Interesting tidbits of information...

Tonight, I have several things of possible interest that I'd like to share with you all. As it is not early and I need to get to bed soonish, I'll just post them as facts and not write a lot about each issue.

• I spent all day caring for Johanna and Tracy Jo---the 2 little girls I nanny for
• Andrew bought another car yesterday---a Stratus that needs a new motor
• Dad and Andrew have several days of grain cleaning left
• Our 15 Bronze baby turkeys are coming tomorrow!
• Mom and Jacob went gopher hunting today
• MaryAnna Balyeat is my new Prairie-Days-website-host-partner.........Visit the new website HERE and see if you can find all the members of our family in the header photo (there are also many new pictures in the album to scroll through).
• I have several political links I'd like to share---having to do with what took place at the Republican convention this last weekend:
• http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/356057/----Protests don’t affect outcome of delegate slate at ND GOP convention
• http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/video-former-ndgop-chairman-calls-national-delegate-selection-favoring-mitt-romney-a-railroad-job/---Video: Former NDGOP Chairman Calls National Delegate Selection Favoring Mitt Romney “A Railroad Job”
• http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/national-delegate-nomination-process-dissolves-into-chaos-at-ndgop-convention/---National Delegate Nomination Process Dissolves Into Chaos At NDGOP Convention
• The following video is a short interview done with the young woman who wished to voice some unfinished business way at the end of the convention. She was not given the floor to speak and had her microphone promptly cut... How unfair is that? (As a side note, you can see me in the background---in the blue top and cream skirt. :) )

• Finally, here's a photo to help with the stress that I may have just inflicted on anyone who just read the above articles and listened to the interview: ;)
• 

In God, we can still trust. Of course, with that trust comes the responsibility on our part to act according to what we believe is right in God's eyes.

So, let's not get discouraged or be worried about where our once (very) great, republic Country is now headed, but instead, concentrate on the good----in this case, the very many more active, fighting-for-freedom, honor, love, and truth type of delegates that showed up this year than showed up 4 years ago!

....and the Revolution keeps growing!

I bought a car!

I'll show you pictures at the end of this post. First, though, I'll share a few other pictures that were on my camera card.

Our guard dogs, keeping watch: :)
Dad, Andrew and I went to Selby to buy my car this morning/afternoon.

On the way, we stopped by one of our hayfields and Dad ran through the snow to some of our few remaining hay bales to get a sample. A gentleman in Oklahoma wants to buy whatever we have left for sale (which is all of about 2 loads), but would like to know the quality of it... Hay sales have been such a tremendous blessing from God this Winter!!!!!

I paid for my car with cash, so if you can figure out how much money I'm holding, you'll know how much my car cost! :)

We dropped the hay sample off at the post office in Linton. This house was right by the post office... It used to be a church and I thought it looked really neat now! I wonder how they'll use the bell tower?

The wind was really blowing when we headed South and by the time we were on our return journey, the roads were getting very slushy and slippery. The last 30 miles of our trip were especially icy and Andrew had to drive very slow and, even then, we slid a little bit a few times....

We stopped in Strausburg for a few minutes so the guys could look at some other vehicles at Kens' Auto Sales (cars and pickups that need repairing). There was quite a bit of snow there!

And FINALLY, here is my car!

It's an '04 Stratus; it needs new tires; and will need quite a bit of work under the hood----replacing the water pump and a couple other things.... It was very reasonably priced though and Andrew says he will not charge me what it would cost if I took it into a shop to be repaired, so I hope this was a good choice! :)

The ad had said the car was silver, but the more we look at it, the more we say it's a bit on the blue side of things. What do you think? I'm excited to have a car!!!

This morning, I found a nice surprise in my aquarium! When my parents and Jacob were in Bismarck yesterday, they'd bought me a few new fish as an early birthday present. :)

Andrew arrived home this morning around 10:30. He had spent the night over in Fargo (with Jared and Trevor at a hotel) and had lots to tell us tonight at the supper table. I guess there were 9 district conventions going on all at the same time, so they all had their hands full! Andrew said he's known there (to the Ron Paul team) as "The milkman", as Andrew (or my mom) takes milk to the Bismarck Ron Paul headquarter/office whenever possible and I guess some of the other guys on the team have been there to taste it as well. :) Funny!

Well, I think that is all the news I have to update you with for now. We're looking forward to a day of rest!

Blessings~

"My" child....

Let me tell you a bit about him:


...and here's Dinesh's picture:

I have prayed about sponsoring a child for some time and it is now finally official! :) My family (my parents, really) sponsored a little girl many years ago through Compassion International. Her name was Tabita and we wrote her letters and heard from her for about 10 years time. We were blessed by her prayers and it was such a wonderful feeling to know that, because of our help, a little girl in Indonesia was receiving an education; a good meal every day; clothing; medical care if needed; and most importantly, she was being taught about the Lord and we rejoiced when she talked about her love of Him! We still pray for her when she comes to mind.

