A meadow in Montrose

A Trip!

2005-06-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited that I get to fly directly from Denver to Vancouver on Tuesday, June 14th! I'm going up to Sarah's wedding, which is June 18th, Ernie's 62nd B'day. Sadly, he can't come up for the wedding since he couldn't work for almost 10 weeks in March and April because of the snow and rain. It made the roads impassable, so he did odd machine jobs around here.
I'll take him out for dinner in Denver on Monday nite, where we have to stay, since I need to be at the airport early Tues. I got him an 8x10 picture of me and the grandsons in a nice frame. I hope he likes it! I can write this on here ahead of time, because he doesn't read blogs! :)
So I'll see some of you bloggers soon, and others will have to wait till I get back. Blessings to you all.

June 5th

2005-06-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

Well, today will be a fun day in Grand Junction. Wade, Wes, Arlin, and friend Matt, are playing in the King of the Court volley ball tournament. Jenn and I go with the kids around noon, so we don't have to sit there all day. It's supposed to be up in the 80's today, so that will be great! The guys will get a good sunburn.
We had our homeschool graduation yesterday, and it's so nice and personal. The parents hand the diploma to their daughter or son, and give a bit of a speech. I know it's scary for the parents sometimes, but it displays a bit of the relationship the parents have with their kids. There were about 10 or 11 that graduated yesterday, and some of them were good friends of Wes' and Arls'. They went to a couple grad parties (sort of like and open house afterwards) It's just such a great homeschool association in this area!! We are blessed.
Sure hope you've all checked out the cute pictures Jenn had taken of Kaden's first B'day at a photography place. He's so loveable! The place to see it is: Once Upon A Time in Colorado.blogspot.com. :)
Well, I'm looking forward to flying up to Vancouver, BC from Denver on Tues, the 14th fo June!! Going up there for a niece's wedding, Sarah Neufeld. Hope to have a good time with my sisters and brother's families.
P.S. No one has told me where Macedonia is! Re: last entry in my blog!!

2005-05-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

We're all together!

2005-05-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

Finally digging in

2005-05-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

1st B'day

A wonderful weekend

2005-05-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was great to have Mark and Tamara up from Sante Fe! They brought a friend, Katisa, (Kate in English) who is in the same Master's program as Mark. She is from Macedonia! So, I'd like you all to find it on the map, and tell me where it is! It sure is different from where it was in Bible times. So please comment! :)
I guess we celebrated Victoria Day with all you Canadians! Mark and Tamara leave at noon, today, so that's what makes the weekend special. Next weekend is Memorial Day, the biggie here in the US. (GO! Heidi!)
Yesterday was Kaden's first B'day party, even tho his B'day was Tues., the 17th. It was fun to see him dig into his cake, the cookie that Cookie Monster loves! The kids had to put his hands into the cake to get a taste of it, then away he went! I'll post some of the pics.
The older kids played volleyball for quite awhile. It was good to have all our fam together! The Kastendiecks were in CO Sprgs. for one of Jenn's brother's softball games, so they missed it. :( Three of Jenn's older siblings were there, tho. Wade got a video of most of it.
It was over 90 degrees here on Sat!! We got hot watching the homeschool softball tournament! But Arls was on the team that won! Ernie was a good score-keeper. Sunday afternoon, Tamara and I took Kate to the Black Canyon. It was great to see how impressed she was.
On Friday nite, when we were all relaxing here after the kids got here, Keagan was talking to Kate (Date in his vocab!), and asked her if she was tired. She said, "Yes". He asked "Why are you tired? You didn't do anything today." She got a kick out of that! He's pretty clear in his speech, except for his 'k, g, and c's'! It's fun. I'm Dama!
Well, have a great week, and HAPPY B'DAY, CHERIE!

2005-05-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

Mark, Tamara and friend, Kate from Macedonia

Okay!

2005-05-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

So, why did that one picture come up sideways when it looked right in bloggerbot? Just don't know these things!
Well, Sheila and girls (in the following pictures) just went back up the mountain. Her husband Kent went overseas, to Pakistan !! to be with the DTS, and then take three of them into Nepal and Lhasa, Tibet! That is where the focus is for YWAM-Cimarron! Their DTS grad will be June 24th, so that's why I want to be back from Sarah Neufeld's wedding that week. It all works out!
Well, I've got to get ready to go for lunch with a couple friends. Then I have to make lasagne for the company tomorrow (Tamara and Mark!), and that also a picnic at the softball games. A fun weekend ahead!

