Jason's mustache: missing in action!

This is the mustache that Jeffrey helped Jason to shave off. And look how happy he was about it!

NEWs

The other day we got a new picnic table from Sams that folds up. The same evening we also got a new barbecuer and set it up after supper - which was eaten on our new picnic table! Beth (me), Jason, and DadWhile Dad, Jason, Jeff, and I set up the barbecuer, Mother planted some more new green bean seeds where some did not come up. Mother, straddling the bean rows and planting more.

We have always had a turtle dove couple live in our area. Some years, their nest has been in our Blue Spruce tree where we could watch the babies grow up. We understand that doves mate for life, so we figured this was the same couple year after year that spent time on our property. Last week, we found one of the doves dead by our driveway, close to the highway. Jason and Emily gave it a decent burial. After that as we have eaten on the deck several days, we noticed this lone turtledove sitting atop a telephone pole. He or she is most likely the mate of the deceased. We feel sorry for him or her.

Rowen's Work Update

As you may know, and as written about earlier in this blog, on Thursday May 22, about noon, an F-3 tornado went directly over the building in which I work in Windsor, CO. The storm took out the electricity, with severe damage to the high voltage towers, several substations, and hundreds of poles in the region. The tornado severely damaged the plant-site cooling tower, where they make hot and cold water and steam for manufacturing processes. (NEW LIVE VIDEO!) It damaged the HVAC (ventilation systems) in our building complex, including the Carestream Health sensitizing machine where we make photographic products (XRAY film, Color Paper, Ink Jet Paper). It flipped over several cars in the parking lot, ripped out many trees, and broke lots of windows. The site was closed on Friday May 23 - Monday May 26 (memorial day weekend). Everyone reported to work on Tuesday May 27, where they had several huge generators providing power to part of the building at a time, no ventilation, pallet loads of bottled water, and free lunch! All production workers and staff were put to work cleaning everywhere that was found to be safe for asbestos in the air, and on the horizontal surfaces. Most of the building did have such contamination, from the asbestos insulation that was blown onto the ceiling surfaces when the building was built in the late 1960's. The tornado knocked lots of it loose, and the high wind swirling through the knocked-out windows spread it everywhere. Two highly trained asbestos contamination removal firms were brought in to clean up the dust, and to test the areas until the levels were found to be below the allowable limits. Finally, last Wednesday - late afternoon - I was allowed back in my microscopy lab, to begin my own cleaning (without power - used my Christmas-present headlamp!). On Thursday morning (one week after the tornado), the full power was restored to the plant site, and I was back on the job! All areas were asbestos safe, and work began in earnest to restore the production facilities. I took Friday off to go to the state Republican convention, but last I heard they anticipated making product today (Sunday, June 1). They will be functioning on a portable hot / cold water and stream unit for several months. I am on call today, to help troubleshoot if they have problems or make defective XRAY film when they start up. Thank the Lord, our company made the decision to pay us in full for the entire time that the building was down; many area businesses did not do that for their employees. My poor little 1989 Ford Aerostar van has a terribly damaged windshield and I have taped plexiglas over the drivers door window and passenger side sliding door windows that were blown out. I will get the windshield replaced, but without comprehensive insurance on this old vehicle I hate to spend money on the side windows. This van is too old and feeble to put money into, and too good to junk. I'm not sure what to do about it yet. THanks the Lord, we had no lasting damage at our house, just 12 miles from the tornado path.

Some miscellaneous catch up pictures!

On my post about Brenda's birthday (April 12 was her birthday), I mentioned that Joy had made Brenda a hat birthday cake. We finally got the pictures of the cake. So they are below.
This is another picture from the Schermerhorn Park picnic/hike that we did when we celebrated Joy's birthday. (Rowen added this picture into his note about our trip, but in case people don't go back and read old posts, I wanted you all to see this.) This is Tim and Brenda in front of a hollow tree that we found on our hike.
In another post, we mentioned that the Hinkles spent most of the day with us on Easter. We neglected to get a good picture of them that day, but took this one since then. We have Bible Study with Mathew, Nicole, and Phoebe twice a month, and always enjoy our time together in the Word. They are going to have an addition to their family in June. We are looking forward to meeting the new little Hinkle.

The following are two pictures representing many hours of work, making 4 bridesmaids' dresses and one flower girl's dress for the wedding coming up in July. We just have hems to go!

The following two pictures represent many hours of work making cream cheese mints for the wedding reception. On the table are pictured 3 batches. We actually made 4 batches, so we should have plenty of mints. They are yummy!

