Christmas week happenings

These pictures are a taste of our time with all of our family together the week of Christmas. One of our favorite games was "Things", in which each person writes a response to a question, for example, "What do you not understand?" and everyone tries to figure out who wrote each thing. It was good for a lot of laughs.

We call this "Race Car visits the Nativity."

Rowen is not crazy about playing games, so we often found him reading a book to Quil.

Tim and Brenda (before his haircut)

Micah really wanted to play, or at least pick out the next game!

The game that was most frequently played was "Scotland Yard" where Mr. X was making moves with up to 5 detectives trying to find him. Mr. X wore a special hat to conceal his eyes moving across the board planning his moves.

I found that Scotland Yard took a lot of concentration, trying to figure out where to move next and where the elusive Mr. X would go.

In this particular round, I was Mr. X and actually stayed alive without detection through the whole game!

Brenda, Jason, and Emily playing Christmas songs on Christmas Day.

Emily and Micah, both being sweet...

After church on Sunday, visiting with Randy and Joy

Randy, deep in thought...

Randy looking at Jeff's pictures from his Ukraine mission trip.


With a car in each hand, Quil is content.

Putting together the train track Quil got for Christmas!

Brenda and I worked on a skirt/jacket project for her grandma.The jacket is on my lap and I was getting ready to make buttonholes. Brenda is working on the skirt.

Micah and Grandma having a nice talk.

Randy and Joy being sweet during one of the many games we played.

Quil got to go sledding for the first time in his life while he was here. This is a small hill at Parish Park. Quil didn't have snow boots along, so he had the "several layers of sock-shoes-double bread bags-feet covering". He had fun sledding with his mommy.


Emily with arms full of nephews.

Jeffrey with arms full of nephews, wearing his new Christmas apron.

This was the last thing Quil did before they left for the long drive home--had Grandpa read him another book! Rowen is wearing his new Christmas vest.

A Christmas evening with our Friends

I am so far behind on blog posts, but thought I would chip away at it and start with an evening we spent with Randy and Kelly Kaus and family on Dec.10. The Kauses join us for church on Sunday mornings and we enjoy their family very much. We ate some yummy apple pie, fudge, and krispie bars, drank hot tea, and played games and had a pleasant evening in their home. Some of us played Spy Alley, but alas, Randy got found out as a Russian Spy from the first in a lucky guess by Beth, so he was the designated banker for the rest of the game. Kelly ended up winning.


The kids enjoyed a game of Monopoly in the dining room.

Emily enjoyed holding LeAnna.

This is the quilted checker board game Beth and Janet made for their family.

This is the beautiful wall hanging we received as a gift from the Kauses. The saying on it is one we have wanted in our home for many years, but had never found it affordable. We are blessed to have it in our living room where our big dining table is, at which the Kauses share Sunday dinners with us most Sundays.

The Kaus family is one of the many blessings of 2009 that we thank God for when we count our blessings!

A new family saying around our house...

I suppose all families have them. Sayings, jokes, phrases, etc from shared experinces, that end up getting repeated often, usually to get grins. You know, around the dinner table, to loosen the tension in other situations, or where it is too close to true! Anyway, we recently encountered this one that is really fun, and it gets quoted repeatedly most days...

Christmas Day Family Pictures

It has been such a special Christmas having all of our children and our two grandchildren with us since Monday. Today we posed for pictures.
Randy, Joy, James Aquila and Micah Rowen.

The Johnstown Albertson Aunts and Uncles, and Quil and Micah.

Rowen and Janet (Grandpa and Grandma) Micah and Quil

Auntie Beth, Grandma, Micah and Quil

Micah and Quil in front of the Christmas tree

Janet and Rowen

Brenda and Beth with their red cell phones

Emily and Brenda

Emily and Joy

Brenda and Tim

The four Albertson boys and their cell phones

Jason, Tim, Jeffrey, and Randy Albertson

Tim and Randy Albertson, co-owners of ABE Painting in Joplin, MO

Brenda, Beth, and Emily in their matching Christmas jumpers.

Height order (a yearly tradition). Jason moved up in the ranks this year.

Our six children, reverse age order: Emily, Jason, Beth, Jeffrey, Tim, and Randy

Our six children, reverse height order

The whole family. Jason was shoeless so that is why he is shorter than in the other pictures.

Back row: Rowen, Jason, Jeffrey, Tim, Randy
Front row: Janet, Micah, Emily, Beth, Brenda, Quil, and Joy

Phil and Amrie Geise visit

We were pleased to be able to extend our acquaintance with Phil and Amrie when they stayed the night with us Wednesday and part of the next day. It was just like finding a part of the family we hadn't known before. God's family is wonderful and we enjoy meeting more of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Lincoln and his gift

Beth got Lincoln a magnetic Nativity for Christmas. He enjoyed arranging the pieces and talking about the story.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Last Sunday we went to Colorado Springs for church, especially to get to meet Phil and Amrie Geise, missionaries to South Africa. They spoke in the evening service, which we did not get to be in because of our other Sunday evening obligations. We did get to visit a little while in the afternoon. It was a privilege to get acquainted with them.

