Faith Bible School

We were blessed to be able to worship our Lord with the members of the Wesleyan Bible Church in Lakewood, CO as Faith Bible School representatives were there for a school service on Thursday 06-March-2008. School president Lloyd Bley and his wife were the sponsers. The singing was truly glorious! This short clip of a portion of one song, doesn't adequately represent the beautiful singing, but I wanted to share it with you anyway.

Babysitting Lincoln

On Sunday evening, I found out that I was going to get the exciting new challenge of babysitting all day, Monday, (12 hours) for a new family in town. Their little boy, Lincoln, (age 1) needed to be taken care of, while the rest of the family went skiing in the mountains. I hadn't babysat alone before, so it was for the most part a new experience.
It was a long day, (and I was tired at the end of it) but I had fun, and was glad that I had the opportunity to do it. It was nice to be with a baby - since I am an aunt; deprived of being with my own nephew! :)
(This is the promised post of "*Newsflash* This Just In." and the reason I wasn't there to help when the family moved the new refrigerator in.)

Here is a picture of Lincoln drinking his milk.
Lincoln playing -watching and listening to his musical entertainment thingy.Lincoln playing toys.
He looks pretty tired in this picture. I was helping him crawl up and down the stairs. He thought that it was very strange that I was taking all of these pictures of him- especially this one!

*Newsflash* This just in.

Earlier this evening we bought and installed a new (3 year old, slightly used) refrigerator. Mother and Daddy have been looking for a new refrigerator, hoping this would be the year for it to happen. We got our other one when Randy was a tiny baby! That was over 22 years ago. After the installation, Mother said , "I was talking to the Lord the other night about how we needed guidance whether to buy a new refrigerator. ‘The garage refrigerator never gets cold enough in the summer and gets too cold in the winter to use very effectively. It seems sensible to replace the garage one with the indoors one, but we don’t want to use our own sense, but be guided by You, Lord. We don’t want to spend any money that we shouldn’t on this.’"

The very interesting thing about this transaction was the timing today. Daddy said, "I had finished my reports on last Friday’s work, and needed a ten-minute break to clear my mind before starting the new jobs. I checked email, and then went on Craigslist trying to find things that Tim and Brenda might need. The refrigerator ad had JUST been posted. I quickly sent the link to Mother on email. She happened to be online working on a document and noticed a new email had come. She checked the link and called the guy about the refrigerator. He was willing to have us come after work today."

Daddy also said later, "We have space restraints for our refrigerator; it has three walls around it, and a shelf above. We have had our measurements of the hole in mind while looking for a fridge. This refrigerator had the exact measurements! Another wonderful thing is that it has an icemaker! We have never had one!"

It was an amazing sight as the whole family (except Beth, post coming about this) worked to unload the food out of the old fridge, take it out of the hole, wash it, unload the new one from our truck, bring it into the house, wash it, flip the doors from left hinge to right hinge, put it into the hole, plug it in, reload the food, and take the old one outside. All this in about two hours!

We are so blessed to get just what we wanted and needed for half the price! Thank you, Lord!

This is Tim taking the new fridge up the strairs.

Dad and I putting the new fridge into the hole for it.

This is the fridge installed!

Mary Albertson and Gerrie Farrar Visited!

We were privileged to have Rowen's sister Mary, and her co-worker Gerrie Farrar for our evening meal Thursday night, 28-February. They have spent several weeks (since mid-December 2007) here in the U.S. and in Mexico with friends and family. We trust that they will have safe travel this week!

Beth's scrapbook pages

As some of you know I am really enjoying scrapbooking! I would like to share four of my favorite scrapbook pages that I have made. -Beth
--

One of the pages of a very special nephew!

This is a page of pictures from Labor Day weekend when Randy and Joy and Quil came to see us. Two friends of Tim's and Bren's were also here.

The next two go together (side-by-side). These pages have the words of CHERISH THE MOMENT (a neat song by Ron Hamilton) hand written on the background. There are family pictures from May '04, Nov. '05, Dec. '06, and Nov. '07. These pages were really fun to do. (Joy gave me these backgrounds and some others for Christmas.)

Jason's new glasses

Pictures of Jason with his new glasses. He always wears them for school or reading and seems to like them ok.
You can see here that Jason is the last of all of us six children to get glasses. Here are those of us that do homeschool daily:

Alia's first tooth pulled!

