How things have changed!

I had written my yearly news letter a couple of weeks ago with full intentions of getting my usual batch of Christmas cards in the mail. I had baking in the freezer and plans to head up to Saskatoon for a week to look after two little grand daughters. Within the course of an hour on Dec. 2nd, I heard that something was wrong with my father-in-law, Elford Bell, and then that he was gone! Life certainly changes in a moment. We will miss his visits to the farm. It was great that he was still so very interested in what was going on our here and loved to show up for a little visit or a combine ride. I'll miss telling him about the kids and how everyone is doing. I will miss getting a hug on Sunday mornings and having him over for a meal. He was a wonderful part of my life for 35 years and I don't let go of him easily. He has been my other "Dad" for all my married life and am grateful for his love and support of our marriage and our family. His strength and gentleness made him such a wonderful example of a Godly man!

Casey At Bat

Casey At Bat

"There is no joy in Mudville! The mighty Casey has struck out!" Okay, so it's a different game and Riderville is not Mudville, but I see a parallel here! Check out the last verse...

Post harvest

Well, it has been noted that we have not been updating the blog. That's a good sign I think that life has been busy and productive and pretty normal. We are thankful to have put the last of the chickpeas in bins and now is time for other fall projects. If you're not a farmer you will think we are all done now until seeding :-) Not quite.

This week is Gianna's 1st birthday. She shares the birthday of my Mom, Grace Jacobs. It makes a difference to me that instead of a sad day of missing my Mom, it is also a joyful day of thanking God for a special little life that blesses us again! My Mom loved children and I'm always sorry that she never got to cuddle these sweet great-grandchildren of hers. I still have a stash of her fabric and each manages to get a little piece of Grandma Jacobs stash!

I'm off to a ladies bible class this afternoon. It is called "Giving For All It's Worth" What a wonderful book to study, wonderful ladies to fellowship with and wonderful lessons to shake me up and inspire me to do more! Last week was about money and the widow's mite, this week is about looking for talents we can use and share as illustrated by Dorcas. You have talent you know! Just think about what you enjoy doing. Must go. I'll think on this and write more and maybe add pictures next time.

Before and after flower shots. Can you tell the difference??

 
 
 
 

Uncle Stephen is home and Josiah's first combine.

 
 
 
 

It was so great to have Stephen back to the farm. The visit was too short and the days were full of harvest activity. It was still a special time for him to be in Canada to reaquaint with the nieces, Linaya, Gianna and Abby and the nephew, Josiah! They all love Uncle Stephen. It won't be long until Christmas and hopefully we can all be together at the same location for a new family picture.

Harvest is going well. We have been stopped only twice for repairs. It feels like we're a couple of weeks into harvest. You reach a point that a nap is not enough. It is exciting to be see all the progress around us. Sometimes at night, the fields in the neighborhood look like there are fireflies. Combines and trucks. On a repair run to John Deere I happened to find a combine for Josiah. He loves the combine SO much and was very excited when Grandpa gave it to him. The next time he rode on the combine, he had it sitting on the combine floor beside him pointing out the window. We have also rewritten the song to "the reel on the combine goes round and round" (There are MANY verses :-) )

My combine buddies

 
 
 
 

Ahh, before the grasshoppers moved in!

 
 
 
 

It's August already

Well, here we are. It's August and the machines are ready for action. Are we? I am realistic about energy levels and the unpredicability or weather ahead of us, but also excited to see the wheels in motion as we head into the fields. God has always provided us with what we need and I'm sure He has his eye on us this harvest, too. Along with the sparrows :-) It is an interesting year. We have Canola in two stages. Some had been hit by frost and survived, while Stan reseeded some parts of the fields that weren't coming back! We have Duram that was touched by drought, some rallied after rain and some stayed shorter and affected. Then we have chickpeas. As long as they get water, they keep green and growing. They really need to shut down and ripen before the frost comes knocking and locks in the green color. See what I mean about intersting?? Hmmm All in all, I'm still excited to get back out to the combine as that is one of my favorite things to do. We'll keep you posted.

Summer fun

WEll, here we are in the middle of July. We have had a busy summer with family around. We were happy to get to visit Stan's sister Karen and most of her family. They came for a week and we bounced them between houses and backyards for meals. There was even a Canada Day celebration over at Shamrock Park. Our Canada kids got to celebrate with our little US kids, Victoria and Alexandra. We have fun pictures of time together. The "kid table" tradition lives on. There were 12 kids around! We had Melissa and Monica here with their little ones at the same time that week. In addition to the mini family reunion, it has also been Vacation Bible School. Monica, Roy and the girls were here again as Roy was helping out with Teen activites. Now, we regroup and get things in place for harvest, which will approach quickly. The July heat has finally turned on!

