A German Hymn...

My favorite part of the funeral ceremony was when all the Germans sang the German hymn, "Gott ist die Liebe" which means, "God is Love". This used to be my grandma's favorite German hymn and I remember hearing her sing it several times. I like how the german language sounds and should really learn it, as I'm mostly all German...(just a little bit Irish.) Enjoy~

Pictures of my grandma's funeral...

We were SO glad that Rev. Steve Kyner (our pastor) from Alfred, ND came for the funeral and was there for moral support and to pray for us! He is pictured here with my dad and brother, Andrew.

Here is Jacob and our cousin, Benjamin from Bismarck.

My grandpa with his daughter-in-law Sharel, sister Delores, sister Frances and his brother-in-law, (Frances' husband) David.

The front of the church...

I wish I had a better picture of Pastor Kyle R. but I don't. He was a great blessing to us all and had a wonderfully gentle way of presenting the message of salvation.
All 6 of us grandchildren were the casket-bearers. Though I'm the oldest of the Delzer grandchildren, I'm almost the shortest and the only girl... :)

Thankfully, all of my cousins and brothers are strong young men and two of the guys from the funeral home helped us too!

After the service in the cemetery, there was a meal in the church basement and we had a wonderful time of fellowshipping with all of Mother's relatives, neighbors and friends. So many people knew who I was and I recognized their faces, but the names are all jumbled up in my mind. We all received lots of comforting hugs and smiles, and were blessed.

Here's a picture of mother with her childhood friend, Carol and some of her family.

...And here's another picture of a friend who was like a brother to mother when they were growing up. His wife is now a very dear friend too...

Later on, the immediate family met at Grandpa's house to open the cards and devided them out for everyone to write thank-yous. As soon as Mother's ready, she and I are going to write out our portion of them and get them in the mail right away.

One of the bright spots in the last two days was in getting to meet my mom's uncle David and his wife, Frances. They're from Wisconsin, so I don't remember ever meeting them before, although I know I did when I was real little. Mother has always told us children how much she loved her uncle David and his wife and now we finally got to meet them!!! Here, aunt Frances is showing Mother some of her pictures on her camera...

...And on the far right in this picture you can see "Uncle David". He has a great sense of humor and thinks that I should go into the Rodeo business because I have some cows. :)

Well, I could post even more pictures, but I should probably dig out a pen and start writing our notes of gratitude... Please, if you have time and think of it, could you pray for my grandpa in these next few days? He is taking the loss of Grandma very hard and was not in very good physical condition even before she passed away. We don't know if he'll be able to stay in his home now without her. We're going to invite him to come stay for a few days with us, but I'm not sure if he'll come.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and who has sent us such comforting words of sympathy! God will pull us through with the help of friends like you~

Pictures of the family service...

Here are the pictures I promised... My mom and I have a lot of thank-yous we need to write out this afternoon, but Mother decided to take a nap first, so I thought I'd take a few minutes and post here.


These were some of the pictures that were there for people to look at:


This is my grandpa and grandma on their wedding day--59 years ago...


Here is a picture of their family when my mom was a little girl. Isn't she cute?
And this is a picture of my grandma... She would have loved all the singing at her funeral and all the pretty flowers!
This was the viewing at the funeral home on Tuesday. My grandpa is way on the right of the picture. Please keep him in your prayers, as he is not doing well without Grandma. He depended a great deal on her...

Tired~

I'm too tired to write much now, but I thought I'd let you know that we spent almost the whole day in Eureka as there was a lovely prayer service at the funeral home this afternoon and we spent some time with Grandpa afterwards. My family & I sang a hymn together and my mom sang one of her favorite songs, "Find Us Faithful" during the service. I took several pictures, but haven't transferred them to my computer yet, so I'll add them (hopefully) tomorrow or the next day. When we got home late, we found a beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting in our entryway. They were from some of our dear neighbors and are SO pretty!
Thank you everyone for your prayers! I've really been more at peace with this whole thing than I thought I'd be...

