Monday, August 27, 2012

Long awaited pictures of baby Jonathan!

 I spent nearly three weeks with Randy and Joy after the birth of Jonathan on August 2, 11:02 p.m.  These pictures loaded in reverse order.  The top pictures are the most recent, and they progress to younger and younger pictures.
 Jonathan is very alert.  This picture shows that blister that nursing babies always get until their lip gets calloused.
 We can pretend that this is a real smile!
 Micah and Quil love to hold Jonathan.  It is their favorite thing to do in the day!
 They like to talk to him and sing to him.  They love it when he is hungry and he nibbles on their cheek!
 Great-grandpa Scoles holding Jonathan one of his first times to church.
 Great-grandma Scoles holding Jonathan.
 I think he is absolutely beautiful!
 Of course, he does make funny faces sometimes!
 And looks at you through half-closed eyelids...
 Randy holding Jonathan.
 Joy and Quil holding Jonathan.
 I gave him lots of kisses!
 Aunt Emily loved holding him too.  She is the one who took lots of these pictures.
 Aunt Brenda getting acquainted with him.
 Uncle Tim looking him over.
 Charissa getting a taste, I mean giving a kiss!
 These pictures were from the first 24 hours.
 See how alert he is, and he was only about 14 hours old here.
 Showing off his hair.  He has more on the back than on top.
 This was the first time Quil and Micah got to see their new brother.
 So precious!
 First visit with the new baby.
 This was about two hours after his birth.  Randy warmed up towels in the dryer and put them around him to keep him warm.  I couldn't believe he was still so awake!
I was privileged to be there for Jonathan's birth.  That will always be a special memory for me.  He was born at home after a very fast labor.  The midwife was wonderful.  Joy was so brave!  The baby had his two little fists up by his cheeks when he was born, so it was extra hard to push him out.  He weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz. at birth and was very healthy.  We thank God for this gift to our family.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Please read!


I am copying and pasting to our blog the following, in hopes many someones will read it and decide to vote against Barack Obama on Election Day.  Janet

Please take a moment to read this insightful letter which sums up Obama and his intentions and achievements to Obama’s intentions are clear and remember the German people who thought Hitler was the answer, neglecting the obvious and this allowed Hitler to capture the whole country.. At that time Germany was the most powerful and educated country in Europe. It could never happen right? WRONG.
It will happen to this country if we neglect our duty to spread the word and do what ever we can to stop Obama. My Love of this country is matched by each of you wonderful folks and I hope that we all stand together to take back and preserve this unique and glorious nation. Our freedom and liberties are at stake please pass this on as we’ll need everyone to vote him out.
Probably the best summary of what is about to happen to our country if Obama is re-elected.  Please pass this on.
  
From: John Porter To: Americans everywhere I was sitting at my keyboard halfway through my writing a letter to you about how Barack Obama was fulfilling his pledge to "Transform America" by "Changing the fundamentals of America", so that our government would become the plantation, he the owner, and we the slaves, when this article by Steve McCann appeared in my in box. After checking it for accuracy, and finding it so, I put my writing on hold and here present it to you, for I could not say it better.
...Is it already too late?
Obama's Second Term Transformation Plans The 2012 election has often been described as the most pivotal since 1860. This statement is not hyperbole. If Barack Obama is re-elected the United States will never be the same, nor will it be able to re-capture its once lofty status as the most dominant nation in the history of mankind. The overwhelming majority of Americans do not understand that Obama's first term was dedicated to putting in place executive power to enable him and the administration to fulfill the campaign promise of "transforming America " in his second term regardless of which political party controls Congress. That is why his re-election team is virtually ignoring the plight of incumbent or prospective Democratic Party office holders. The most significant accomplishment of Obama's first term is to make Congress irrelevant. Under the myopic and blindly loyal leadership of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats have succeeded in creating an imperial and, in a second term, a potential dictatorial presidency. During the first two years of the Obama administration when the Democrats overwhelming controlled both Houses of Congress and the media was in an Obama worshipping stupor, a myriad of laws were passed and actions taken which transferred virtually unlimited power to the executive branchThe birth of multi-thousand page laws was not an aberration. This tactic was adopted so the bureaucracy controlled by Obama appointees would have sole discretion in interpreting vaguely written laws and enforcing thousands of pages of regulations they and not Congress would subsequently write. For example, in the 2,700 pages of ObamaCare there are more than 2,500 references to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There are more than 700 instances when he or she is instructed that they "shall" do something and more than 200 times when they "may" take at their sole discretion some form of regulatory action. On 139 occasions, the law mentions that the "Secretary determines." In essence one person, appointed by and reporting to the president, will be in charge of the health care of 310 million Americans once ObamaCare is fully operational in 2014. The same is true in the 2,319 pages of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act which confers nearly unlimited power on various agencies to control by fiat the nation's financial, banking and investment sectors. The bill also creates new agencies, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, not subject to any oversight by Congress. This overall process was repeated numerous times with other legislation all with the intent of granting unfettered power to the executive branchcontrolled Barack Obama and his radical associates. Additionally, the Obama administration has, through its unilaterally determined rule making and regulatory powers, created laws out of whole cloth. The Environmental Protection Agency on a near daily basis issues new regulations clearly out of their purview in order to modify and change environmental laws previously passed and to impose a radical green agenda never approved by Congress. The same is true of the Energy and Interior Departments among many others. None of these extra-constitutional actions have been challenged by Congress. The left in America knows this usurpation of power is nearly impossible to reverse unless stopped in its early stages. It is clearly the mindset of this administration and its appointees that Congress is merely a nuisance and can be ignored after they were able to take full advantage of the useful idiots in the Democrat controlled House and Senate in 2009-2010 and the Democrat Senate in the current Congress. Additionally, Barack Obama knows after his re-election a Republican controlled House and Senate will not be able to enact any legislation to roll back the power previously granted to the Executive Branch or usurped by them. His veto will not be overridden as there will always be at least 145 Democratic members of the House or 34 in the Senate in agreement with or intimidated by an administration more than willing to use Chicago style political tactics.The stalemate between the Executive and Legislative Branches will inure to the benefit of Barack Obama and his fellow leftists.