2005-05-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

This is Hannah with Kaden. Hannah is the third daughter of Kent and Sheila Martin who come down from YWAM and spend some time with us.

2005-05-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

Kaden loving his lunch!

2005-05-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

Natalie on the left, and Katie to the right of Keagan are two of the Martin girls that call me 'Grandma Lil'. For Katie, it's Grandma Yil. :)

Looking forward . . . .

2005-05-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, Mark and Tamara come up from Sante Fe this weekend, bringing a friend named Kate. She is in some of Mark's classes at St. John's college. So they will show her a bit of Colorado, coming up thru Pagosa Springs, Durango, and Ouray. Then on Sat. we go to Black Canyon, and maybe play some softball. Arlin has a tourney, and they need some adults to make up a team.
Then Sunday is church and Kaden's B'day party! Now that I know how to post a picture, I'll try and do that again. We're going to be at a park with lots of playground equipment, so it should be fun! Then Mark, Tamara and Kate leave on Monday morning.
So Terran and Naomi will come from Fruita, so we'll all be together! Praise the Lord!

2005-05-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

One of Keagan's 1st rides at Carnival

May Update

2005-05-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

I better write again, or you'll all think we're still in snow! That's true for the logging crew, but I'll tell about them later.
It's so good to read all the nieces' and nephews' blogs! So good to keep up with you all.
Well, it's supposed to be 80 degrees here today, but I don't think it will reach that. We did have a lovely day yesterday! It was quite warm, and you could get a sunburn if you were in the sun. We went to a Mumu, which is a Papua New Guinean feast! It was a fund-raiser for a family of six, where the husband is PNG, and the wife is American. They are going back to PNG for a few weeks, and then will join the King's Kids outreach in New Zealand. Needless to say, a family needs to raise alot of money!
But the way they did it, was to feed us all! There were about 100 people there, and they had roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, corn, collard greens, and regular potatoes all in one huge pile, wrapped in foil, and roasted in the ground with hot rocks!! It traditionally is wrapped in leaves, but in the US you use foil. :) It was very good.
Ernie missed it all because he and Wes went back to work after 10 weeks off! BECAUSE OF SNOW! Hard to believe that, but it's like the spring breakup time down here. They are at quite a high altitude, also, so that's what kept it soft for so long. Ernie got to fix some machinery, and also was forced to do some. :-) His Dodge 1 ton had the transmission fail while he was hauling his Cat from one place to another. So he had that fixed, with a rebuilt tranny from Portland, and then found out he had to have the clutch fixed, and the rear brakes. So it was a good time to be 'down'.
We had a most lovely Spring Tea at our church on Sat. Hostesses set their own table with a theme, their own dishes and decorations. Each table was so different, but so lovely! We had some special music and a special speaker after a fruit and muffin brunch.
Saturday we were in Grand Junction for a two-on-two voball tournament. Yes, the Goodwin bros won. Wade and Wes are great as a twosome! I guess they need to challenge some of the volball cousins! Arlin played with a friend, and he sure had the sore leg cramps afterwards! It was fun to hang out together with Wade, Jenn and boys, and we went to Olive Garden to celebrate.
There also was a carnival at the Mesa Mall, and Keagan had his first rides there! Sure was fun to watch! If I can figure out how to load them to a blog (following Cara's instructions) I'll show you!
Okay, will write more in a week or so.

Cold Colorado!

2005-04-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

I just love reading everyone else's blog, that I don't get to mine too often. Sorry, but I'll try harder. Esp. IF we get a new computer! The Lord blessed us with a tax refund, so maybe tomorrow we can shop for a new one. Any brand you guys recommend? I just want it for blogging, :) emailing, digital pics, and printing out stuff. So nothing fancy, but HANDY!
It sure has been cool lately. Ernie and I went to Champions on Ice at the Pepsi Center in Denver Sunday afternoon, and when we got to Silverthorne (on I-70), it was snowing! So I had to wait a few hrs. on Monday before I could get thru the ice and snow on the roads with our 2 wheel drive van.
The time is running out!!

