I saw a few raindrops falling from the sky tonight...

I was afraid they'd forgotten how to come down out of the sky! The farmers are concerned. No rain means no growing crops. There's also concerns about fires-----there was one today while I was in Napoleon working. I hear the alarm, but never heard more about it... It could have been hard to deal with in all this WIND! God has a plan though. We ask Him to send the rain, but if His answer is "No", then I'm sure He will make a way as He has done so many times in the past.


I have a prayer request from a coworker friend of mine tonight as well... Her husband needs to find work in the next couple of weeks or else they are going to have to put their house up for sale. She asked for prayer and told me and another coworker friend that this all has brought her a lot closer to God and she's started reading His word now and spending some time every morning with the Lord. PTL! If you'd join me in praying for her husband to get a job, that would be wonderful!


It was a very long day for me, leaving home at 8:00 this morning and getting home at 11:00 tonight, spending most of those hours at the nursing home. I'm so glad tomorrow's Friday and I can stay home (and maybe even sleep in a little bit?).

Sweet dreams~

Prayer requests....

I just returned home from working at the nursing home again. Mother sent out the following e-mail to several people (me included) and, as it pretty much explains the highlights of this week, and the need for prayer, I thought I'd just include it here for everyone to read... Thank you in advance for your prayers!!!



Hello everyone,

I’m writing because our family plain old needs prayer this week. If you can cover us with your prayers, that would be awesome, but if you can help additionally, that would be terrific! You’re receiving this email from me because some part of it seems to apply to you so please give it a moment of your time. Here’s a run-down of our upcoming week.

Prayer request: Tomorrow at 9:00 AM Robert will have 8 teeth pulled. He’s begun the work of restoring his mouth to it’s proper function of eating pain free. He’ll also get his temporary bridge. I can imagine that he’ll be needing lots of TLC for awhile.

Tuesday is Super Tuesday. Being Andrew volunteered to help set up for our caucus meeting, we’ll be spending quite a bit of time in Hazelton. PLEASE, if you are a Dr. Ron Paul or Mr. Paul Sorum (who is running for Governor) supporter, PLEASE come to vote for them between 5:30 and 8:30. If you support either of these 2 Constitutional candidates and are needing a ride to the meeting, please let me know as we will do our best to get you to the hall on time.

On Wednesday Cora turns 25 and I believe that we are doing nothing but celebrating her life—at least that’s the plan.

I’ll be seeing clients in my office on Thursday. I have an opening over the noon hour if you are needing a tune-up.

Friday will be spent trying to find more Ron Paul and Paul Sorum delegates to come to our district convention.

Saturday at 2:00 in Wishek is our district convention. PLEASE if you are feeling even a tiny bit led to try to be a delegate to the State convention, you need to come to the district convention and let someone at the Ron Paul area know of your wishes. We will do our very best to help you to get elected. The GOP state convention will be held on March 30, March 31, and April 1 which is coming up FAST. It costs $80 to be a delegate plus your meals, transportation, and lodging unless you can travel from home. I must ask you to ponder this cost as small in comparison with what can be gained when we have Godly leadership at the State and Federal level! Please keep this meeting in your prayers as numerous men of God are trying to get the nomination to run in June.

On Sunday, my dear friend and BodyTalk Instructor, is holding her remarkable BodyTalk Access class in Bismarck. Taking this class in June of 2007 literally saved my life!!! I cannot recommend it too highly and I urge you, if YOU are having a hard time dealing with all of the stress in your life, to take the class. Just click on this link to sign up for the class which costs $125 and runs from 9:00 to 5:00 one week from today: http://www.bodytalksystem.com/seminars/details.cfm?id=17869

I can honestly say that, with the brain damage that I endured in 2006-2007, I’d never be able to keep up with my family during a week like this if I didn’t do BodyTalk on myself daily. It is just wonderful to be able to connect the 2 sides of my brain for greater concentration and less pain! I hope that you’ll get started on your journey of personal growth and discovery by taking Elizabeth’s class on the 11th!

Once again I covet your prayers for our family during this extremely busy and exciting week.