Trying to get ready...

Mother mentioned that we should do haircuts for the guys before the funeral, so while she was on the phone trying to make food arrangements for the funeral, I went to snipping... As Jacob is the only one at home currently, (my dad's hauling grain and Andrew's cleaning grain,) he was the only one I could get "Properized". I took a before and after picture, and thought I'd post it here.... (I asked Jacob if he minded and he said he didn't.)

Here's the before picture:

And here's the after: See any difference? :)

Then, Jacob thought we should get a "During" picture, so Mother took one when she got off the phone...

Well, there's much to do yet, so I'd best get back to it...

The difference between hymns and praise choruses...

I only have a minute to write, so I thought I'd just share with you something that made me smile this morning...

A Funny Little Story About Hymns and Praise Songs~
By: Author Unknown

An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.

"Well," said the farmer. "It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns."

"Praise choruses?" asked the wife. "What are those?"

"Oh, they're okay. They're sort of like hymns, only different," said the farmer.

"Well, what's the difference?" asked the wife.

The farmer said, "Well it's like this ... If I were to say to you, 'Martha, the cows are in the corn,' well that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you,

'Martha, Martha, Martha,Oh, Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA,the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows,the white cows, the black and white cows,the COWS, COWS,COWS are in the corn,are in the corn, are in the corn,in the CORN, CORN, CORN, COOOOORRRRRNNNNN,'

then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well that would be a praise chorus."


~As luck would have it, the exact same Sunday a young, new Christian from the city church attended the small town church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.

"Well," said the young man, "It was good. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs."

"Hymns?" asked the wife. "What are those?"

"They're okay. They're sort of like regular songs, only different," said the young man.

"Well, what's the difference?" asked the wife.

The young man said, "Well it's like this ... If I were to say to you, 'Martha, the cows are in the corn,' well that would be a regular song. If on the other hand, I were to say to you,


'Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, glorious truth.

For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense,
Hearkenest they in God's sun or his rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight,
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn chewed.

So look to that bright shining day by and by,
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn
Where no vicious animal makes my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.'


Then, if I were to do only verses one, three and four, and change keys on the last verse, well that would be a hymn."

Wednesday's the day...

Plans were made today for my grandma's funeral to be held on Wednesday. Please continue to pray for us...

BTW, babysitting went really well this morning and the neighbors' 6-year-old son was there also and helped me find things, (as I wasn't familiar with their house) so that was a blessing!

What will this day be like, I wonder?

One thing I know for sure (Lord willing, that is) is that I'll be babysitting from 8:30 to 11:30 this morning. It will be my first time babysitting for these neighbors, and I'll be caring for their 2 year old and 1 year old. (Their 6 year old is going with them to church...) The mother is singing in church this morning and didn't want to have her little ones there to have to care for while she's practicing and all.

I'm guessing that we'll be going down to Eureka this afternoon to work on funeral arrangements. None of the children have ever planned a funeral before, so it will require lots of cooperation to make sure we get everything covered. It still doesn't seem real that Grandma's gone, but I'm sure it will register hard when we're in her house and she's nowhere to be found...

Please pray for us~

We're stunned...



We found out tonight that my Delzer grandmother died of a massive heart attack just a little bit ago. Please keep us all in your prayers as we try to realize what this all means. This is my first grandparent to have died and it's hard for it to really sink in that she's gone...



This picture was taken at my birthday in March--the last picture that I had with my grandma Erdie. We would have celebrated her 80th birthday in October... Please just pray for us all and especially for my grandpa, Harvey!

The results of the last cattle check...

