Jeffrey is in Ukraine!

Update on Saturday 10/31/2009:

We just talked to Jeff with live video on Skype!

He is looking good, at the point half way through his time there in Ukraine. He'll return this coming Friday. He'll fly from Kiev to Frankfurt, then straight to Denver.

He said that their entire group "went to town" today; they went shopping in Kiev. He said that there is a major H1N1 scare there right now, as explained in this site: http://blog.kievukraine.info/ Many people in Kiev were wearing masks, and they were "spraying medicine from airplanes". I haven't heard of that before, and can't find anything about it online.

Please help us pray that the work team won't get H1N1 or other severe illnesses this week, or on their long flights home next weekend. Jeff said that everyone is sniffling, and he was coughing / sneezing some.

Update on Monday:
Jeff wrote again on email today and also chatted with Mother, Jason, and Em. He said he's better, and got to work today. He reported that they all worked hard and were tired when they were chatting at 9 or 10 pm his time. He helped one of the guys float one of the concrete walls today... we don't know what that means, but we are excited for the opportunity he has to learn these things! Thanks for praying for him. We are glad he is doing better.
- Beth

UPDATE SUNDAY: We heard from Jeff today by short email. Everyone arrived just fine, but Saturday night (Ukraine time) Jeff awoke twice, sick to his stomach, as was Joanna Sturtevant (their hostess). He said that he was feeling some better, but didn't feel like writing a long or detailed email. Please pray for him, and for Joanna, who has a house full of guests!

On Thursday Oct. 22, which was our 26th wedding anniversary, Jeffrey left Denver to fly to Ukraine. He plans to return on Nov. 6. He is working with a Mission Helps team to finish a church basement near Kiev, Ukraine, to create Sunday School rooms. Jeff is very motivated to be a part of this kind of mission field involvement, and it was a blessing to him and to us to watch how the Lord worked out so many details in his life in preparation for this trip.

We have not heard from him since he left Dulles airport in Washington D.C. on Thursday evening, but we heard from one of the team members' wives that the entire team arrived in Kiev. That's all we know, but we grateful for that news. We'll edit this post when we get more news. We are very anxious to hear how the Lord helped him make it through the Frankfurt, Germany airport and on to Kiev, without the help of any other human that he knew! And no, he doesn't know a word of German or Russian... at least he didn't when he left here...

Jeff was able to acquire many tools to take on this trip, which he will likely use on many missions project at many places in the world.

Please pray for Jeff and the other team members, as well and Jason and Joanna Sturtevant, and Roman's family that they are working with them.

Happy 26th anniversary to us! October 22

Still happy God made us for each other and led our lives together!

We have been blessed with love, unity, children, and now grandchildren.

Squeezo Strainer Apple Day

When our dear friend, Eileen Owen, moved to Minnesota and was downsizing to a small apartment, she gave me one of her treasures: a Squeezo Strainer! This fall I got a bunch of apples and I was able to put the Squeezo Strainer to good use. Two Mondays ago, the children and I made applesauce and applebutter. It was the easiest apple day we have ever had!

All we did was wash the apples, remove stems, cut apples in quarters, and cook for about 20 minutes in a covered pot with a little water. Then we put the apples through the Squeezo Strainer and turned the handle. Out one side came all the seeds and skins. Out another side came applesauce! I measured it and added sugar and cinnamon, cooked it a little longer and canned it.

Lincoln Brown was being babysat by Beth, as he usually is on Mondays, so he learned all about making applesauce too!

We always try to get everybody involved, even Jason!

Jason stirred the sugar in so that none got scorched.

When I made the second batch of applesauce into applebutter, I did it differently than I ever have before. Usually I use the big electric roaster oven to cook the applebutter down, but I really didn't want to get it out. It takes so long, is so hard to clean, and ties up the whole counter. So I put the applesauce, sugar and spices into a very large roaster pan in my oven to cook. I left it in there 1.5 hours and stirred it occasionally and it was done. Then I put the applebutter into jars and sealed them in the oven also! (250 temperature and 20 minutes) It was faster and less mess than waterbathing them.

Finished products: 8 quarts of applesauce and 19 pints of applebutter.

Pumpkin Patch

Our friends, the Browns, wanted us to go to a fund raiser for the local crisis pregnancy center last Friday. It was called Pumpkin Patch Boogie and was in a very large barn north of Greeley. Jeffrey was gone to Ukraine, and Beth was not feeling well, so we only had Jason and Emily with us. There was a BBQ supper, a bluegrass family group who played and sang, and many kids' activities. There was a silent auction and opportunity to buy the centerpieces to help the pregnancy center. Jason and Emily played a lot of the games. Rowen watched his bids on the silent auction and took a few pictures, and Janet chatted with some homeschool friends.

It seemed very strange to only have two kids with us!

Though we didn't win in the silent auction, we did bring home some yummy pumpkin bread on a pretty harvest plate (one of the table centerpieces).

snow day October 28, 2009

So glad Rowen and Emily got the trampoline removed and put away before the storm came!

It's supposed to keep snowing the rest of today and most of tomorrow!

Our Local Quilt Show

For the last 8 years our family has been involved with our local quilt show, which is a fund raising event for the Johnstown Historical Society. We are involved with the historical society in many different ways throughout the year (Rowen is the treasurer), but this is the most enjoyable activity for our family.

