Christmas 2017

All 16 of us!

Grandpa continues his tradition of making gingerbread houses with the grandchildren. In this picture he shows Awstin how to put the icing on his house.

Hannah puts the roof on her house.

Alexis carefully works on her house.

Lydia ponders what she should do next.

Kristen gives Mark a helping hand.

Happy New Year!

Hannah is 3!

Several weeks ago we celebrated Hannah's birthday. Her actual birthday is the 21st but it is easier to keep the party a little bit away from Christmas. This bubbly, happy little girl is an absolute delight. I never get tired of listening to her chatter and seeing her beaming smile. She may have three older siblings, but it often seems like she runs the show!

Her cake was a Candy Land design. I think Kristen was a little horrified at all the candy she had to put on it, but it made for a really cute cake. Hannah loved it!

Here is the birthday video. Sorry it's a little blurry at times. I'm really going to have to get a better videograher :) Also, I love the way Alexis takes charge and tells her what to do when blowing out the candles!

What a wonderful celebration with this charming little girl and her family!

Bridge Built - Mission Accomplished

Group picture l-r Emily, Wendell, Steve, Me, Clinton (homeowner), Beverly (homeowner), Merle, Ralf, Pat, granddaughter of Clinton & Beverly, Bernie, Mary (yes, there was another Mary), granddaughter of Clinton & Beverly, Spencer (in a group picture, not everyone can be looking, right?), Justin, Susan, Peter

It's kind of hard to believe that in one week this group was able to rebuild a bridge but that is what they did, and that is what Mennonite Disaster Service has been doing every week that they bring a crew to West Virginia. I believe in total they have repaired or built around 40 bridges. Peter and Susan Thiessen have been the directors for almost all of them and they plan to come back in February for another eight week term so more will be built then. They have one more bridge to build next week and then they are going home to Canada until February.

Here are two pictures of the inside of the auditorium of the church where we stayed. The water did not reach this floor and everything was still in place from the last service that the church had there before the flood. MDS came in and did some rearranging to make accommodations for volunteers.

This is from the back of the sanctuary. Our little room was in the door to the left of the pulpit. MDS put some partitions in to divide the sanctuary but nobody was sleeping in the sanctuary this week. In the front (under the cross) where the pulpit would have been you can see some partitions with towels hanging over them. That is where Wendell slept.

This is the right front of the sanctuary. Behind that door was another small room just like ours where Emily slept.

On the last day, Susan, Emily and I went out to the work site for the dedication of the bridge. Because they were not able to get concrete on Thanksgiving Day, they had to wait until Friday to pour the concrete. The next group of volunteers will need to come out on Monday to this bridge and finish a few things up, including putting railing along the side. Because the concrete needed to set, our group was not able to do this.

Notice the hand prints. Clinton and Beverly's (the homeowners) grandchildren put their hand prints into the cement.

Right side of bridge

Left side of bridge

We had a prayer of dedication and then Susan presented Clinton and Beverly (the homeowners) with a quilt from MDS.

Susan presenting Clinton and Beverly their quilt.

All the volunteers signed their name under the bridge. This is a picture of Steve as he was coming back up from signing his name.

After the dedication we went back to the church and packed up and headed home. It was a great week and we were happy to be part of it. The smiles on the homeowner's faces as they surveyed their new bridge are something we will remember for a long time.

More Bridge Building

We did indeed find that we were on the local news on Monday evening. Here is a link to it if you care to watch it. (Sorry about the ridiculously long ad you have to watch before the video begins.) Steve is visible near the beginning and at the very end and I am hidden somewhere in the middle. See if you can find me. Hint: I am taking a picture in the background.
http://www.tristateupdate.com/story/36892705/flooded-homeowner-gets-new-bridge

There is a man (Ralf) on this project that writes a daily blog so if you really want to read the nitty gritty everyday stuff that the volunteers are doing you can read that at https://ralfhamm.wordpress.com.

Here are a few more pictures of our day to day activities.

This if the office. Notice the green chair that we bought at Goodwill. It is very comfortable and the one that I am using.

Susan and Peter going over some invoices. Peter likes the chair too!

Our amazing cook, Emily.

Sitting around the dinner table. Notice Bernie at the other end with the bandana on his head. The three young guys from Canada are a lot of fun and really good sports. Steve said they are great workers and not afraid to get their hands dirty.

