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Saturday, August 30, 2014

END AUGUST 2014 MISC. EVENTS/HUNTING CRAZE BEGINS

Sarah's news:

Goodmorning.  About two days ago, I heard geese flying south already.  When I mentioned it to Wendy, she said, “yes, they’ve been in the fields ATR for days”.  :(  Each night, the temperature dips very close to 32*, but it hasn’t quite reached yet.  We’ve had between 34 - 41* for the last week.  During the day, we are lucky for the temperature to reach 65*.  This week, we’ve had alot of cool, cloudy weather.

At present, Val Harris is here visiting. She’s made a foray to Whitestone and hopes to make it over to Eagles’ Ridge tonight.  Other than that, she’s stayed here to visit folks here and those that come here to see her.  It has been super great to see her.

Craig and Sarah Horender were married on August 16th.  Most of the Millirons have returned except Jennifer and the children who are spending a little more time with Jennifer’s family.  Jarred has alot of work this summer so he couldn’t be gone long.

That same weekend as Craig’s wedding was two weddings here in the interior.  August 16th, Steven Augustin married a local girl (cousin to Marki Adams Geyer), Audrey Adams.  All the Augustins and Stossmeisters and others from the area were there. I was actually asked by the bride’s family to photograph but I knew the grooms family much better than them.  :)

August 17th, Steven Miller marrie Alethia Stendall in Fairbanks.  The grooms family retained me this time, and the bride’s family was accepting but startled at my appearance.  Both weddings were outside and great Alaskan weddings.  My pictures are good (in my humble opinion) because I had some beautiful, soft, gray, weather to deal with.

Craig’s new house is steadily having more and more done on it.  Recently, the garage was put on, now the front porch and overhang, the driveway graveled, and the inside mudded and taped.  Exciting.  Because Jake and Jason are doing some work for Whitestone in Delta, they are staying out here each night.  Each night, they’ve been working at Craig’s house.  It has been fun to have those giants around.

College classes are starting - Ally started last week in Fbks; Liz and Olivia start this next week in Fbks; Ann has started her online classes.  School for us won’t start till sometime after hunting season and harvest to insure there are no interruptions once we start.  The girls are always anxious for school to start and the boys are not.

Joe Brandes is back again for his senior year.  I think he’s staying with Mark Coy this year since Mark’s boys keep getting married and leaving him.  BTW, Kathryn and Jon are engaged, but I haven’t heard any dates yet.

Ben had a pile of nephews here for several days - two of Ellen’s boys from Whitestone and Rebekah’s boy from Vancouver.  It was so cute to see Ben taking care of all those boys.  The boys loved being here and promised to come back next year.  Kels and JJ came out over the weekend.  It was nice to see JJ.

Irene Grahm (Bonnie’s mom) has been pretty sick for ten days now.  Bonnie was on a trip to the states which she cut short to come home.

Sis Margaret is now home after a nice trip to see Andrea.

Gri and Jannis are leaving tomorrow for a weekend in the Big Lake/Palmer area to see relatives.  Robbie recently went to the states with Gri to a retreat for kids his age.  On their way home, they were able to stop in Dallas on the very day that Annie was coming home from South America.  They all spent a day or two with Jimi and Julie Miller.

Kathy Casey has gone to CA to see her newest grandson born to Stephen and Melissa.  I think she stops to see her folks on her way home.

That’s current news.  Another email to follow with old news.  :)

LATER....

The guys are in this palpable panic to get gear together all the while hoping the weather clears up.  Since I last wrote, it has been very grey and socked in but with very little rain - 4/10 and 1/10 of an inch per day.  It has been kind of good that we’ve had cloud coverage, otherwise it would’ve frosted already. We’re still getting lots of things from the garden.  But, that  would be good if we had a frost soon so the grain would get finished and we could get that harvested.  

Pat is hoping to hunt around the area with Rob. May has gone up with the first crew with Tony and the Williams. Hope she gets one.

Some old news that I wanted to mention was that early in August Sam Riche, a friend, and Becky came out for a day.  Then the next weekend Chloe and Peter Droogsma came out for a couple of nights.  Peter and Chloe are driving around Alaska in a small vehicle and sleeping in the back of their vehicle.  They are having a good time.  

In the past month, I’ve neglected to mention that we’ve had several special Sunday speakers - Bro Wayne (Sis Ann was here too), Sis Cathy Owens, and Russell Stendal.  

There were two official caribou hunting outings and a couple of “packing in the moose hunting camps” which were also used to be on the lookout for caribou.  The only successful caribou hunter (thanks to Seth and Kevin) was Richard.  