Heavenly sunlight!

Well, maybe not "heavenly", but it's sure great to see the sun and feel a little heat! I has been nice to have a few days inside but now that the sun has decided to return the outside work is calling. I'm excited to go see what has grown in the garden. I look forward to picking the fresh veggies this summer!

Stan's Dad did not end up having surgery. We are so grateful that he got feeling better. Stan's sister, Karen, and some of her family are headed up from Nebraska later this month. I will be wonderful to have family together and let the next generation of kids get aquainted and bond!

We got a mini visit in Saskatoon last weekend. Robert and Melissa's house addition is progressing well. They are drywalling their new upstairs rooms. All the "little people" are thriving. Their personalities are so unique to each of them and what a fun time to get to know them all better. We are thankful for a healthy family. I am excited that they will all show up here sometime through the summer and look forward to the fun ahead. I've added a picture of our fun pack! God is good!

"Are we there yet?"

Waiting, waiting, Waiting. I bought this fridge magnet years ago because the message spoke to me of my impatience. How many time does our life hinge on when a certain day comes or a certain event happens. A birth, a holiday, a graduation, a visit. Sometimes it is an anticipation of something wonderful. Sometimes I think of it as "waiting for the other shoe to drop", a feeling of tension that anticipates, "Oh, what's coming next" The next hours will tell us if Stan's Dad needs to have surgery for a restricted bowel. We have been praying for it not to be necessary, but what if it is necessary. We switch our prayers for success and healing, for courage and strength for a man we love so much. I pray for courage for other families tonight who love and nurture those they love who are so very ill: To Reed and Angie as they hold their little boy for such a short time longer, for Ernie Jacobs' family and friends as they pray for comfort for him, for my sister-in-law, Jeanette Jacobs who just lost her dear Mom on Sunday morning and prepares for her funeral on Wednesday. We are all waiting for something significant. May we wait in the Lord and continue to trust Him to see us through tough situations ahead.

May 16, Spring is shy this year!

Well, we've almost finished seeding. Stan had been hoping to seed the last of the Durum wheat this week, but the weather threw us a few curves. The grass is greening and some of the trees that would have been in full bloom by Mother's day are finally opening their leaves. I haven't planted a garden yet or worked up my flower beds. Seeding and spraying are the priority and my hobby garden will come next. We will appreciate fresh veggies so I look forward to getting those started.

We are two weeks away from the offical dedication/opening of the new addition to our church building in Gravelbourg. We have been using the upgraded facility for several months but have waited for warm weather to be able to welcome people to the indoors while feeding them outdoors :-) We are pleased to have more room and to be able to have one level accessable to our seniors while still enjoying the space downstairs for classrooms. I should post a few pictures! (Note to self!)

It is such a beautiful day that I should have been outside enjoying it. Today is the best I have felt in a week so I needed to turn up the burners and get caught up on house chores. I think my allergies ran away and I finally got some medicine on Thurs. I actually was glad for a couple of slower days to rest up. I'll be glad for seeding to be done so Stan can rest up, too. He's been doing great but this time of year is always a bit of an endurance test. Hope all is well with you!

And we're off! Seeding begins today!

This is an exciting day for us. Stan is off to the field to begin seeding Canola. There is so much preparation time to get to this point where he can sit on the tractor for a few hours at a time and relax. My job description changes a little for the rest of the spring and summer as well. Instead of just keeping the farmer fed, I now get to do seed delivery to the field, general "gopher" (go for ____________)and water truck driver when we begin spraying. It's so exciting! (I guess you'd have to be here to understand) I bought my garden seeds in Saskatoon last week and look forward to getting a few things growing again, too. I must admit to being a hobby gardener and don't rely on it for our winter supply. Rather, it is a joy to eat fresh veggies and put some away if it doesn't conflict with our harvest schedule, at which time I turn into the combine operator (my favorite!) Hope all is well with you,too. Have a great day, the sun's shining and God is good!