Merle was determined to fix the tape measure (in the end he had to give up and throw it away)

Whoops! Ralf had to do the limbo to get under the tape measure that Wendall is holding for Merle.

Mexican restaurant that we went to for dessert last evening.

Today is Thanksgiving and the crew is out on the job. Susan and I tried in vain to reconcile the bank statement, but alas we are still approximately $36.00 off. We decided to take a break for awhile so I am updating this blog. Meanwhile there are some amazing smells coming from the kitchen. Happy Thanksgiving!

Building a Bridge (in West Virginia)

Steve and I are spending this Thanksgiving week volunteering with Mennonite Disaster Service in West Virginia. Steve is working on a bridge building project and I am shadowing the office manager.

In 2015 and 2016 areas of West Virginia were hit hard with flooding. Many privately owned bridges were washed out and people were unable to afford to replace them. Without a bridge, people couldn't even get to their house with a vehicle. Many people actually had to park along the road and wade through the water to get to their house. If they were lucky they may have been able to find a place up or downstream where they could drive down the bank and through the water and up the other side if the bank wasn't too steep. Here is a picture of a place that still doesn't have a bridge so they have no way to get to their house except through the water.

A bridge that was washed out

MDS is working with the state of West Virginia and replacing some of those bridges. Usually, with about six to ten volunteers one bridge can be built a week.

Steve and I were told to arrive in Griffithsville, West Virginia around 6:00 on Sunday evening so orientation could begin at 7:00. We got there mid afternoon and found the fire hall where MDS was staying and drove around the area for a little bit. We thought it strange that there was no MDS vehicles in the parking lot but concluded that the long term volunteers must have gone away for the day and would be arriving back later. We still pondered that there was no MDS tool trailer but decided it must already be on the job site. We could see a few signs that MDS was there. There was an empty trailer and some cement blocks and a camper by the side of the building. 

Since we were told to have our supper before arriving, we drove back to Charleston for a bite to eat and then returned to the fire hall at 6:00. There was still no sign of anybody and we were getting a little concerned. We double and triple checked our instructions from the email that I had on my phone and assured each other that we had heard nothing different. In fact, Steve had talked to Peter (the project coordinator) on Thursday and he had made no mention of coming to a different location. To make matters worse we had absolutely no cell phone reception so we could not call Peter either. We decided to wait until 7:00 and if no one arrived we would drive about 15 minutes back until we had cell reception and call Peter. 7:00 came and nothing. We drove back toward Charleston and finally Steve had a few bars. He called Peter and the connection was terrible but we managed to hear that we were at the wrong location. The base had moved to Clendenin a week ago and somehow we were not notified about the change. We were about an hour away and the worst part was that we had to backtrack and drive through Charleston again to get to the correct location. Needless to say, we were a little frazzled by the time we arrived around 8:00. However, everyone was friendly and understanding and we were just glad to be at the right place. We were pleasantly surprised to see that Merle Sollenberger (a friend from New Danville Church) was part of the group. It's always nice to see someone you know when you are away from home. 

Instead of a fire hall our accommodations are in a church. The church was damaged by flooding and the church didn't have the means to repair it. They offered it to MDS and MDS fixed it up for volunteers and that is where we are staying. Steve and I have a tiny room that is at the front of the church to the left of the pulpit. There is one identical to it on the right sight that the cook is sleeping in. Here are some pictures of the outside of the church.

Front of Church

The church sign still stands and MDS added their sign below it.

Back of church

There are a total of 13 of us here for the week. Ten are working on the bridge. Susan (the office manager and Peter's wife), myself, and Emily (the cook) are the only ones not actually going to the work site each day. 

Everyone is pretty good at taking pictures, and they are happy to share the ones with me that have Steve on so that is mainly what I will be posting. Steve is running the track hoe and chipping in wherever else he is needed.

Here are a few pictures from the first couple of days. On Monday, Susan, Emily and I actually went to the site because the senator was coming and there was a lot of excitement about that so we decided to join the fun.

Just beginning the bridge. You can see how close the bridge is to the road. They will have to stop traffic on one lane sometimes so they can work.

Lots of painting was done the first couple of days. Three young guys from Canada are on the crew and they pretty much come back each evening covered with paint.

That's the senator in the brown coat walking across the bridge.

The senator chatting with MDS Regional One Director Rodney (sorry don't remember his last name).

