.

There have been a number of occasions over the years in which the hand and power of God delivered Buddy from what would otherwise be a life-threatening situation, and I think that we have just witnessed another one of those times.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Bro. Buddy came through surgery just fine. The doctor said that he had a ruptured appendix, which she removed and cleaned the adjacent area to her satisfaction. She also told Bro. Wayne that Buddy did not have a lot of time left, and it was good that the operation took place when it did. So, is God still in control?

Wayne said that the chopper ride last night was bouncing and caused some pain for Buddy, but it did get them through. The doctor wants him to remain for 3-5 days under her observation and care.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

OK now some noos from our farm,

........... We are fine in the frozen north. The weather has been fluctuating between -10° and -32° for the past several days. We’ve been getting a little bit of snow off and on too, whenever the temperature does a major change. It’s actually fairly comfortable, as long as it doesn’t go below -35°. And, last night, even at -32°, it was simply gorgeous out. Even though the moon was not even a waxing crescent, it was so bright outside that I could have read my book while out walking.

We heard this morning that Bro Buddy is doing okay. The hospital in Juneau would like him to stay there for three days. The rest of the Ministry is in Hoonah, AK at their convention.

Sister Marilyn is home and is doing well. I went by to see her yesterday for about five minutes. I got to check out that pellet stove – it’s really, really nice!

Allyson left her van at the shop in town and has another rental car while they hopefully fix her van AGAIN.

This morning, since we didn’t have a piano player, Seth Fouse braved leading the praise service with his electric guitar. Sister Margaret exhorted us to pray for eyes to see as God sees so that we can have a bountiful eye in all things. Gary Horender (Jennifer’s dad) shared about “getting wisdom and understanding, and with all thy getting, get understanding”. Bro Steve shared using Psalm 139 as his text on “the new man”. Robin Horender (Jennifer’s mom) hopped up to share an example of how God listens when we pray, “Search me and know my thoughts” from Steve’s scripture of Psalm 139.

Bonnie and Jim Mason are flying to Fbks on Tuesday. It’ll be great to see them. I’m sure Bonnie will do her usual trimmings of all our unruly hair-dos.

Have a great week.