JANUARY 2014....

Hello Family & Friends,

Mid January already? Convention approaching? Wow! I won't apologize, have been busy...good busy I hope, how about you all?

WARNING: THIS WILL BE LONG. FEEL FREE TO DELETE OR SCROLL...haha

Earlier this week, we had +10° with three inches of fluffy snow.  Friday night the temperature started steadily dropping until it reached -37°.  And that’s where the temperature is happily sitting now. 

School break is over and every one here has returned to school.  College students in Fairbanks start their classes later this week.  Liz Jepsen spent a month with us which was nice. Now she's gone back to UAF and to her studies. During the break, many folks were hit with a cold or flu bug – some people had it really bad.  It seems that everyone is recovering now.

Kevin and Kelly arrived home this week.  They had a wonderful time with family (new family for Kelly) in Montana. Garth and Kim go to Anchorage this weekend to pick up Jarred and Jennifer from the airport, they had bee visiting family in New York. 

Garth and Kim will stay down there to chauffer the ministry till they reach the Delta area.  Convention schedules are different this year – very different for us.  Our dates are January 29, 30, and 31.  We probably will lose all our visitors; we will miss seeing all of you all so much.

Miss Rose has moved into her little house – I don’t know whose house to mention that it was – I think it was built by Steve Doerter, but then Millers, Nerbonnes, Stoebers, Miss JoAn, and I’m sure others have lived in their since.  When my family first moved here, all six of us stayed in that downstairs with the Doerters while the McClains lived upstairs.  We stayed there for six weeks while we got our cabin ready. 

The last two weekends Kim with Ann and some of the ladies spent time working on a Kevin and Kelly’s quilt.  Gail Eastwood and Penny Clark spent time helping too. They were a great boost. 

I failed to mention in an earlier email how much Michael Squires and Robin Buongiorne helped Seth this past summer with the pig program.  Seth and some of the other young boys built a small but new pig barn.  They also transferred all the chickens from the old barn into a new fixed up barn that had individual chicken cages with waterers and feeders.  Rob was the barn helper which I'm sure Seth appreciated, it being a rather nasty job. Rob will sorely miss Sefers as he makes his move to Whitestone Farms to start his new life with his bride-to-be Amariz Ramirez. All Seth's and his crew's efforts paid off; we have plenty of pork for awhile and the chickens seem to be contentedly producing eggs without munching each other.  Tommy killed a few more beef cows this week.  Seems like we are amply supplied with meat for awhile.

Griselda and May are home from their jaunt in the states.  I haven’t seen them yet, but Patrick said they were having a great time with Ani. The girls had a good time visiting with each other. Ani is doing well and happy, exploring various options and possibilities as the Lord opens up different choices.

You can see photos on Facebook at these links.

https://www.facebook.com/griselda.h.buongiorne/media_set?set=a.10202323052629443.1073741984.1585591801&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202323168512340.1073741985.1585591801&type=1&l=8cba546fe9


Bro Andy spent some time in the hospital this week while the drs worked on helping him clear up his long term infection.  He is home now and still needs our prayers.

Wenda announced the other day she will be Great DeeDee once again.  Paul and Rebekah had a little girl this fall; now Scott and Kristen are pregnant. 

later……

ICY SHEET OF FROZEN WATER MAKE FOR HAZARDOU DRIVING... STAY HOME!!

 For all you people in the Delta area, we just had a call to say that it’s 37 degrees and raining in Delta.  He said the rain is turning to ice when it hits the roads and that those on the roads are driving slowly and that many people are fishtailing.  Chris said that closer to Fbks the roads seem to improve, but he’s not sure since he’s not actually going all the way up to Fairbanks.  (Chris is driving from Delta out to the Pogo mine.)
Here at home, it is 30° with no precipitation as yet.


The Land convention will be next week (Wed, Thurs, Fri) so everyone here is scurrying around to make preparations – food, cleaning, finishing the tab bathrooms, etc.  It is a little on the crazy side.  I guess Whitestone’s convention starts on Saturday.  Some of our people will go for a few of Whitestone’s services, esp some of the loggers who will have to work during ours.