We were involved right from the start in 2002 with the hardware to hang quilts on in the local high school gymnasium. We fasten 1/4" braided ropes across the entire gym, attached only by S-hooks to the top row of bleachers. We place three 2"X4" support posts along the 80' span. Then we help to hang the quilts on the ropes with clothes pins, and attach identification forms and quilt entry numbers to each one.

Last night we did all of that again, with several other very good helpers.

Here are Sage and Larry Hamilton (son and father) working together hanging quilts; they were really great help all evening!

It was kind of neat to see families working on this together.
Rowen and Jason on the left, and Jeff, Beth, and Janet on the right hanging quilts

We had over one hundred quilts entered this year. Most of the quilts in the row on the right are ours.


Janet's "Scripture Quilt" that she made entirely this year was on display. We've been using in on our bed, and it is useful, as well as beautiful!


Emily with her own quilt that she helped design and make this year!


This was without doubt the most unique 'quilt' that we had this year. It was the quilter's daughter's baby clothes all pieced together, including the matching socks for some of the outfits. Some rattles were even attached! It wasn't really pretty, or elegant, but very interesting as a memory of a child's baby days...and very heavy!


Janet worked at the quilt show today at the admissions table, where visitors paid their $2 to get into the show.
Janet and Charlene Nelson at the Admissions Table after admitting nearly 500 people the first day of the quilt show


Beth and Emily worked for 2-hours selling the donated baked goods, also a fundraiser for the Historical Society.

Ann Schwalm and Beth at the Bake Sale Tables

Home School Field Trips

On October 15, the Johnstown-Milliken homeschool group had two field trips. The weather last week prevented us from having the field trips when they were originally scheduled. It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time.
First we went to the Watson Lake Fish Hatchery. After a talk, a video about stocking lakes using airplanes in the mountains, lots of questions and answers, the kids got to feed the fish. All of them seemed to enjoy this, the kids and the fish!

After about a half hour of this fun, we moved to the location of the AlpacaKing farm. Mrs. King gave us a tour of the alpacas' living space and introduced us to all of the alpacas by name and told us facts and stories about each one. It was all very interesting. This barn and fenced area is where the new babies and expectant mothers stay. There were two fairly new babies and more to come.

This is Mrs. King's granddaughter, Sydney, whose family is part of our homeschool group.

This is my friend, Kelly, and her one year old, LeAnn, who has recently started walking.

I liked this two-toned alpaca. He was in the pen with other show animals.

Mrs. King and the two-toned one that she knows the name of, and I have forgotten!

Here Mrs. King is showing us how wonderful the fiber is on this young alpaca, who I believe was only three months old.

This is a mother and her yearling. It was amazing to me that the young one did not have a blend of both parents' color of coats. Mrs. King said that the young ones tend to hang out with their mother, and that they sleep together at night.

I thought it was so cute how curiously this alpaca was stalking the cat.

Our young friend, Quinten, Kelly's son, and the guard dog-in-training. She is huge!

Alpacas are curious and like to approach on their own, rather than be rushed upon. The little boy in the striped shirt is Kelly's other son, Harrison.

Emily getting acquainted

We had a great time visiting the alpacas. Go to http://alpacaking.com/ to learn all about them!

Early Winter in Northern Colorado

Here in northern Colorado the past five days brought about a drastic change from the beautiful autumn that we had had for a few weeks. Last Wednesday it was 80'F and a perfect fall day. After I looked at this forecast, I quickly decided to shut-off and drain our backyard water feature and to make certain that the garden hoses were drained and disconnected. I brought firewood into the garage for ready use and uprooted the rest of the garden plants that were barely frosted. It was a beautiful evening, but something about the north wind made me believe the forecast.

Friday morning...


Friday Evening...


Saturday morning




Sunday afternoon

The really unusual thing was that many of the trees in town that still had fully green leaves, seemed to freeze and drop leaves suddenly with the weight of the icy-snow on them.

Though our political climate change has been more gradual, it seems that this weekend weather has been a type of what we see happening in our world. While the post World War II era has had localized battles, the whole world has been in a state that seemed to most of us lazy Americans as late-summer-into-fall serenity. But recently I am sensing a different realization among the humans that I am around; a shocked awareness that the icy cold grip of BIG government control is suddenly upon us, whether we like it or not. For us North Americans, the loss of jobs for real people whose names and faces we know, then the loss of homes, and the certainty of no jobs being available to step into, feels a lot like the coming cold, deadly winter. Can we still trust in God, for each moment and for the unseen future? Can we even think of having a heartfelt Thanksgiving holiday next month? And what about Christmas? Will those with paychecks feel guilty exchanging gifts, when many all around us can't afford a home, or warm clothes? I wonder about these things, but I have no doubt that God is in control, that whatever He allows us to experience will be for our ultimate good, and I trust that these times will draw many to a new or a fresh dependence upon Him. He is still the King of kings and Lord of lords, and He reigns in Heaven, preparing a place for His own...and I doubt it will be icy cold there...And for now, I'm thankful that His own presence can warm our hearts like that fire in the fireplace warmed our chilled bodies last Friday night.