This is what guys do when girls make mints! We were listening to Lum 'n Abner cassette tapes as we worked! We were given a bag of pecans as a gift from the people for whom we babysit.We got the Pampered Chef order from the Bridal Shower for Brenda. This is Brenda with those gifts. She was very happy with all that she has already gotten as gifts. The apron is a gift from the Pampered Chef consultant. Everyone at the party signed it and wrote advice on it.

Jeffrey Got His Real Driver's License!

After more than a year of studying through a parent taught drivers-ed course, and driving >80 documented hours, Jeffrey passed his Driving Test and got his real license on Friday May 23. Congratulations Jeff!

This picture shows Mr. Daryl Wilbanks, Driving Inspector, congratulating Jeff on his successful passing, at the completion of his driving test. Jeff's "first car" is a 1988 Chevy C-1500 pickup. We have been updating the condition of it for several months, and this week we replaced the very corroded and leaky radiator, coolant hoses, thermostat, etc. Jeff really got into it ;-)...

Dad and Jason helped.We trust that this affordable truck will serve him well until he saves much more money.

ABE PAINTING

As some of you know, and others might not, our sons Randy and Tim have started a painting company in Joplin, MO where they both now live. They formed an LLC in Missouri: Albertson Brothers Enterprises (thus the ABE). They had a lawn service company in Colorado during their teen years, which was Albertson Boys Enterprises, LLC dba abeLawns.com - note the change from BOYS to BROTHERS in the LLC name. My Albertson siblings will know how proud their Grandpa Albertson would have been!

They are currently doing business as ABE PAINTING. They bought a 14-ft box truck, which serves as transportation, storage, and workshop for their painting operation. It easily holds all of the ladders, compressor, air and airless spray equipment, etc. It has a rack for various sizes of paint containers, a bench for any prep work, and other storage bins for brushes and other supplies. They hope to get a generator soon, so that they can have electricity for the power equipment at remote sites; the truck box even has a microwave oven, awaiting that generator.

They have been very busy painting most days since they started in business. Joy's brother David joined them in May, and so the three of them are trusting that they will keep busy enough to suppport three housholds. So-far-so-good, thanks be to the Lord!

This is an apartment complex in Pittburg, KS (near PSU) that they have the contract for painting the inside of 108 - 2, 3, and 4 bedroom units. It was a great way for them to start out, but they have worked some very long days to meet the schedule of the builders.

I survived a real F-3 tornado yesterday!

Many of you have heard by now that we had very destructive tornadoes in our area yesterday, Thursday 22-MAY-2008 at noon. Here at home, ~10 miles from the tornado, we only had heavy rain, hail, and hard wind. Our electricity was off for about 18 hours, from all the downed power poles, lines, and substations.

But…I was at work in Windsor, CO and our building took the brunt of the storm! We were warned about 10 minutes before it hit, so everyone was in safe zones. When the tornado hit our building, the 3-story concrete structure shook like an earthquake, and many of the suspended ceiling tiles and lights fell out of place. My lungs felt like I was suffocating (really frightening!) for about 10-15 seconds, the electricity went off, and the air in our safe zone filled with thick dust (they quickly passed out manatory dust masks), and there was suddenly a horrible sewage stench, as if the water had been sucked out of the traps in the floor drains, toilets, etc.
After about 30 minutes, we were allowed to go outside, where we saw the very strange damage done. Most of the ~250 vehicles in the parking lots had two or more windows broken out. My van had two windows missing, with glass scattered throughout the vehicle. The windshield had 4-5 different impact cracks, but I was able to drive it home. Two vehicles were on their tops, one on its side, a pickup on top of a motorcycle, and many cars jumbled around. The brand new flag poles were bent, one at a 45° angle! About ten 40-50 ft pine trees were uprooted and tossed aside, like plucked dandelions. Many of the building windows were blown out. You get the idea. After awhile the authorities said that we were required to go back inside to our safe zones, as there were still tornadoes in the area, and all of the roads were closed anyway. Over two hours later, we were asked to go home very carefully. I got home safely, and helped the family get supper on with no electricity (Coleman stove on the deck, lanterns, etc.) We borrowed a 5000W generator from friends who had power, and plugged in our freezer full of meat and garage 'fridge, with all our perishables. So you see, we were very blessed and helped by an Unseen Hand throughout this ordeal.
Our building at Carestream Health Colorado, where we make XRAY film, color paper, color display film, and inkjet paper and film sustained very severe damage. I have no idea when we will be allowed to go back to work, or what we will be doing when we do return. This could have a significant impact on the availability of these materials worldwide. As far as the managers knew, standing in our safe zones yesterday, we will be paid in full, for which we are very grateful.

