Down To Earth Folks

Getting Closer...

2012-02-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

We got an email today saying that they are picking up Yosef's passport tomorrow and getting his physical done this week. They are hoping to be able to submit us to the embassy next Tuesday! If we are submitted it is currently a 2-3 week wait for a date to go and get him! We are slowly getting closer. Please pray for him, he has pneumonia (but CWA said that it probably isn't actually what we know as pneumonia - probably just a really bad cold). This is his second cold since we've been back =( So, we just keep praying and hoping that soon it will be us taking care of him.

Funny Things They Say

2012-02-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Diek: Oh, mom, you're the bestest mommy I've ever had! (and to Hadden...) You're the weirdest little brother I've ever had.

as Diek was sitting in church last week, he picked up a toy, sniffed it, and said "this smells like frankencinse!"

Hadden: Can we go to a belly button museum?

Diek: My favorite planet is Saturn because it has a cool ring
Hadden: My favorite planet is Venus because it rhymes with... (me: seriously?!)

Hadden sitting on my lap in church curiously inspecting my nose ring...or stud...anyways, the conversation was:
Me: Hadden, don't pull that!
Hadden: Will it bleed?
Me: yes.
Hadden: Will it hurt?
Me: yes
Hadden: So, can I pull it out?

During devotions today after lunch Dawson told Diek that the best way to tell people about Jesus is to love them like Jesus would.
Diek: ooooh, that's a good one!

Birth Certificate...check.

2012-02-03T08:43:00.001-07:00

Now it's time to send for a passport!

Josef at 9 months...

2012-01-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

[I feel like] I'm obsessed with checking my email. The reason I can only wait about 5 minutes before peeking again to see if I have any messages is because sometimes I get sweet surprises like this - 20 new pics of our baby!! It only fuels my bad habit =)

Fingerprints...check.

2012-01-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

Praise God - today our fingerprint appointment papers came in!!! So, we need to be in Helena to get our fingerprints updated on Tuesday, Feb 7th! This process could've taken 75 days and instead it took 13. Now, our fingerprint whoops won't be holding up Josef coming home! Thank you Jesus!

Happy Birthday Julie

2012-01-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

Just a few of my favorite shots of Julie over the past year...

Happy Birthday Julie!!!

(Oh, and she turned 17, not 28 - but those we're all the birthday candles I could find!)

Exercise?

2012-01-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

The big selling point of the wii was the exercise element. You have to swing and move around to play...or so they say. I would say the evidence proves otherwise though...

Pictures courtesy of Diek and Hadden

Best Buy

2012-01-30T11:19:00.001-07:00

When we went to Ethiopia I had bought the boys a few new things to open while we were gone. One was a little Cars puzzle I found at Pamida. We hadn't done puzzles for a while. He loved it, so I thought I'd better update our puzzle collection from the giant wooden pieces with the handles on top to something a little more 4 year old. I found these on Amazon and they have been amazing! They are big puzzles - 3-4 feet and they have big pieces. They are a challenge for Diek but he can put it all together. Hadden even helps out. We have already been learning lots of new things and have a list of books we need to find at the library now. And thankfully I can return to the library because I found my missing book...Anyways, if you're looking for a winter blues activity I highly recommend these. Thank you once again Melissa and Doug! (Oh, and I'm sure they have girly ones too, these are just the ones we got =) )

So, now our floor looks like this...

The Rest of the Story

2012-01-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

I'm wondering how many of you see my blog title and check it in the hopes that I have adoption updates. Well I don't have any new news, and you can be sure I'll tell you when we do. While we're waiting, I figure we might as well try to have some fun though!

You're probably wondering how the volcano worked out, so I thought I'd tell you. This is me with MY finished volcano project (and food in my mouth). Yes, today I painted it.

And the scientist pouring in the vinegar...

"Do it again, Dad!"

I think they liked it.

Happy Birthday Mr D.

2012-01-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

This is Mr T, but ...

this is Mr D! And Friday he turned 33! Happy Birthday tough guy!

For his birthday I wanted to get him something really special. I always have a hard time thinking of a gift for him because I use up all of my ideas for Christmas and then don't have much left for his birthday. But not this year! I think my inspiration must have come from reading Farm Show magazine. Here is a picture of his gift...

You may wonder what it is. A fly swatter maybe? I'll give you another hint...