This is a picture of Cindy and Alia, her daughter. We have babysat Alia since she was 15 months old. Now she is 5 1/2. (Her sister, Kara, was featured on another blog post.) Alia is in kindergarten this year, and got her first loose tooth! On Feb. 19, Janet had the honor of pulling Alia's first baby tooth. You can see Alia was happy about it!

So what have we been doing this month? We certainly haven't been blogging enough!

On February 2,"Brenda the Barber" gave Tim a haircut for her first time, with Mother's help and advice. It didn't look too bad when she got done, either!

All done!February 7th was Tim and Brenda's anniversary of when they started writing. They went on a date and ate at Casa Bonita in Denver. BTW, the bottles are root beer.
Jeffrey and I got new lenses put in our glasses this month. Jason is getting reading glasses for the first time, soon. Now everyone in the family will have glasses.

Last Sunday, February 10, Dad made this oatmeal. He put red hots in normal oatmeal and called it Valentine's Day Oatmeal!

We have been enjoying the Sea Breeze Campmeeting (February 7-17) via the internet (hobesoundbiblechurch.com). This is a shot of the computer during service one evening. Tim and Dad bought this truck this week for Tim and Randy's new painting company ABE (Albertson Brothers Enterprises) Painting and Fine Wood Finishing. Tim plans to use the truck to move to MO in late March and they will use the truck for the new business.

We have babysat Alia and Kara R. a lot this month. This is a picture of Kara. She is almost 4.
I made these valentines cards for Mother and for Brenda. I love making cards!
On Valentine's Day we had a Johnstown-Milliken Homeschoolers' game day. Here are some pictures.

The Grzenias, Emily, and Jason

Bonnie and Lexi Peterson with Mother

This week we made some special things for supper: Brenda and I made a chicken braid on Thursday and Brenda made cupcakes for Valentine's Day. Mother made krautburgers on Friday, yum! A lot of work, but worth it!

Oh, yeah, Mother wanted me to tell you about Dad's back problems. His back has been hurting, and it helps to lay on the floor with his feet up in a chair like this. It is feeling much better, thank the Lord!

Daddy and Mother went to the district Republican meeting yesterday. They were both alternates, so couldn't vote, but Daddy was elected to be a delegate to the 4th Congressional District Meeting May 30, and to the Colorado State Republican Convention May 31. Mother will go as an alternate to the 4th Congressional. Next Saturday is the Weld County Republican Assembly which Daddy and Mother will attend as alternates.

Emily and I got new shoes yesterday. Daddy, Mother, and we girls went to 3 stores looking for shoes for Mother, Em, and I. We found some for Emily and I, but not for mother, yet. I am very grateful for my new shoes and beyond that, for parents who are willing to take care of my needs (not always wants); and my parents' practicality.

This is a picture of a cute couple I found!

Precinct caucus Feb. 5, 2008

Because Rowen was a committee person for our precinct, we have been busy for several weeks, attending meetings and trainings, and calling Republicans in our precinct to inform people about the caucus. We have been a part of our caucus two other times and never had over 7 people show up. We wanted to have better involvement in the process this year, so we worked really hard to call everybody whose phone numbers we could find.

Last night, we thought we would have a good turnout. We went expecting 30-35 people to show up in our precinct. There were 7 precincts meeting in the Milliken town hall. We quickly realized we were in trouble. There were more people than the community room would hold. Our precinct alone had over 90 people show up!! We were moved to the seniors' room down the hall, and it was packed out!

This first picture is before the caucus in the community room. I was showing people which part of the room they should go to. If they were on my list, they were in our group. The second picture shows Rowen handing out information at the start of our meeting in the seniors' room. Not everybody had arrived in the room yet, so the picture does not adequately convey the crowd we had.

The Lord helped Rowen to run a great caucus. He was a wonderful committee person. He made the job look so fun that there were 6 volunteers to be committee people for the next 2 years!! We elected 2 of them, but made sure to pick ones who had spouses who wanted to work too! We have been delegates to the district and county assemblies other years, but with so many enthusiastic people present, there were plenty of other people eager for those positions, so we will be alternates.

My personal politics - and my grave concerns

I am deeply concerned about the direction that the mainstream media has been, and continues to steer the American's thoughts. With the Primary Elections coming up on Tuesday in 22 states, it will be pretty much decided by Wednesday morning who will be on the Ballot for president and other elected offices in November. It appears that this is not just another election, but that the very foundations of our society are at risk. The Republican Party mainstream is no longer pro-family, pro-life, anti-abortion, anti gun control, anti-gay marriage, personal rights friendly. Pres. Bush and many others in the Republican Party are in the process of wiping out our national sovereignty as the North American Union is being formed - almost without a complaint in the media. There are surface issues like illegal immigration, the Iraq and possible Iran wars, etc. that the news media concentrates on that are important, but maybe not as important as these other issues that are being largely ignored, and are / will destroy the moral fiber of our nation. I am more concerned than I've ever been about our country, and I urge you to take some time away from the entertainment of your life, and spend at least a few minutes getting informed. You can easily search for the histories and voting / policy records of the candidates online. Our children's world will be much different than we want if something is not done to stop the trend underfoot today.

