Post Christmas noos....notes from Sara and Gri

Hi all,

We are having some mild weather today (12°) after some below zero weather last week and some mighty winds more recently. 

My kids are off playing basketball at the gym in Dot Lake with Tom Geyer and the other young people.  I am taking advantage of the quiet to write to you. 

We are having a week or so break from school.  I’m looking forward to this time to do some catch up on housework and bookwork. 

Kimberli and Seth took the young people and their own children out caroling on Christmas Eve.  The boys rigged up one of the horse wagons with hay bales and lights.  The caroling was rather uneventful until they were on their way home from ATR and somehow the sleigh tipped over.  Everyone went into the snow. 

 

All this week, the high school girls with Kim, Kimberli, and Garth have been fixing baked goods for a bake sale.  It was a nicely done bake sale with piles of things to buy.  The proceeds are to go for our New Year’s Eve fireworks.  After everyone had bought to their heart’s content, Tommy auctioned off the last of the plates, baskets, and pies.  It wall all pretty fun. I think they got like $600 which is pretty good...we will have some nice fireworks...

Oh, and SethJepsen  had a raffle to sell a pie rack that he’d made in forge class.  Jannis Blohm got it and by the pic u can see she was pretty stoked about it!

All this was followed by some games, and, eventually, we got to the square dancing.  Tom and Carolyn are the square dancing teachers with some expert help from Bro Rus. 

Stephen arrives on Monday with his fiancee. 

Rus and Millie have gone to Anchorage for the weekend. 

Bethany C has gone home to see her mom and brothers over the holidays.  Kenny is in Iraq installing generators.  He works something like four months and then comes home for one month.

May has been in touch off and on, having a good time with the Blessington bunch. She and her aunt Karenza from Gibraltar are making plans for the family reunion this coming March...May is pretty excited about it, since she will meet family members she has never seen before, from Argentina and of course her aunt Karenza whom she has never met...

Relaxing days at home, a change from the regular rat race...will be giving Rob some school though, too many out of the classroom is not good for him. He is having a good time, riding the horse wagon and hanging out in the Tab with friends or just with his brother on the xbox....

Have a great weekend.  Take care, 

A BLESSED AND PEACEFUL SEASON TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS NEAR AND FAR...

DEC. NOOS SO FAR...

I just ran out to do some errands and encountered a wild flurry of small snow flakes swirling wildly down from the sky.  So far, it isn’t too much snow, but who knows what could happen during the night.  Last week, we did have a couple of days of -25° weather.

Bro Bill Grier came out to preach yesterday.  He was ministered on many things, but I think his point was that we need each and the Lord to be a “whole” person. 

Miss JoAn flies out tomorrow for Anchorage to visit some of her children in that area.  Bethany leaves Wednesday morning to visit her mom and brothers in Kansas.

Monday night has become basket ball night.  Tommy or Jarred take as many kids as they can to Dot Lake to play basket ball in their gym.  My kids really enjoy that.  They have just come home and are pretty wild from having had a couple of good games.

Paul and Jenee Basalyga with their children have moved to Whitestone sometime recently.  Since being over there, we don’t see them as often as we did when they lived in Delta.  They came out yesterday for the afternoon and supper.

Bonnie left today to fly home. They are confirmed to move here, Jim will stay and keep working with the guys. Bonnie has to tie up ends and get her aged relative sorted out as far as getting a place for her over here. They plan to move into the old Milliron cabin, which has a set up for an older person downstairs since M had their aged father with them for a while....

I saw on the facebook posts that Stephen proposed to his girlfriend, Melissa, and she accepted!  So, Stephen is engaged.  They will be coming to visit us later this month.

Oh yeah, this reminds me, Ben Persinger pulled a fast one and married a nice girl over Thanksgiving weekend. 

The last couple of Friday nights, we’ve cut up our butchered beef cows.  I’m not complaining about the beef, I just hate cutting meat alllll the time (meat is not my thing, as most of you know). 

Thursday night, Jepsens took some kids along with Aunt Jeni and Miss Jannis to see the Delta Community Choir sing on the Ft Greely base.  Becky Riche is the pianist and at the last minute had to be the director too.  Jepsens oldest Chris, his girlfriend, her sister, and her mom were also in the choir.  Rachel Lupo (the girlfriend’s sister) sang a really nice solo.  A picture can be seen here:  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3094673&l=3ccb0c03e2&id=674561568

On Saturday night, Jepsen kids went to Fbks to spend the day with the Lupos.  Sat. we had dinner with Jeps and the Trotskeys. Great meal made by Sarah....made an increadible salsa with mangoes and roasted caribou...which tasted amazingly good (for caribou! haha).

I better save some chattering for another day.  It is presently -5° and snowing.  Have a nice week.  gri b

Here's May in front of Trinity College in Dublin with Jon & Sarah Richie

noos...