Maybe you've guessed it by now (and maybe its because you have the same problem!). We have a dilemma when we go to bed - who has to turn the light off. I always say "you're closest" and he always says "you got into bed last" So I came up with a solution...

That's right. A 6ft light turner offer pole that tucks neatly under our bed. Thanks to Dawsons brother, Landon, for making it for me!

Problem solved!

On A Lighter Note

2012-01-20T09:27:00.001-07:00

Ok, one of our favorite books! I found this today - If you're a Mr Brown Can Moo fan you've got to listen to this song. And if you can figure out how to download/buy it let me know =)
http://www.myspace.com/plushmusic/music/songs/mr-brown-can-moo-42940731

What a blessing to wake up and read this...

2012-01-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

My friend Rachael Neufeld is in Ethiopia picking up her son who is a roommate with our Josef - she sent me this sweet message!

"I met your son today. He is absolutely precious! He had just woken up from his nap and I got to hold him for almost 10 minutes. He has the cutest expressions and is just so much fun to watch. Brooke was telling me how much he has grown since coming to Acacia, he looked so healthy. His tummy looks full and round :) I am praying you are back soon for him! Even though it's tough being away, it does help to know how well they are being taken care of. They laid out a blanket on the floor for Yosef and once I laid him down he smiled big and started kicking his little legs, it was very sweet and I so happy to have met him :) "

Living on a Farm in NE Montana

2012-01-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

Diek refers to the color red as case international and green as john deer - he actually never says red or green. If he wants something red he says "Can I have the case international one?" He really does. Yesterday he said, "Dad, look at this case international spot on my hand." - a red spot =)

You might live in Ne Montana if they cancel AWANA simply because it is too cold! Yep, today was a good day for soup, cleaning around the house, and building a volcano!

First, let's clean our pennies...

And then maybe dust the drapes...

I should probably do some sewing considering this is how Dawson gets his vest on and off...

And then to copy my ever creative sister in law and make a volcano... I went to a lot of work preparing for this big project: Dawson had to drink a Starbucks frappachino so I could use the bottle, then I built a frame around it, and mixed up a batch of paper mache goo. There was just one problem...no one else wanted to help me make it!

Maybe they'll like the part where it explodes better =)

The Pictures!

2012-01-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning determined to do some more investigating into where our pictures might be. When I checked my email they were there - what a treat!! So, here are some pictures of the real reason we went to Ethiopia...

the first picture!

Us with Joe and Sarah Cotton and their little Iris

Us with Helen, the social worker at Acacia Village. She is so wonderful with our babies and we are so thankful she is there with the rest of the great staff!

Ah! I can't wait to have him home with us.

I'm Learning To...

2012-01-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Fingerprint Prayer Request

2012-01-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

So, for some reason I've had in my head that our fingerprints only needed to be current up to our court date, but I found out(probably again) that they need to be current to get our embassy appointment. I checked our date, and our fingerprints expire this Saturday! Thankfully I was able to put all of our info together and get it sent off todeay so that we don't have to pay the hundreds of dollars this could've cost if I hadn't gotten it in by the expiration date. But the lady on the phone said that it takes about 75 days to process this request! Ideally we could go back and get Josef in 8 weeks, but they cant even send in our stuff to the embassy unless our fingerprints are current. PLEASE pray that this process would happen quicker and it wouldn't delay our embassy appointment. I am sick that something I overlooked would cause a delay in bringing him home.

Jerusalem's Parents

2012-01-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

It has been fun reading through Psalms the last few months. God has been showing me lots of great stuff, but one thing that has really stood out is how God is God of the whole world - of every nation, people, tribe, and tongue!! I love travelling for many reasons, but it seems like whenever God has given me that privilege I see this concept in real life! God is the God of the whole world! Understanding that also makes the world seem a lot smaller. This whole Ethiopia experience has been like that. Three years ago I couldn't have told you much about Ethiopia at all. I have memories of commercials about hungry children in Ethiopia, but that's about all I knew. I love learning about other cultures I just hadn't had any exposure to Ethiopia...yet.