God bless,

Dawn for the Bornemanns

Update on Litfin family...

You can click here for more info. on what happened to the Litfin young people...

Thank you for praying for their family! Two of the children have come home from the hospital now, but the other two are still there.

My van now has a new home...

The man from Driscoll came and picked it up tonight (and paid for it too). I was so glad Andrew had taken the time to clean everything out of it for me while I was away for most of the day at the Daycare. Speaking of which, I just have one more day there (on Monday) before Helen returns. I think this was the best day so far, as everyone got along with everyone else pretty well and most everybody took naps when they were supposed to.... :) 4 days down, 1 more to go.

This day started out on an extremely sad note when I read about a friend of mines' siblings being in a car accident yesterday----4 of them being in the hospital, and 1 more sister died as a result of injuries!! I can not imagine what they're going through right now. Please pray for the L. family from ND. They're also planning a wedding for their oldest (my friend) for March 3rd. What a difficult time this must be for them............ I just can't imagine.........................

A bit of a Jonah day...

...You know the kind---when things just seem to go wrong right from the break of dawn---or even before it, as it was in my case...

Here is my sad tale:

I was driving my van along in the dark (going the speed limit) and was about a mile West of Napoleon when a deer suddenly ran across the road a little ways ahead of me. I slammed on the breaks, knowing that, where there's one deer, there's often two, but the second deer was too quick and ended up running right immediately in front of me! I smacked into it very hard (right in the front on the passenger side) and literally saw the deer sail up into the air 10+ feet, doing somersaults as it went. (My dad and brother looked for it later and couldn't see it, so they think it is still alive?) I stopped right away and pulled over, getting out to see what damage had been done. When I saw the huge mess and smelled something hot, I knew I'd better turn the motor off and call for help.

I called my dad (it was about 7:10AM at this time) and asked his advice and if he could look up Helen's phone # so I could call her and let her know what happened and to see if she or her husband could pick me up, as they needed to get going for appointments in Bismarck and I was supposed to be there at 7:15... To make a long story short, I called #911 to report what had happened, the Sheriff came out and took down the information (I think that's the first time I've ever been inside a police vehicle, but he asked me in because it was SO cold out); Helen's husband came and picked me up and they left as soon as we got to their place; then Dad and Andrew brought me Andrew's car to drive home and towed my van home.

The verdict on my van? My dad said he'd advise me to try and sell it for parts or scrap and buy something else, as it's going to cost a lot to repair and it already has 203,000+ miles on it...

The part to be glad about? That I was not hurt at all, outside of having a very high pulse rate there for a few minutes! Also, as the guys pointed out, I can be glad the air-bags did not get set off, as that could have hurt and it also would make the vehicle very much unsellable. One more thing to be thankful for is that this happened while Helen and her husband were not gone on vacation yet so that one of them could come pick me up. It still was sad though. We've had some great family times in that van (I think we've had it 8 years)!

I have been battling a cold for a couple days and today I started loosing my voice along with it. Jacob says I sound like he did while his voice was changing. :) It's frustrating to want to say something, but also to not want to say it, as your voice sounds so silly.

Outside of those sad details, my day went fairly smoothly with the 10 small (4 and under) children I cared for all day. Shortly after I got home, Mom took off with the car Andrew let me use, as Andrew had someone very interested in buying it and needed it delivered to Bismarck. He and Dad had gone to Minot (I'll let him tell you what for later), so then Mom rode home with them, after Andrew's car was sold!

Andrew commented that, within 3 days time, we've gone down 4 drivable vehicles (3 were sold and 1 was demolished). It's a good thing that Andrew brought home a----oh, I said I wasn't going to tell you!

Prayers would be appreciated, as I try to get well in a super big hurry and as I now need to decide on what vehicle to buy? Life can take so many unexpected turns sometimes!

Please join me in praying for this family...

...I just learned that some friends of ours lost their baby today! Baby Isaac was born on Christmas Day and I don't know any details currently of what happened except that he passed away today. Please be in prayer for David and Susanna in the next few days...

Chamomile and cabbage...