The most significant power Congress has is the control of the purse-strings 
as all spending must be approved by them. However, once re-elected, Barack Obama, as confirmed by his willingness to do or say anything and his unscrupulous re-election tactics, would not only threaten government shutdowns but would deliberately withhold payments to those dependent on government support as a means of intimidating and forcing a Republican controlled Congress to surrender to his demands, thus neutering their ability to control the administration through spending constraints. Further, this administration has shown contempt for the courts by ignoring various court orders, e.g. the Gulf of Mexico oil drilling moratorium, as well as stonewalling subpoenas and requests issued by Congress. The Eric Holder Justice Department has become the epitome of corruption as part of the most dishonest and deceitful administration in American history. In a second term the arrogance of Barack Obama and his minions will become more blatant as he will not have to be concerned with re-election. Who will be there to enforce the rule of law, a Supreme Court ruling or the Constitution? No one. Barack Obama and his fellow-travelers will be unchallenged as they run roughshod over the American people. Many Republicans and conservatives dissatisfied with the prospect of Mitt Romney as the nominee for president are instead focused on re-taking the House and Senate. That goal, while worthy and necessary, is meaningless unless Barack Obama is defeated. The nation is not dealing with a person of character and integrity but someone of single-minded purpose and overwhelming narcissism. Judging by his actions, words and deeds during his first term, he does not intend to work with Congress either Republican or Democrat in his second term but rather to force his radical agenda on the American people through the power he has usurped or been granted. The governmental structure of the United States was set up by the founders in the hope that over the years only those people of high moral character and integrity would assume the reins of power. However, knowing that was not always possible, they dispersed power over three distinct and independent branches as a check on each other. What they could not imagine is the surrender and abdication of its constitutional duty by the preeminent governmental branch, the Congress, to a chief executivedevoid of any character or integrity coupled with a judiciary essentially powerless to enforce the law when the chief executive ignores them. Conservatives, Libertarians, the Republican Party and Mitt Romney must come to grips with this moment in time and their historical role in denying Barack Obama and his minions their ultimate goal. All resources must be directed at that end-game and not merely controlling Congress and the various committee chairmanships. Steve McCann May 12, 2012 I would add but 6 words to those above mentioned, Conservatives, Libertarians, the Republican Party and Mitt Romney, to say "and we the American people also", must come to grips with this moment in time and our role in denying Barack Obama his life long goal of "transforming" us into his slaves working on his government plantation. Please forward this to all you can, maybe together we can save America for ourselves and those who will follow after us. May God bless America.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Welcome to the family, Jonathan!

Baby Jonathan Randall Albertson was born August 2, 2012 at 11:02 pm at home.  He was 8lbs, 8 oz., 20 1/2 inches long.  We thank God for the wonderful gift of this life!  Congratulations to Randy and Joy, and to big brothers Quil, 5, and Micah, 3.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

What We've Been "Up To"

Beth writing:

A few friends have written us recently and I haven't had a chance to respond to them, but hopefully if I blog everyone can read it and know what "we are busy" with!  Check back in a few days-- I want to add pictures to this very post when I have time.

We are getting excited about Randy and Joy's baby boy coming... it looks like he will be born over-night tonight.  We'll finally get to know this precious boy who's been veiled from view up to now while God was making him!  Mother is staying with R/J and going to help with whatever she can as they do a home birth with a mid-wife.  Emily is also in Joplin with Mother.  Mother and Em will fly home a couple of weeks from now.