The man with the hat and brown coat is the homeowner, Clinton. He is so happy to be having his bridge replaced. He said he was more happy to see MDS than he was to see the senator!

News media. We are not sure if it was on the daily news or not.

Working hard.

Steve's designated job for the week is running the track hoe.

He does  get out of the track hoe at times and work on some other things.

The unit needed another office chair. We went to Goodwill on Wednesday and bought this one for $4.00. I had the privilege of  pushing it out of the store, across the parking lot, and to the car :)

I am enjoying learning the office work. There are a lot of details to remember but fortunately I have been keeping business records all my life so it doesn't seem too difficult. Susan is a great teacher and a very friendly person!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day but it is a work day here. We will miss not seeing family, but we are happy to be spending this year in this place building a bridge for a family that will be so thankful to be able to once again drive their car from the road to their house.

Birthday Boy Mark!

A few weeks ago we helped to celebrate Mark's 5th birthday. This little man is all boy. He loves Thomas trains, farm equipment and riding with his daddy. His big brown eyes and beautiful smile light up a room. He was so excited for his party and he was so cute when he opened his presents. He had to open all of them as fast as he could and then once he saw everything that he had received he when back over each one and took his time examining them and playing with them. We sure are thankful for this little guy and love that we get to share in these happy occasions.

Here is the birthday video J Hannah's commentary in the background is pretty cute too!

Lightning Strike!

As I left work on the evening of August 25, the clouds were dark and ominous and threatening rain. I hoped that I would get home before the downpour began. I got to the intersection at Rawlinsville (about 5 minutes from home) and although the clouds were even darker, I still hadn't driven in rain. As I pulled away from the stop sign, I was amazed when the sky ahead broke out into zigzagging lightning streaks right after the other. It was kind of like watching popcorn fireworks. I hadn't gone far when the rain began to pelt my windshield. I was so close to home, that I decided to keep going and I slowly inched along until with relief I pulled into our driveway.

It was still raining very hard and Steve was in the office. He said that he had just seen an amazing thing. As the storm was getting stronger he was debating if he should turn off the computer. He looked out the window and almost immediately he saw lightning strike the ground between the shop driveway and the cornfield. The corn field lit up and sizzled with electricity and approximately 10 scared deer came running out of the cornfield and took off for the park area. He also saw the same scenario that I described of the lightning streaks that popped up constantly and zigzagged across the sky.

We sat in the office and chatted as we watched the rain and listened to the thunder. There continued to be loud cracks of thunder and the sky came alight with the lightning that followed it. Suddenly an enormous crash followed by sizzling lightning sent both of us out of our seats. "Where did that hit?" we both wondered. We looked out every window and could see nothing that appeared to be on fire so we finally figured that it hadn't caused any damage. Our electric had blinked off, but it came back on so everything seemed fine. 

About 5 minutes later, Steve commented that fog must be settling in, as he could see it hovering over the neighbor's house as he looked out the window. We both went for a closer view and then we realized it wasn't fog at all. Our neighbor's house was on fire! 

We ran outside and saw other neighbors beginning to congregate on the yard outside Ron & Sally's* house. Someone had already called 911 and soon the firetrucks started arriving. A neighbor had alerted Ron who was home but unaware of the fire which had started in the attic. Sally was grocery shopping and did not have a cell phone with her, so there was no way to contact her. I felt really sorry for her, when she came home to fire trucks lined up and down the road and the realization that it was her house they were there for.

We joined the neighbors and watched as the firefighters put out the fire.

The two closest neighbors described what happened in their houses when the lightning struck. In the one house, all the electrical sockets sizzled and smoke came out of them. In the other one, every electrical appliance came on--dishwasher, microwave, stove, etc. Even the smoke detectors! Amazingly, they did not lose electric except for a brief couple seconds like we had. 

The firefighters soon had the fire out and Ron and Sally were left to view the damage. It was too early to tell if the house was completely ruined or if it would be able to be repaired. They went to a motel for the night.

The next morning I was amazed when I looked out the kitchen window and saw firetrucks again lining the road and firefighters running into Ron & Sally's house. The fire had started up again overnight! This time, it was much worse and it was soon apparent that the house could not be saved. Along with the smoke and fire damage, the water they sprayed to douse the fire had ruined everything. When I walked into the house later, it felt like I was walking on wet newspapers. Wet drywall had fallen from the ceilings and lay on the floor in a soggy mess. 