Mother and I picked our Chamomile blossoms again, this time for our own use. :)

Then, we picked the 8 largest heads of cabbage and made them into 13 quarts of sauerkraut. Jacob was our shredder man...

We even had sauerkraut for supper (some that was left yet from last years' work.)

Later, after the cabbage project was finished, I started some milk warming for making yogurt with, and then I gave Jacob a haircut. I had hoped to do it outside, but just as we headed out, it began to rain, so we resorted to setting up barber-shop in the kitchen. Shortly after I finished with Jacob's "Shearing", Dad and Andrew returned from the hayfields out West and sat down for their haircuts too, Mom doing Dads' and me doing that other brother of mine's hair.

Please join us in praying for my dad as he has a very bad toothache and can hardly talk for all the pain it gives him. We're trying lots of natural things, but are concerned that he may have to have the tooth extracted, as it's hurt him for a couple days already and isn't getting better.......

Mother has really been enjoying the juicer she ordered through Dr. Mercola's website a couple weeks ago. She made a bunch of cabbage juice today and said it was good to drink------after she added a bit of salad dressing to it. :)

Before I go tonight, I want to point you all in the direction of an encouraging post over at "Every Thought Captive". It is about witnessing for our Lord and the opportunities that are all around us if we only have eyes to see and the courage to speak.

Be blessed~

Cora

I bought a belt...

...a belt for one of our lawnmowers, that is. I purchased it in town, before heading to work at the nursing home, and that was about the most interesting part of this day!

The only other thing of interest I can think of off hand is that Mom and I picked all our chamomile this morning and plan to dry it down and then mail it to her brother for his birthday present, as he's turning 60 years old in just a couple days and he LOVES chamomile tea. :)

Outside of that, we all worked and now we're tired and ready for sleeping (actually, some of us are already doing that very thing.)

If you all would pray for my dad, that would be great, as he has a really bad backache now and bouncing around in the tractors all day long really does not help matters any! Thank you so much. Please let me know how I can pray for you/your family too... ~

Oh, there was one more interesting matter I just remembered, that being that we learned our 2nd cousin, Hristiyan just started his own blog. You can visit him at "Man of Camo." Enjoy~

And yet another storm!

I just returned home from work in town and we are once again in a wild thunder/rain/wind storm, even as I type, so I think I'll post this and shut down my computer.... Please pray for ND tonight as there's quite a rain system pouring through our state right now, and there've also been a few tornado touchdowns spotted..... Thank you!

Better late than never!

Today was spud plantin' day.

Usually we have our potatoes in a lot earlier than this, but, well, we just didn't get them in until today. This year, Dad and Mom decided to plant lots of potatoes, onions and carrots (vegetables that store well) to sell to Mom's clients or our neighbors or whomever. Dad consequently left some room in the field North of our farm to plant these veggies.

Here we have the potatoes loaded and ready to haul out to the field. Mom looks quite excited!
Andrew: "Hmmmm. Is this going to work?"

Dad, checking to see where to start, not wanting to dig out any corn plants!

At the start of a row, some of us would cut a couple bowls full of potatoes so as to have a head-start in that department. Mom and Jacob were our main tater cutters. :)

Andrew was our driver. The first row, Mom and I planted while Jacob cut the potatoes... We're sitting on a "Rock Boat", a heavy metal sled that worked just great for reaching off the side of and sticking the potatoes in the side of the furrow that the plow made! We planted them about a foot and a half apart.

Next row....

For the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rows, Dad and I were the planters and Mom and Jacob cut the potatoes in halves or fourths (depending on the size of the spud) and also kept our piles replenished so we could easily reach them as we went along.

At the end of the row, Andrew turned the pickup around and headed back to the other end of the field. Here Jacob and I are enjoying the dusty ride on our Summer sled. It was a gorgeous day of about 80 degrees, not too windy and not too still.

Once the row was planted, Dad would drive along side with the plow and cover the potatoes with dirt and, in the process would dig the next furrow for us to plant into. Meanwhile, we'd be cutting more potatoes for the next round. We planted 3 different kinds of potatoes this year, 2 red varieties (one early type and one later) and Yukon Golds.