I just returned from checking the cows in Andrew's trusty Ram Charger (known to us as "The Ram"). I had some help:

Actually, the boys and I had gone out to check the cows together a few minutes earlier and to tag my new calf that was born this morning. After the tagging was done, and the calf was recorded in the book, we drove around and found another of my cows calving. We could see two feet, so we left her be for a little bit. Andrew drove back to the yard, then he and Jacob went down to the Kintyre park to drive their remote controlled trucks on the pavement while I went back out to try my hand at being midwife... Here's some of what I saw:

AN UNCOMFORTABLE MOTHER...

...TRYING TO DISTRACT HERSELF WITH GRASS...

...A FEW MINUTES LATER--A HAPPY MOTHER...

...AND THEN-- A 10 MINUTE OLD CALF ALREADY TRYING OUT IT'S WOBBLY LEGS...

...ISN'T NEW LIFE AMAZING?...

...THEN, I DROVE AROUND SOME MORE AND CAUGHT A COUPLE OF MY COWS IN THE ACT OF BATHING THEIR "CHILDREN"...

...GOOD GIRLS--KEEP THOSE BABIES SHINY...

And now, just so that my blog doesn't get a little too animal-heavy, I thought I'd post a U-tube video about the Von-Trapp Children Singers. Enjoy~

We had a good laugh!

This afternoon, after getting Andrew's graduation invitations sent off in the mail (Hooray!), we had to do our house cleaning and feast preparing in super-fast-mode. Thankfully, Andrew was here to help today, as he couldn't clean grain because of all the rain and snow.

So, we were bustling around the house--Andrew was sweeping the kitchen floor; I was frying some beef and venison burger; and Mom was over returning the printer to our neighbors', when I noticed that Jacob was through with his last task. I then asked him, "Jacob, will you please pick up the rest of the rugs and go shake them outside?" Apparently he didn't hear me, (I asked him later and he said that he really hadn't heard me,) as he walked into the other room without responding. After a few seconds and no Jacob, I realized that he hadn't heard, so I said something louder to him... At the very same moment, Andrew said the very same thing, as he had overheard what I had said to Jacob and knew too that our younger brother wasn't coming.

What do you suppose we both said??? ....Should I take a poll with a bunch of possible answers and you can vote on it? :) I guess I'll just tell you...

We both said, simultaneously, "Ya-kov", which is Hebrew, I think, for Jacob. Andrew & I stared at each other then, wondering if we had heard right what the other person had said, and when we realized we had said the same thing, we had a good laugh. We honestly don't call Jacob "Ya-kov" very often, so it was especially funny that we did now!

Oh, and the end of the story? Well, "Ya-kov" heard us this time and soon was busily shaking the rugs out in the fresh Spring air.

SNOW?

..."The farmer's going

About his sowing

Of many fields of wheat.

When we have shivered

Through one more blizzard,

Then Spring will be complete!"

I awoke this morning to find this view outside my bedroom window:

Yes, it is really snow!

I guess God likes to surprise us! Happy Winter~

On turkeys, printers, and skunk-like-calves...

What a lovely day it is today! It's unimaginable to think that there's a possibility of a snow-storm Friday night!!!

Two days ago, I placed an ad on BisManOnline (a free ad service for the Bismarck area) to try to sell some of our Bourbon Red turkey toms, as we have far too many. A lady named Sally from North of Bismarck came yesterday to buy one tom, but she must have really liked them, because she decided to take two birds home! Mom, Jacob & I worked together to corner the two guys and then we hauled them to Sally's car where she had a large dog kennel waiting. She said that she'd seen our ad the night before, but was too tired to call. Then she woke up in the middle of the night with the name "Chester" running through her head and decided then and there to name the one tom, "Chester." As she bought two turkeys though, she was wondering what she'd name the other, so my mom suggested she call it "Harvey" as that is my grandpa Delzers' first name--his middle name being Chester. The other tom was dubbed "Harvey" on the spot and Sally and her two toms left our place with an air of excitement. Isn't it amazing how one mans' junk is another mans' treasure? Not that the turkeys were junk, it's just that we don't need so many toms around! :)