I am now very much looking forward to getting to know this young lad in India through the years and praying for him as he grows in the Lord. I plan to write my first letter to him tomorrow. :)

We have sent most of our tithe money to Gospel For Asia for years, and really believe in the work they're doing there. "Bridge Of Hope" is a division of Gospel For Asia, bringing needy children together with sponsors who want to help them... I look forward to the years ahead, knowing that I'm helping a little boy in Chhattisgarh to grow big and strong. Who knows, he may one day be a missionary and we can help support him together? :)


I baked bread today and made mozzarella cheese...
Mother had 2 clients come out this morning and, as their sessions were pretty lengthy, we invited them to join us for lunch too, which they did happily. :)

This next picture is for all the farmers out there: How would you like to have this seat to sit on as you go about your chores?

(Thankfully, it is a lot more drivable now that Dad fixed it!)

Here are our two sleepy heads in their favorite spot in the whole wide world at this time of year----right behind the wood stove in the shop!

Brother Andrew, searching for the perfect diagram...

This is Andrew's most recent project:

Mother likes this car so much, she's talking about buying it from him for summer driving...... :)

Andrew replaced the wiring-harness (I think that's what it was called?) on this car for a customer/friend recently:

OH, and here's one last picture that I found on my camera when I uploaded my pictures:

This is the collage I put together from last years' events.... Enjoy~

PS. Does anyone recognize the man Andrew's standing by in the far left, middle photo?

Pictures I took at camp:

Here are the slightly-belated pictures that I promised from Cabin Fever Family Camp, 2012. Enjoy! :)

We picked room #:

....just a couple rooms down the hallway from a couple sweet families we know.

It was a comfy, yellow room with many beds to choose from. Jacob and I slept on the top bunks and I do believe mine was the noisiest in the room! None of us slept very well the first night, but the second night was much better. Andrew was home doing chores Friday night and then Dad went home and did them Saturday evening... "Thanks again, guys!"After the first talk by Mr. Swanson, all the young people headed for the gym. Here are some people lined up on one end of the building:
...and more people on the other end, all of them just waiting for someone to say "Go" so they could all run to the middle and try to grab a ball for a game of something like freeze-tag, except, if you were tagged, you went in "Jail". You had a chance to escape from jail if one of your team-mates got someone from the other team in "Jail".

My friend, Hayley, all in a blur, with her yellow ball:

During the "Free time" on Saturday and Sunday, there were many games of volleyball being played! (Can you spot Andrew in this picture?)

Saturday night, after Mr. Swanson's last talk, many people went roller skating. Here is a dusty picture of Andrew: He was so kind as to take me for several spins around the room while I was trying to get used to being on wheels. :) I didn't fall even once, although I almost did several times!

This is a picture of the girls' dorm where our family stayed:

The large gym:

The boys' dorm---which also had a fellowship area:

The dining hall:

The chapel:

More volleyball: (If you look closely, you can spot my friend, Miranda in this picture.) :)

We made several new friends and enjoyed the time of fellowshipping with them and with our dear "Old" friends as well!!! Here you can see Mom, watching the volleyball game along with some other ladies:
That's all of my pictures. I know Mother took more pictures than I did this time and Andrew video-taped Mr. Swansons' talks, so we have several things to remember this family camp by.

I think it delights the Lord when His people get to know each other and find encouragement in one anothers' experiences! I praise Him for getting us to camp this year...............

Good family times~

We all hopped in Andrews' car this morning and headed for Grandpa and Grandma Bornemanns' place in Mandan. We got there a little before noon and helped Grandma with last minute meal and table preparations. Dad even carved the....chickens. :)

Mother waited out in the car for a while to meet up with a lady we were selling some beef to. Here Grandma is welcoming her in...

The boys---observing Grandma's bountiful display of houseplants....

After a delicious (and very filling) meal, we looked at some pictures I'd taken along from this past year and the boys played their instruments for a while. Then we sat down at the table for a 3-hour long game of Chicken Foot Dominoes (using all 12 groups of numbers).

Nice flash!

We had fun!

We finished that long game right at 6:00, then ate some more and opened some presents our grandparents had for us. We had to head for home then, as Sally needed milking....

This evening, I gave Mom one of her birthday gifts early: a movie of a collection of O'Henry's short stories made into film. We watched 2 of the stories and really enjoyed them!

Mother has several more pictures of our time with our relatives on her I-pod, so I'm sure she'll be sharing those sometime.

It is a nice thing to be with family! I think our grandparents were pretty happy that we came too, as none of their other children/family is able to make it there this year for the holidays....

Day #14~

Today, I am so very thankful for the talents that the Lord has placed in each and every one of us! May we know how to use them for His glory!