Once we were nearly out of potatoes, we planted a long row of onions until we ran out of them, then we finished that row with the potatoes we had leftover.

Then, Andrew hooked onto our garden row planter with his 4-wheeler and pulled Dad down the field, while Dad steered the planter and added more carrot seeds when needed. They planted several rows of carrots, so we should, Lord willing, have great abundance of soup making material by the end of the harvest!!!

Once all that was finished, there was still room in the field that Dad had left open for the "Field Garden". Andrew went out and worked that area up and Dad planted the rest of his lentil seed there. He hopes to get enough lentils to plant a much larger field next year.

Meanwhile, back at the farmyard, there were other projects being worked on. Mother worked in the house, while the boys helped me outside. Actually, before Dad went out to the field, he pulled out the nearly dead apple tree that was between our house and our garden area. He discovered a colony of ants living inside the tree and we're wondering now if they had anything to do with the tree dying, or did they move in after the tree rotted away? Hmmm...

In place of the tree, the boys helped me set this up: :)

After putting together the tin pieces that came in the kit that I'd purchased early this Spring, the boys and I piled a bunch of dirt (which Jacob got from the field before Dad planted the lentils!) inside the pyramid, on top of some plastic that I laid down to keep the grass down. Then I went and dug out the strawberries from the greenhouse and planted them in their new home! :) The kit came with a little sprinkler system, so Jacob hooked that up for me and we watered them good. I hope they do well!

Somewhere in there, I went across the road with the rider mower and mowed off the weeds in one of the small gardens over there. Andrew later came over with the tiller and worked it up. Mom suggested that I plant my GIANT pumpkins over there, so they can creep and crawl as much as they want. I have the pumpkins growing in the greenhouse currently and it's HIGH time to get them out, as they are maturing very quickly.

We received 2 important phone calls today. The first was with bad news, that being that my Delzer grandpa had a stroke today and we learned later that he is in the ICU in Aberdeen currently. He's pretty weak and can't talk very well. Please join us in praying for him to accept the Lord into his heart before it is too late!

The second phone call was a happy one, it being from the S. family (who visited just a few weeks ago), saying that they also have decided to come to Prairie Days this year! Please also join us in praying for lovely weather for this great event! The Lord has blessed the Dagleys year after year with gorgeous weather, sometimes there being threats of showers, but never anything that lasted for very long.

This evening, after supper and chores were done, Mother soaked in the tub while the rest of us enjoyed the absolutely perfect weather outside. Andrew quickly mowed down a patch of grass in the shape of a large rectangle and dug out the Bocce balls. We played 2 very fun games of Bocce, something we hadn't played in quite some time and, consequently, none of us were very good at it! If you've never heard of Bocce before and would like to know what it is, visit THIS SITE to see a video and to read some rules. We play it a bit differently than they do on the movie (if one of team A's balls is closer to the Pollino ball, then team B has to throw a ball and another and another.... until they get closer or until they're out of balls. We also have "Out of bounds" rules and a center line that you have to get the Pollino over when you throw it, or else the other team gets to throw.) It's really quite a fun game that anyone can play!

And that, my dear friends, was our busy day. It is such a good feeling to truly have the fields all seeded now!

Next project on the agenda: PLANT THE GARDEN!

Please pray for the Bismarck area...

Mother, Andrew and I were in Bismarck today and saw the reality of what is going on there, with the river rising (due to them letting out water from the dam upstream which was getting too full to be safe) and everybody scrambling to get sandbags around their homes and places of work. Please be in prayer especially for the people whose homes are in danger, and who've consequently, had to evacuate. I've included links to a couple websites with more information/pictures:


http://www.northdecoder.com/Latest/bismarck-flooding-2011-volunteering.html

http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/local/article_5e940c5e-8bc6-11e0-8af4-001cc4c002e0.html


Also, here's a video that I found on You-tube of a sand-bag filling station:





And here's another that someone took outside their home by the river!




As Mother noted, one good thing that may come of all of this is that the residents of this city may become more united and neighborly as a result of needing to work together to accomplish the jobs that need doing to preserve their city...


