Andrew's Home...

I've had a request for pictures from some friends who are not on Facebook, (so they did not see these pictures Andrew took and posted of his new home yesterday).  

 

For 10 years now, I've loved these beautiful evergreen trees that are along both sides of the driveway!  I'm so glad that they're in the family now.  :)

 

 Coming in from the road...  There is one shed on the place, but that is all as far as buildings go.  There is, however, a very full shelter-belt all around the place, so that is really nice!

 The house:   Andrew said there are lots of things that need redoing, so now he has more projects to work on in his spare time...  The house is very "livable" as it is now though.

 Andrew was up pushing snow yesterday, and shoveled his front-steps off...

 This is in the back of the house (that's a brick grill).  There is a large apple tree back there too, and we've even had the apples before, as the previous owners wanted us to take and use them...

This is the place that Andrew's so diligently checked on many times throughout the winter months for the owners for several years, just to make sure that all was well with the furnace.  He will continue to do so, but now it is for his own peace of mind.  :)  He may move up there this spring/summer.

Here are some pictures I took when we went to look at the inside of the house in December:
(The hunter-friends/former-owners are coming in a couple weeks to get their things moved out.)

Andrew in the kitchen... 
Now he just needs a Dinah to strum on his old banjo to.  ;)

 The blue room...

 The (you guessed it!) green room...

 I suppose this would be the white room...  The chandelier is really pretty!

 The dining area...  The door you see in the corner is a bathroom, then the door next to it leads to the upstairs.

 Living room...

 Pool room!!  This is in the basement. 

It will be fun to see what changes Andrew makes to the house in the days ahead!

I'm so happy for my brother!!!!! The Lord has blessed him indeed, and all he really had to do was ask, and the doors opened in this way!   Oh yes, and I guess he does have to pay for it too...

 

An AMAZING day!!!

This was such a great day!!!!! 

My dad is happy because he sold most of our corn and is rich tonight!  :)

My mom is happy because she received some news from a friend that could greatly help her in her health-business!

My brother, Andrew is happy because he signed all the papers and wrote the check to BUY HIS HOMESTEAD TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Hooray for him!  It's just up the road from this farm.

My brother, Jacob is happy because he heard from a long-time Internet friend (that he's never met in person) that he's planning to come for a visit to our farm this summer!

AND, I'm happy because my parents, Andrew and I (Jacob did not want to and stayed home to do the chores) went to our district Republican convention this evening and all 4 of us will be delegates to the state G.O.P. convention in April!!!    We're all happy about this, actually, and we're all happy about all these things, really.  :)

What a day for counting blessings! 

"Thank you, dear Lord!"

Oh, and we finished the day in a terrific way---by eating ice cream that Andrew bought to celebrate!

Working on a picture post!

Yesterday, my mom and I left here right after the noon meal and went over to Lauretta's house to catch a ride with her and her mom and sister to Sarena's baby shower.  It was really nice to see Chris and Sarena again!  After that, we ladies went shopping.  Later still, we went out to eat.  And later still, we headed for home.  It was nearly 10:00pm when I pulled in our driveway.  What a special day!

The menfolk have been busy with shop projects. 

My mom was super excited when she heard that her brother bought a Kangen water machine today!  The water has really helped him with health issues he had.  PTL!

Andrew showed me how to get my phone pictures onto my computer this evening (it's really quite simple, once you know how!) and so I've started a picture-full post about our trip to Kentucky. It should be done sometime in the next few weeks I would say.  Possibly sooner.  :)

Tomorrow is a babysitting day for me, so I get to see my little punkin's again.  Hooray!

Here we are, swinging in the snow and sunshine last week:  They LOVE being out in the snow!!!

"Faith in Action"

Many years ago, I met a young woman (Georgia) and her mom and sister at a friend's homeschool graduation party.  We found we enjoyed many of the same things and decided to start writing each other as pen-pals (I wrote her sister for a time too).  We kept that up for a while, but eventually each got busy and the letters became more and more rare.  However, a while back, Georgia and her sister found me on Facebook and we became "Friends" again there and are writing back and forth as we have time and have things to share. 

Georgia is on quite the adventure even as I type this!  She's actually nearing the end of her journey, but I wanted to share her blog with you all so you can join me in praying for her and this vision...

Learn more about "Biking Across America" here:  
http://faithinactionblog.org/biking-across-america .



My family and I enjoyed a peaceful day at home!  We listened to another of Mr. Israel Wayne's messages, this time on how Christians can/should be wise stewards of the money God sees fit to send their way to use.  I just found this website which has 2 of his messages available for downloading: http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=848 .
I haven't listened to these yet, but I'm 99.3% sure they're excellent.  :)

Ready for resting!!!

'twas a busy day!  At the end of it all, the house is cleaner than it has been in 3 weeks; the plants and fish are watered; some of the laundry is caught up with and my mom finished unpacking from our trip; we made and then all enjoyed the weekly Friday night feast; there are about 50 (free) wood-pallets here now for burning in the shop; Andrew sold his Charger and, after taking the decals off, delivered it to Bismarck this afternoon (Dad went too to bring him back); Dad went to town to put money in the bank and bought ice cream for a treat; and our milk cow, Sally is being dried up, so we're down to once a day milkings now.