This evening, my mom, Andrew and I made the 60 mile journey to Bismarck to watch and listen to a group of talented actors and singers from Chicago who put on the play, "Fiddler on the Roof"! It was SOOOOOOOO good!!!!!!!!! I will remember it for ever, if my memory holds out that long. :)

There were so many "Favorite" songs to listen too:

"Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset, swiftly flow the days,
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,
Blossoming even as we gaze......."


"Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match!
Find me a find, catch me a catch.
Night after night in the dark I'm alone,
So find me a match of my own......."

"Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older,
When did they???".......


The choreography was terrific and all the twirly, long skirts were so cute.... Tevye was an especially interesting character and the actor quickly endeared himself to the audience. It was a wonderful evening!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was something that took place earlier in the day too though that I'm very grateful for---that being that my brother, Jacob passed his driving test and now sports a brand new drivers' license. :) "Congratulations, Jacob Austin!" Now, just watch out for those deer!


Let's just say it's been a great day!

Raspberries for the future, Lord willing...

Mother, Jacob and I spent some time out in the bright sunshine, picking green tomatoes off of the vines. We've been waiting for them to ripen out of doors, but decided to let them turn red inside now, as it is getting quite late in the season and we don't want the tomatoes to freeze at night....


While I was down at the Keisters' house, Sarah asked if I'd like to dig up some of their raspberry plants to take home. As we've talked about getting raspberries before, but never did, I knew this was the time to do it! I finally got them transplanted into the garden today. There is a total of 36 plants. Hopefully most of them will "Take" and produce and reproduce like Sarah's have! Sarah also gave me several lily bulbs which I am very excited about! I planted them today also.

I have often admired this picture while at the Keisters' home and was so pleased when Sarah said I could have it---as something to remember them by. :) I'm thinking it might have to join my other "Future home" items up in the attic for the time being though, as all our walls are full and this is quite a large wall hanging....

Mother had clients here again this afternoon. Dad hauled grain all day, except for when he combined flax this evening. Andrew spent most of the day in the combine, except for when a tire went flat and he and Jacob had to change it. Jacob helped in the garden for a while and also helped Andrew with odds and ends, and swathed down the cover crop that was planted this Spring.... It was a good day!

"Trust His Heart"

I'm pretty sure I've shared a different version of this song on my blog some time ago, but it is a continual blessing to me and I wanted to share it again. It is one of my absolute favorites!

My brothers and I spent the day at home. We watched a wonderful Dr. Davis sermon on the topic of "Integrity"... I love how Dr. Davis teaches! I'm always inspired to do better, to serve the Lord more thoroughly after listening to the truths that the Lord has shown this man of God.

This afternoon, we played a couple games of Monopoly (each of my brothers won one), then we watched a couple movies. In between there somewhere, we did chores and the boys ate. I mixed up another batch of my special drink (aka: Lemonade).

We talked to Dad a while ago and learned that he had a pretty rough day with the ache in his mouth. He actually went to see a dentist there in Missoula and they gave him some antibiotics again to fight the infection. He couldn't talk very well, so our visit was short. Please join us in keeping him in prayer. Thank you!

Here's wishing you all a blessed new week. ~

Out of practice!

This afternoon, while Mother took a nap, the rest of us went downstairs and played a couple games (4 rounds a piece) of Foosball. We realized then how out of practice we are! We play a lot during the cold Winter months, but not at all recently.

Dad's cousin, Jerome stopped in this afternoon and stayed for supper, and visited a while after that. He brought back the kennels that he'd used to transport some of our geese to Jamestown for us a while back. Jerome also picked up the cattle rack (the kind that fits in the back of a pickup box) that he had bought the last time he was here. We sent him home with a couple cucumbers too. Oh, and a big round hay bale. :)

It was a lovely, quite day. We made 2 Blueberry Yogurt milkshakes (with the yogurt we made yesterday) which were very refreshing. Sadly, the doughnuts didn't last long and were gone before Jerome got here!

Tonight we watched "The Quite Man" which some friends gave to us. It was a bit on the silly side of things, but it was fun to see John Wayne playing in something other than a western...

I was very thankful this afternoon when Andrew found a way to get my pictures on my computer!!! It is late now though (we just finished our movie and family prayer time a few minutes ago), so the long picture post will have to wait for another time.

May you all have a wonderful new week, doing all that God has for you to do.~

A prairie day~

Last Saturday was "Thee" day for demonstrations...

After breakfast was over, there was a rope making demonstration:

I remember the first time I watched a rope being made at the first Prairie Days and it was so fascinating to see. Guess what? I still think it's fun to watch, 9 years later! :)

Andrew and David Dagley, chatting while waiting for the twine strings to be twisted together on the other end of things...