Landon and Mindy had started adopting in 2009 (I think) from Ethiopia. Dawson and I were always anxious for a time when God would open the door for us, but we didn't have any particular country picked out. I think we were so excited about Landon and Mindy getting started that we just thought 'why not?' and filled out the application with Christian World Adoption in May of 2010. Each country has a list of requirements for adoptive parents and once we started looking into country options we found that Ethiopia was the best fit for us as well, so we started our Ethiopian journey. Soon after this our Lustre Christian High School received an application for a student from Ethiopia who wanted to attend here. We moved to Lustre in February of 2010 and Jerusalem came in March. We connected right away and she has very much become a part of our family. She lives at the dorm, but comes to stay with us any time there is a vacation and for the summer, or if I'm craving Ethiopian food and need her help cooking it! She has taught us much about her culture and country, and I have felt so blessed by God to have her as a part of our family as we are also in the process of adopting from Ethiopia! So crazy! Of course we would need to meet her parents while we were in Addis and what an amazing time it was to be with them! So crazy, crazy, crazy!!

Jerusalem

Jerusalems mom, Emebet, and I in her coffee shop. The best coffee I had in Addis was here. Her caramel macchiato is amazing!

Emebet owns this gas station - the coffee shop/restaurant is on the side

They are building a house in the 'suburbs' of Addis. This is the view down the street - there was a lot of construction.

Her dad called this house 'Jerusalem House'

More shots of the 'burbs'

A coffee plant!

Her mom took me to a dress shop and bought three beautiful dresses - one which I was to give to Jerusalem. While we were here, Jerusalem's dad, Zewdu, had Dawson across the street at a men's shop!

We ate a large meal probably every two hours when we were with them, not to mention coffee breaks in between. They must have taken us to every nice restaurant in town. This one was wonderful - The Face of Addis. We drove all the way up these windy streets to this place overlooking Addis.

They also took us to her old High School to meet her principal!

Back to the gas station for more gift giving - enough Ethiopian food to feed everyone in Lustre!

This is the kitchen in Emebet's restaurant - that is an injera maker and a pile of fresh injera (the pancake looking thing)

The chefs

Dawson with Noah - Jerusalems little brother

The fam - Bathlehem is the only one I haven't introduced yet

They were so wonderful and I just couldn't believe we were hanging out with Jerusalem's family in Ethiopia! Crazy!

Meeting Bereket

2012-01-11T14:21:00.000-07:00

About ten years ago, Dawson was at a Ray Boltz concert in Billings and God layed it on his heart to sponsor a child through a program called Mission of Mercy, and we have been sponsoring that same boy ever since. His name is Bereket and he lives in Addis. So we met him.

He is 12 years old and has lived with his aunt since his mom passed away about 2 years ago. Mission of Mercy is a Christian, community/family, support/development, Good News sharing, lots of fun having program. There are 11 MoM projects in Addis and all of them focus on the 3km area around that specific program. They meet on Saturdays - kind of a Big Brother Big Sister kind of thing. This particular Saturday they were celebrating Christmas so there were about 400 kids there (there are 800 kids in this area that they minister to and who attend their programs). Not all of the kids are sponsored, but about half are.

Just a sweet face sitting next to me.

This is the preschool they have. Once the kids are school age they attend the nearest school.

What a treat to meet Bereket and see what Mission of Mercy does first hand.

Introducing...

2012-01-11T11:32:00.003-07:00

Josef Blaise Olfert

Josef.

He was given the name Yosef which is Joseph in English. Joseph means God shall increase - in once place I saw it translated as God shall add another son - that seemed appropriate. Joseph is also a family name - my Great Grandpa on my moms side. I'm a big fan of Jesus' dad and Jacob's son in the Bible. They both brought glory to God, especially by the way they handled the hard things He gave them. They both trusted God and knew that He had good in store for them. I hope our Josef will have the same kind of faith. Oh, and as far as the 'f' at the end goes - I just liked it better than 'ph' and Dawson approved.

Blaise.

We use a book called 131 Christians Everyone Should Know as our baby name book. Hadden is from Charles Hadden Spurgeon, Diek is a family name but also from Dietrich Bonhoffer, and our little Josef gets his middle name from Blaise Pascal. Here's a quick bio in case you don't know who he is...Pascal grew up in the age of reason - or enlightenment thought in 17th century France, but he wouldn't buy into it. He became famous for saying "Reason's last step is the recognition that there are an infinite number of things which are beyond it. The heart has its reasons which reason does not know at all." He was also a little Macguyver-like - he was a great inventor and a scientific and mathematical genius. Pascal had a definitive conversion experience in 1654 and lived the rest of life as an evangelist and apologist! Pascal always believed that Christianity was a heart thing and not just a head thing, which wasn't a popular thought then. He was bold for Christ, used science and math to bring Him glory, and was creative and inventive - we pray all of these things over Joesf! Ok, Blaise also means one who stutters, but hey so did Moses(probably) and he did great things for God. Let's think of it more as a blazing fire - that Josef would always be a blazing fire for God!

