Painting the Exterior of our House

This is the year when we feel that we must be good stewards of what the Lord has entrusted to us by painting the outside of our house. We have lived here for twenty years, and have painted it twice before.

Our house has 37-year old pressed-board lap siding, which really needs to be replaced in many areas, but it doesn't seem prudent to make a large investment in it, in this economy (ie. never get our money out of it...). The trim is in pretty good condition, except for the west gable end where the fascia board has been very warped and curling.

Note the blue wonder bar in Rowen's hand, which carved a nasty gash in his left palm shortly after this. It still hasn't healed completely, which gets him out of washing dishes ;-).

We are in the process of replacing that, as well as about 200 linear ft of siding that was not worthy of paint. As soon as the weather permits (not this week) we will continue the re-construction in preparation for painting.

Emily and Jason were thrilled to be the ground crew on March 21, as we began our project before a major winter snow storm!

Jeff is glad to get valuable experience, as he decides whether his life work should be in construction.

Jason was glad that he had that hard hat on a couple of times!

Now for the hurdle that we have before us.... We are having a hard time deciding on what color(s) to paint our house. When we moved here in 1989 it was mainly off-white with medium brown trim. Both times that we have painted it, we made it country white (like a dark cream color) with country blue trim. The last time we added a few accents of dark-cherry red. That all seems very normal to us now, though it used to be very special. So, we have been trying to decide if it is time for a change, and should it be a major change, or a more subtle one?

Our oldest sons live 750 miles away and have their own professional painting business. They love the new, outlandish colors! Tim suggested that we paint the siding a light sage green, with white trim, and dark red accents. Hmmm...we love those colors together, but how would they look with our un-changable - red brick? We have talked about a light gray for the siding, and hunter green trim, maybe a touch of dark red accents. Or ...........???

Look at these pictures and tell us what you think. Note that we are blessed to have two big trees in our front yard, making it impossible to get a good picture of the front of the house. These pictures were taken last week, before the leaves emerge on the linden tree (left side). Mid-summer you can hardly see the front of our house from the street at all.

The roof has a slight bluish-greenish cast to it; hard to see from the ground, or in these pictures.

Our Web Cam

One of the things that we have been enjoying this year is our times of video-chatting with our web-cam connected online to Tim and Brenda's web-cam 750-miles away. The real-time free sight and sound communication with our out-of-reach family members, especially our only grandsons, is really enjoyable. Last night we were able to visit this way with Tim and Brenda, Joy, with Quil and baby Micah.

They looked like this; we didn't get a picture of how we looked ;-).


Let us know if you have a web-cam and want to visit that way also! We'll try to fit you into our online time.

New pictures of Quil and Micah!

Micah weighing 10# 9 oz at 7 weeks old!

Quil reading to Micah.

Quil checking out the ad.

Quil with the fierce eyebrows!

Micah wearing the Sunday-go-to-meeting tee shirt that Grandma Albertson took him when she got to visit!

We are happy to see new pictures of the boys. It's also fun to see them on video chat this week!

A Picturesque Walk around Johnstown Reservoir

On March 15, 2009, we took a Sunday afternoon walk around Johnstown Reservoir. It was windy, but nice. The town has done a lot of work improving the shoreline for fishing, but we used the improvements for picture taking. In this picture, we were trying to all be the same height.



It was a perfectly "loverly" day! The cameraman found these lovers on a large rock!

More on Emily's birthday

When we finished Jason and Jeffrey's quilt last summer, we started on a quilt for Emily. It had been mostly set aside because of the busyness of life and school, but after my trip to MO, I determined to get it done. I finished with the quilt top the week before Emily's birthday, and it is now in MO at the quilter's.

Emily was thrilled to get a box in the mail containing a violin shoulder rest! Tim and Brenda ordered it for her birthday.

When Michael Durkee was up for the weekend, he brought Emily a BLUE bow for her violin! It is very nice!

Emily got some new Sunday shoes and a new bike helmet, but they were things she needed. For a surprise, I ordered the game "Have You Herd?" on amazon.com for her birthday. We had played it at a homeschool game day and enjoyed it.

Here Beth and Emily are playing the game.

Beth ordered the whole set of Mildred Keith books for Emily. She will have plenty of books to read for awhile! Emily loves to read!

On her birthday evening, we had two friends over for supper and games. Celeste Roller and Lily Myers are special friends. Since her birthday was on a Tuesday, of course we had Taco Salad. That's what we do on Tuesdays!

We had a great time playing Have You Herd?, The Great Aunt Marlene game, Apples to Apples, and Pit. The time went much too quickly.

Emily had a happy 11th birthday! Several people called, sent cards, and sent greetings via email and facebook, so she felt loved and remembered!

