Blizzard of 2009

The blizzard of 2009 is history,but the cold & snow will be with us for weeks to come. We were house bound for 3 days. Praise God we did not lose electricity. I was able to get to the kennel to take care of our german shepard dog, but with wind chills of 30 below I did not stay out any longer than was needed. The roads were opened on Sunday by farmers with huge tractors & frontend loaders or blades on their tractors. I still could not get my pickup out of the garage until Monday (28)when a neighbor came in with his big tractor & loader & cleared an area big enough for me to get out. I just had to shovel a little snow away from the garage door. There are stll 8-9 foot drifts on the north side of our house & 2-3 foot drifts out by the barn. According to the long range forecast the cold will be with us for sometime, which means the snow will not melt. we spent christmas cuddled up in our chairs reading or talking to children on the phone. Our internet service was not interrupted, so that we were able to keep a check on what was happening around the area. As I am writing this 2009 is coming to a close and a new year is just a couple of hours away. I want to take this opportunity to Thank God for all that He has blessed us with this past year. We have children who love us and care about us. We have plenty of food, a warm house,& our health. What more do we need. My prayer for 2010 is that all of our children, grandchildren & great grandchildren will be healthy & safe. Especially those who are in areas of bitter conflict. I pray for all of our young men & women who are fighting to keep our country safe from those who are determined to take our freedoms & our libertys from us. I pray for the leaders of our country that the will stop their petty bickering & work together to bring our great country back to the position that it once held in this worlds eyes. I also pray that we all might work to bring the message that Jesus Christ gave us and that peace on earth will be a reality. May God bless everyone & may you prosper throughout this new year. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Is it winter yet?

Is it winter yet? Not according to the calendar. But what do calendars know about weather forcasting. We have certainly had a taste of winter weather with 10+" of snow and below 0 temperatures with 25-30 mph winds,sending the wind chills to -25 and-30. Makes our new electric heat furnca/air conditioner run all of the time. At least it is a lot more energy efficient than our old one. We still have to use our space heater when the north wind blows. But we are keeping warm. We have been reading a lot during this cold snap. Its too cold outside to do anything more than run out and make sure the dog has food & water and to get the mail. I just finished reading Sarah Palin's book,Going Rogue,and I have to say that I am very impressed with her writing. She gives a lot of insight into the political process and what happens in the aftermath a a failed run for president. This book should be required reading for all American citizens who are interested in the diraection that our country is going. Especially if you think that changes need to be made in the path that our elected leaders are taking us down. I will get of of my soapbox now and talk about more important things. Since I last wrote we have added 3 new greatgrand chidren to our ever growing family. We now have 35 grand children & 18 greatgrans. Also Micah & his family just moved to Nebraska from Bellingham,Washington. Micah is working with Josh in the building trades. If you haven't checked Chip's blog you are missing out on some very good comments about what he has been reading. We trust that everyone has a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. Never forgetting the reason that we remember this special time of year to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior,Jesus Christ. God Bless us everyone!! gramps

August 2 2009

As most of you know we lost one of our brightest last month. Scott Burkitt was killed in a one car accident & as he requested his organs were donated to help others. According to the doctors,Scotty, by his donation helped to save 6 lives. The memorial service was July 25th & was a great tribute to Scotty. All of our children & most of their spouses were able to be there. It was a time for all of us to visit & to renew our faith & to realize that we never know when God will call us Home. Mark, Amy & family still need our support during this trying time. Everyone has gone back to their various homes & jobs & the tendency is to get all involved in our lives & forget about the things that have happened. I urge you to remember that it could just have well been one of your own that this unfortunate accident happened to. So praise God for His blessings & remember to pray for Mark & Amy. Since I last wrote to you spring has gone & we are almost half way through the summer months. It has been unseasonably cool these last few days & my tomatoes aren't ripening like the should. But the weatherman says that we it is going to be warmer this next week so they will probably ripen fast now. I have dug about half of my potatoes & have over 100 pounds. I will have sweet potatoes later & maybe a few carrots. We have seen deer & a groundhog in our front yard as well as the many birds that flock to the feeders. There are rabbits & ground squirrels & occasionly I get a whiff of a skunk when I go out in the evening. All things considered it has been a great year. The Yankees & the White Sox are winning & Tiger is back on the golf course. I think that I will close & go watch him play. So long until next time and Gob bless all who read my ramblings. Gramps