Here are some new pictures...still not the ones taken while we were with him, but new ones. I think he's glad we visited - he looks so happy!

We also found out today that CWA received the court decree and can now apply for Josef's birth certificate! Check.
Love you, buddy! Can't wait to get you home!

Part 2

2012-01-09T15:17:00.002-07:00

12/29/2011

I almost always write about silly things that happen during the day, funny things the kids say, and maybe some embarrassing stories about me. I'm not very good at writing about serious things, and I've been trying to figure out how to share this day with you. I've been tempted to steal words from my new adopting family bloggers who shared this day with us and have already put it into words, but something feels wrong about that =) I have also been stalling because I still don't have any pictures, but I need to get it down so here it is:

Since we were still working on jet lag we were waking up very early (around 4-5). I woke up in the dark and my mind wouldn't go back to sleep - I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that I was actually going to get to hold our baby today. So, I just lay there in bed thinking about him - just like I have done for over a year and still do. But today was different. Today I got to touch him, kiss him, hug him, hold him, and tell him I love him! Today was definitely different. We got ready to go. Got our 100lbs of donations ready to take. Loaded up in a van with a few other CWA families and headed to Acacia Village. Each adoption agency works differently, but one thing I really like about CWA is that they have a transitional home - Acacia Village. In Ethiopia most orphanages are independently owned and run - there are only a few run by the government. We would ask - Does the government give any money to these orphanages? and the answer was always no. I'm guessing that's an American question because they always seemed slightly surprised by it. CWA has guidelines for the orphanages they use. They establish relationships with them and provide support for them as they take care of the children. Once the child is referred to a family and has a court date they are transferred to Acacia Village which is run by CWA. It is a really nice facility, new, clean, plenty of space. But the very best part about CWA is the staff there. They are amazing! The kids are loved, kissed, sang to, prayed for, and played with. I've already said that we couldn't take pictures of Josef, but we also couldn't take pictures with any other kids in them either, so Acacia Village looks empty in the pictures. There are probably about 20 kids there right now so just picture them running around in the background or hiding behind the corners, and try to hear all of the happy noises too!

Dawson playing ping pong with Solomon, our driver. He played with two of the older boys, too.

Josef's bed =)

Acacia Village

the classic "laundry at the orphanage" shot

This is the room where the parents could hang out with their little ones.

When we arrived we would wait here and then they'd bring us our babies.

We pulled up to the building and got out. Helen, the social worker who hangs out with our kids all day, was right there to greet us. Before we could get inside though we saw a little boy peeking out - about 8 years old - looking for his family. He knew who they were because they had sent him a photo album before. When he saw them he ran to them and hugged them. I'm not a big crier, I'm not overly sentimental, but I knew I'd probably cry today and that scene brought the first tears. Precious. There were two couples in our group adopting an older boy and I couldn't get over how sweet these boys were. They would come and sit by us as we held Yosef and touch his head, sing to him, talk to him, and love on him. Sweet.

CWA gives the option of paying a film crew to make a documentary for Josef, and we chose to do that. They video anything they can that pertains to Josef's time in Ethiopia. So, they were there to record this moment when we first got to meet him. Helen brought Josef to us - amazing, sweet, precious, wonderful, tears. And then the film crew asked us to do it again (I was probably making a weird face that they wanted to fix)... so Helen took Josef upstairs and brought him down to us again to refilm. That was a little awkward, I just wanted to hold him again. We hung out with him there for a few hours. He fell asleep in our arms. We visited with the doctor who told us that our little Josef is healthy - just little. We were thankful. Couldn't wait to come back again tomorrow.