Then there was a recorder class, which my brother (Andrew--Man of Courage!!!) quickly jumped into... This little group actually did quite well in the short amount of time they practiced (I have a video which I hope to post, sometime).

Meanwhile, several of the young ladies were setting up the "Trading Post" with things they'd made to sell...

My friend, Susanna looks on as....

...her husband, David helps their oldest daughter, Hadassah learn how to walk on stilts! :)

Hadassah was not the only girl on stilts! (Thank you K. family for taking/posting pictures too! I hope you don't mind I saved this one, as I don't have many pictures of myself at Prairie Days...)

Volleyball was unusually popular this year, with games running late into the evenings even!

A couple "Indian" children, helping out on the West team...

There was a pretty, young "Indian" woman wandering the park too...

A goodbye picture with Miriam K.---a blogger friend that I/we first met last weekend. :)

(We were so glad you all could come, Krahn family and only wish you'd been able to stay longer!)

There was archery for the young folks in the morning...

And then came the "Instrument Petting Zoo", where people could try playing different instruments. By far, the most unusual instrument there was the Hurdy-Gurdy! When played, it sounded almost like bagpipes....

Sarah S. showing how to play an accordion...

Amanda (Dagley) Balyeat sharing her trumpet...

Our friends, the S. family won the "Best dressed family" award during the "Guess Who?" skits time. Can you guess who these 2 little pioneer girls are?

Mom's cousin, Kristi, had fun at our house, trying on my prairie outfits to see which she wanted to wear to Prairie Days. Here she is, looking lovely (though a bit cold, as it was quite cold that morning!) in a green dress I sewed a few years back, with her daughter Rachel in a dress Kristi's mom sewed for her when she was a little girl! :)

In the later part of the morning, Dad arrived (see the black pickup with the tote of screenings for Ben's chickens on the back?)

I was up at the zipline, getting pictures when he arrived.

Here is our cousin, Eric, zipping across the water... Jacob's on the other side already, climbing up the ladder to make the return trip!

Before the noon meal, anyone who wanted to be in the group Prairie Day picture gathered for a BIG picture! Unfortunately, I don't have one of those pictures (yet) to share here, but hopefully I can get one from a friend....

Later, Betsy Ross (aka: Mrs. S.) taught everyone who was there......

...how to fold paper/cloth so as to be able to make only 1 snip and have the shape that opens up be a 5-sided star!

There was a "Chat with the cowboys" time somewhere in there...

Here's darling Clementine, picking out a tune....

The potluck-meal serving tables were set up under the blue canopy....

"Anyone need a ride?"

My dear friend, Rose Balyeat, slicing up some juicy watermelon...

"Finally, it's time to EAT!".....

A couple more "Guess Who?" participants, James & Amanda as, well, can you guess who? :)

....and yet another "Guess who-er"...

Andrew, getting some video footage....

Oh yes, here is yet one more person to guess... (Yes, it is Mr. S., but who is he dressed up as?)

The item he's standing by is our corn-sheller.

At long last, a man came who all were waiting to see! I'm sure you can guess who this is! We were blessed and impressed by Mr. Mark Collins' impersonation of President George Washington and now pray for his ministry to grow and grow in this country!

During supper, Mother sang a song and then my brothers did their Andy and Barney skit (which Andrew's now posted on his blog!). Right after that, the Murphys and our family did a short, fun little skit about worry/gossip, and how such things can quickly get out of hand!

Later, the Balyeat family sang and played....

After eating supper, we said goodbye to my parents, as they were headed for home to do the milking and then they went to Eureka the next day to attend their former churches' 124th anniversary celebration. They sang in the choir and got to catch up a bit with old friends.

Later in the evening at the Dagley's, many people gathered around the campfire to sing and eat smores. :)

There were also a LOT of people playing, yes, more volleyball....
Our cousins, the Murphys enjoy volleyball too, so they were having fun.

As I'm not so fond of volleyball as my brothers are, I went on a walk with a friend, Camille L. to get some pictures of the sunset and other things... (See the rain falling not too far away?)

The curious horses...

How do you know when you've found the Dagley's place? When you see "The rock", then you know! I heard that a couple families had trouble finding the Dagleys farm this year. (*Mental note to self:* Be sure to get better directions put on the website before next year!!!)

The cross....

Just follow the little red road!

Bounce, bounce, bounce......

I stayed up quite late that night, visiting around the campfire with a couple of friends. I knew it would be our last night there and wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible. It was sprinkling on and off, but the campfire kept us warm and we dried our jackets thoroughly before finally heading for bed.

I do have a few pictures from Sunday to share, but that will have to, once again, wait for another day.

My family and I spent an interesting day together, eating a picnic lunch in Wilton, then driving on to see the Garrison dam and spillway. We took lots of pictures, but that too will have to wait for another day to get posted about. We're getting company tomorrow, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write. I just love the adventures God sends our way!!!!