Meanwhile, here in the country, our water levels are higher than usual also! The road South of our farm has been under water for some time now, and today, my dad went up to see how the pasture (and fences) faired the Winter and he found the water level greatly increased there... The flowing well is completely surrounded by water and the tanks there are just floating (probably a 4-5 foot increase in water levels from last year.) What used to be several small lakes in the different cells of the pasture is now one big lake! Also, our hunter friends found their drill (which they left in the corner of a part of the pasture last Fall) completely under water. Dad had to pull them out again today too (this time it was their 2 pickups that were stuck and not the tractor.)

So, if you would say a prayer today for those of us with too much of a good thing (that wonderful, and yet in ways, terrible liquid), that would be greatly appreciated!

Helping out--and a prayer request...

Before I write about my time with our friends, I would like to ask for prayer for my dad, as he got poked in the eye with some wire while working on the grain cleaner today and his eye is, obviously, hurting tonight. I hope it's not real serious, but it is definitely uncomfortable and Dad's eye is watering a lot, so please pray for that to heal quickly! Thank you so much.


The weather was mostly decent yesterday morning at 7:30AM, so I ventured out on the road, driving the 60+ miles to the K. family's home. The following day and a half found me busy, helping Lane and Sarah (mostly Sarah, I should say) and their young children with different projects that needed doing around the house...

You see, not so long ago (3+ weeks it is now,) the K. family received a sweet, new bundle of joy, but with that bundle came some sleepless nights, and with those sleepless nights came some tired parents, and when a person's tired, it's hard to get all the things done that need doing...... And so the story goes.

~Sarah and baby Arianwyn~

With Spring coming on, there are always many things to do! These 3 were great helpers in the kitchen, plus they helped me shovel away snow that was in the way and then set up Sarah's greenhouse in the back yard. Oh yes, they also were very eager to help with filling peat-pots with potting soil and then picking and planting their own special flowers. Sarah also planted some vegetables and I planted a tray full of Impatiens for her...

~Ila, James and Edmund, building a large train-track~
In between meals and washing dishes, Sarah and I made bread and buns; dough for pizza crusts; beef enchiladas to put in the freezer (first, we made stock to use in the sauce for the enchiladas, and shredded a bunch of cheese...); banana bread; and apricot bars. Oh yes, and Sarah made some sour cream too! I learned several cooking tips and tricks from Sarah, and want to try her bread recipe here soon to see how my family likes it.

Last night after supper, Lane read a story to the children and then read some in Proverbs. I got to hold the baby for a while and relax while Lane and Sarah tucked the other children in bed. When they returned, we played a fun word game (it's called Quiddler) that Lane had just bought that day when he was in town. We had fun thinking up possible words and then looking through dictionaries... :) How many of you have played "Quiddler" and did you enjoy it?

Before crawling into the K's guest-bed last night, I called my family to say goodnight (even though it was late....) and learned then that I had had my first calf of the year that day. :)

After our noon meal today, Lane and I headed for the music room for a lesson in piano and voice, he being the teacher, and I the student... It's been a long time since I've taken lessons from Lane, probably 5 or 6 years have passed, so it was hard to know where to pick up at, but he gave me some new pieces to work on for next time, whenever that works out to be... Then he played some of his favorite songs that he's been working on or writing-----very hard songs, ones that I only dream of ever being able to play. He certainly is very talented in that area! Sadly, he's the only K. I didn't get a picture of, as I only thought to dig out my camera way at the end of my time there, when Sarah said she was going to get out hers... By that time, Lane was back at the church, studying and preparing his next sermon I imagine.

Sarah did snap this picture of me holding their sweet baby girl. She is wearing the jumper that I sewed and gave to her as my baby gift... :) (You may remember seeing pictures of this little dress when I made it a while back.)

After saying goodbye to one and all, I headed for the Linton grocery store to get some supplies, and then I high-tailed it home. Once I got all of my things in the house and took my snow boots off, I made tortilla shells and helped assemble Chicken Enchiladas for supper and made some quick dessert. Mom and Jacob did some major rearranging of the bookcases today, so the living room looks much more organized tonight.

