Cuteness Overload!

These are some pictures of my niece, Jewelyn on September 14th, 2014

Her aunt Brenda made her jumper

 She is usually a very happy baby. And a sweetie. :)

 This picture is to show how strong she is. She is only 4.5 months old, and she's already holding herself up like this. When you hold her, she lifts herself up in your arms because she doesn't like lying down very much.
We are thankful that God made her strong, for she has three older brothers to handle. :)

-Love, her aunt Emily

Just to thank the Lord!!

This picture was taken in July 2011 while I was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer.

 These were taken yesterday, September 7, 2014.  God has been so gracious to me, in giving me health and hair, by allowing me to still be alive to minister to my family.

(If you think I look a little stressed in this picture, I was worrying about the traffic on the highway in front of our house--what were people thinking?  I should not have been worried about people.  I'm sorry!)

 I say, "Thank you, Jesus!  You are so good to me"

Jonathan's quilt top

Janet's spare minutes the last couple weeks were spent making this quilt top for grandson, Jonathan.  It is a full size quilt.  He will eventually move downstairs to share a bedroom with his older brothers.  Right now, they are in twin bunk beds, using their own special quilts.  But when Jonathan moves in with them, they will use a bunk bed with full on bottom and twin on top.  Therefore, a full size quilt will be needed.
The cute printed animal squares came from Great-aunt Marlene's stash of fabric.  The blocks are 7 inch, and the pieced blocks are nine-patches and snowballs.
The quilt top is on its way to the quilter in Galena, Ks.  We are hoping it will be a quick turn around, so the quilt can be bound and complete before the Quilt Show on October 25! 

Emily Driver Training since June

Emily got her driving permit in June and has already logged close to 50 hours driving since then!  She is Rowen's 6th student, and he says she is the best!  She has to keep her permit a year, and is going through National Driver Training Institute online.  We have used this training for five out of our six kids and we recommend it highly.  It qualifies with our insurance for a discount, which we enjoy.  We also love having removable magnetic Student Driver signs, which we searched for and bought online.  We feel that having the signs displayed cause people to drive more charitably and carefully around us!

Ned and Judy Sherman's wedding August 29, 2014

Judy Hunt married Tonweya (Ned) Sherman in Colorado Springs on August 29.  It was a precious, beautiful ceremony.  Our favorite parts were her dad's speech when he gave her away, and the song she sang to Ned about the kind of wife she was praying to be to him.

 We have known Judy for years, but it was our first opportunity to meet Ned.  We know he got a high quality girl for a wife!  God will use their yielded lives in His kingdom!

 The reception was in the mountains, and the cakes were displayed on tree stumps!  So many people commented, "It is 'so Judy'!"  The cakes were made by her Aunt Becky Hunt, with help from Uncle Gary.  It was yummy, as well as beautiful!

 The bridal table with mostly their good friends from Penn View, Pa., but also Judy's sister Marlene, left of Judy.

We were so happy to witness the start of this godly young couple's marriage.  May God bless them!

Finishing up August

Before Beth and Jason left for college, we decided to celebrate some birthdays.  They were leaving on August 16.  Janet's birthday is August 24; Jason's August 29, and Beth's is September 26.  So the girls got out the China plates, put flowers on the table, and we sang some birthday songs.  We also had assorted cheesecake because it is one of our favorite things.

 We are thankful that the Lord is helping Jeffrey, Beth, and Jason as they have begun a new school year at God's Bible School and College in Cincinnati.  We miss them!  Emily is the only "child" at home.  Our college boarder that we had last school year decided not to come back to school in Greeley this semester.

 We debated all summer about what colors to paint our kitchen.  Randy painted it for us after Beth and Jason left for school.  In the picture above, a calendar and framed picture is not yet back on the wall, and Janet made a new bag bag to replace the old blue one in the picture.

 The other wall is European Linen but looks like a light yellow.

 Both the colors of paint change according to the lighting and the time of day.  The red door is the same color as the red wall, but the lighting is different in the pantry, so it doesn't look the same in this picture.  The European Linen looks more yellow in that lighting.  Overall, we are loving the new colors.  The kitchen had been blue since 2004 when we remodeled the kitchen.  We kept the wall paper the same, and everybody comments that the red wall brings out the red in the wall paper.  (See early birthday picture above for wall paper.) (We did have to put away the red tablecloth, as it was not the right color of red.)

On Janet's birthday, we were at Randy and Joy's house for dinner after church.  The grandsons made the sweet wall hangings to help us celebrate.

 Jonathan was playing I Spy with Grandma.

 Randy built this Book Nook in the corner of the living room.  The boys love to read and be read to in the Book Nook.

 Funny faces on the grandsons!