Yesterday, I spent a large portion of my afternoon trying to get our printer to print the way it's supposed to. Not all of the colors of ink were coming through and it was so frustrating... Mother finally decided to call around and see if she could find a printer that we could use to print Andrew's graduation invitations with. One neighbor said we could use hers, except she didn't have any colored ink, so that wasn't going to work. She offered to get us any ink or cartridges we need in Bismarck tomorrow, so we were grateful for that. However, Mother decided to call another neighbor and see what her printer situation was, and she said that we could borrow hers right away. She brought it over last night and so we're hoping now that the rest of this project will be smooth sailing from here on out!
When Stacey brought the printer over last night, she also brought her two oldest children (my babysit-ees) and so I got to get two goodnight hugs and kisses from my darlings! Little children are so precious... All children are, really!


Oh, I should tell you about the calf that looks like an over-grown skunk... Yesterday Jacob & I tagged one of the cutest calves of the year--a black calf that has a white stripe down his back and some white dots in a few other places. It seems like we get one of these unique looking calves every year, but not from the same cow--funny! God's creativity is amazing!

Here I was trying to get the calf to turn around so that Jacob could get a better picture of her. :)

Well, it's nearly lunch time, so I'd best help get some food on the table. My dad is hauling sunflowers to Enderlin today and Andrew is cleaning grain (from dawn to dusk), so it will just be the three of us here. It always seems strange to eat without the rest of the family being here!

Don't worry, be happy~

Wouldn't it be lovely to visit this little village?

The Town of Don't-You-Worry...

There's a town called Don't-You-Worry,
On the banks of River Smile;
Where the Cheer-Up and Be-Happy
Blossom sweetly all the while.
Where the Never-Grumble flower
Blooms beside the fragrant Try,
And the Ne'er-Give-Up and Patience
Point their faces to the sky.

In the valley of Contentment,
In the province of I-Will,
You will find this lovely city,
At the foot of No-Fret Hill.
There are thoroughfares delightful
In this very charming town,
And on every hand are shade trees
Named the Very-Seldom-Frown.

Rustic benches quite enticing
You'll find scattered here and there;
And to each a vine is clinging
Called the Frequent-Earnest-Prayer.
Everybody there is happy
And is singing all the while,
In the town of Don't-You-Worry,
On the banks of River Smile.

by I. J. Bartlett
from the book, "The Best Loved Poems of the American People"

Spring flowers~

Do you remember a couple of days ago when I said that my dad (and Jacob) went to get hay? Well, they brought a lovely gift back with them--several dozen crocuses!!! They said that a certain hill was covered with them and they could have picked many, many more. We usually have crocuses on a hill here at home, but this year, our stock cows are out in that pasture and must be eating them off as they grow, as we haven't seen a single flower. Hmmmm, I wonder if crocuses taste good?

More Senior pictures...

It looks like we have another busy afternoon ahead of us, so I thought I'd just post some more Senior pictures quick as I have a minute now.

Here they are:

Chores went well this morning and I didn't even get my boots stuck. Hooray!

My dad didn't have to leave quite as early this morning and helped me tag the new calves, or rather, I helped him! :) This sunshine is just wonderful for all the little babies. We found one of my calves that wasn't doing too well, though. I picked him up and we hauled him into the barn, but he was too far gone and died before we left. I had tried tubing him some milk, but he had a large lump in his throat that wouldn't let the tube go down, so he must have had something physically wrong inside. Poor baby...

Stuck~

Everyone here got up early this morning, as my dad had to haul a load of grain to a farmer before hauling hay home; my mom headed for Bismarck to meet with several BT clients; Andrew went South to Strasburg to finish up a grain-cleaning job and to try to finish 2 other guys' grain before the day is done; and Jacob & I needed to do the milking and other chores by ourselves. It's at times like these that I'm glad we're only milking 8 cows and 5 goats!!!