Alive

2005-04-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

We're still alive and well, even tho I haven't blogged for almost a month! We are enjoying the warmer days, but it is very windy! This Mountain Home Park we're at is windier than the rest of Montrose. :(
They say the wind will blow till the snow is off Horsefly. Neat name for a mountain, eh? It looks like a gigantic horsefly sitting on the end of the mesa. Strange things here in Colorado.
We opened valves to get the irrigation water flowing into the Park. This is the first time we're doing it on our own. It's been one year since we moved here, and Bill had it all done when we got here last year. So now we learn something new all the time. There were a couple calls on my cell today that there was a broken pipe, and Arlin was here schooling while I was at church answering phones, so he had to take care of it. He just stuck a stick into the broken part so the water wouldn't run under a guy's mobile home. I'll have to have someone come out a fix it, because Ernie is back at work too far away.
Wes ran a huge loader today at church. We are building a new building that will seat over 800 people! We hope to be in it by the middle of June. So we're going to do a study called the 40 days of community, and that will precede our moving in. Pretty exciting!
I get to watch Keagan and Kaden on Thurs. and Friday, because Wade and Jenn are going on their 4th anniv. getaway~to Mesquite, NV. It's close to Las Vegas. They'll have a spa treatment there, etc! Pretty nice.
We just found out a friend of theirs, Seth, who is only 25, has colon cancer! Their son is close to Keagan's age, and they play alot together. It's quite a shock for the whole community, but he sure will be bathed in prayer!! You all can pray for him, too, knowing his name now.
Well, I have home group here tonite, so I need to get some things ready. I hope I get some comments so I know that it's open for anyone to respond! (Judy)

We're back!

