Field Trips March 11

This past Thursday our home school group went to our neighboring town, Milliken, to tour the new fire station and police station. We had a great turnout for the event and had to be divided up into groups so we could fit in the tours. So we didn't get to see all of our friends, but I am sure everybody learned a lot.
Emily trying on the fireman's coat. It was heavy!

A mural in the firehouse painted by some high school students for the new fire station.

The fireman suited up for the kids, to teach them to trust the fireman even if he looks scary and sounds funny.

A painting of the former police station in Milliken.

Our police tour guide, Technician Salazar, telling the kids about evidence security tape.

Visit with "old" friends!

The last post was about a new friend; this one is about old friends. But they are younger than us, and not friends from "too" long ago. Becky and Fred Weiser lived in Johnstown from 2001-2006 and we were close friends almost all of that time. They moved back to Pennsylvania where they had lived before and we have only seen them a few times since then. They were out to ski in Colorado this past week, so we were glad to have the opportunity to spend an evening together with them last night.

After supper, Rowen, Becky, Beth, Emily, and I walked to the Parish House museum for Becky to look around. She was a vital member of the Historical Society during her time in Johnstown. We miss her expertise in antiques so much. It was a delightful evening for a walk. We warmed up a bit with some tea after our walk. Tea was something Becky and I did pretty frequently while she was living here.

Rowen and Fred

Emily, Jeffrey, and Jason played Stratego and Risk with Conrad and Bryson.

It was so fun to visit and catch up. We were so glad they came to Colorado and we got to see them. Though we'd love to go to Pennsylvania and see them, it might not ever happen. Randy and Joy got to stay with them when they were in PA a couple of years ago and Becky was a wonderful hostess to them as she always was in Colorado. Becky and Fred are very special to us.

Fun Visit with a New Friend

On February 26, we finally got to meet our daughter-in-law's cousin, Dorie Johnston. We have been wanting to get together with her and were so pleased that it worked out. We had a fun time together and feel like she is "part of the family"! We ate together and then played Dutch Blitz, Pit, and Things.

Jason Fit the Battle of Jericho

Jason has been playing "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" lately. Hope you enjoy it!

Our neighborhood fox

For a couple of months now, we have seen a red fox traipsing around our property, but in the past week, he has decided he likes our deck and roof! Today the kids caught him in the act and took the following pictures from inside the house. We don't know if he would hurt us, so we are staying behind glass to look at him. Enjoy!



He climbs up on the shed roof.

Apparently, it's a comfy place for a nap!

(For those of you who don't know this, we can see the mountains from our living room windows! At least in the wintertime.)





Time to move along...

This picture proves he walks around on our roof in the front too!

I darkened up the picture above, so you could see the footprints on the roof better!

Valentine Week Happenings

On Tuesday evening, Teri Johnson, from the Berthoud Historical Society, came to our Johnstown Historical Society Members' Meeting and reenacted Jenny McCarty for us. Jenny was Dr. McCarty's wife in early 1900s and was an influential person in Berthoud. Berthoud and Johnstown had many connections in the early 1900s and Dr. McCarty took care of people's health needs in our area before and during the starting days of Johnstown. It was a very interesting program.

On Thursday, the Johnstown-Milliken Homeschoolers got together to play board games and decorate cookies (our tradition for February's activity). Everybody had a good time. In fact, everybody was so busy having a good time, we forgot to take very many pictures! Here are the three that Emily took:
Some sweet, shy girls playing a game.

Janet holding Honor Peterson.

Kelly and LeighAnna Kaus, Bonnie Peterson

On Friday evening, Rowen and Janet went to the CHESS Homeschool Valentine Banquet.
Beth was a server for the meal. Here are the servers and the young lady who played beautiful harp music during the meal.

This is a picture of us after we got home from the Banquet.

Beth enjoyed being a server.

On Saturday, we went to Cheyenne to shop at Sierra Trading Post. We dropped off Jason and Emily at the M.'s house and when we returned there, we ate supper and visited with their family. We had very yummy elk stew, cornbread, and salad.
Here are Jason and Daniel M., doing what they do best--computerizing! They are both extremely good at Blender and like to compare notes on their creations.

Emily and Amy M. enjoyed their time together and played the piano and violin together. It was fun for them to visit in person, as they usually can only talk on the phone.

Sunday evening, at Federal Heights Sunday School, the story was David and Goliath. Steve Cunningham was Goliath and used these drywall stilts to be very tall. He was practicing walking on the stilts before the children arrived. This picture was taken right before he grabbed the wall for support and the clock got broken!

Ransom Notes CD Release Party

We went to the Ransom Notes CD Release Party in Boulder last Saturday evening. The Ransoms are a sibling group. Amanda, on the left is 22, Michael is 18, and Amelia is 15.
Michael is Jason's cello teacher, and Amelia is Emily's violin teacher. In some of these pictures, Amelia is playing a mandolin. She also plays guitar. This evening they were playing bluegrass music. They are amazing musicians and have been playing together for at least six years. They are teaching our kids using the Suzuki methods.

They also sang with some of the songs.

These are amazing, sweet, polite, talented kids.
We really like them!

Michael's 18th birthday was last week, so his family
surprised him with this birthday cake.

He was successful in blowing out all the candles.
His sister, Amanda, is at his left side.

This is a movie clip of one of the songs they did.
I love it how they have fun while they play and smile at each other!

This movie clip is of the song "Catharsis." It is amazing!

A Visit with a Dear Old Friend

Many years ago now, Rowen and I had the opportunity to have regular short Sunday services at Cinnamon Park assisted living facility in Longmont. Rowen's Sunday school class helped with the services for several years, and at some point, it ended up that our family did the services. Rowen and I were involved there for 17 years. The people who attended the services changed from time to time because when people's health changed for the worse, they weren't allowed to stay in that facility. One very dear lady who was there for several years was Marjorie Mikels. Before we quit going there, she had been hospitalized and then placed in a different facility. It was a while before we got back in touch with her, but somehow we found out where she was moved. We have written cards and letters to each other for several years. Marjorie is nearly blind and can't read what I write to her, but someone else reads my letters to her. Her Christmas card expressed her desire to see us again. We have been wanting to go see her, but were waiting until we were over the colds and coughs that have plagued us since Christmas. Finally, this past Saturday, we went to see her. We were going to Boulder and Longmont is on the way, so we stopped and visited. I had called ahead so she knew we were coming and waited near the door for us. The helpers there allowed us to use a private dining room to chat with Marjorie.

It was so good to see Marjorie again and we enjoyed a nice visit and a time of prayer with her.

Marjorie could not get over how big our children are!

We were all dressed up because of the next place we were going, which I will blog about next time.

Thankfully our friend, Mike Durkee, was with us to take the pictures of us with Marjorie!

Guests January 19, 2010

Finally, Catressa Hamilton brought her boyfriend, Eddie Sweetwood, over to meet us. I had done a sewing job for them remodeling a size 56 football jersey down to a size medium so it would fit Eddie. They came over to pick up the shirt, eat supper with us, and play some Dutch Blitz. It was fun to see Catressa again, and to meet Eddie.

We had fun teaching Eddie how to play Dutch Blitz. Hopefully we can do it again soon!