Finally Done!

After several months I have finally completed an online photo book of our cruise last year.  I spent hours going through photos, uploading them and then deciding size, layout and what to say!  Thank goodness for the blog we kept or I would never have remembered where the photos were taken.  I used Shutterfly and I must say I am totally pleased with their service, their user friendly website, their quality of paper and the photos themselves.   The book is 75 pages, one more page than our actual journey.   It was fun to put together and we view it often as it brings back so many wonderful memories.   Boy, it's amazing thinking back to the "old days" of cut and paste! 

Winter Fest

This weekend has been so enlightening.  Our church, via our well wired pastor, Dick Staub, puts on Winter Fest in February.  Dick manages to bring in the most amazing speakers and this year we were treated to the opportunity to hear Earl Palmer, a theologian who gave messages over Friday, Saturday and Sunday about several amazing people of the faith.  I had never heard of Karl Barth.  I had heard of G.K. Chesterton but that's about all and I had heard of Dorothy Sayers but not much more.  Earl also spoke about C.S. Lewis, of whom I am much more familiar.  Karl Barth wrote the Father Brown Mystery series and Dorothy Sayers wrote the Lord Peter Whimsey Detective series.  All these writers were way ahead of their time in an era which did not tolerate very well an outspoken nature especially regarding their faith.  I really learned a lot and hope to read some of their work in the future.  Earl kept us all intrigued with his vast knowledge and his sense of humor and one of my favorite quotes from him this weekend is that Christians need to use common sense when sharing their faith and common sense means you know when to quit praying when the food is getting cold!  I could relate to this man. 

I'd Steal For Thieves!

This past Christmas Henni gave me a bottle of Thieves household cleaner.  It's a Young Living product and it's a concentrate.  Normally I kind of poo poo any new kind of cleaner but It cleans everything GREAT and has a mild pleasant scent that is not overpowering like other cleaners.  It cleans glass and counters, my stainless appliances etc.  It's wonderful.  Next time I need to replenish I'm ordering the biggest bottle!  It's not cheap but worth the cost!

Spring Anyone?

There is nothing quite like seeing the first daffodils poking through that I really start to let myself think about spring.  It's always such a sign of hope and that maybe, just maybe we are done with the snow and slippery roads.  The sun is even starting to peak through the tree tops, my oh my, what a lovely sight.

Points To Ponder

From this week's church bulletin regarding "Who is Jesus & Why Does It Matter?"

"Tell me your Christology, and I will tell you who you are."  Karl Barth

Question:  "How is Jesus different from other religious leaders?  Answer:  In a sense asking this question is sort of like asking how the sun differs from other stars in our solar system - the point being that there are no other stars in our solar system!  Unknown

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him:  'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.'  That is the one thing we must not say.  A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.  He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell.  You must make your choice.  Either this man was and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse.  You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.  Bu let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher.  He has not left that open to us.  He did not intend to."  C.S. Lewis

Birth Day

Finally, yesterday, February 4th, we were able to welcome Nikolai to the family.  He was born at 9:27 p.m., weighed 9 lb. 1 oz. and is 22 inches long.  He is a beautiful baby and perfect in every way.  It's hard to be grandparents so many miles away but in this amazing age of technology Katri kept us updated on her progress throughout her labor via email which hugely relieved worry and stress on this end.   I will go in a couple weeks to do what grandmas do best and that's to play, hold, cook and whatever else the needs are.  

The Garage

Yes, we are making progress on the garage.  As you can see, all the roof shingles are on as well as the siding shingles.   The roofing shingles are actually a bit different than the main house...that's what happens when you wait 8 years to build the garage.  The color is called the same and it's the same manufacturer but the color is more varigated.  Since the garage is not right next to the house we can get away with the difference and all else is coming along and the electrician is here this week so we are getting close to being done.    The garage doors are on order so will wait for those before the next photo.