2005-03-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

Well, it was alot of driving, but also some good visiting! We stayed with Tamara and Mark the first nite, and that's always fun. That Mark is a GREAT chef! He had marinated some pork ribs for us for the whole wkend before! They came served to us with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli! He even made a special cake, so the meal was complete.
We stayed in Dallas (Plano, actually) the next nite, with John and Jeremy, who were at LeTourneau with Terran! They come up to CO to help ERnie out with logging, and also give some time to the YWAM base here at Cimarron. Good friends!
Then the next nite we were to make it to Patrick and Barb Goodwin's place in Alabama, but it would have been so late, so we stopped at a motel and just called them. But Patrick had come home from his job in Pensacola, FL just to see us! So I felt bad about that. He had to leave early, early morning the next day, so we didn't get to meet him. But we spent some time with Barb, and caught up on some genealogy stuff! Patrick's grandfather was brother to Ernie's grdpa, if anyone is interested. :-)
Then we made it to Ocala, FL the next nite, Thurs, the 10th. We stayed at a motel again, and then got the U-haul and furniture to the right lady's house the next morning, and had it unloaded in less than an hr! We left the U-haul there and were free of it for the rest of our trip!
So we had a few hours to do what we wanted before going to Julia Duda's house in Oviedo, so we drove to Daytona Beach! Yes, we've been to that beach!! It was neat, and about the warmest day we ever had in FL. But, the only thing not so great was that it was BIKE week. Herm and Marilyn should have been there! It's like driving in a beehive! There were thousands of different kinds of bikes on all the roads!
We got to Julia's near supper time, and she can't eat certain things, so we got some Chinese food, and Julia tho't we would bring it back to the house and eat with her, but we had it in the shop, instead. So when we got to her place, there was the dining room table all set for us!! How embarrassing!! She was pretty gracious about it, tho. Wish I could post a picture of her on here. She's up in her 80's and a bit forgetful, but elegant in her own way.
The next day we let Arlin and John go to Disney Quest, a virtual reality type place. They could 'build' their own roller coaster, then ride it, etc. They went back there in the evening, so I think they enjoyed that the best. Ernie and I walked around the Disney Marketplace, and stopped to see a movie, Man of the House.
The next day we went to Sea World, but E & I had to leave early to go the the timeshare spiel. The 90 min. talk went to 4 hrs!! ~because Ernie gets into telling stories! HA! Anyway, we said NO to the timeshare, but bought an option, that can be used in the next 2 years. So we hope to do something with our whole fam, if they can all get the same time off. We have 300,000 points to use, and we can use as many or as little as we want at one time. These pts. can be used on the the US with this option.
So that was our Sunday there! Monday the boys went to Blizzard Beach, with a dropoff a water slide! They enjoyed it, except we had rain for over an hr. so they had to sit and wait it our, in case of lightning. Ernie and I were at Epcot Center, and enjoyed the Canadian and Chinese pavilions. It's neat that they have the workers as nationals for the country they're representing. So we met a gal for Alex, Alberta! I sure could hear the CDN accent from her!!! Every sentence went UP in tone, instead of down, like you're ending the sentence. Do we really stick out that much? We must, because as we were talking with a guy last nite, he asked Ernie if he was from Canada!
The next day John and Arlin went to MGM and did the rides there. We would drop them off, and E & I would do other things. That day we went 'shopping' and got souveniers and some awesome tangerines!! They were three for 99 cents, and we bought two boxes, so we had to count out 198 oranges. They are so juicy and good! We also got some grapefruit, but it's just okay. :)
Then Tues. nite, the last nite we were in FL, we went to Tampa airport to meet a friend that was flying in from Pakistan. She had been at YWAM Cimarron, married a guy from Sask!, and now they had a business in Paki. So that was fun to see another city, and meet her and family.
We left the next morning to get to Nashville, TN!! We drove through Atlanta, GA is such a rainstorm!! We found out that they turn on their hazard lites when it's that bad. You can hardly see the car in front of you, it pours so hard.
So we got to Adams, TN, actually, north of Nashville. It was so neat to see the city and all the buildings, and think of the people that move there to try and make it big in the music scene! We didn't see any of them, tho. :)
We stayed with the YWAM director of that base, who is a Menn. from PA, and had been at the Cimarron base and logged with ERnie about 5 summers! So it was good to connect with him and his family. They are married 8 years and have five kids!! What a joy!
We had an easy day the next day, and I really liked that part. Don't like just staying at someone's house, and then leaving early morning. It feels like we're taking advantage of them. Anyway, we had a tour of the whole base, and then Lea cooked lunch for us, and we were on our way to Kentucky!!
Can hardly believe we were there. It's like one of those places that's way out there, and you don't think you'll ever see it. But we stayed with some friends that Tamara actually met first! They were Mission Builders on the Africa Mercy, and Bev always says that she met our son-in-law first! She did, and she approved of him! Ron had to work the next day, but we had brkfst with Bev, in their lovely new 4000 sq. ft. house!
We stopped at Ft. Knox, and went through a military museum there! Actually met some Canadian military that were training there, and talked to them a bit. We hadn't heard a thing about the RCMP shooting in Alberta, so talked about that a bit. The way I DID hear about it, was an email from a niece that lives in Red Deer. No news about it down here, except on CNN, I guess.
So that day we didn't get too far, but for the last couple days we drove throught Louisville, KY, St. Louis, MO, Kansas City, MO, and then all the way thru Kansas (not as flat as SK!) and into Colorado!
It was a good break, but it's always good to get back home.
Now, this is Easter weekend, and it seems way to early, because winter is still fighting with spring, and maybe winning out! It was SO cold for the Easter egg hunt that Keagan went to! But we'll have one indoors tonite with Keagan and Kaden, and have the joy of watching them find their gifts! It sure will get more expensive when we have more grandkids! :)
Well, tomorrow we got to Terran and Naomi's for Easter dinner, since Terran is on call for his work, so can't come to Montrose. We will enjoy it, tho, because we don't see them as often.
Next weekend we'll be altogether again, because Wade and Jenn are having Kaden dedicated at church, so Mark and Tamara plan to come up, also. We enjoy family get-togethers!
Comments, please!! HAPPY EASTER!!

March 2005

2005-03-01T07:08:00.000-08:00

Well, a new month to do new things! Our biggy this month is a trip to Orlando, FL. We are taking furniture down in a U-haul for a lady near Orlando, so Arlin will take a friend along to do the Disney World stuff. We'll do Epcot Center, the NASA center, etc. Should be fun. I hope the weather cooperates, and that the U-haul doesn't break down!
Wes is also taking a trip separate from us, with his friends, Ty and Matt. They are going west while we go east, on their climbing trip. They'll stop at rocks and boulders all the way thru AZ, CA, NV and UT. Should be fun for them! They'll take about 4 weeks, and we plan on only 2 weeks.
So we'll see alot of new country, which we enjoy. We've contacted friends along the way, and hope to renew some friendships.
I'll blog again when we get back. Adios!

It came!