 

Yesterday was busy too...  I was gone babysitting all day.  My dad and Jacob went and looked at that air-seeder.  Dad then got our other tire-water-tank home as it was finally ready.  Andrew was working on cars, I think.  Mom was resting and reading and maybe doing schooling with Jacob, I'm not sure? 

 

Now, we're all ready for a day of rest and study and worship...

 

God bless~

Progress!

My dear blog-reading friends,

 

The past two weeks have been some of the most challenging days of my life, but God is faithful to bring comfort, courage, peace and guidance!  I praise Him for His lovingkindness!  He is my hiding place...  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sKGTzn1qT4).  I'd appreciate prayers for wisdom and discernment in the days ahead too.

 

I do wish to post pictures from our Kentucky trip sometime, but they are on my phone and I'm not sure how to get them to the computer at this time and it just hasn't been my highest priority to figure it out yet. 

 

Let me see...  What has all happened farmwise since I last wrote? 

 

Well...

 

On Monday, God sent gorgeous (above freezing!) weather and we were able to FINALLY get our calves worked!!!  YAY!   Everything went well, except that my dad got kicked far more than usual (a total of 8 times).  He's still walking though and is getting over some of the stiffness now. 

 

We got our taxes finished---another big, dreaded project.

 

My dad has been hauling grain for farmers again here lately.

 

My mom is struggling with some health issues again, so prayers would be appreciated!

 

Andrew has been gone several days helping a neighbor put up tin on his new, very tall shop.  He may have sold his Charger now too.  :(   That's a frowny face, as we all really liked that car, but he wanted the money for something more exciting that he's in the process of purchasing.  It's a secret though, for now.  :)

 

Lauretta came over for a special friend-talk two evenings ago and spent the night, so we had some good talking time.  I praise the Lord for dear sisters-in-the-Lord like her!

 

In the evenings, some of us have been watching some of the Olympics.

 

Jacob is still working on his schoolwork.  We were SO grateful for the boys to be willing to do all the farm chores/work so we could get away for a vacation to the cold south!  They had quite the experience one of the days with frozen pipes, but they took care of it.

 

My dad bought another big tractor!!  We stopped and looked at it on the way to Kentucky, as it is in Watertown, SD.  Dad and the boys are also looking at an air-seeder tomorrow.  Farming is definitely a year-round job!

 

I've been babysitting a couple days again and took the girls out to enjoy the beautiful snow in the beautiful sunshine.

 

God has opened doors for me for a new friendship to begin with a young woman in MN.  (I've enjoyed getting to know you, Emmy!  Thanks for introducing yourself here!)

 

Plus, there's all the usual things and getting unpacked and back into the routine of farm living. 

 

It's been a busy, stressful time. 

 

May God continue to help us all through the struggles of life... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a great day!

After my car started up with very little cranking (even though it's been sitting for a while and it was below-zero cold this morning), my brothers informed me that they'd put a new starter in my car while I was gone.  Awwww---wasn't that sweet of them?  :)

 

Then, I got to see Zach AND Paula today, plus spent the day with "My" little girls who I hadn't seen for a long time either. 

 

 A cousin (who I haven't talked to in a long time) and I got caught up a bit this afternoon while the girls napped. 

 

When I got home, I made tacos for supper and my dad had brought some ice cream home, so it was a delightful day indeed!

 

May the Lord bless you all with a peaceful weekend. ~

 

Home, sweet home!

Thank you to all of you who were praying!!! 

 

My parents and I made it home today, ("Thank you, Lord!!!") just in time for making supper and doing the evening barn chores.  We had quite the vacation...................but, I'll tell ya'll about that another time.  For now, I have e-mails to respond to (there were 233 to sort through when I turned my computer on) and clothes to put away, but I'm pretty tired, so maybe an early bedtime is more in-line for the next thing to do!  

 

There will be pictures to come someday in the future.  :)

Shall we go?

That remains to be seen.  Everything is packed, but in the house yet.  If it seems a wise idea in the morning (there is talk of icy roads), we'll attempt to pack everything into my parent's Pacifica and head south!  :)   Prayers for safety and wisdom are appreciated!

God bless you all this week as you serve God in whatever way He has for you to do so!!!

 

Bye for now! 

  ~ Cora Beth

Packing...

We had a pleasant day!  Our guest spent the night (he milked the cow for Andrew this morning even) and went with us to a US Constitution class video-viewing this afternoon, before heading 6 hours back home again.  It's always great making new friends!

 

Our menfolk worked in the shop this morning and Andrew said he had his most recent car project running for a while, so he was pleased.c

 

Tomorrow will be a busy packing day, amongst other things (cooking for the boys to have food on hand) I'm sure. Why?  Because......

 

My parents and I are going on a week long vacation to the South!!!!!!!  It still doesn't seem real!  We'll be visiting friends in Kentucky and plan to head out on our adventure (driving) on Tuesday.  :)  I've never been so far away from home, so it truly will be an adventure!  I hope to remember to take lots of pictures, although everything may be so amazing that I'll forget?   

 

We'd very much appreciate your prayers for safety and guidance as we venture out into unknown (to us) territory!  I may post once more tomorrow before leaving, but if not, then you'll know why my blog will be silent for a while now.  If you want any farm news, you'll have to ask my brothers for it!

 

This verse has become extra special to me lately, so I'll share it in closing now:      

 

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." 

   ~ Proverbs 3:5-6  

 

 

Good food, good fellowship...

It makes for a very good day!  :)