Part 1

2012-01-06T16:39:00.001-07:00

Where to start... I guess at the beginning

12/28/2011
Our Flight from Frankfurt to Addis was very interesting. I thought maybe we would stand out, that the flight to Ethiopia would be full of Ethiopians, but it wasn't. Instead, it seemed to be full of missionaries, adoptive families, and maybe some hikers/tourists, probably some business people. But then I realized that most Ethiopians don't ever leave Ethiopia. It is very difficult and expensive for them to get visas. There were four seats in our row on the flight - Dawson and I, next to me was a girl who was adopting a girl and coming to pick her up(even though she didn't have an embassy appointment!). We talked most of the flight. Next to her was a man who was reading Faith Like Potatoes, so I guessed he was a believer. We started up a conversation and learned that he had adopted years ago from Ethiopia and was bringing two of his boys back to visit. He moved his family to inner city Minneapolis and had started a ministry to inner city kids - a school called Hope Academy http://www.hopeschool.org/ I had alot of fun sharing stories with my seat mates =)

12/29/2011
Our Guest House.

We stayed at the Addis Flower Guest House http://www.addisflowerguesthouse.com/ and LOVED it! It cost $45USD/night which included breakfast. If you wanted lunch or dinner they would make it for a great price- around $5. There was a shopping mall and a few good restaurants within walking distance. We also always had electricity and water! We had a room and a shared bathroom. The guest house is run by a 25 year old Ethiopian guy named Yonaton, and he was so great. He took great care of us and if we wanted to go anywhere he would set up a driver and plan anything we needed. He would also sit around with us in the evenings and tell us about Ethiopia. We had the privilege of sharing the guest house with the Cottons from the Chicago area - Joe and Sarah - all week. They are adopting a little girl through CWA too so we had all of our appointments together. We also discovered that our babies sleep right next to each other at Acacia Village =) They were hilarious, and such a blessing to be around!

Josef!

2012-01-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

Now that we've passed court we can post pictures - woohoo!!! CWA has a rule that while we're visiting our children we can't take pictures - they take pictures and email them to us. Now I actually followed that rule and am anxiously awaiting that email so that I can show you some more pictures. But I just couldn't wait to show him to you, so here are some older pictures until I can update you with the really fun ones! And if you think he's precious here, you wouldn't believe how sweet he is in real life!!!

So, What Happens Now?

2012-01-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, here is the plan now that we've passed court - hopefully it will happen in the estimated wait time of 2 - 4 months and then we can go back and bring our little guy home.

Here's the breakdown of what happens now:

They are submitting to get our court decrees and birth certificate. (This typically takes several weeks).
Then we can request a Passport.
Next is the Embassy Physical. Physical results must be back before we can proceed.
After this is all done, with no errors and no requests for additional information, etc., we can be submitted to the Embassy!
The Embassy may take a few weeks to review our documents. They may request more information, or they could approve the case right away. (if they request more information, we could be delayed significantly).
If we are approved right way, the Embassy will contact us for an appointment, in which we will travel back over to Ethiopia. I hear that sometimes we would only get a one week notice!!
Once we travel back over to Ethiopia, we will have our Embassy appointment and then it will take them 2 days (I think) to process Josef's Visa, then we are free to leave the country.

Our Schedule in Ethiopia

2011-12-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

Here's what we'll be doing (converted to Mountain time) with CWA while we're in Addis:
12/28 11:15am getting picked up at the airport
12/29 12:00-2:00am our first visit with Yosef!
12/30 12:00-2:00am a second visit with Yosef (we're hoping to schedule visits on Monday and Tuesday as well, but we'll have to do that on our own. Please pray that that would work out!)
1/1 11:00pm give consent at court - this is where we say we'd love to be Yosef's parents and they say "he is yours!"
1/3 8:00am we head to the airport to begin our trip home

Diek Says the Funniest Things...

2011-12-09T08:47:00.002-07:00

Diek: I like all kinds of movies, mom. That's just how God made me!

You Know You're Kids Are From (a Farm in) NE MT When...

2011-12-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

you drive through Roundup area and they comment on all the trees and the big mountains

they get frustrated when we have to stop at stop lights when we go to the city

the first thing they think of when they hear the word 'pup' is a trailer

Ethiopia Here We Come!

2011-12-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

I got "the call" this morning! We need to be in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Wednesday, December 28th! I will let you know our schedule when we know it a little better. Your prayers are all so precious to me -that's why I need you to know everything that's going on - so that you can be praying for us =) Right now I'm frantically running around trying to think of all the things I need to get done in three weeks. I did make myself stop and brush my teeth, but am still working on changing out of my pjs...wait I have that problem every day... Well, I'll keep you posted. (I so wish I could post his sweet face on this blog, but just picture the sweetest little black baby boy face you've ever seen!)