Some of the kids are still coming down with the flu bug.  Every time we think it’s done making the rounds, someone comes down with something again.  Poor Chloe Mason has gotten it the second time around.

John Basalyga is here for a few days visiting his folks since the Ministry is visiting in the Delta area in between conventions.  His visit is a huge boost to Sis Millie, who, by the way, is doing excellently.

Garth and Kim are home from their travels until after our Haines convention.  Then Garth will begin his chauffeuring job again.

Tommy butchered two more cows last week; yesterday, Tom and Kevin did most of the work before the rest of us helped finishing with packaging last night. 

No more farm news for now. Hope you all have a good weekend.

No more for now. Stay warm and Stay inside...

SEASON'S GREETINGS AND A WONDERFUL START OF THE YEAR FOR ALL FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

Hello all,

This morning's -27* sure feels sweet after the last night's -47*. Last week we had several days of -45 degree weather; the temps warmed up for the weekend and long enough for us to go caroling in relative comfort before dropping down again.

Since it was rumored that the temps would drop to very cold weather for our traditional Christmas Eve caroling, we did that the day before Christmas eve, good thing too since we've had -40 weather ever since! A good time was had by all, Rob even got to ride the proverbial "jingle bell sleigh", complete with one horse. Thanks Amaris for getting him on the ride! And Thanks to Hannah Mason for staying in the Tab and getting all the hot choc and goodies ready for the cold carolers!  :)

Sarah and Mark took some good night shots, which I was not able to capture very well with my humble set up. We've had a few days of between -40 and -50 degrees.  Today there is a slight breeze which is steadily bringing the temperatures up.  

The Buongiornes spent a quiet Christmas dinner evening with Floan at her cabin. A nice dinner and some simple gift giving at the end.

Pat and Bethany and the twins, came out for Thanksgiving and stayed for a week. It was a very nice visit. The girls are as cute as can be, sociable and very vocal. Such smart little poppets! They will say their name and also their color, Ella-Purple, Esssie-Pink. So sweet! Had a wonderful time with them.

Proud parents Pat and Beth are now home owners having closed on a nice house recently. Pat is getting it up to snuff before he leaves on his Prudoe Bay job on the slope. He will be gone for  2 weeks and back for 2, an arrangement which will enable them to plan family activities with more  accuracy than when he was out on the fires. God speed Pat!

GrammaGri was able to visit Beth and the girls TWICE, this past summer/fall. Driving down to Palmer with Wenda Lawrence and Janice Blohm was a treat, such lovely scenery at that time of the year. Both times Pat was on a fire though.

 Some  farm news:

Our last day of school was Tuesday.  We will start school again on January 6th - because of how the weekends fell, we have more off time, sorta.  I'm not complaining!

Wenda has been gone for a couple of weeks visiting Stacey and her family in Kansas.  I can't say that I'm not a little jealous - I had such a good visit with them last March.  Jarred and Jennifer have taken off for a couple of weeks to visit family in New York.  Kevin and Kelly have gone to visit Kevin's family in Montana for a little bit of time.  Jo has gone to Vegas to see her sister, Sarah; plus some other family members are there too. Jessy is spending some time in Canada, mainly at Headwaters or Evergreen.  

We are sure happy that Steve and Judy returned home.  It was like we were missing an arm or maybe even a leg. 

Sis Millie is doing well.  She only comes out on Sundays for service.  She sure enjoys any mail that comes her way.  

We spent three nights in the past couple of weeks putting up our beef meat.  Thank you, Tommy, for that!  

Bro Andy is looking into some second opinions concerning his condition.  We are hopeful about that!

Val and George are spending some time in North Carolina with their children.  I'm praying that in every way, this is a healing time for them.

Tony's horse calendar is ready to buy if anyone is interested.  I also have a few more of mine, if anyone failed to get theirs.  

Saturday May and Gri are leaving for 10 days with the Tesis, Karenza and Ani. Also will try and squeeze a farewell to our sis Alejandra, who is moving to Chile for work for a bit. 