Work is so rewarding, isn't it? Of course, it is always nice to be at the end of a busy week and to just rest from your labors too. ;)

Tonight, my hands smell like...

....baby shampoo! :) I spent most of my day over at our neighbors' house, babysitting their 3 little ones so the parents could go Christmas shopping. After supper, I gave the little ones a bath (which they needed--after a day of coloring and gluing pieces of paper together and, well, after eating) and I ended up getting nearly as wet as the children did! They sure are good splashers. :)

My family did odd jobs around the house and my mom had a client come out for a session. My dad mentioned the possibility of a lot of snow tomorrow, so we'll see what comes of that? Just think, pretty soon it will be Winter...

...And with the coming of Winter comes a prayer request for a dear friend of my brothers, Jonathan, who is having a surgery done on the 22nd. Please join us in praying for all to go well there and for a quick recovery for him! Thank you!

A perfect day, 'til the end...

We had a wonderful family day, spent in resting; singing; feasting; watching "Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed" for the first time and "Heartstrings" (both were birthday presents...); and playing Foosball, Rook, and Carcassonne (also a birthday gift). One of my cows also had a surprise (to us) baby. The weather was warm and sunny and everything was just nice....

It was a truly lovely day until we got a phone call this evening from my grandma, saying that grandpa Earl had to go to the hospital today after his Dialysis treatment, as he was very weak........ Please join us in praying for him to truly repent and be saved before he passes on! Thank you so much.~

And now, our cows are mooing and mooing, so I'm not sure what's going on out there???

Please Lord, help it not to rain....

My family (minus me--who was in town working until just a few minutes ago) was able to get a lot of work done in the fields this afternoon thankfully!!! However, it's supposed to be a cold, rainy week once again and we (and the farmers all around us) really need some dry weather so as to be able to get the harvest in.

Would you please join us in praying for some sunshine? Thanks a bunch!

Oh sweet prairie days...

These last two days have been so fun and refreshing for Mom, the boys, and I! I have many, many pictures to share and lots to write, but for now, I'm going to get some sleep....

If you would, please pray for my dad's back to be healed soon. It hurt so bad (from twisting wrong while lifting a calf when we were moving cattle) that he decided to stay home these last two days and just rest--after seeing the chiropractor, of course. He said it's a little better tonight, but if you'd join me in praying for a quick recovery, that would be very much appreciated.

Until tomorrow~
Cora

Farming has its challenges--and dangers...

As the title of this post suggests, we had some difficulties in the land of farming today. (Examples: Bearings going out; a tire needed replacing; fuel filters were needed from town; two sick calves; a stuck tractor; Mother's feet are swollen from using the tough pedals on the tractor so much lately.....)



It also had its good points though.
(Example: Our hunting friends are in ND now and stopped in to borrow a tractor for a few days; I got my little garden planted and picked the first bouquet of lilacs for the year; the grass is planted now in the places where it needed replanting; more rocks got picked; it's raining so we don't need to run the sprinkler in the garden for a few days again; Dad got about 30 acres of corn planted...)

Also, there are many things in bloom now that smell so nice!

There are the apple trees:
(Notice, below the apple tree is our handy garden seeder that saves us hours upon hours of time in the garden!)

...and the tulips (which are about done now though...)

...the little irises (or flags, as we sometimes call them)...

...and the bleeding hearts...!

I have a couple prayer requests for friends and acquaintances of ours tonight.

First, we learned this evening that some long-time friends of my parents', well, their son (who was just a little older than I) committed suicide today. They found him in their back yard. Please pray for this family to feel God's love this night and in the days ahead!

Secondly, a few days ago, we heard the news that a man and his wife (from around this area) were out hooking up their stock trailer when the mans' foot accidentally slipped off the brake pedal and onto the gas pedal--and he ran over his wife! She died, just yesterday, I believe. Can you imagine how that poor man must be feeling now? How terrible......

Please join me in praying for these families--especially in the next few weeks as they deal with the deaths of their loved ones. ~

The flowers aren't blooming out of doors yet...

...so we decorated with "Pretend" flowers around the house today...