Our Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T21:40:00.001-07:00

For Thanksgiving, we headed to Billings for some turkey, family, and shopping! We had Jerusalem, Rachael, and Julie of course along for the ride. Most of the way to Billings the back seat looked like this... well, sometimes the boys were awake.

Dawson made Diek out of Jenga blocks...

Time for a little nap while Hadden crawled around on me - always relaxing...

the parents...

the girls...

my grandpa telling stories to Dawson

sister with her famous "sweet" potatoes

lots and lots of really yummy food!

maybe not always good manners, but lots of fun at the table...

time for bed (at 6:00pm - hoping no nap and tryptophan would help us out) We were planning on giong to bed around 7 so we could be up by 3 for some black friday madness - thats 8 hours of sleep! The girls were all ready to go at 3:15, so we snuck out while everyone else was asleep.

Where's Waldo...or Dawson? We made it to Sears in time to stand in this line for 30 min, but man did we ever get some deals!

Always an adventure...

Going Back in Time...Family Vacation

2011-11-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

For our family "post-harvest, it's-nice-to-see-you-again" vacation this year we decided to head down to Denver. We stopped for a night in Billings, so that I could spend time with some of my very favorite girl friends for our 6thish annual "girls weekend." I feel so blessed to have such godly, hilarious, wise, beautiful, creative, etc, etc, etc friends!

We headed South after lunch the next day, and started enjoying things we don't always get to enjoy like...

automatic car washes, easy cheese, good restaurants, whole foods markets, and watching TV at our motel

Wild Eggs - two thumbs up! Our favorite eat out time was Steubens - I give it two thumbs and two big toes it was so good!

Next stop, the air and space museum. It was fun, but not very kid friendly. Lots of looking, not alot of touching. A friend told me we should've checked out the Forney Museum of Transportation - much more kid friendly.

It was a treat to have dinner and some church with my friend, Sam, from college and his wife and son. They go to the Scum of the Earth Church - it was great! I would highly recommend visiting if you're ever in the area. They love Jesus there.

Day trip to Colorado Springs to visit Mr. Whittaker at Whit's End!

Riding the cog rail to the top of Pike's Peak...

to eat some world famous donuts

and get an amazing view

A lot of this... (if you can't tell, they're watching TV - probably because it's 6am or something crazy like that)

Denver Zoo... a favorite attraction was watching the construction of a new exhibit through a little viewing hole =)

there were some cool animals too

Children's museum on free night - might not recommend that. It was so packed full of kids and parents it was almost funny...almost. But we still had some free fun.

Happy Vacation!

Hadden...or is it?

2011-11-20T20:53:00.001-07:00

Hadden's big (birth)day is tomorrow and I thought I'd give this a try...

Yeah, that isn't really Hadden - it's a paper Hadden wearing Hadden's clothes pinned to the wall. We'll see what he says in the morning =)

ta-da! Happy Birthday big guy!

What Inspires Dawson

2011-11-19T19:38:00.002-07:00

As I was cleaning up after supper I looked over to see Dawson looking fondly at a picture of a gooseneck trailer he'd like to own some day while this song played in the background (You're my Inspiration by Chicago). It was a very sweet moment... (make sure you listen to the words of the song =) )

The Big Elk Hunt

2011-11-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

Here's what the guys did...

Here's what we did...

Country Boy Goes Hunting

2011-11-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

I know I'm way behind on blogging, but I just had to get this one in. Today Dawson is leaving for a little father/sons hunting trip. Thankfully they will have horses carrying all of their stuff, because I just don't think he'd make it very far without one...

Oh, and I wanted you to see the slippers tucked into the side of his bag. I think my mom might call this a "glunting" trip! (My parents go "glamping")

Wish you the best, Country Boy!

Things We're Thinking About

2011-09-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

Me: What do you want to name our new brother?
Diek: Diek.
Hadden: Hoodo (his favorite silly word)

Hadden: Me teach baby to go poopoo on the toilet.
Diek: Will he get gummy bears?
Me: yes
Diek: I will tell him not to hit me.

It's (finally) A Boy!

2011-09-20T14:51:00.001-07:00

We filled out our first application to begin adopting a baby from Ethiopia with Christian World Adoption 16 months ago, and today I got "the call!" I can't tell you much about our little guy, but he is 5 months old and I can't wait to get him here. Please be praying that little guy is being loved on where he is. Pray that somebody is singing to him, playing with him, holding him, ... I still think a lot about his mom. Our next step is (of course) waiting, but this time we're waiting for our court date. Then we fly to Ethiopia, spend some precious time with little guy, and then tell a judge that we'll adopt him. The stinky thing is that then we get back on an airplane (without little guy) and fly home to do more waiting. Then they'll give us another date when we can bring him home. Please be praying for us, but I would appreciate most of your prayers going to our baby - I think he needs them more than we do right now. I love sharing this experience with you, so I hope you're up for it!!