Emily's 11th Birthday

Eleven years ago tonight, I was miserable! Our 6th child was recalcitrant about coming forth and joining our family. My niece, Christy, who was living with us to help during that time, convinced me to drink Castor Oil to get the baby moving. It did work, and at 11:30 pm we called the hospital and the doctor to warn them we were coming. I was afraid the baby would be born on the way there! When we arrived, we discovered the doctor had not been in as big a hurry as we were. I tried to wait on him, but decided he had had plenty of warning to get there in time from a few blocks away while we drove to Greeley from Johnstown (about 18 miles). An ER intern was summoned and very shortly after midnight Emily Grace Albertson was born. The doctor arrived in time for the cleanup. What a joy to have another baby girl! This was when she was a week or so old:

I love this picture so much! She was almost 2 months old and is wearing the sweet outfit my friend, Lynell Kirk sent for her:

She is just over 3 months in this picture:

We have many pictures of her all the years of her life, but I will put in some recent ones now.

Emily is anxious for the day when she will be taller than Mother. It won't be long. She is a social butterfly and enjoys having lots of friends, mostly homeschoolers. She is learning to play the violin, that God, in answer to her prayers, provided for her birthday.

We are blessed to have Emily in our family for the past 11 years. Tomorrow, we will have three of her friends over for supper and a time of playing games to celebrate her birthday. Her email is Emily [dot] ggn [at] gmail [dot] com . She enjoys getting emails, and would love to have greetings on her birthday.

Johnstown Albertson Kids' Music

We are so richly blessed this year by our children's enhanced musical skills. The sounds of their music practicing makes our home an audible delight! Thanks, Janet, for your diligence in teaching them to sing, and thanks to each of the children for their faithfulness and dedication to habitually practicing. I have placed here the children informally practicing a song that they sang in church last Sunday, and Jason playing the same song on the piano. Soon I'll take some clips of Jason playing his cello, and Emily playing her new violin. I thank the Lord for each of you children!

Jeff - Tenor, Beth -Lead, Jason - Bass, Emily - Alto

More High School Friends

While I was in Joplin last week, some of the girls I graduated with 30 years ago got together at Starbuck's. We had a nice time visiting and getting reacquainted!
Pictured below: Gay Cragin Currence, me, Martha Lee Walker, Debbie Ames Restivo, Karen Patterson Hall

Karen and Gay

Pictured below: me, Judy Green Gurley, Martha Lee Walker, Debbie Ames Restivo

Musical Instrumental Endeavors

Late last year, Jason developed a desire to learn to play the cello. We greatly admire our friend, Doug Wiseman, and enjoy his music so much (which we heard up at Faith Bible School a couple of years ago, and we hear occasionally at Hobe Sound Bible Church online). Also, Rowen played the cello in grade school many years ago, so it has always been a favorite instrument in his life. We looked into the possibilities of renting a cello and taking lessons. Since Jason had a job last summer, he has money saved to do this without it affecting the family budget.

He has had 4 lessons so far from a home school student who is quite an accomplished cellist. He is using Suzuki method and doing very well.

Janet also is trying to learn to play the cello. I don't know if I can keep up with Jason, but I am trying. I am using a book The ABCs of Cello for the Absolute Beginner. I figure I am even more of an "absolute beginner" than Jason. :)

Emily has wanted to play the violin for at least a year. We told her she would have to pray for a violin and for money for lessons. She has been praying for God to provide. First, she had the opportunity to help babysit with Beth. Then, a couple of weeks ago, the lady that she babysits for asked her if she needed a violin for her birthday or if she already had one. She had one that had never been used and wanted to give it to Emily! What a huge answer to prayer!

We have a book The ABCs of Violin for the Absolute Beginner that we are going to use before she starts lessons. God has given her the desire to play violin, He has provided the violin, and we are confident He will give her increasing ability for His glory!

My Joplin Trip

Back in November when we saw a good price on airline tickets to KCI, we purchased them so I could go and help with Randy and Joy's new baby who was supposed to arrive in February. Micah actually arrived January 26, so he was already 3 weeks old when I went to "help" with him.
So on February 17, I did something I had not done for 25 years--flew alone! I rented a car at the airport and drove to Joplin. The Lord really helped me, as I usually get very sleepy just driving to Greeley or Loveland. I was happy to spend a week helping with Quil and Micah and many household tasks. I got to spend some time with my parents also. One evening was spent playing Dutch Blitz, Clue, and Password with Randy, Joy, Tim, and Brenda! We had a lot of fun. My family left here at home did me proud by keeping everything done just as if they didn't need me! :) Here are some pictures from my time in Joplin.
My sisters, Sherry and Marlene, enjoying Micah.

Randy and Quil

Joy, Micah, and the cell phone

My mother, Wanda Scoles, and Micah

Quil, 20 months old

Quil and Micah

Grandma Janet and Micah

Micah doing what he does best....

My daddy, Rex Scoles, and Quil