2005-02-18T20:56:00.000-08:00

Yes, when we woke up on Wed. morning, it was snowing like crazy. It was quite fine, but the kind that stays on the ground. I had to go up the Mountain to cook supper again, and I go to a place that's called Sharing Ministries to pick up any extra food they have. I had the pickup with no canopy, so all the boxes got kind of wet.
I did a few shoulder roasts like pot roast, but I should have had them in the oven sooner! I put them in at 2 p.m., and they weren't as well done as I had hoped. I actually moved them to a second roaster, instead of having four of them in one. So we had lots of extra potatoes, also.
The DTS was returning from Hong Kong during the nite! I saw two of the students today! It's so neat to see them return and know that they have been drawn closer to the Lord because of their experiences abroad. Some of this team went into Bhutan, also! Their 'grad' is next Friday, so I'll keep you posted!
This was a fun week, because it was kind of 'short' for me; meaning that Ernie came home of Thurs. nite! What a treat!
He had to go to the accountant for tax stuff, the car insurance place, and a few other things when offices were open. So we had lunch with some close friends, the Gordons, and our pastor and his wife. That was special. Then we did a few more errands this afternoon, and went to Arlin's Basketball game. He was supposed to have two games, but one team cancelled out till next Fri.
Well, time to hit the sack and read a bit more in my interesting library book. It's about smalltown stuff on Route 66!
Goodnite!

snow is coming

2005-02-15T19:19:00.000-08:00

It got quite dreary out today, and there is new snow on the moutains around us. I'm sure there may be a bit on the ground down here in Montrose tonight. That's the nice part about living here instead of up the mtn, it may snow, but it doesn't last! It's been up in the 40's for several days, and one tends to start thinking about gardens! Wish we could plant one here near our yard, but the soil is so bad, we'd have to haul in alot of nutrients to make it workable. I like staying kind of free of something that would tie me to house and home, because I want to be free to be where Ernie is logging in the summer.
It's like a vacation to be in our nicer RV with no running water (well, we do fill the large tank), but lots of warm weather. Don't know where that will be this summer, but Durango was a lovely place! Maybe he'll get moved back there again.
Well, in three weeks we leave for Disney World, Florida! It's going to be alot of driving, but we have two places to stop at on the way, maybe three if we go through Sante Fe and stay with Mark and Tamara one nite! Something to look forward to!
Arlin has been doing well with his schoolwork. I really wish he could get three weeks ahead, then he wouldn't have to do any work during the trip, but alas, I'm sure that's not to be. :(

two sorry people

2005-01-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

Arlin and I caught a sore throat on Monday, so now we're two hacking individuals in this house! Sounds funny! At least it doesn't put us flat in bed! But Arls has two Bball games in Grand Junction tomorrow (Fri) so I hope he can pour it on! His last game was great~even being his 16th B'day (21st). So that was a good day for him
I'm just vegging and resting to gain my strength back.
Thanks for the instructions, Heidi, on how to post this!! :) Let's see if it works.

Jan. 26th, 2005

2005-01-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

Boy, haven't written in here for a month. Busy life! Just wondering if there are any other transplanted Canadians out there? Would like to hear from you.

Leaving Canada ;(

2004-11-27T13:37:00.000-08:00

We moved down from Cranbrook, British Columbia in March of 1997. We came down to be staff at Youth With A Mission in Cimarron, Colorado. We moved off the base after 6 1/2 years as staff, to Montrose, CO. Ernie started his logging business as Goodwin & Sons, and contracts for another big company based here in Montrose.
Our oldest three children have married Americans, so we are adding to our citizenship. :)
Terran married Naomi Hansen on May 12, 2001 in Olympia, WA, but they live in Fruita, CO. Terran is an aviation mechanic, and Naomi works at a Credit Union.
Tamara married Mark Liebenthal up at the YWAM base in Cimarron on May 17, 2003. They live in Sante Fe, NM, where Mark is getting his Master's degree at St. John's College, and Tamara is an assistant to the Chief Accountant at a Medical Services office.
Wade married Jennifer Kastendieck on March 20, 2001 here in Montrose, CO. They have two sons, Keagan (Oct. 15, 2002) and Kaden (May 17, 2004). What fun to have our grandsons living in the same town!
Wesley graduated in May, 2004, and is working with Dad at the logging business. Arlin is in Grade 10, and I'm homeschooling him.