All in all, it has been a good year, very busy and many changes. The biggest for us as a family - The Buongiornes - is that our youngest daughter Annie - Anne Marie - Ani - has been living in TX for about 6 months already. A big adjustment for all of us but I think a good one, new opportunities and goals. God is good.

We thank each and every one of you for staying in touch and reaching out. Closing this short Christmas-news-blog-end-of-year, with the prayer and the wish that 2014 will be a good, peaceful and prosperous one for us all!

God bless you,

Gri

Dec. 9th. 2013

Hi!  We've had zero or above weather all week.  For the last two days, it seemed that the thermometer was stuck at 8*, but I notice that this morning, we're at 15*, so the thermometer is not stuck.  :)    We received just a smattering of wet sleet on Friday; it was enough to pack down the remaining unblown away snow and to make the roads slick.

We had an excellent service yesterday - Paul Basalyga was here visiting - he led worship.  Sis Margaret preached on roots and the importance of the roots drinking from the right sources in order to have healthy plants and fruit - of course, she was likening the roots to us being planted in the right place as stated in Ps 1:3.  Sis Wenda shared as well.  We had our usual prayer requests for Bro George, Bro Andy, Sis Millie, Ralph Horender, Dora, Christine, some unspoken, and more.

I noticed that Tommy killed some beef cows this week so we'll have some beef meat coming up soon.  We are really enjoying the pork meat that Seth provided for us by getting and caring for the pigs till butcher time.  We are selling some of our eggs at Alaska Feed for $3.50 a dozen for cash or $4/dozen for in store trading/buying.  That's pretty cool, I think.   Tony and his boys have been madly selling hay and straw to all sorts of people.  I think Tommy sold some sides of beef to Delta Meat and Sausage too.

Pat, self and Rob managed to get in some Snowshoeing this weekend. Went for 2 miles to the Lynx trap, so named because it used to be...well...a lynx trap :)

Jo Cox and self have gotten in 2 trips down the backside of the sawmill trail, kindly opened up by Brad Cox. This leads either up the Horn Mountain or to the Alaska highway. We just take it for about  total of 45' a nice little workout. Amazing how dark it still gets so soon! By 4 pm it was getting dusk.

 A few folks are taking some time to visit family and friends during the holiday season. May and I are leaving for TX on the 28th. for a couple of weeks. Can't wait to see my girlie Annie, my sister Karenza and meet all the folks there. Hope to be able to get in a drive to Springfield MO to visit my sis. Alejandra and her family. She will be leaving for Chile in March so if I want to see her - now is the time. She will move to Chile for 2 years completing an academic Fellows position and responsibilities,  at the research university in Coyhaique. This research branch is part of the Universidad Austral of Chile. I am sure Alejandra will do admirably although she will be far from all of us for a while. Here's a link to the place.

http://patagonia.uach.cl/

The Aurora has been amazing the past few weeks. This taken by Delt photographer Sebastian Saarlos. Neat huh?

I'd love to run my mouth more, but I've goofed around too long writing other messages and now I must get going to devotions and school.  Have a great day and a great week.

THANKSGIVING 2013 AT DRY CREEK, ALASKA

Good-morning! Thanksgiving's come and gone and Christmas is peeking around the corner…wow…already??  Where has the year gone to one wonders?

We had a most excellent Thanksgiving Day and a wonderful weekend filled with family and friends.  Kathryn and May and the high-school students did a superb job on the Thanksgiving food.  (I was pretty worried because Bro Andy has done it for so many years that he probably writes his to do list with his eyes shut!)  Bradie wrote and directed a skit for the high school and jr high students to perform.  That was well done.  Brad had a poem to share, but I forgot to get it from him.  Oh, we called Andy and Sarah Jane with speaker phone and had a big group sharing of hellos and such! THAT WAS SO COOL TO HEAR THEIR VOICES!