Here is a link where you can look up the voting records of the candidates, and make up your own mind about many issues. It is very frustrating to me when this shows many NO VOTE entries, by these people that say they want to lead our nation. http://votesmart.org/

Here is one quick glance at Presidential candidates views; don't just take their word for it - take the time to look up the footnotes and prove it to yourselves. I know that the American Family Assn that published this is quite right-wing, Christian-biased, etc., but aren't you also?? http://www.afa.net/pdfs/08vg.pdf

You've got to read this before you even think of voting for Mr. Romney: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=60022
Wikipedia on Romney shows that he has changed his mind on this... I don't trust him.

Here are some links that provide many, many facts about the Presidential candidates that every voter ought to read.
Romney http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney
McCain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain
Huckabee: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huckabee#_note-146
Paul: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_paul

We'll probably at least try to make a statement by voting for Mike Huckabee, if he hasn't bailed out by August, when our Colorado primary is. Other than Mike, I am at a loss as to who to vote for. Ron Paul shares many of my views, but likely is not electable.

-- Just my thoughts, Rowen

Life from day to day

Life from Day to Day (the extras) -P.E. group, Bible Study, Babysitting, Scrapbooking (this post is a sequel to my post on September 15, 2007 – Life as a homeschool student)

One of the activities that some of the Johnstown-Milliken Homeschoolers participate in is a P.E. group that meets at least twice a month. In nice weather school months we meet in parks and play volleyball, soccer, kickball, baseball, flag football, and other games. The mothers lead the games/activities and we have a lot of fun. The younger kids always have a different activity or we play in two groups of the same game. Now that it is winter we can’t play outside, so the last two P.E. days we played at a Rec. Center in Windsor, CO (about 10 miles north of Johnstown). The first time there we were planing to play walley-ball, but didn’t have the right equipment or know-how. So we just hit a HUGE ball back and forth over the volleyball net. Last Monday (JAN 28) and this coming Monday (FEB 4) we are doing basketball at the Rec. Center. Last Monday we practiced dribbling, passing, and shooting, and this week I think we are actually going to play. We always start P.E. with warm-ups, then do the activity (with instructions), and then we have free time. What free time consists of depends on where we meet. For park P.E.s free-time would be playing on the play equipment, playing tag, catch, or something like that while the Mothers visit. For gym (Rec. Center) P.E. free-time consists of practicing what the activity was, playing other games (dodge ball, etc.) rolling across the gym on scooters. Our homeschool P.E. group is a lot of fun. I really enjoy doing it. I hope to get some pictures on Monday to put on the blog.

Our family has been meeting with several other families for Bible Study every other Sunday night. Over all we have had about 4-5 families at a time in the Bible Study, some have come, and some have gone. We have been studying our way through the Gospel of Mark. It is very uplifting and we love participating in it.

Lately we have been doing a lot of babysitting of Alia and Kara. This is a lot of work, but we make the best of it. Who ever is not doing school at the time plays with them; plus both of them have school different days throughout the week-so that makes it easier. Brenda Stevenson baby-sits most days each week for the Hays family. Over all it is very good training for "Miss Brenda".

When we can, Brenda, Emily, and I like to scrapbook. Brenda’s scrapbook is of Tim’s and her courtship. It is really nice. In my scrapbook are pages about graduations, Randy and Joy’s wedding, Quil (several pages about him!), Thanksgiving ‘05, Christmas ’07, other fun times, two pages display pictures of some girls in God’s Girls Newsletter, and two family pages that have family pictures from ’04, ’05, ’06, and ’07. The family page has the words of a nice song by Ron Hamilton, "Cherish the Moment". I hope to soon make a page about Daddy. Pictures coming soon.

Kinda Interesting. . .

I don't know how many people reading this blog are like me, in that you are easily fascinated by mind-boggling statistics.