I did some major cleaning in my room today and am nearly done now.

Remember the sunflowers that were in that vase on top of the old trunk? Well, when I wanted to hang my pretty rose painting above the trunk...


...Mother agreed with me that the sunflowers had to go someplace else, as they didn't fit with the elegant, old-time theme in that corner at all.

So, they went here--to brighten up this corner of the room:

While going through an old suit-case full of fabric scraps that Grandma had given me, I found a small square of upholstery. When I showed it to Mom, she said right away that it would look really well on this tattered kitchen stool...

...and I must say I agree with her! :)
Lots of things happened around here other than that too, (like when a family came and bought a couple of young goats from us for their rodeo goat-tying practice,) but I don't have pictures of those things...

One thing that changed our plans for tomorrow was when Mom talked to grandma Marly and plans were made for Mom and I to go down to Eureka again tomorrow to help Grandma with packing and cleaning. Sounds like a busy day is ahead of us, so I'd best get some rest.

Before I go though, I'd just like to ask for prayer for my mom, as she's dealing with a bad infection in her finger and it's taking a long time to heal. She can't keep it in water very long and can't hand milk now either. It itches a lot too, so prayers for relief would be greatly appreciated! Thank you, dear friends~

Sweet arrivals~

The first new arrival to our farm this day came in the form of a new calf... I had gone in the house already after morning chores when Andrew came in from feeding cows and announced that another of my cows had calved! Jacob & I bundled up again and went out to get the new baby into a warmer location--someplace warmer than it's current bed--a snowbank!

The second arrivals at our farm came in the form of our blogging friend, Kimberly and 3 of her children, my friend Whitney (who's married now), Daniel & Leah. They had come for BodyTalk sessions with Mother, but we had a great time visiting too!!! It had been a long time since Whitney and I had had a chance to just sit down and talk and we got a few minutes to do that today, so that was really nice! Our friends had never been here before, so we children bundled up and gave Whitney, Daniel & Leah a tour of the place and swung on the snowy swings for a while.

Here's a picture of a game of UNO--a game that Leah's a pro at... See how hard she's thinking? :)

Later, Andrew dug out our UNO Blitzo game and he, Whitney, Leah and I played a few games while our mothers visited and Jacob & Daniel played other things...

I think they were having a great time!...

Daniel really enjoyed my brothers' remote controlled trucks. He told me they set up a jump for the trucks outside, and he was happy he got to drive for a while!

The afternoon passed quickly and soon it was time for our friends to go....

Thanks for coming, Kimberly and all!!! I hope you enjoyed your time as much as we did ours. :)

After they left, we had a little time yet before supper, so we separated the 17 gallons of milk we'd saved up and got 5 quarts of cream. We're planning to make some ice cream in the near future!

For supper, I made blueberry pancakes with the blueberries that our friends had given to us. Delicious!!!

Before I go, I have a prayer request for my grandpa Harvey again. He had to go to the Eureka hospital yesterday, as he was having pain again. The doctors have decided that, if he's strong enough tomorrow, they're going to ship him to Aberdeen for a surgery to remove his gall-bladder. This will be the 3rd time he's been in the hospital this year... Poor Grandpa!

Prayer request for Grandpa.......

We learned today that my grandpa Delzer will be needing surgery again--probably on Monday. He had this same surgery done just a few months ago to remove a stone (from his gall-bladder, I'm pretty sure) and now he has to have it done again. The doctor said that they have to find what's causing this now because he doesn't think Grandpa could pull through this another time after this. Please be in prayer for things to go well and for wisdom for the whole family as we ponder what to do with Grandpa if he's not able to care for himself properly in the future. He'll be turning 80 years old on Dec. 1st, so he's not exactly a young man anymore..... Especially, please pray for a change of heart for Grandpa--that he will want to have a real relationship with the Lord and with his family!

As long as I'm asking for prayer, I thought I'd mention that we're working our calves tomorrow, so prayers for safety would be greatly appreciated. My dad's cousin, Jerome will be helping us again this year, so that's a big blessing!

Now, I'd best get some rest, as our busy day will require lots of energy on everybodys' part!