Spring 2009

March came in like a lamb and went out like a lion, But overall we had a great spring. I was able to get my garden tilled early but then had to wait for it to quit raining long enough to plant. I did get my potatoesa in early and we are now enjoying potatoes from our garden. I picked enough green beans that we had green beans and new potatoes for the 4th of July. I had a problem keeping ahead of the weeds due to trhe weather, but am now keeping them under control, Had a great Memorial Day weekend. Kathy and Kent came in on Friday and stayed a couple of days. My 80th birthday was the 26th so we celebrated during the weekend. K & K gave me a gift card to Home depot & Lane sent me one to LL Bean. Had phone calls from everyone plus lots of best wishes on facebook. Marsha & Scott got me on of those traveling sprinklers. It works great. I just lay the hose down & put the guide wheel on the hose & turn the water on, It follows the water hose & waters the lawn as it moves. Due to all of the rain this spring I have had to mow the lawn at least once a week. I just mowed it today for the 4th time. Sure am thankful for a good riding mower. June 30th was Iva's 78th birthday. We didn't do anything special. I had ordered her a Kindle DX from Amazon. It arrived early, so by the time her birthday arrived she had already downloaded several books & is really enjoying it. For those of you who do not know what a Kindle DX is check it out on www.amazon.com. A couple of weeks ago I looked out our patio door & saw a deer in our front yard. She just wandered around like she was looking the place over. We saw her again the next day in the cornfield that is west of us. We have lots of birds at our feeders & like to sit here & watch them. The other night we had a whirlwind go through our trees & it dislodged a robin's nest. The next morning it was on the ground along with 4 baby birds. The mother robin fed one of them until it was able to hunt for its own food. I don't know what happened to the other 3. I didn't see any sign of them when I mowed that area today. Robin was here for part of the weekend. She had her grandson (zamen) with her. He is 2 1/2 & is quite a handful. I took him for a ride on the mower & he liked that, but he kept turning the engine of & then didn't know why it stopped running. The first 2 weeks of summer have been pretty nice, not to hot in the daytime & cool at night. I think that will change next week though. I expect to see some triple didit temperatures before we get through this summer. We have had 2 more greats added to our family. Both boys & both born in June. About a week apart. We also added another granddaughter with Lane & Karla's adoption on a little Chinese girl. So our family just keeps growing. Melody is expecting & Chad & Sarah are getting married when he comes back fro Afganhastan. I am about to run out of space so will have to close for now. May all who read this be blessed of God & enjoy the riches of His blessings. Gramps C

February 28 2009

Winter is still with us. We had 2-3" of snow yesterday and 30+ mph north wind. There have been enough warm days the past 2 weeks to cause the trees to start budding & I am thinking seriously about ordering seeds to start plants for my garden. We now have a new granddaughter. Lane & Karla just arrived back home from China where they picked up their adopted daughter. Her name is Genvieve & she is 2 years of age. Lani & part of her family met them at the airport. Lane & Karla's boys were there as well. lane called today & filled us in on their trip. We had our first visitor to our birdfeeder today. A pair of goldfinches showed up this morning for a short visit, then I saw the male return this afternoon. He still has his winter coat and is not as colorful as he will be later on. Marsha & I pulled up the carpet in our dining room & relaced it with a cermic coated tile. we will do the kitchen next & maybe the bathroom. Scott hired to men to put in our sliding glass door in the dining room. we now have a well lit room & a great view to the West. Becca & Kristi rode their horses into the yard to get a good look at our new sliding glass door. We love it! That's all folks. time to say goodnight and may God be your friend & guide through the coming days. He will never let you down. Love & prayers Gramps

Winter on the plains

Winter has come to the plains of Nebraska, and to the rest of the country as well. We haven't had the snow that Chip and Chelly have had, but we have had wind and sub zero temperatures. I don't venture outside any more than I have to. I also don't stay out any longer than I need to. A lot has happened since I last wrote any news. Another granddaughter was added to our family last year and there will be at least 2 more grandchildren this year. My garden supplied us with lots of tomatoes, potatoes,sweet potatoes and a few green beans. Marsha supplied us with enough sweetcorn so that we were able to put some in the freezer. There is nothing quite so satisfying as setting down to a table and eating food that you have grown. We were looking at the seed catalogs yesterday to decide what we will be growing this year. During the cold winter days we spend a lot of time reading. Central City has a good library and we take advantage of it. I visit it about every 2 weeks and we uaually manage to read 5 or 6 books in that length of time. I hope that you have Rebecca's blog on your computer. Her stories about her time in Africa and the time that the choir was here in Nebraska are really good. She has a way with words that is truly a gift from God. I just read her latest entry and am truly amazed at what she has to say. Lane is in Toronto this week and will be going to Shanghi. The client that he is worling for has plants in Totonto, Shanghi and Luxembourg. He will be viaitig all 3 plants during the next 2 weeks. He is hoping that he will be able to be home the weekend of the 24th. I suppose that everyone is healthy and busy. Robin calls almost everyday and Lani usually calls on a weekly basis. Mark, Amy and kids visited after Christmas. David was home over the holidays and wanted to visit. He is considering going back to collage and getting an engieering degree, which we encouraged him to do. We are always happy to hear from our children and grandchildren. It is time to close this letter, so I will say goodnight and May god's richest blessings be yours. Dad/Gramps