More God's Bible School pictures from our trip

Here are some more pictures of our time at God's Bible School.  The first picture shows the Chapel/Classroom/Boys' Dorm building on the left, the Girls' Dorm in the very back, and the Administration Building on the right.

 Another view of the Admin Building, and to the right is the library.

 The Music Building which is across the street from the chapel.  Secured parking is behind this building.

 President Michael Avery, a wonderful man of God with a heart for the students.  Because he is a detail-noticing man, and he knew Jeffrey was also, he added to Jeffrey's work duties to find any details that needed to be fixed on campus:  light bulbs to replace, binds that didn't work, loose screws, black marks on floors, etc.  Jeffrey took it seriously and worked hard.  The whole campus really looked nice!  All the students work together to make the campus wonderful.

 Inside the empty chapel.  This was taken on our tour of campus.  During the camp services, it was very full of up to 900 people.

 We hadn't seen the Richard Owens family since their kids were small.  They are from New York, but daughter Rachel is in school at GBS.

 Jeffrey with a few of his friends: Brandon, Rachel, and Amit.  Amit took us out to eat on Saturday.

 We have been cyber friends with Nikita, from Grand Cayman, for probably five years.  It was a blessing to finally meet her in person!  She has been an "adopted" daughter through video chat!  She has two more years to go at GBS.  She gave Emily and me a tour of the Girls' Dorm.

 I was visiting with Martha Glick, while Rowen and Jeffrey talked to Dr. Dan Glick.  Dr. Glick is a friend, adviser, mentor, professor, and pastor to Jeffrey.  We appreciate his investment in Jeffrey's life.  We first met the Glicks at McPherson Holiness Camp in 2002.

 Another picture with Seth and Alesia, including some Albertsons.  Seth is one of our "adopted" sons, and also our daughter-in-law, Brenda's brother.  Since we were so close to Kentucky, where they live, we asked them to meet us for a meal.  They were willing to drive two hours to get to see us!

 Here is the only picture we took of our nephew, Adam.  He was supervising Aubrey's play.

 This is the dining hall, which had some stuff sitting around for the graduation receptions that were going to take place there.  Between our nieces' homes and the friends we ate out with, we only ate in the dining hall once.

The picture below is cropped from a choir picture, just to show a couple of Jeffrey's friends.  The left arrow points to Andrew Blankenship, Jeffrey's roommate this past year.  The right arrow points to Jeffrey Paulus, a good friend who plans to room with Andrew and Jeffrey next year.  It might get confusing with two Jeffreys in the room, but they are good friends and are all serious about serving the Lord.

Pictures from our time at God's Bible School, Cincinnati, Ohio

May 10-14, Rowen, Emily, and I were able to be with Jeffrey at God's Bible School for the school end Camp Meeting.  It was a privilege for us to go and see where Jeffrey has been this school year.  We loved meeting his professors and friends, spending time with our nephews and their families, besides seeing old friends and making new ones.  After our time there, we took Jeffrey to Joplin where he will spend the summer painting for his brothers' company, ABE Painting, to make more money so he can go back to GBS in the fall to continue his study in missions.

 Jeffrey and Emily in the golf cart he uses to deliver packages. This was a part of his work study job.

 Jeffrey pretending a Curious George story with Elliott and Simon.  They have gotten fond of Jeffrey over the school year.

 Our nephew, Aaron leaving his house to go to graduation.  He has been head of General Studies at GBS.  This picture shows how close his house is to the next one.  We were amazed how tall, skinny, and close the houses were in Cincinnati.

 The GBS choir singing in the camp meeting services.  They were a blessing to hear.  Every service was anointed and helpful.

 The chapel is the level where the pretty, big windows are.  Above are offices, below are classrooms, but the upper levels are Boys' Dorm rooms.  I have marked Jeffrey's room with the arrow.  Rowen says there are 60 stairs to get up to his room!

 An interesting stairway down from the chapel area to the street where Aaron and Lisa live.  There are stairs everywhere in this city of seven hills.

 Jeffrey in front of the church he attends: Florence, Kentucky Church of the Nazarene.

 We had a meal with Seth and Alesia Stevenson while we were in their territory.

 This lady approached me and asked, "Are you also a cancer survivor?"  We had noticed we had similar "coming back from bald" hairdos!  Her name is Patty Jo, and she has also come through the breast cancer journey by God's help.

 One of the stained glass windows in the front of the chapel.

 Lisa and Elliot Profitt and her mother, Leta Witt.

 Aaron and Simon Profitt.  Aaron and Lisa graciously allowed us to stay in their home with them.

 Emily and me on Mother's Day.

Rowen and me on Mother's Day

Valerie Profitt and her girls, Aubrey and Annie.  We got to eat at Adam and Val's twice.  Sorry we did not get a good picture of Adam.

 Rowen and me on the picturesque stairs.

Don and Karin Litchfield, "electronic friends."  We got to meet them in person and enjoyed sharing a meal and conversation together.