Emily enjoyed visiting with her friend, Crystal Lucas.

That evening, we were in Federal Heights helping Ben and Marlene (Hunt) Reynolds with Sunday School. There were 29 children picked up for the service, which was more than we usually have. In these pictures, notice the posters on the wall. On both sides of the church, we have mounted pictures of the children with an attendance record. I think the kids like having their pictures on the wall. Having the pictures makes it easier for us to learn and remember their names and faces.

My mother

This is a picture of my mother, Wanda Scoles, from Thanksgiving this year.
Right now she is in the hospital being treated for pneumonia. We are praying for her to get all better soon!

Christmas Letter/Year Summary 2009

Rowen Albertson Family Christmas Letter 2009

December: that time of year to figure out “What did we do with it?” and “How did it fly by so fast?” For us, 2009 included:

Rowen working at Carestream Health as their best (and only) microscopist on the plant site, painting the outside of the house with the help of the family, keeping cars and truck in running order, gardening, spending lots of his "free" time being a wonderful Treasurer for the Johnstown Historical Society.

Janet homeschooling in the 20th year, making three new quilts (!), sewing, training young people, succumbing to the need for bifocals.

Jeffrey finishing homeschooling his senior year, but electing not to “graduate” in favor of going on a TLC (Touching Lives for Christ out of Hobe Sound, FL) Mission Trip to Haiti in June; starting work at Johnstown ACE Hardware Store in August; going on another mission trip for two weeks in October/November to Ukraine.

Beth homeschooling now in her junior year; spending 3 ½ weeks with her cousin Shari’s family in Eure, NC in July/August helping with two preschoolers and 2 month old twins; cleaning weekly for the Chamber of Commerce; babysitting for a 2 year old little boy that we all love; cross stitching and crocheting, sewing when she has time; publishing God’s Girls’ Newsletter, now in its 6th year.

Jason homeschooling now in his sophomore year; passing up everybody in the family in height except for Dad and Randy; taking lessons and learning to play cello beautifully; refreshing listeners’ hearts by his devotional piano playing; working only in the neighborhood this summer rather than for the lawn company; shoveling snow this winter without Jeffrey being along; learning that vacuuming the house for Mother is one of his favorite chores!

Emily homeschooling now in her sixth grade; growing about four inches this year; having her prayers answered for a violin and taking lessons; finding out she has a natural ear and talent for playing violin; becoming a prolific writer of “chapter fiction stories” (not yet self-published, but headed that direction); helping out with cleaning the Chamber of Commerce office with her sister; doing a sewing project “almost all by herself”.

Our family has had the opportunity to help out with a children’s ministry in Federal Heights (north Denver) on Sunday evenings. We are enjoying getting acquainted with the children and challenging ourselves to remember the names and faces of forty some children who come from time to time. It is also a blessing to us to fellowship with Ben and Marlene Reynolds and family, and the other helpers who come up from Colorado Springs: Steve Cunningham, Tonya Sickler, and Judy Hunt.

Lately we have had the privilege of sharing Sunday morning worship with our friends, the Kaus family, coming over for Hobe Sound Bible Church online and spending part of the day and sharing a meal with us.

We gained a precious grandson to the family this year, when on January 26, Micah Rowen was born to Randy and Joy Albertson. Janet got to fly and spend a week with them to help out during that busy time. What a blessing that the children were able to do what needed to be done so that she could be gone without feeling like they were stranded!

As a family, we made three trips to MO: a fast trip over Mother’s Day weekend, a long trip in July (which included helping with the Joplin Vacation Bible School and celebrating Janet’s 30th high school reunion), and Thanksgiving, gathering with all the Scoles clan in Columbia, and then the weekend at Joplin.

In a few days, Randy, Joy, Quil (2 1/2), Micah (11 months), Tim, and Brenda are coming to spend Christmas week with us. We are excited especially because having just seen the little boys over Thanksgiving we are thinking they will remember that we “belong” to them. Quil knows us best from video-chatting online. We are his family in the computer! We are thankful for the technology to be connected though many miles apart!

God has been very good to us this year. We are trusting Christ, and Him alone, to keep us through the upcoming year and uncertain future. We are rejoicing in the sure knowledge of His first coming, His rule in our lives, and His soon return! Our prayer is that each of our friends and family know Him and be ready to meet Him when He calls or comes.

Have a Christ-filled Christmas season and blessed New Year!
The Johnstown Albertsons
Rowen, Janet, Jeffrey (18), Beth (16), Jason (14), and Emily (11)