If you are one of those kinds of people, you'll appreciate this website that I ran across this week: http://www.worldometers.info/

Here is another site that may be more alarming, but interesting just the same. http://www.globalincidentmap.com/home.php This site is very interactive. Take time to hover your cursor over the blinking icons, then left click if you want to know more. Scroll down to see the tabular data. Amazing.

Let me know if you are shocked by what you see on either of these sites.

Jason is Playing Beautifully on the Piano

Tales from Sunday School teachers

I "borrowed" these from an online forum, because they made me smile. I thought some of you would enjoy them as well.

LOT'S WIFE:
The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason interrupted, "My Mummy looked back once, while she was driving," he announced triumphantly, "and she turned into a telephone pole!"

GOOD SAMARITAN:
A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead. She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama. Then, she asked the class, "If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?" A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, "I think I'd throw up."

DID NOAH FISH?:
A Sunday school teacher asked, "Johnny, do you think Noah did a lot of fishing when he was on the Ark ?" "No," replied David. "How could he, with just two worms?"

Rowen's 50th Birthday

Every year on January 21st, people remind me of my progress on the path of life, and this year was no different. My wonderful family members purchased an exercise stepper machine for me, so that I might slow my progress toward my final resting place. My advanced age, my diabetes, my diet for diabetes treatment, and the cold, snowy winter that we've had, have all led to me not being able maintain a youthful physique this winter; hopefully this machine and the 5 lb weight in each hand will partially restore what has been lost.

The only thing that I actually requested for my birthday was a replacement apron, which some of you know I am fond of wearing when they let me help around the kitchen, and when grilling. My mother had made the one I have been wearing, but that was over 30 years ago - and I really do wear it often! It is not as pretty as it once was...So, my talented seamstress wife made me a wonderful new one! As I ceremoniously transferred my aging body out of the old apron, and into the new one, we sang the old Sunday School song, "The best thing in my life I ever did do was take off the old [apron] robe and put on the new!" Now you are invited to come and share a meal with us, so that you can see my new kitchen garb in use!

I am so very grateful to God, my family, and many others who have helped me to live a good and meaningful life these 50 years! I trust that I will continue, by God's grace, to be able to be a husband, a dad, and yes - even a grandpa, that can be a righteous influence in this world, and help people to be ready for the next! Remember, "God is good - all the time"!

Just a note to express my great frustration with the printer shown below. I worked for Eastman Kodak Company for 29 years, and I am very embarrassed that they have their name on this ridiculous piece of equipment.

As you see below, the specs on this printer are awesome. The MSRP of $299 kept me away, even with the claims of cheap ink. Then last week I was in Sam's Club, and saw these printers for $99! So, I decided to go ahead and get one, which I did. It looked real pretty, and it printed one real pretty color 4x6, and copied one document. Then it went crazy, and I never got it to print again! I spent >8 hours studying, calling, downloading, etc. to try to fix it, but it was no use. If you go to amazon.com or many other sites that have real-people reviews, you'll find that the majority of these printers are like this one, and have some type of problem that makes them inoperable. I hope Sam's Club got them really cheap! Thankfully, they gave my money back, and I hope that I learned a lesson, again, that if it seems too good to be true - it probably is!!

KODAK EASYSHARE 5500 All-in-One Printer
The most advance printer (also read expensive) in the Kodak line up is the KODAK EASYSHARE 5500 All-in-One Printer ($299.99 US MSRP) and this builds up on the 5100 and 5300 printers. The 5500 AiO Printer has all the features found on the the 5100 and 5300 printers, in addition to some more.
The KODAK EASYSHARE 5500 has fax functionality and one also comes across an automatic document feeder and a duplexer attachment. It has been equipped with a 2.4-inch color LCD display which helps in photo viewing and cropping directly from the printer. The printer can copy up to 32 pages per minute in black and 22 pages per minute in color, and print photos from PICTBRIDGE-enabled cameras without involving a PC.
The EASYSHARE 5500 uses KODACOLOR Technology, a combination of four key element pigment-based inks, micro-porous photo papers, color and image science, and the Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) print head. It also includes memory card slots and uses Kodak’s premium, pigment-based ink, priced at $9.99 for a cartridge of black ink and $14.99 for a five-ink color cartridge (US MSRP).

Want List for 2008

Bill Hunt, a dear friend of ours in Overland Park, KS recently compiled this list of things that he really wants. I thought that it was a good list, and worthy of sharing with you all. Are there things that you want more than these things he has listed? I trust not . . .