Chores went well, all except for the end part, that is... See, I was going to water the 2 cows that are locked in a pen behind the barn. The garden hose we use to water them with was still mostly frozen, but a little trickle of water came out the end, so I knew it would open up eventually. I waited for a couple minutes for the water to come, but it didn't, so I decided to leave the hose in the trough and go get oats with Jacob, as he was already driving the tractor over to the grain bin. We returned in about 5 minutes and, after unloading the pails of grain from the loader bucket, I went to check if the hose had opened. Well....there are a bunch of calves (ones we had bottle-fed last year) in the same pen that I had to string the hose through to get to the water trough in the back of the barn. The hose had come open, but the calves had stepped on the hose and managed to pull it out of the trough, so the water splashed all over the already muddy ground, making it REALLY messy! The cows still needed water though, so I jumped through the mud and got the hose back into the trough. After it was full, I started to turn to head for the hydrant (to turn the water off,) but my boots didn't budge! (I should tell you that these are the tall, black kind of boots that you just slip your foot in and out of.) I wasn't expecting this change of plans, so I ended up with one stocking foot in the mud and the other still in my other boot--which was sinking down even farther into the squishy mud. Yuck. Jacob came by about then and thought it was funny that I was stuck, as he had had a similar experience just last week! Oh the joys of Springtime on the farm... I did get out, after a minute, and we both had a good laugh. (My socks are now washed and are hanging up on the wash line, drying in the crisp breeze.)

So, were you ready to get back to work this morning, or were you a "Bear" about it? Here's a movie we found on U-tube a while ago, and I've been saving it for such a time as this. :) Be sure to turn your speakers WAY DOWN in the beginning, while they show the penguin--as the music is crazy! I think the polar bear is SO funny, though, and that's why I decided to share this with you. I hope your Monday has been great!

...and one more silly picture...

The sketch effect!

Do you know these people?

Brothers...

Ladies and Gentleman....

...May I have your attention please? This day, the 19th of April, I am proud to announce that Andrew Robert Bornemann will be graduating from Seeds of Truth High School, Kintyre ND on June 7th, 2009. He has passed the assigned test of educational skills and the principal and teacher's test of maturity and soon will be joining the world of diploma owners. Your kind regards can be given to him at this time by visiting the below stated link...

http://andrewbornemann.blogspot.com/.

Ah, enough of formality... Andrew has just posted some of his Senior pictures that we took yesterday. We had lots of fun taking pictures from different angels and trying out different backgrounds. I thought I'd post my favorite one, even though we're not going to be sending it out in invitations because we all agreed it's too silly. I like it anyway!

Then we youngsters all had to dress up and take a picture together... What fun!

Adios for now~

Guess what we did yesterday?

...We watched Fireproof for the first time!

We really liked the movie--perhaps even better than we enjoyed Flywheel!?!?! The whole story seemed more believable and what a good message it had too! (I don't see how anyone could watch it without at least a few tears trickling down their cheeks...) There were a couple things I would have changed or added if I'd been making it, but even as it is, I would recommend it to friends! Thank you, F. family, for loaning Fireproof to us!!!

Fun on the farm...

Here's just a short post to tell you about our adventure in the dark tonight.... We all drove (and ran) up and down our driveway and tree line getting one of my bulls in--again! He seems to think that the few blades of green grass on the other side of the fence are sweeter tasting than the ones right around him and has crawled THROUGH the 4 wire fence 3 times today... Arggggg. Now we put him in a corralled pen with a group of heifers, so I think he'll stay put. He can say goodbye to green grass in there, but it's all because of his own doing, so I don't feel sorry for him in the slightest! Would you pity him if he were yours?

Here's a picture of Mr. Bull when he came to live with us a year ago. He's much bigger now!

I'll post more tomorrow about the fun time we had taking Andrew's senior pictures today. Yes, we REALLY did have a good time doing that!