Visit with the Lauritzens

 On May 5, we were privileged to have the Lauritzen family for a meal and visit.  Robert and Mary are missionaries to Ghana, Africa with their children:  Emily, Titus, Isaac, and Miriam.  They also have older children that are married.  Before this, we had never met them in person, but Emily has been penpals with Beth for several years.  She has also been a faithful subscriber to God's Girls' Newsletter that Beth publishes every month.  Other times when they have been in the US, Emily has texted with Beth, but this time, they were coming to Colorado for deputation services, and we were able to get together!  We enjoyed the evening of visiting and learning about God's work in Ghana.  On Sunday morning, May 6, we went to the church where they were speaking so we could learn more.  We thoroughly enjoyed meeting these wonderful people.  In the pictures below, they are wearing the native costume of Ghana.

Beth and Emily

Charissa's dedication May 16, 2012

Charissa was dedicated to the Lord on Wednesday evening, May 16th.     She went to sleep during the earlier part of the service, so she "behaved" very well for the dedication.

Brenda had made her a beautiful satin dress to wear. 
                            Tim and Brenda pledged to teach and train Charissa in the Lord's ways.                                             

Grandpa Scoles, Charissa's great-grandpa, read the dedication service and prayed for Charissa.

After church was over, Charissa woke up for picture taking.

Charissa with her Grandpa and Grandma Albertson, and Great-grandpa and Great-grandma Scoles

Charissa is blessed to get to see her great-grandparents often.  They love her very much.

Charissa with her great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents: Tim and Brenda

  Charissa with Grandma and Grandpa Albertson

Charissa with grandparents and Aunt Emily and Uncle Jeffrey

Charissa is dearly loved by her family and the Lord!

     
                                               
                                  
                                          

Mother's Knee surgery

 My mother, Wanda Scoles, had both knees replaced back in 1999.  Her right one was giving lots of trouble lately, and she had surgery on it on May 7.  We were grateful the replacement parts did not have to be replaced, but the doctor was able to modify what was causing the trouble.  We got to Joplin on Tuesday, May 15 when she was already in rehab and doing well with her therapy. Below is the automated exerciser that is slowly moving her leg and bending it to 90 degrees at that time.  The blue thing is a ice pack that she is still using at home.  It is hooked to the "thermos jug" on the windowsill, which has a motor and circulates ice water in the pack.

 

Janet visiting with Mother.  She was thrilled with my wavy hair, like I knew she would be!

My friend, Phyllis McKibben, came to see us while we were there visiting Mother.  Phyllis and I were bosom friends in nursing school.  We graduated in 1981.  We have written letters through the years, and seen each other a few times, but this year, we have been corresponding often through email.  It was so fun to see her again.  Phyllis knew my parents those many years ago, and they were glad to see her too.  Her coming gave Mother other things to think about besides her knee!

Mother got out of the rehab hospital on Wednesday afternoon and was in church Wednesday evening!.  She didn't want to miss seeing Charissa get dedicated!  (Watch for that post!)  We were so grateful that she was able to do it.  She is still weak, but doing great with a nurse and a therapist making home visits.

Our new Photovoltaic Solar Panels

This spring we shopped around for the best Photovoltaic Solar Panels for our particular house here in Johnstown. After interviewing three companies, we chose to go with Independent Power Systems out of Boulder, CO.  The primary reason for choosing them was the type of solar modules that they are the exclusive dealer for SunPower Elite, which are superior in technology to others available here in northern Colorado. They produce higher output per sq. ft. than the other brands, which allows us to have 100% of the electricity that we need come from the solar cells.

We just got our 32 solar panels installed this week. Within the next 2-3 weeks electricians will come and install the power inverter (photovoltaic solar panels create DC, which must be converted to AC), and a special meter that allows the solar panel current to flow into the existing power grid. So during daylight hours the power produced by the solar panels is measured as it goes into the grid, then we use from the grid for our electrical needs day or night. The computer controller for the system will be connected through our internet router, so that we and the company can see the performance of our system online 24/7.  If it fails or changes in performance, they will be out here ASAP to find out why, and make any necessary repairs or changes.   

We were able to get the most powerful, efficient cells available that will provide 100% of our power over the year, and will save at least $60/month (compared to our electric portion of our utility bill) for the next 20 years, with $0 down. We lease the entire system, so the company maintains, repairs, etc. the system for 20 years.  Our payment cannot increase for that period of time, even if we use more electricity than our past needs.  We have to pay $7.00/month to XCEL (grid), to be on their system. All of this is based on current (early 2012) federal and state energy rebates and incentives that we signed over to the lease company, as they will own the system. 

We feel really good about the representatives of the company that we have dealt with.  The salesmen, project manager, and the module installer have all been really great people.  The installation workmanship is amazingly well done.  I would highly recommend these guys to anyone. Top notch, professional installers.

If you live in Colorado and are interested in pursuing solar power, I recommend:

http://www.solarips.com/

Nick Williamson
nwilliamson@solarips.com

NABCEP Certified

Cell: 303-319-0664

Phone: 303-443-0115

Fax: 303-443-2173

1501 Lee Hill Rd. #24

Boulder, CO 80304

 

First stack of solar modules on our deck

 

 Installers placing the anchors on the roof, each one firmly screwed to the trusses

Extruded aluminum mounting rails were then fastened to the anchors

 A few modules installed to check the positioning

Installer inspecting the backside of the modules. Note the electrical connectors.

 Connecting the wires from panel-to-panel

Heavy wire mesh was firmly installed on each edge to keep the critters out from under the panels

32 Solar Modules completely installed in 2.5 days