We had many guests that swelled our numers to about 130 folks:  Ella and her parents; Lizzie; Jake & Phanta & family; Don & Liz Werhonig & family plus their babysitter plus one of Charity's boys; Sam & Marki & family; Penny Clark; Meghan plus a couple of friends; Marki's dad; Pat & Bethany & the twins ELLA N' ESSIE; Toby & Marie; Paul Trotzke with Katie, Tom, and Eli Steer; Koehlers; Stephen & Melissa; Jewel & Lee & Vanessa; Kylin & the kids (Andrew had to work); Peter & Stacey; Joey; Kenny Chartier who is up working in Fairbanks for awhile; I think that's all of them.  And, Sis Millie came out to the meal too!   

During Thanksgiving Day, the kitchen sink disposal decided to quit working - not a good day for that.  The kids dealt with that superbly.  Rich has since purchased a new disposal, and Garth kindly installed it.  I sure miss Steve Squires in times like that; he usually has a spare stashed away somewhere. 

Dan Ricciardelli preached on Sunday morning; Ben led worship. Bro Dan spoke on how obedience and faith go hand in hand; you cannot have one without the other.  He gave several great examples, but my favorite was the example of the centurion with the sick daughter.  

We had a sweet sharing meeting last night with Rose, Tommy, and Gri as speakers.  The theme I saw in the sharing was praise and thankfulness to the Lord and appreciation for each other.  Gri led worship; I loved that. She does not get up too often any more so it's always a treat to have someone different.

I haven't heard from the Trotters in awhile; I assume Bro Andy is diligently taking his chemo.  Bro George is going to and from the hospital for his chemo treatments this week.   Christine Jepsen, Rich's sister,  is done with her chemo for now; her platelets are low at present so that is a matter for concern.  I haven't heard from Rachael Williamson concerning Shane, their little boy who has a rare form of melanoma - last I knew he was recovering from his chemo and radiation treatments.  Part of his side affects were bad sun burns, chapped lips, and sores in his mouth.  Samuel Wenger was recently diagnosed with some sort of blood disease.  The Drs feel it is treatable; they are presently figuring out a treatment plan.

Jarred and Seth F are diligently applying themselves to building and installing the tabernacle bathrooms.  After three years, we might actually be getting somewhere.  Merlin had to re-route the tab water heating system since it ran on the floor where we were putting the door to the new bathrooms. It's pretty exciting.  

Olivia (and Wendy sometimes) has been doing an impressive job with Sis Millie's physical therapy.  She is improving and gaining strength.  Olivia, mostly, goes to the Basalygas twice a day - in the morning they do arm and hand therapy.  In the afternoon, it is the leg and foot's turn for therapy.  Wendy makes sure all their day to day things are taken care of and fills in whenever Olivia needs to be gone (she's our Basalyga coordinator).  Everyone pitches in.

Pat & Gri had a wonderful time with their grandies and lovely parents. The cabin was full and busy but the girls behaved themselves admirably and were sociable with everybody who approached them. Such sweet things! Talking up a storm and stealing the show at every turn. They stayed for 8 days and then had to leave since they had medicals in Palmer. PatLou filled his time being a very good daddy and also working with his uncle Ben Mehaffey at Alaska Blacksmithing to produce a very nice ornate metalwork lamp stand which will look very nice in their new home that they have recently purchased in Palmer, Alaska. 

It will look something like this when finished:

But right now it looks like this:

PL also did some felling of trees for those who needed that done around their cabins. Spent some quality time with his Grams Floan. He even squeezed in a Snowshoeing trek up the mountain with his uncle. We miss them already! PatL is soon to start working for a French Canadian Oil Servicing Company as a slick liner. He will no longer do firefighting. I am sure he will sorely miss firefighting and the friends he's made down trough the years, however this company offers much better benefits coverage, which is a big consideration when one has a small family to consider. He will work two weeks on and 2 off which will be great since he can spend more time with his girls. GOD SPEED PAT! 

Here is a link to the company, a giant conglomerate multinational organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlumberger

http://www.slb.com/services/well_intervention/slickline.aspx

Pat Sr. left for a week of piano work up in Barrow.

And now a few thoughts on the season from The Most Important Christmas Choice by Tracie Miles

<<

Tis' the season to be merry... and stressed. Although it should be a season of peace, this month can often make us feel more tangled up inside than a messy string of Christmas lights.