My "Want List" for 2008 from Jesus is to understand more about:

• His-Forgiveness
• His-Transforming power
• His-Pardon
• His-Mercy
• His-Grace
• His-Blessings
• His-Cleansing power in my every day life
• His-Smile on my life
• His-Will and pleasure for my life
• His-Presence with me
• His-Bible
• His-Laws
• His-Peace in my heart
• His-Love abounding in my whole being
• His-Compassion for sinners
• His-Long-suffering to all people
• His-Wisdom

Janet is looking and feeling quite grandmotherly

I just found this picture of Janet, enjoying some 'quality time' with our precious grandson. Aren't they cute together?

Snow!

Last week it snowed, but when Emily and I tried to play in it, we discovered that it was too powdery. Yesterday, we decided to try again, and got slightly different results. The snow had been melting off and on, and therefore stuck together quite well.

<--Our snowman, Fred. Emily insists on calling him "Fredrick"

I rolled the bottom ball and Emily rolled the second one. We used a board for a ramp to get the second ball on top, as the melted snow was extremely hefty. I then rolled the top ball and set it on top, where Emily and I made modifications to him as needed. I chose to rub out the snow in his head to create eyes, because I think that if something has rocks for eyes, you can't get to know him. The same is true with the mouth, ears, and nose. A creature needs to be made of the same material all over to appear realistic.

Emily and I proudly standing by our creation.

Today we played in the snow some more, starting the production of an igloo, of which we have no pictures.

Jason

Growing

We were glad for the priviledge of having our entire family together for a few days this week. Randy, Joy, and Quil arrived on Monday morning 24-DEC, after driving all night from Joplin, MO. They had a good trip, making it in about 11.5 hours. It seems like Quil has grown up so much since we were with him at Thanksgiving! We enjoyed having them here. We were able to help them with several projects that they seldom have time for. They returned safely, again overnight, on Friday 28-DEC. On Tuesday 25-DEC Tim and Brenda returned from their 10-day trip to Vineland, New Jersey where they had an busy and exciting time with Brenda's entire family. It was really good to have them return as well.

A tradition that we have had for many years is to line up - in order of descending height. When we did this again this week, we could see a great change from two-years prior! The ages now have nothing to do with the order. I wonder how long it will be until Emily is taller than her mother...
Rowen (49), Randy (22), Jason (12), Jeff (16), Tim (20), Beth (14), Janet (46), Emily (9)

The picture below was taken on 01-JAN-2006, just two years ago this coming week.

Janet's Holiday Baking

Though I am a careful diabetic, I am so proud of my wonderful wife! Janet just completed her working in her kitchen all day, having made five loaves of whole wheat bread, eight pies (apple, cherry, pecan, coconut, and pumpkin), and four loaves of whole wheat pumpkin bread! Maybe I can have just a taste of each one... If you click to enlarge the picture, you'll see the appropriately shaped dough appliques that Emily cut out for the top of each pie. These miniature shape-cutters were a gift from our friend, Susan, this past week. They are very special!

Janet is really looking forward to having Randy, Joy, and Quil, as well and having Tim and Brenda back from Brenda's family home in New Jersey, next week. I hope they have all been dieting ;-)

The Hammond's Candies Tour

On Thursday, December 13, 2007, most of our family went to Hammond’s Candies for a field trip with our homeschool group.

When we arrived we went into the café-style waiting room. We visited with many of our friends who had gotten there already. We waited for approximately 30 minutes before our tour. At 10:30 we heard our tour guide’s voice over the loud speaker, requesting that we line up to start the tour. We stepped into the first room on the tour and sat on the long two-leveled wooded benches. We watched a video introducing the factory processes, and informing us briefly of Hammond’s Candies’ history. We took pictures of the 32 homeschool tourists.

The reason I'm not in the picture is I was taking it. We had to take three pictures, and Dad had to "patch" them together!

Then we walked into the production room. There was thick glass separating our assemblage from the workers as they fashioned the candy. The smell of peppermint was enjoyably potent. The tour guide spoke through a PA system explaining the process throughout the tour. On the right side of the large room there were a few huge copper kettles heating the candy mixture (sugar, corn syrup, and water) to 220 ºF. On a table near to that, were two men pulling and stretching candy. After they had done this, they created a 50-lb. wad of candy wrapped in a 20lb. red and white candy blanket that they would warm, work, and shape into candy canes. Three women on the left side of the room were forming the candy into ribbon candy using an antique mechanism that squeezed the candy into the desired shape. Two men in the middle of the room were taking the boiling candy mixture and pouring it onto the cooling table. One man added coloring, while the other added crushed broken candy that is reused by putting it back into new candy. Next we walked down a hall to see the next big room where numerous people were packaging the candy by hand. We had the pleasure of sampling the Mitchell Sweets they had been making. They were comprised of marshmallows coated with thick caramel. We were also given a sample of candy cane to eat.

