We had a very nice Christmas at the K-Town Hospitality House minus Ed. He had to work. We joined him at his work in the evening. The chaplain talked us (Julie, Korrin and me) into singing Christmas carols for the party there for wounded military folks and the staff that takes care of them.

Hello from Germany

We are having a nice
time here in Germany.
I have visited several
Christmas markets and am
greatly enjoying the food
here. Julie comes back to
Kaiserslautern tomorrow from
visiting Carina. Our dear friend Korrin is with us. I got to spend all day yesterday
with Jennessa. I have limited access to the internet (especially being able to
download my photos). So here is one of me enjoying kaese broetchen in Trier.

We're in Germany

We arrived in Germany around 6 in the morning and had to stay up all day. We were tired and cranky but we got to visit one of our favorite cities before we drove to our lodgings. I'm doing pretty well and not really experiencing any jet lag. Julie isn't doing as well. She also missed one of her trains on her way to visit Carina which was a bit upsetting being in a foreign country. Here is a picture of us at a restaurant in Bad Wimpfen with our dear friend Brad. We met Brad in the 80's when we were all there with the Army.

We're Off to Germany!

Tomorrow Julie and I are scheduled to fly to Germany to be with Ed for Christmas.  I would be excited if I could de stress long enough because of the myriad of things I have to do before we leave. We are thankful for our friend who gave us the money so we could do this.

I was also a little stressed about how we were going to get to the airport because the roads are very bad right now.  Jesse is going to take us.  He rescued us yesterday and took us to church in his 4 wheel drive vehicle. 

At PWOC, we worked on a project together called "The Jesse Tree".  You have an ornament and a devotional reading for the 25 days leading up to Christmas.  The ornaments start with creation and each day works its way through the Bible until you get to Jesus.  Each of us involved made 25 of the same ornament and then we exchanged with each other until we each got one of each ornament.  I made lambs.  I had to spray each of them when they were done and so I used the tree out back. 

 

I will try to get to a computer while in Germany... But if not, Merry Christmas!

I may actually be becoming a runner....!?

We were given the funds to buy a Wii console game system.  I really like it.  A few months ago, while at Wal-mart, I saw the Wii Fit program on the shelf.  We decided to take the splurge and get it.  I'm so glad we did!  I have been working out mostly daily since the end of October.  It builds up gradually.  I'm noticing a difference.  I have a bit of arthritis in my hips and haven't noticed any pain since I started.  I started running in place with the Wii and now most mornings I go out for a half jog/walk for about a mile. I actually enjoy my running time.  Who would have thought? I also got back into my size 2 jeans! Here are two bad photos of my Mii (my own character on the Wii) during the workout.

PWOC Christmas Program

We had a lovely Christmas program Thursday night at the chapel on base. 

We sang Christmas carols.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We focused on Jesus, got to know each other better and even sang "The 12 days of Christmas".

We topped off the evening with a cookie exchange done like a White Elephant exchange. The cookies were yummy.  Here are the ones I brought (Bienenstich cookies). Thanks Sheena for taking the pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I very much enjoy planning these programs. To God be the glory!

A Very Nice Thanksgiving

This week we had a nice game night at the house as a last hurrah before Ed deployed to Ramstein, Germany. 

Ed arrived in Germany on Thanksgiving day.  He has already put in two LONG days of work.  He helps the chaplain there minister to wounded troops coming back from the desert.  It sounds very intense. Thanks for your prayers.

Jesse, Julie and I went to the Western Treasure Valley for Thanksgiving.  We had two groups of family to visit.  We went to the Barnes' home in Payette.  My grandma, Aunt Myrna, Uncle Drexell, Cousin Natalie, Cousin Drexell and family (wife Paige and three sons: Grayson, Drexell and Fletcher) were there.  Fletcher really seemed to like Jesse and Julie.

The second group of family were in New Plymouth, the Spencers (my step dad's family).  Back in the late 70's I spent several Thanksgivings with most of these people when they lived in Eugene, Oregon.  There was Earl, Dick, Jim and Faye along with spouses, kids and grand kids. My mom and step dad came all the way from Roseburg to be there.  It was so nice to see everyone.

Julie, Jesse, Me, Jim (my step dad), and my mom.  See how her hair is growing back?! It was a very nice day to spend with many dearly loved people. 

So Much to Tell You

A few weeks ago we had a program at PWOC called "Taste of Idaho".  We didn't have very many tastes of Idaho but we did get to learn a bit about our Christian heritage here.  It was so well attended, three of us had to give up our seats! I sure enjoy putting on these programs with my committee.  Pam Culp is a great partner. Here are some pics from that.

Changing the subject... Jesse's mom and two sisters and a foster baby came all the way from Indiana for a visit this past weekend. It was wonderful to have them here.  We are kindred spirits.  Pictured below is: Sasha, Missy (his mom), Cierra and baby Megan.