New pictures on the sidebar

If you scroll down beyond the blog archive on the right you will see pictures of all of us Johnstown Albertsons.

God's Girls' Bible Study trip to George Washington Carver museum

While we were in Joplin the end of April, Beth, Emily, and I joined Joy and her God's Girls Bible Study group on a field trip to the George Washington Carver Museum in Diamond, MO. We didn't take pictures in the museum, but we did on the mile long nature trail walk that we took. If you have a chance to go to the museum, it is well worth your time. It is a God honoring museum. Mr. Carver was a real Christian man who gave God the glory for all that he discovered and the good he did in his life.All along the nature walk were signs with quotes of words Mr. Carver had said. I thought they were all very good. This is an example of his sayings.
Here are the girls, Emily, and Joy. If all the girls could have come, there would have been about 3 more girls. Joy meets with these girls 3-4 times each month, does a craft with them, and has a Bible Study with them. She tries to answer their questions and role model the life of Christian girlhood.
This is a bridge over a stream on the nature walk.
Joy sitting down in the second house Mr. Carver's adopted parents built in this area.
When the Lord brings it to your mind, pray for this ministry Joy has with these girls. They need to know the Lord. He can give them a bright and happy future. Joy loves each of these girls and wants to be the example and blessing in their lives that they need so much.

Pampered Chef Bridal Shower for Brenda

On May 13, we hosted a Pampered Chef Bridal Shower for Brenda and Tim. Tim did not get to be here, because he lives in MO now, but we had a nice turnout of friends and neighbors. The PC consultant was Julie Henkel, our long time friend for 25 years. Her husband, Greg, was Rowen's best friend from about 3rd grade and was the best man at our wedding. This is our neighbor, Johnnie Ullmann, our friend for 19 years, and LaDeana Desmond, my cousin.

With Brenda in this picture is Norena Hays, Maria Hays, and Sally Hays. We have known Sally for 19 years also. Her two daughters-in-law have had Brenda as their babysitter most of Brenda's time in Johnstown.This is Carmen Cruz, our dear friend from Greeley.
From the right of this picture is Sunshine Gearhart and her daughter, Tatiana. We have known them since they moved to Johnstown in 1999, I believe. Next is Paula Grzenia, a relatively new friend we have had for about 3 years. Nicole Hinkle is sitting by Paula. We have known Nicole about 3 years. We have Bible Study with Nicole and her family every other week. Bonnie Peterson is the other friend in this picture. I have known Bonnie for about 6 years. Bonnie and her husband employed Tim for part of 3 years in their restoration and rental businesses. All of these ladies are homeschoolers, and Tatiana graduated this year.

The children at the party were Phoebe Hinkle, Emily, Lexi Peterson, (to be the flower girl in the wedding), and Beth.

Brenda demonstrated some of the Pampered Chef tools making this yummy Strawberry Cream Trifle. Here she is with the finished product.
Brenda also received PC gifts from our friends, Chris Owen and Pam Lutey, who were not able to attend the party. All of our friends were so kind to purchase items that Brenda had on her wish list from Pampered Chef. It was a fun evening.

Mother's Day Picnic

For Mother's Day we had a picnic in South St. Vrain Canyon. It was our first mountain picnic of the year. We really enjoyed it, but Brenda missed Tim. We had a nice picnic, followed by a cheesecake and strawberries, yum! The only problem was that the wind came up several times, so we had to hold our plates and everything else down. After that, we sat by the river, and some of us walked on the rocks.

This is Mother standing by a precariously situated picnic table, which is not the one we used.

Around the table from left: Jeff, Jason, Bren, Beth (me), Emily, Mother. Daddy was taking the picture.
Brenda eating her last bite of cheesecake, and trying to keep it safe from everyone else.

"What are you guys looking at?"

"Ok, now everyone SMILE!"

Daddy and Mother being sweet, as usual!

Emily, Mother, and I on a rock whose top wasn't really big enough for all of us. Scary!
Me, sitting on the same rock.

Below: Through a series of scary stunts Jason crossed the river and posed on this rock.


Jason again.

I thought this was a cool picture.

Emily getting ready to throw a stick.