Hi,

How is everyone?   Hopefully, you’re having as mild of winter weather as we are enjoying.  We’ve been having 15 to 18° daily.  I guess Canby, CA, was having some below zero weather.  Poor souls.  J

I did want to say that I mentioned in my last email that May Buongiorne was staying in Ireland for six months.  Well, it really is for three months due to immigration regulations.  If something changes, she might like to stay longer, but at this point it is not possible. 

She is planning to go to Spain for a short visit to join a family reunion with my sisters, her aunts, uncles from the US as well as from Argentina. May has not met her family from Arg. and neither has she met my oldest sister K...also my step mom who is gonna be 80 is coming to celebrate... Karenza lives in Gibraltar caring for an elderly Alzheimer's woman, her job is pretty much 24/7 so I know this reunion with all the Hanson siblings (well not me this time) is gonna be a treat. Hope May can make it, she has to be out of Ireland by Feb. 2 so that will be good, then when she comes back into Ireland after Spain she can probably stay another 3 months...although she reports that she is homesick for Alaska...my kids...go figure...such ALASKAN...ahaha!

Pat made it safely home from his piano tuning trip to Barrow, AK.  

Bro Bob Hilliker is in Phoenix, AZ, getting a new prosthesis from Hanger Prosthetics.  These people work for the military vets who come home from Iraq and Afghanistan.  The lady who is helping Bob was able to give him a really good deal.  He should have had his fitting last Friday.  Also, while in Phoenix, Bro Bob is able to visit one of his daughters. 

Sarah's  2010 calendars are out and I ordered plenty this year so I wouldn’t have to reorder.  If you didn’t place your order earlier, you can still do so.  If you want to re-look at the photos, here is a link to view them again.  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=119949&id=674561568&l=b4be62889a  or

http://www.bysarahj.com/Photo_Calendar_2010_g140.html

Bro Wayne and Sis Ann Gentry paid us a surprise visit yesterday.  It was sure good to see them.  Bro Wayne preached on the knowing the will of God. 

Jarred and Jennifer are leaving tomorrow to spend some time in Arizona with Jarred’s brothers and in New York to spend time with Jennifer’s family.  They will be gone for six weeks.

Garth had a problem with his heart last week.  We were all on pins and needles wondering what was going on till the Dr was able to check him out.  Garth was doing his work out and noticed that his heart monitor was doing strange things.  After getting his blood pressure checked and seeing Dr. A, he was sent on into a cardiologist in Fbks.  The cardiologist actually had an opening for him, usually one has to wait months for an appointment.  They said his heart was in atrial fibulation; he was put on cumadon.  They will watch him for a month, hoping that the cumadon will straighten him out so they won’t have to do anything further.  (I’m sure I’m not spelling some of these words correctly – hope you can figure this all out)

John Venebles dropped in to see us twice this week - on his way to and from Whitestone to see his relatives. 

The kids have been working diligently on the hockey rink.  Yesterday and last night, ALL the kids were out on the rink skating till they dropped.  The Lupo girls came out after supper to skate with us also.  (Again, my house, never dull.)

A crew from the sawmill (Thomas, Brad, Bill, Tommy, & Jon) have gone to Soldotna for 3 or 4 days to build a cabin for one of their customers.  Their pellet making operation, when they’re home, seems to be productive and running smoothly.

Jim and Bonnie Mason from Dallas and then from Ava, now from The Land...have officially announced that they will be moving here....a cabin has to be made ready for them and so they are working on that. Nice to have our own cosmetologist in situ...

Here's Rob with his Polar Bear project that he has been working on for the past week. He typed his sentences (with some parental prompting) and the other one looking ever so dapper is a pic. that was taken at Thanksgiving 09....

Ok, I wrote this yesterday.  This morning, it is -5°.  Have a great week!  

Rob enjoys these projects...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42NrJFNvSLE

JUST NOOS.......

From Sara's.......

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Sorry, again, that it has been so long.  I’ve been home from California for a week now.  Since coming home, we’ve had Parent-teacher conferences, Thanksgiving with food and guests (and for me, pictures), a long weekend of catching up, and now back to school.

 

One purpose of going to California was to take Jon Leo Irish home to his mother (and to see my parents).  Jon was happy to be home.  I was home two days before Kevin Jepsen from Montana moved in with us.  Our house has very few dull moments!

 

Toby and Flori came to stay with us during the Thanksgiving weekend, the weekend that passed along much too quickly.

 

Other Thanksgiving guests were Toby and Marie Williams, Rachel Keller, Amaris Rodriguez, Angela Macias, Lewis Wilkerson with girlfriend, Hannah Gomez, Marki and Sam and Adam Geyer, Erica, and maybe some others?

 

As usual, the highschool with Bro Andy cooked us a delicious Thanksgiving meal.  Hannah Mason helped her father this year.

 

We had a small amount of snow last weekend, and then yesterday a wind whipped up blowing most of the snow into huge drifts everywhere.   Today we are enjoying a slight breeze and 16°.

 

Rachel Trotter came home from her Ireland trip on the day before Thanksgiving.  She had a great time over there, and she barely wanted to come home.  Rachel did help May Buongiorne with her initial “Ireland shock”, but now May is doing well.  May will stay over there for five more months. 