Neighbors helped Ron & Sally carry some of their things outside and Steve offered one of his trailers for them to store things in. They were grateful and accepted his offer. I was working at the store and we decided to feed those who were helping with cleanup so I made sandwiches and added chips and drink and took it to them around lunch time. 

By that time, the insurance people had arrived and they requested that nothing else be removed from the house so there wasn't a whole lot more to do. Basically, everyone just stood around and talked. We all felt very sorry for Ron & Sally.

Ron & Sally's house will be rebuilt but in the meantime, they needed a place to live. In a quirk of fate (or God's timing), our tenant that lived in our mobile home was leaving the end of August. We offered Ron & Sally the home and they were incredibly thankful and relieved to be able to have a place close by while their house is built. 

They moved in on September 6 and for the next six months to a year (until their house is rebuilt) we will receive a check from their insurance company each month for rent for the mobile home. Even though having your house burn down is an awful thing, its amazing how little things come together to make it bearable. I am sure once it is all over, Ron & Sally will love their new home and hopefully be able to focus on what they still have and not what they lost.

**Since I didn't ask permission, to use their names, Ron & Sally are not their real names.

Eight is Great!

This pretty girl turned eight years old this month! Alexis is a lovely girl who no longer seems little. She is quite the conversationalist and enjoys doing crafts. Kristen suggested I get her some perler beads for a gift and Alexis has been busy making beautiful designs with them. Yesterday she sent me this picture showing me all her creations.

Steve and I enjoyed her party. The pink cake that Kristen made was gorgeous and delicious. I almost missed getting a video of the birthday song but did manage to get a little bit of it.

Eight is great indeed!!!!

The Ark

It's big alright :)

The last week of July, Steve and I spent several days in the great state of Kentucky. We toured the ark in Williamstown and the Creation Museum in Petersburg. We stopped at Abe Lincoln's birthplace in Hodgenville and the house where Mary Todd Lincoln grew up in Lexington. We even drove to the far out little town of Butcher Hollow where Loretta Lynn lived as a child. And we played a lot of golf.

The intention was to just get away from Mt. Nebo and enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation. When we started out we knew we were going to the Creation Museum and the Ark but we didn't have any set plans after that. We had put our golf clubs in the car, but weren't sure that we would actually use them so were pleasantly surprised to find that Kentucky has golf courses at many of their State Parks that are very reasonably priced. Playing golf turned out to be a great way to fill out the days and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Creation Museum and Ark Encounter were fascinating. Just seeing in person how big the ark was is an amazing experience. The inside of the ark was interesting too. Obviously, they have no idea what the inside of the ark was actually like and I think they went a little overboard on the luxurious living quarters! The message of the Gospel was portrayed very well through two videos that were thought provoking and interesting at the same time.

Here are a few pictures I took inside the ark.

Small cages

Bags of something.

There were lots of storage containers throughout.

Larger cages

Like I said, the living quarters were pretty nice.

Doesn't it make you wonder what the living quarters really were like?

Each couple had their own spacious room :)

The kitchen

I only took two pictures at the Creation Museum

There was lots of stuff about dinosaurs in the museum. 

Adam and one of his sons in the garden

I didn't take any pictures of the Mary Todd Lincoln House, but we enjoyed the tour so much. The tour guide was fantastic. Even Steve said that it was one of the best presentations he had heard when touring a place of interest.

Abe Lincoln's birthplace.

The 56 steps are for each year of Abe's life. A little log cabin is encased inside this monument replicating what the cabin where he was born looked like.

The Coal Miner's Daughter was one of the few movies that Steve and I went to a theater to watch soon after we were married so we decided to look this place up. It was not your typical tourist attraction. No nicely paved road or place to park. We just pulled into the yard. The house is still pretty much like Loretta Lynn's parents left it. A niece gave us the tour.  There is nothing fancy about this place but maybe that is why it fascinates people.

The outside of the house

Hutch in the kitchen

Sewing machine

Washing machine

Kitchen table and chairs. The chairs cost $2.00 apiece

The parent's bedroom

One of the golf courses we played on. I actually hit the ball over the water and onto the green on my first try. Yahoo!

Steve poses in front of the ark

It was a nice time away for us. As we were visiting the ark I had to think that sometimes our lives feel like we are living in an ark. We are just floating around not really knowing where we are heading. Thankfully we can be comforted in the assurance that God is guiding the ark and He knows its final destination.