Some people dread the hustle, bustle, and emotional rustle this time of year brings, knowing that irritability, loneliness, or depression will threaten. While there are others who may love the Christmas season, but worry, busyness, family conflicts, and unmet expectations take their toll.

In either case, we have a decision. We can choose to get bogged down with stress or we can choose to bow down in worship.

Scripture gives us a beautiful picture of praise in Luke 2:13-14. When Jesus was born, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds sharing the good news. Then many other angels joined together and praised God.

"Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.'" (NLT)

Keeping Christ in Christmas is more than just a cliché. It is an intentional act of worship. It requires a heart of adoration, much like the angels had. When Jesus is the focus of our holiday, we're centered on His love, peace, and joy. The holidays can bring a flurry of heightened emotions and can often result in an unhealthy level of stress which can prevent us from engaging in worship and praising the One we are supposed to be celebrating.

There will be lots of choices to be made during the month of December. The most important choice we can make is to worship and sing praises to our Lord. For His gift. For His love. For His peace. And when our hearts are at peace, our holidays can be too.

Have a great rest of the week.

NOVEMBER. FIRST DUMP!

Hello,

It is gently snowing this morning; therefore, while I sit here, I’m watching the temperature rise from 10° to now 25°. 

  Trying to get to devotions yesterday morning was quite the feat since we all had to wade through a foot of wet snow.  It was awesome.  As soon as possible, the men had shovels and large machinery in order to clear paths, roads, and porches.  It actually was very amazing - the snow depth, the machines, the snow flying from shovels.  And, now winter is here in full swing - no more pebbles and dirt being tracked in; no more worries about the ground freezing without proper insulation. We miss Christ Toby Williams since he usually is the one who goes out with his horse plow and plows the roads for us. He's gone for a visit to see Hope Magraf.

Kimberli and Skylar have gone to spend three weeks with Joel and Dena.  Seth is doing fairly well as Mr. Mom.

Hannah Davis' baby is still in the hospital and is improving slowly.  Grace developed lactose intolerance (which I guess is typical of preemies).  They would like us to pray that this situation improves.

Jon and Julie have flown to GA to visit the Squires family down there.

Ben's mom, Sharon, passed away in Canda. I don't know much about any follow up arrangements.

Over the weekend, Jim, Bonnie, Jannis, and Wenda made a quick Anchorage trip.  They got home just in time to miss most of the snowy roads.  (Wenda is infatuated with being "Great DeeDee" ever since Paul and Rebekah had their first baby a couple of weeks ago!)

Sis Millie did arrive home last Wednesday.  She is doing VERY well.  No, she is not up and walking yet, but she is improving slowly with therapy provided by Olivia and Wendy.  Both Rus and Millie's attitude adjustments to change and lack of control of their circumstances has been the testimony to me.  Sis Millie's continued optimistic attitude each day is encouraging to me.

Sis Marilyn has not been feeling up to par for the last week, but she is doing better now.  Maybe the flu?

Since Lee Addison has to have some more surgery (on the limbs that were stuck in the coal processor), Kathy has gone to Fairbanks to babysit her grandchildren.

(We sure miss Andy and Sarah Jane!). So weird to go into the HS at some point and only MC is in there with the kids, one looks into the classroom and sees only kids...a dearth of teachers, it seems. 

Seth killed all his pigs last week.  He and Seth Fouse butchered all the meat and put it up.  Last night, when we were supposed to only have hot dogs for supper, we were surprised by pork ribs cooked up by Seth F.  The cook crew also made fresh snow cream from all our new snow - something I haven't eaten since teenaged years.  Seth took some or all of our hams over to Whitestone where Jeremy Austin taught and helped Seth make proper hams.  I cannot wait to eat that! 

Rob is enjoying the snow as are all of our youngsters. They frolic and kick and roll around in the fluffy stuff. After school I can hear sounds in the woods, so I'm guessing snow caves and more snow forts are in order.

May and Wendy are attending a gardeners symposium of sorts given by some prof. I am sure we'll hear about it.