A catch up post about Summer 2014

It seems like we've been extra busy this summer, but we're not sure why.  We've had Jason and Beth home since May, and today they left to travel back to Cincinnati.  We've babysat most Tuesdays and Thursdays and that has involved a lot of taking kids to tennis lessons, volleyball practices, bowling, roller skating...so maybe that has kept us busy.  There was that eight days of early election judge job that Janet did.  Everybody had to pitch in to cook, clean, and do laundry in her stead.  The gardening, sewing, evening walks, weeding at the museum, helping with the Car Show, the helping out with children's ministry.  Then there was the week away at McPherson, Ks. for Kansas State Holiness Association Camp.  What a blessed time!  What an enjoyable time to see old friends, as well as our kids, Tim, Brenda, and Charissa, and Janet's sister, Marlene and hubby Scott.  Then we had a week of VBS at Federal Heights.  This past Monday, Rowen took off work so we could take a hike to Gem Lake near Estes Park.  That was physically challenging and a beautiful day to be together.  I don't know why I've been too busy to blog, but maybe this attempt will take care of the problem and I can do better in the future.  Here are some pictures of our summer:

May 22: This was a God's Bible School Choir service that was supposed to take place at the Colorado Capitol building.  But it rained, and the service was moved to the church at Federal Heights.  The empty pews you see had been filled with all of the choir members, nearly 50 people.  Randy is praying at the beginning of the service.

The front of the church is too small for risers or instruments some choir members play, so this service was different than any others on the western tour.  Nevertheless, God's presence was there and it was a wonderful service.  Jason is third boy from the right.

The audience on the right side, behind all the empty pews where the choir had been sitting.

This was Jonathan's first time to see Jason since Christmas break!  He called him Jeffrey all summer.  He probably can't remember seeing both of them at once, since he was so young at Christmastime.  Jason went on with the choir further west, before we got him home for the rest of the summer.

Rowen and Janet carried the Historical Society banner in the Johnstown BBQ Day parade ahead of the honored Volunteer of the Year who was in a fancy car.

Janet holding Jewelyn at the park during BBQ Day in the Johnstown Historical Society booth.

Jason and Beth played together on the pianos quite a bit this summer.

Jewelyn gives lots of smiles!

Rowen with two siblings and three cousins at a mini-Family Reunion in June.

The relatives who got together in a park in Colorado Springs, minus two who had already left before the pictures.

Emily, Beth, and their cousins:  Kwani, Sarah, and Hadassah

Rowen and his sister Esther and brother Nathan

Rowen and four of his five grandchildren on Father's Day

Randy and his children on Father's Day

Beth on one of our walks

Rowen and Beth on a walk

Emily's booth at the Christian Home Educators of Colorado June 12-14

She sold lots of her beautiful photo card sets and enjoyed interacting with the public in the Youth Vendor Hall.

Jason must have been taking this picture.  We ate on the deck when the weather was not too unbearably hot.

Beth helped out in the children's part of the services by either leading the songs or giving the children's sermon.

Rodney Keister came for a special service with his dog Baby.  He gave an allegorical sermon in which the dog demonstrated the traps of sin.  

Jason holding Jewelyn

Rowen talking with Joe, one of our blind men who comes to church.  Rick, our other blind man visiting with Ken, who started coming regularly this summer.

Emily, Joy, Jewelyn, and Joanna--matching in blue one Sunday

Joy and Jewelyn

We helped our friends pick their sour cherries!

The tree was loaded!

The next day, Emily helped Sunshine pit the cherries and make pie filling.

Beth and Emily on a mountain hike

Jason and Beth

Videochatting with Jeffrey on Sunday evenings after church

An evening walk around Johnstown Lake

Janet and Rowen at the Lake

Jason, Beth, and Emily at the Lake

Rowen and Janet helping at the Historical Society's first-ever Car Show

July 19 was a hot afternoon.  We sold lots of pop, water, and ice cream to keep participants and viewers cool.

Rowen and Janet at the Car Show

One of the winning cars happened to be a 1914 Ford, which was pretty cool to picture in front of our 1914 Parish House Museum after the Show.

Emily enjoyed working in the Snack Shop at KSHA Camp this year, instead of the kitchen, with Charley and Janelle Hughes and Teresa Freeman.

We enjoyed beautiful singing by Derek and Alanna McIntire,

powerful preaching by Daniel Stetler,

Brian Spangler, 

and Derald Hunt.

Great meals and fellowship with Marlene and Scott DeOrnellis, and Tim, Brenda, and Charissa Albertson

Lori Owens put herself into Pilgrim's Progress in children's services.   

Emily helped every day in the children's services.  In this picture, the three children are carrying heavy burdens on the way to the cross.

One of the children's activities was swinging across the Pit of Acid.

Emily enjoyed time with her niece, Charissa.

Brenda combed Charissa's hair in a fancy sideways braid.

We went out for ice cream one evening with Shawna Wright and three of her kids, Scott and Marlene, and Tim, Brenda, and Charissa.

Brenda, Charissa, and Tim

Charissa

Grandma and Charissa

Another meal together

Another picture of children's church

Charissa at the Snack Shop

Ready for church a little early

Some of the orchestra gathering before the service

Dear friends:  Kim, Derald, and daughter Judy Hunt.  Judy is getting married August 29, so look for that in a future post! 

Evening VBS at Federal Heights Immanuel Missionary Church August 4-8

August 11:  Jason, Rowen, Janet, Randy, Emily, Beth, Joanna (Joy's sister) at the Trail Head before the hike

An easy part of the hike to Gem Lake

Gem Lake, not too big, but a welcome sight!

Some of us on the way back down

Crossing a log bridge

Janet and Rowen taking a rest on the way up 

One of the beautiful views of Longs Peak and Meeker

Joanna took this picture of just the Albertsons.  Estes Park is below.