After questions and answers, we exited through the door to the gift shop where we perused the many items for sale. We had an uneventfully safe trip home. ~ Jeffrey

To be like Jesus

Our hearts were challenged today as we listened intently to our internet Pastor P.D. Wolfe preaching in Hobe Sound, Florida. He preached from Phillipians 2:5-11* . Please read it, and think about how:

• Jesus gave, so we must give


• Jesus came, so we must go


• Jesus served, so we must serve

I'm sure that there are other examples from Jesus' life that we should emulate, but this is a good list for a start. "Lord, help us this Christmas season to see our individual and group responsibility to follow Your example in these ways."

*Philippians 2:5-11 (New King James Version)

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Brenda and I participated in a "Christmas Oratorio*" last Saturday evening Dec. 8, 2007, in Loveland, Colorado. It was a very snowy evening, after snow all day. The roads were quite treacherous, but 38 people showed up anyway. It was in a meeting room at the Loveland Public Library, but we were able to worship the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings anyway. Praise be to God!

As you can see in the picture, The Victorian String Quartet was dressed in Victorian attire! Aren't they elegant?

Tim and Brenda after the Oratorio
* Oratorio
An Oratorio is a musical composition for solo voices, chorus, orchestra, and organ, to a religious text generally taken from Holy Scripture. The dramatic element contained in the text depends for its expression on the music alone.

Operation Christmas Child

Mother, Brenda, Jeffrey, and I had the privilege of working at the Operation Christmas Child processing center in Denver on December 6 for 4 hours. We were sorry we forgot to take our camera, so there are no pictures!

Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse. OCC sends hundreds of thousands of Christmas presents to needy children in other countries. People across America put gifts of all kinds (school supplies, hygiene items, candy, toys, etc.) into shoe boxes and designate the gift for a boy or girl of a certain age group. All the boxes go to one of six processing centers in the US before being shipped. In the processing center volunteers do several things:
1. Take out the money which is donated to Samaritan's Purse for transporting the boxes to foreign countries.
2. Inspect the boxes for inappropriate items. (war toys, snakes, chocolate, food, breakable items, liquid items, used items.) Any of these inappropriate items has to be removed. (They are all donated to other charities in the US. They just can't go overseas.)
3. Replace those items with other donated items: toys, toothbrushes, toothpaste, candy.
4. Tape the shoe box shut.
5. Pack the shoe boxes into big cardboard boxes for transporting.


We worked from 2-6 pm, with another home school girl who went with us. We enjoyed it very much, but were tired by the end. There were many volunteers in the warehouse working while we were there, but we five were a team of our own.
My first job was finding the money, then I taped boxes for the rest of the time. Jeffrey's assignment was to pack the transport boxes at the end. Mother and Brenda were inspecting the boxes and Mother also took out money for Samaritan's Purse.
There were over 500,000 shoe boxes processed in the Denver processing center this year!

Members of our family have participated in this Christmas season volunteer opportunity for 4 years now. We think it is a worthwhile project. We also fill and donate one shoebox (or more) every year. The volunteers have to be 13 to work, so next year Jason will be joining us.
- Beth

Our Short Family Vacation to Missouri

As we warned you in this blog, we drove to Columbia, MO for Thanksgiving with Janet's family, then to Joplin for a few days with Randy, Joy, and Quil. We left home on Wednesday morning at 3:15 a.m., with about 3" of wet snow on the ground, and snow falling. The roads were only treacherous for about the first 300 miles! We saw many roll-overs, a jack-knifed semi-trailer truck, and slipped around some ourselves, but the Lord protected us and kept us safe and not too tense. The rest of the trip was quite uneventful; we did enjoy seeing each family member, and benefited from catching up on their lives for a few hours. And, of course, we had tasty food to eat too much of!
In Joplin most of our family was involved in the Kids Club that Joy and Randy have successfully started there. They average about 25 children each Sunday afternoon, which is really capacity for the facilities that they currently have available. They have had 32 at one time! This picture shows Brenda playing the piano while Joy leads choruses.

Janet's parents Wanda and Rex Scoles have each endured physical difficulties this year. Mother had blood clots in her lungs in June, then had her gall bladder removed in October. We were grateful to see them both stronger and healthier than they've been for some time. They really enjoy their only great-grandson.