Also, school was closed in Fairbanks yesterday and today due to freezing rains.  I heard that the roads were okay enough but that the worst part was the rain freezing on the windshields.  People were having to pull over and thaw their windshields while driving from place to place. 

I forgot to mention in my last email that Ella spent the weekend with us.  Her parents went caribou hunting in the Paxson area (unsuccessfully, so far).  I had an awesome weekend. 

This coming Sunday, Eagles’ Ridge Ranch is coming to have church with us.  There are seventeen folks living there (five are children) so we should have a nice influx. 

Ben leaves again today to do a show in Fairbanks – I think it’s the Winter/Christmas Home Show.  He said the memorial for his mom will probably be next weekend in Whitehorse.  I’ll pass along more details if I ever find them out.

Bro George had a rough weekend, but he is doing better now.  If anyone wants updated info, you can go to the Caring Bridges link or I can forward you the info posted there.  Let me know if you need help.  http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/georgelharris

Have a great day

Recent one from Delta photographer Sebastian Saarlos.

NOVEMBER....already????

Yesterday morning was a chilly 0°.  I happily donned my fleece lined skinny pants under my other clothes.  This morning, it is not so brisk.  It is 15°.  Because our smattering of snow is sticking to the ground so far, we look a little messy around here – not enough snow for beauty; too much brown for beauty; everything’s barren and frozen. 

Amy Wheeler, from Whitestone Farms, is looking for a ride from Delta to Whitehorse if anyone is going that direction or knows of anyone going that direction.  You can contact Amy atajwheeler88@yahoo.com.  Thank you.

Tommy and the guys separated the calves from their mommas.  Oh my.  You should hear them cry.  It is annoying and sad all at the same time.  Yesterday was simply terrible, but they’re already adjusting!

We had an excellent service on Sunday (to me it was most refreshing).  Thomas led worship; Sis Margaret and Bro Garth both followed with a word on the unprofitable/profitable servant. 

With the winds of last week, the fire at Whitestone kicked up again.  They actually had firefighters out there.  I think with this increased cold weather and lack of wind that the fire is fine again.  I think the fire just goes under the muskeg and sits waiting for a wind to kick up and fan it.

Kimberli and Skylar have flown to Arizona to be with Joel and Deena and their new baby for a few weeks.  I’m envious of her time in the sun!

Ben did a show in Anchorage last weekend.  He did not do as well as he would’ve liked, but he did okay.  For his first time in an area, he actually did really well.  Only some of the vendors knew him so he was setting up all new clientele.  Once home, Ben flew back to Vancouver to be with his parents.  His mother keeps pulling out her NG tube so the doctors and Ben’s dad, Hal, have opted to leave the tube out. 

Seth slaughtered all his pigs last week.  Today, he and Seth Fouse will begin the butchering process.  I’m so excited about pork meat.

Stephen Casey wrote last night to say that he and his wife, Melissa, are expecting in June.  Another Casey grandchild!  Whatever will those Casey grandparents do?

Oh….I said that Hannah Davis and her baby were home; only Hannah is at home.  Little Grace is still in the hospital until she can eat a certain amount each day and be at a certain weight.  Everything is going well so far.

Pat B has gone to his yearly trip to Copper River and Glenallen. He won't be staying at SAPA since the closure so has probably found new lodgings while he is there. The roads are icy and hazardous. Everybody needs to get into their winter driving mentality.

Tommy Geyer MC'd a very good Hunters Breakfast. Hunting yarns and tall tales abounded. Kathryn, May, Kerri, Emmy, and others made a scrumptious breakfast spread. Paul & Maria T, brought a ton of donuts. Prizes were given out. I think that Tim Kohler won the Antler Derby at 58inches and Seth F was runner up...not sure of all the measurements though... :). There was a good turn-out, with hunters and would-be hunters crawling out of the woodwork to enjoy good food and fellowship.

We’re thanking God that Bro George’s yesterday fever has gone; also that Christine only has two more treatments of chemo; and that Bro Rus will bring sis Millie home tomorrow. 

Have a great week!