Looks like the farm is full of visitors.  Chris and family are at my house; Sam Geyer and family are at Geyers; Simon and Lolly are at Jo’s; Dan Baltrum is visiting the neighbors and hopes to come over here; Mike and Mindy Basalyga and family are visiting the grandparents; and Pam Gorman is over at Masons.  And, Val is still here.  





I would like to ask you to keep Andy Trotter, Shane Williamson, and Christine Moore on your hearts.  Shane had a fever earlier this week; I haven’t heard how he is doing since.  

Have a great week end!

Sunday, August 17, 2014

BARNABAS CAMP IN MISSOURI AND ANI MEET-UP IN DFW

Rob and I attended a special needs summer camp in Springfield, Missouri. One week of intense activity and challenges (for me anyway...lol)...We both came back with new friends. I was impressed with the level of commitment of the young people who took care of the campers as well as the overall vision and mission of the leadership. There are some amazing Christians in action out there! The caretakers who had campers one-on-one were young committed kids from different church youth groups, all over the nation. Between the ages of 16-21, willing to give this week of their summer for free, to help these special needs individuals have an awesome adventure. WTG Camp Barnabas! WE WILL BE BACK!

Here is a link to the special needs camp, Rob and I attended for a week.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10203810974946571&type=1&l=c90c530e41






After the camp we flew into DFW and met with Ani, who had just returned from her month in Argentina, visiting relatives and friends with her aunt (my sister) Karenza Hanson. We stayed with Jimmy and Julie Miller and had a great time of visiting around DFW, and spending time with their family. Then Ani returned to Jefferson via train to Marshall and Rob and I flew back to Alaska. A blessed time. PTL.


6 Flags in DFW proved to be a bit overwhelming for Rob and I but the rest of the kids enjoyed it!



Rob really liked the DFW Longhorn parade.



LATE JULY AUGUST


Hello!!!  I’m so behind that I don’t even know where to start.  I’ll start with today and see where it leads me.

We had a mostly warm and sunny day.  The last couple of days we’ve had beautiful weather with the temps not reaching over 70 degrees.  With a slight breeze, we were finally able to finish putting up the square bales from our first cutting of hay.  Now to finish the hay by putting the last of it into round bales.  Rich says we put up approximately 3,000 square bales.

My parents started back down the highway a week ago tomorrow (Saturday).  Mom just checked in with me; she and dad have a room Skookumchuck, BC.  They spent two nights in Whitehorse with the Persingers, two nights in Watson Lake with Rotundis, and two nights in the Shepherds Inn/Ft St John area with Troyers.  I’ve been in a little bit of shock with the sudden leaving of my parents; I kinda got used to them being here after two and half months.  Among other things, dad worked tirelessly on my mowers, the vehicles, and all sorts of other things containing engines.  Mom did mending and altering jobs in between working on other projects and helping me keep my flowers alive.

One Sunday before my folks left, Jeni and her girls and I made a special dinner and cake in an acknowledgement of my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary (which actually occurred in March).  We had a very few guests as it was a sit down dinner affair so, please, no one feel offended (from this area) that you weren’t invited.  My favorite thing was the rice krispie cake that Kathryn made.  It had rice krispie bars for the cake covered by frosting and flowers made with gum paste.  Quite impressive.

Most of the Millirons have fled the farm for New York to help prepare for Craig Milliron and Sarah Horender Roger’s wedding which will be on August 16.  Next week, Jarred, Garth, and Kevin will fly down.  The Milliron guys have had alot of jobs to complete this summer so they are super busy, working long hours.

Last Saturday night, I attended David Underhill’s 80th birthday party.  All of David’s children were there.  It was quite the good time.  David’s sister was there as was Jeff Blevins for those of you who remember him.  There were many other guests but I won’t name them all.

This week, Miss Rose returned to the Sapa farm with Sis Ann and Bro Wayne where they met up with Miss Sue Hesser.  They stayed with one of their neighbors while going to the farm during the day to organize and prepare for a large yard sale. The sale days were today and tomorrow.  Miss Rose texted tonight to say that things are going well so far.  I think this weekend some ex-Sapaites will be showing up to help out.

This afternoon Ben and some of the young boys left to hike and camp overnight.  It’s nice weather for such a hike.

This summer, Tommy made two or three trips to Chitina for salmon fishing.  He had successful trips each time but I don’t know the details of how successful.  Jeni has been spending alot of time smoking some of the fish.  It is sooooooo good!