 

Patrick Buongiorne left Monday morning for a week of piano tuning in Barrow, AK.

 

The throw-upy version of the flu keeps going around, hitting a new person like every two days.  It’s taking its sweet time to make its rounds!

 

Amanda Nerbonne had her wisdom teeth taken out at the early age of 12 yrs due to her very small mouth.  She has been looking rather chipmunkish lately.

 

This weekend, Ben will go to the Woodway in Fbks for an open house.  He sells a lot of metal wood implements there.  Once a year, the Woodway likes to let their vendors and customers meet each other.

 

Bonnie Mason is visiting for a few days.  Jim has been up here for awhile working in Delta for his brother in law.  Someday, Jim and Bonnie will move here. Which will be great for the Williams family...nothing nicer than having grama and grampa close by...

 

Have a good week, I’ll try to write again soon.  Sarah>>

 

 

 

SUPER SUBS FOR SUNDAY DINNER AND OTHER INTERESTING TRIVIA....

Hi Folks,


Hope you all survived the over eating of the past festivities...we did very well thankyou!!
After 4 days break, life returns to normal I'm afraid....


Sunday was my community cook day. Our usual crew had 2 new additions because of schedule issues and we ended up with Kathryn Nerbonne and Ali Squires taking the place of Jo Cox and her daughter Bradie, they were in Fairbanks, visiting a convalescent mother/gamma Lolly...but that is another story.

We had super subs with all the fixings...they were about 3 feet long per table and had turkey, ham, swiss cheese, shredded lettuce, tomatoes and dressing. The french bread was rather tricky to make and I think it could not be any longer because of the width of our ovens, which are already industrial size. One wonders how people make those 5 footers or more than one reads about...special ovens no doubt!


Anyhow, I usually dread my cook day 'cause this body is getting older and standing on my feet for about 4-5 hours is not something I particularly relish. However, our crew boss (Ali) is amazingly organized and energetic, despite, I might add, her own personal physical trials which she weathers with incredible fortitude...but this is also another story...haha!!


The young girls, Katherine, Olivia and my niece Kelsey were also great at just keeping everything in the flow and on the go...I mainly took care of dishes and tables...no brainer jobs is what I specialize in...!!

Oh, lest I forget, we had the able hands of a young brother, Joey Casey. I think he was at a loss as to what to do with himself for the rest of the wintry Sun. afternoon so he popped into the kitchen (where all the ACTION IS OF COURSE...and...err..oh yes!... the young ladies :D  ) and helped us stack the subs and did other various and sundry jobs...very helpful and fun to have around...

Dessert had been previously prepared by Ali (of course) earlier in the week. Frozen orange yogurt with added cream cheese and drizzled with chocolate. A dab of cream whip on top and voila...a dessert fit for a king...I posted some pics on FB...


OK...so the meal went very well and I for one was thankful that the day ended on a good note...and was happy to put my feet up for a while...at home...actually I put my feet into an Epson salt foot bath...mmmm...nice...


Not much noose otherwise. Big Pat has gone off to Barrow (home of the Polar Bear...) to tune pianos for the strange people who live up there. Little Pat is pining to come home and has had enough of the UK, I fear....don't know what we'll do with him once he gets home, he can get rather restless...needs to find himself a satisfying job to keep him occupied for the rest of the winter. May is doing great is Ireland and I hear reports that they don't want to let her go...well, whatever the Lord wants...we all miss her but want her to find her own way and seek God's will for her own life....


Rob's doing great is school...has not gotten sick even tho kids and adults all around him are getting the nasty stomach bug left and right...he is one tough kid...give him some Colloid every am and keep his meds and vits up...so that shld help. Annie was sick for 3 days then went out and got sick for another 2....my spanish class is kinda spotty but I thnk we're gonna be OK...


Talking about Spanish, we are watching "Evita" and the kids are really enjoying it. I got the sheet music to "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"...and Annie and Kathryn who are our best piano players are looking into it...it was all the rave years ago...brought some memories from my home country back, just watching the movie. "Course Madonna, does Eva Peron great justice, although she is kind of a nasty person herself, but I gotta hand it to her, she did look very much like her and got the mannerisms incredibly accurately...I got into a site online and found a kind of study guide to the movie so my students can follow it and also interesting trivia and facts about how the movie was made.  Much of it was filmed in Romania it seems as well as Buenos Aires. Also Madonna had to get special training vocal lessons to be able to hit some of the high notes and soften her rockstar singing voice....I had no idea that someone as famous as Andrew Lloyd Weber (Phantom of the Opera) had composed the music, seems Madonna (who is not particularly liked in Argentina because of her porno persona) convinced the current president at the time to let her use the balcony to the Casa Rosada ( = to the White House for the US) she put on an impromptu show of her title song and they were convinced...lots of trivial but interesting stuff...


Well....gone on for long enough. Enjoying the mild in the low upper degrees....nice weather...17's...


Hope u all enjoy the rest of yr week...


gri