On Monday the 20th, Mother, Emily, Jason, and I drove to McPherson, KS for camp-meeting there (Kansas State Holiness Association camp).  Jason and I were delighted to both be given vacation time for the same week.  We were planning on going to this camp whether or not anyone else went with us, but we were really glad to have Mother and Em too.  On Thursday afternoon we all drove to Joplin.  We ate supper with all of our Joplin family and spent the night and a few hours of Friday morning with Grandpa and Grandma.  Then Jason and I drove the four hrs. back to McPherson to stay the rest of camp.  Friday's drive was kind of an exciting adventure for Jason and I, because we had to use our memory from the day before, watch for signs, take risks, and reverse the googlemaps instructions for going to Joplin.  We stopped in Augusta at Subway, (happy to have a giftcard to use there) and got back to McPherson at the end of the afternoon service.  We all really enjoyed camp: the services, seeing friends and making new ones, and working in the kitchen.  Jason, Emily, and I, and about 15 other young "campers" did camp dishes for free room and board.  We Albertsons mainly washed/put away in the pots n pans room, but Jason did get to help "tear down" the food line most meals too, and I got to help with food preparation a bit on Sunday.  There are normally two meals a day, but three on Sunday, so cooks/helpers/dish-doers spend a lot more time there that day.  As far as services, Jason and Em got to go to the youth services every morning, and I decided to go to the children's VBS so I could learn from the teacher and get ideas for Federal Heights.  During the same time as youth/children's services was "Bible Study" with evangelist Rodney Loper (our online pastor at HobeSoundBibleChurch.com).  Rodney and Melissa (and their children) were the song evangelists as well.  Bro. Dan Stetler (president at Hobe Sound Bible School) was one of the other evangelists.  We have heard him before and always appreciate the messages.  Bro. Steve Mills from Ohio was the other.  His wife has been working to make complete and full lesson plans for Jr. Church, Sunday School, and VBS workers to use.  We enjoyed visiting with her, and purchased her lion lesson series to use at Federal Heights.  Jason and Emily played their cello and violin in most every afternoon & evening service, which was a blessing to them, and those who heard them.  This past Monday Jason and I made the long trek home (shorter than from Joplin though!!)... I was the only driver, because he can only drive with a parent in the car, and so his job was to help me stay awake, which was a big job!  All of our driving days (Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Monday) we went through roadway construction, which slowed us down, but I don't mind it too much, as far as driving through it.  I was really tired and really glad to be home.

I'm sure Daddy was happy to see us too, because he'd stayed home alone.  He worked every morning, then came home to work on our upstairs bathroom renovation.  We have wanted to replace the 70's cabinetry and counter set-up there that was getting old, and were watching for a way to do that.  Then some home-schoolers we know were getting rid of their 90's bathroom set-up, and offered it all to us.  We were thrilled to find that everything was exactly the right size.  Dad's been working very hard on the cabinets: first stripping, then sanding, priming, and painting them.  It's been a long, frustrating job, and he's our hero for getting it done.  So while we were vacationing, he's been working.  Now that J/I are home, and back to our busy work schedules at Ace, it's hard for Dad to have the time for the bathroom project -- two more people add more work to home-life!!  ;)

We were really happy (and sore) to have 14 quarts worth of green beans to pick, snap, and can this week!  What a blessing that will be to us later on.  These last couple of weeks have been the biggest production time of green beans for the summer.

Yesterday afternoon/evening Dad and I had several errands to do in Greeley and also wanted to go to Loveland Chic-Fil-A for a chicken supper to show our support of their choices for morality.  We got there, and first thing we got to do was sign a pro-life petition... my first petition.  What a good cause.  We stood in line for 15 minutes, maybe, and then were told they would be out of chicken by the time we got to the counter.  We would have stayed and bought something anyway, but we had an appointment in the evening and had to make sure Jason and we were all fed sooner than later for that.

We had chicken sandwiches of our own at home, then went to test-drive a van for Jason or I to buy.  It is a Chevy Venture, exactly like our currant family van, only a year older, and of a slightly browner grey color.  It was listed on craigslist, and we were highly interested-- we'd like to have something else to drive to/from work besides Jason's truck, and we're already totally used to this model.  Well, we drove there, and found out that the sellers were a couple we know as (nice) customers at Ace.  That was fun.  So we test-drove it, and loved how it ran so well.  The price was right, and everything was good, so Jason bought it.  Now we have two Chevy Ventures in our family!

Speaking of buying vans, Jeff recently bought one in Joplin.  He knew he really wanted to have one when he goes back to God's Bible School this fall, and was going to come out here to get his adult driver's licence upon his 21st birthday, so he could also get a vehicle licensed at the same time.  He and our nephew Quil (5) came out Saturday-Tuesday in mid-July for those purposes.  Quil was very happy to get to come out here, and spend time playing cars, being read to, playing with Lincoln and Uncle Jason, and doing our Sunday with us.  That Sunday we went down to Colorado Springs Tent-meeting, had lunch with Uncle Alvin and cousin Katie, had Federal Heights Sunday School (Quil liked that), and went on a walk here in town.  We were amazed and glad that Quil didn't even get homesick while here.  He enjoyed all the personal attention, but was surprised about things that were different from when we have the WHOLE family here at holidays (we don't eat in the living room, there's no snow!, etc., etc.)

Speaking of Jeff and God's Bible School, it was a huge answer to prayer when he was granted a full-tuition scholarship for the rest of his schooling in the Missions Division there.  He's been living in Joplin this summer, working for Randy and Tim's painting company.  He did all the sermon/story/lessons for VBS there with the sketchboard.  So he's been living a busy life too!

That's all I can think of tonight, and it's getting time for bed, so I better sign off.