Jack Fredrick, from Whitestone, Vicki Greenleaf’s father, had a stroke earlier this week.  He is in the hospital in Fairbanks.  He’ll probably have to have PT.  It seems that his speech and right side are affected.

We will not be having church this upcoming Sunday.  A work day has been declared, mostly for the men.  The guys have been working on a project to gather the heat from our generator’s exhaust in order to use it for heating the auto shop and the tabernacle.  Some plan on working on the graveyard too.

Last Wednesday church was cancelled due to our plethora of work nights.  Because of that a few of us took off for Delta to hear the African Children’s Choir.  It was quite good.  I had an especially good time since Ella and her folks came and Ella sat with me most of the time.  Quite a few from Whitestone were there as well (including Seth and Ami).

Today is another gorgeous day - the sun is not quite out in full force but we have a sweet breeze happening that will continue to dry the hay.  The present temp at noon time is 70 degrees.  

Argh, I just noticed it is noon time.  I have to get to lunch.  I’ll be back. ........ 

I did some investigation.  I did find out that we did meet our subsistence quota with the salmon, and that we did the best we’ve probably done in our salmon catching.  And, again, Jeni is doing a gorgeous job of smoking some salmon.  I say gorgeous because it is truly pretty.

Ann is gone to the states to attend one of her nieces weddings which is today.  Her visit is going well and she will be back tomorrow.  

Allyson has started back to school so we only see her on weekends now.  Olivia is getting ready to begin her third year at the U, and Lizzie is preparing for her second.  Ann plans on taking online classes this winter in preparation for pursuing a degree in physical therapy.

Hannah and Lauren had a great visit here in July.  We sure enjoyed seeing Hannah’s children (and Lauren’s girls but we see them more often).

Sis Margaret has taken a trip to see to see Andrea; she’ll be home next week.

Sis Millie is doing really well.  Ann and Wendy are her therapists and general caretakers when Bro Rus is busy.  Ann has taught us some new PT ideas.  It seems that they have been most helpful to Sis Millie.

A couple of weeks ago, Sis Cathy P came down with a severe case of vertigo.  It was so bad that Ally and Jon were called and they with Carolyn took Cathy to the ER in the ambulance.  After some tests and some fluids and medication, Cathy was stable enough to come home.  It has been a slow recovery for Cathy, but she’s getting there.

The very next weekend, Sis Marilyn had to be taken to the ER.  She had a very bad infection and was dehydrated.  She was given medication and fluids and sent home.  I’m not sure if Marilyn is completely better yet or not.  I know the antibiotics made her feel funny so maybe once that’s gone, she’ll be better.  I sure hope so.

For those who are following some of the medical needs of folks who live/used to live at The Land:

Andy Trotter:

In July, Bro Andy was scheduled for a liver resection which was postponed.  When Bro Andy was cleared for surgery, upon looking into him, they found that the liver has fibrosis, which causes a reduced function.  So… the drs did some immediate intensive radiation on the suspect areas of the liver that they had planned to cut out, and they took a biopsy of something in his colon area.  The biopsy has since come back clean.  In the meantime, Hannah had an excellent visit with her folks and has now returned home.  Bro Andy and Sis Sarah Jane are doing as well as can be in their situation, but they are badly missing us as we are missing them.

The Williamsons, Rachel Baltrum and Grant:

Rachael said that Shane is doing as well as can be expected in his circumstance.  He has a tracheotomy but has learned to eat and drink with that.  When he has energy, he runs around like any normal three year old.  Every other weekend, Shane has chemo, and starting this coming Tuesday, he will begin radiation.  The tumor growth has slowed down, but it is not getting smaller.  Grant left today to work in California.  I will send pics on a separate email.

May is doing a stellar job with the garden even though our harvest is way behind due to I’m not sure what.  Our cauliflower is seriously the size of quarters (my favorite veggie)  We just started getting broccoli and maybe soon we might get to eat a fresh squash soon.  We do seem to have alot of cabbage somehow; and lettuce.  There seem to be plenty of raspberries but we need the sun to stay out for them to ripen.

Jessy took off sometime in the middle of July to relocate in Canada.  I can’t remember if she’s at Shepherd’s Inn or Headwaters or Hilltop, but she might be down there to see where an interest in Mike Sowers leads her (Mike is Sis Janet’s grandson).

Gri and Robby took a trip to the states to attend a camp and to see Annie.  They had an excellent time.  When they arrived home, we were in the garden having a work night.  Robby rides up on his bike and shouts to us, “Howdy, guys!”  He was so happy to be home.


Photos of the camp forthcoming.

Later...