 

Jesse took us all to the Bruneau Sand Dunes. It is a LONG hike to the top.  Jesse and Julie made it to the top first.

I'm just a speck on this picture above.

Once I got to the top, I grabbed the camera and  took the picture above. The two figures you see are Jesse and Julie. We always have such a good time when we go to the dunes.

Pictured below, Jesse and Julie tried on Swiss clothes for fun.

Jesse loves his mama....

Jesse loves Julie....last night he proposed!

We are thrilled.  I don't think you could find a nicer guy than Jesse.  He seems to love the Lord a lot and we love him. We appreciate your prayers.  Also, pray for Ed as he is deploying tomorrow to Germany until sometime in January.

PWOC Conference

The Protestant Women of the Chapel International conference in Texas went well this past weekend.  I love going to these conferences (this was my 10th PWOC conference) because I get to see ladies I knew from past military posts/bases.  In fact, I got to see at least one lady from each "era" of our military life.  When we lived in Germany in the '80's, Margot and her husband Tex hosted an OCF Bible study we attended.  Margot was at the conference.  Gwen was in Germany when we were there in the '90's and I got to see her too.  I got to see all kinds of gals I knew from Ft. Lewis, Ft. Leonard Wood and many I had met at previous conferences. These get togethers are like a little taste of heaven (the female side). I took a few pictures and wish I had taken more. This picture below is of Janice Whiteside and Suzanne Peck who are both fantastic at leading praise and worship.  They just met before this photo.  They were both instrumental in me stepping outside of my comfort zone with my guitar and singing. Janice was at Ft. Leonard Wood, and Suzanne was at Ft. Lewis.

Susan Hayes, whose chaplain husband is serving in the "sandbox" right now was with me at Ft. Lewis.  She has always been such an encourager and support for me. You can tell I didn't get much sleep.

Annie and Chris were my dear friends and comrades at Ft. Leonard Wood.  I don't know what I would have done without their encouragement while I was there.

This is the view from our room at the airport hotel. The next photo is my bed.  We had two beds in our room for three of us.  I have a very hard time sleeping with anyone but Ed.  I used the cushions in the room and put sheets on them and made a bed.  I slept quite comfortably.

There were also some gals from Cadence International (the mission we are with). It was great to see them and spend time with Deidre and Stephanie.

We had some time to kill between the end of the conference and our flight departure.  Annie graciously took Kathleen, Pam and I shopping.  Kathleen found some great stuff.  She got very excited about a hair gizmo that would actually stay put in her hair.  Here the stylist is working his magic.

Next year's regional conference will be held in Denver.  I hope I can go!

Texas

Currently, I'm at the USO at the airport in Texas. We have had a wonderful time at the Protestant Women of the Chapel International (PWOCI) conference. Here is a picture of the three of us who represented Mountain Home AFB PWOC. More later!

Jesse and Julie Pics

Last night, I finally got some pictures of Jesse and Julie.

I leave in a few hours for the PWOC conference in TX!

My Little Girl....

I haven't had any posts for awhile because we've been busy cleaning out the garage and picking up other messes that have occurred with our construction.  We thought we'd be done with all of that by now!  We've also been entertaining a young man, Jesse,  who has been here frequently. He seems to love God wholeheartedly and wants to court Julie.  We have given him our consent and we are thrilled.  Because they are both being so careful, I haven't taken any good pictures of the two of them yet. If you look at my blog for November 1 and scroll down to the guy shooting, that is Jesse.   Hopefully soon, I can update this blog with a photo of the two of them. For now, you get to see a photo of Julie I took a few months ago and this photo I took last month of him helping us do the final touches on our room addition.

Only a Few More Things to Do

We've been extremely busy the past few weeks trying to get the room addition done. We got the exterior done (trims and paint) the day before we got rain! The inside just needs tile in the window sills and trim under two doors. Yay! Here is what it looks like now:

The room has been used a few times already and it is so nice to have a large space. It's not crowded anymore.

Ministry on base is going well also. Ed is involved with a great men's ministry on base. Here is their weekly lunch study they do. The next picture is of a skeet shoot the group did a few weeks ago. Thank God for us for His great providence.

An Open House and a Sad Goodbye

Over the past weekend, we got enough of the room addition done to have an informal "Open House". Before everyone started to come, Don decided to touch up the windows still wearing the clothes he had worn to church.

The Open House went very well.  A special treat was that my mom, step dad and his sister in law (Barbara) came over for the festivities. They spent the night and we painted sheep the next day (pictured below, Barbara [l] and Mom [r]).

Also on Monday; Don, Priscilla and Ed continued working (we still have many unfinished items).

The day came for the dear Wrens to leave.  But wouldn't you know that Don decided to fix a leak on our faucet the morning they left!

We are very grateful to them and to all the others who have helped us with this project. 

Last night, we had a game night for a few folks from base.  It was great to have a big room to move around in.