Update for the blog

Oh my, where has the time gone? We have just returned from a two week trip south to see our Stephen in Oklahoma and Stan's sister Karen and some of her family in Nebraska. We traveled with Robert, Melissa, Josiah and Abby! What a great trip. Melissa said that was odd that we could say "what a great trip" after experiencing a sick boy the first couple of days, tornados, rain, hail and 8 inches of wet snow! I guess you just had to be there. We were stormed stayed an extra 2 days in Nebraska as we waited out the snow storms and flooding between Nebraska and Canada, but even that had it's up side of spending the extra time with Karen and Terry. The upside was always the companionship of traveling with family, spending time with Stephen and meeting old friends as well as making new ones! We heard some wonderful speakers and singing at the Tulsa Workshop and Robert and Melissa were excited to meet up with some special people who knew Robert from his time with Acappella. We have returned home to the anticipation of Spring and Stan is gearing up to start the planting. Every day the wind blows in warmer temperatures and the geese are beginning to find their way north. Life is good. We thank God for the safety of our travels and the encouragement of all the visits along the way!

And we're another day closer to Spring!

Well, time has sure flown since our last post. The days are brighter and Spring must be coming. We have had Robert, Melissa, Josiah and Abby here for a lovely visit and now the house is pretty quiet again. No little footsteps on the stairs in the morning looking for Grandma :-) I am happy to see Melissa feeling so well again and Abigail is a healthy baby. We had a lot of fun last week. We head up to Saskatoon for appointments soon with our favorite dentist and will get to see Roy, Monica, Linaya and Gianna. I'm glad to get to visit them under any excuse!! Stan has been busy with farm work. He's been hauling grain away to sell and hauling in seed to plant. He's been working in the shop getting machinery geared up for the Spring rush. We plan on a road trip next month to see Stephen and Stan's sister Karen and her family so he wants to be ready for the land when we get back. We look forward to seeing where Stephen lives and works. We haven't been in his "neigborhood" since he graduated and it's time! I still have a couple of projects I need to finish for the grandkids before Spring. Somehow I got a little behind!

And now there are four!

Well, I just got home last evening from my time in Saskatoon. Now we have four wonderful little people and are blessed that they are healthy and loved and well cared for. Melissa is recovering nicely and Monica heads back to her dentistry part time starting today.Daddy has them the other half day. Always adjustments! I guess that's what life brings us, every day you wake up and see if your center of gravity has changed and make adustments until you feel the new normal :-) It will take a few days to get a normal feel for me here, too. I woke up and it's February! I can't believe how fast time has flown since Christmas! I'll look for a couple of pictures from the last month to share. We were in Mexico on the Mayan Riviera from Jan. 11-18 and returned to Saskatoon 2 days before Abby was born! I stayed and Stan returned home to get some work done. We loved the change of temperature and the relaxing pace. We did a LOT of walking and climbed to the top of Coba which is 120 steps! You see across the top of the jungle. What a view! I'm glad to be in my house again, but have loved the places I've been, the time to help my family and now being back with Stan on our farm. I need to update the picture with the new picture of Stan and I with the FOUR kiddos. (My picture updated on facebook but not blog!?)

With a grateful heart

The time spent here in Saskatoon is one of thankfulness for new life, the two new little girls in our family in October and January, and a time of reflection of being here in the fall of 2006 as Stan received medical attention. I was told how the treatment he received through vacuum bandage system has changed a lot of lives for the better. Homecare now uses pictures of his treatment and progress to train most of it's staff to be able to use this technology. I hadn't realized at the time how new it was to them, how skeptical some were of it's effectiveness to treat wounds, the contoversy of cost effectiveness and the very limited number of qualified people to make the bandages work. It is now a widely used system in this area with Stan as their unidentified "Poster child" of it's value. I am so thankful for God's provision for us to use this tool for healing when we needed it the most.

All is well!!:-)

What happy news to tell you. Melissa has given birth to a wonderful baby girl named Abigail Mary, Mary after Robert's mother. Her blood pressure continuted to be a problem and she had started into labor early. Her original due dated was around Feb 8they just came in the door for lunch!! More news later. :-)

How was your Christmas?

Inspite of colds, flu and some chest problems, we all managed to get in one place and still be so happy to be together. Christmas dinner was at Roy and Monica's and we stayed in Saskatoon until after Stan and Josiah's birthday on Dec. 28th. We brought Stephen home until he catches a ride back to Saskatoon to continue his visit until his plane flies on Jan 5th. I'll post some pictures of our fun.Instead of "GRandma's Feather Bed" we had fun trying out "Grandpa's Camping Bed"! We'll be camping in style off the ground now! :-) The kids all love their uncle Stephen and like his drawing ability and stories. Our little ones know about puzzles and were soon in the thick of things at the kitchen table. Josiah got a little bike for his second birthday and Linaya joined him for a little ride in the livingroom. I hope you all had a happy holiday, too. God Bless and let's all go bravely into the new year.