The Book Review

2011-09-16T16:12:00.002-07:00

I love reading. I always have a stack going (want to read, started but having a hard time getting into it, started it and really like it but can't find the time) but it seems like I never get to it as often as I'd like. One of my very favorite things is being consumed by a story! Except when I read some Christian romance trilogy by Francine Rivers and started dreaming about the characters and thinking about them during the day...that was too much. But lately I have been finding time to read and I've been loving it, so I thought I'd give you some of my thoughts in case you're looking for a good story to be consumed by!

Mindy lent me this one and I was leary at first because it is a thick one, but once I started I was totally hooked. If you are at all interested in adoption, Ethiopia in particular, you must read this! It is a beautiful story about an Ethiopian woman helping children in her country. It has a lot of Ethiopian history, which is very interesting, and a lot of AIDS information.

The next two were recommended to me by my great friend and mentor, Barb. Whenever Barb tells me to read something I get on Amazon and get it ordered as soon as I can because I know I'll love it! That was definitely true of these two. One Thousand Gifts is a beautiful story about a Mennonite farmers wife with six children. She journals her way through daily life and how she discovers the power of thanksgiving. She is so transparent and captures her thoughts in a way I never could! Definitely an inspiring challenge to be more thankful!

So cute, short, and sweet! This book is written by a mother of 5 (ages 5 and under!) who talks about finding Jesus in the little things, and loving this crazy time of being a mom! Again, an encouragement and a challenge, but so good!

Hanging Out With Some of our Favorite People

2011-09-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Foos came to visit us for a few days. Grandma helped make salsa, freeze corn, make bread, and lots of other things! Thanks for the visit - it is always fun to have you.

Dawson's Great Uncle Don was here with us for the summer - and what a treat it was to have him here. We'll miss you Uncle Don!

Then we got to go boating and picnic with Grandma and Grandpa Olfert

Family swimming lessons

Tubing with Grandpa

Grandpa and Dawson did a little skiing - and this was on Saturday...can you tell that we're almost done with harvest!!!

Harvest

2011-09-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

"There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the LORD your God has blessed you."

Amen!

This looked like a stressful phone call. What do you think?

I think it turned out alright!

Diek and Hadden love seeing the equipment on the yard. We are still working on getting them to like riding in it better, but I think they're improving.

Peas!

A little of my harvest...cabbages! Sad to say, our sauerkraut didn't turn out so we had to throw it all. That was a sad day at the Olfert house.

In the field with Uncle Don

and Great Grandpa

and Grandma - hauling out supper!

Harvest is almost over, and then I suppose there will be seeding and spraying to do (but I do see a vacation in our somewhat near future). We are thankful for this harvest and what God has done for us!!

Our Little Co-Pilot

2011-09-05T12:47:00.000-07:00

A Day with Abby and Great Grandma Selma

2011-09-05T12:41:00.001-07:00

We headed across the road to Great Grandma's to make some donuts...

I think Diek found something else to do, but Abby and Hadden enjoyed watching and helping

Once the donuts were finished we needed to find someone to help eat them. Maybe there is a hungry guy in the shop?

Hey, there's one!

Now, back to Grandma's to try some for ourselves ( I guess Diek wanted to help now!)

Oh Diek...

2011-08-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

Diek to Dawson
"When I have a big head like you I'll drive an airport firetruck"
"I wish I could be a wheat but I'm just a boy"

Diek to the guy installing our A/C
"We're going to have another baby!" (at this point I just sucked it in, smiled, and went inside - all the time thinking that I should explain to him that we're adopting and finally deciding that probably wasn't necessary)

When the Fruit Truck Comes

2011-08-19T07:28:00.001-07:00

When you live really far away from the grocery store and fresh produce, it is a pretty big deal to have a truck come all the way to you. The fruit truck comes once a summer bringing some special fruit - maybe cherries, maybe peaches, maybe something else - and it's the talk of the town! Everyone is calling around making sure that everyone else knows about the fruit truck. I thought I'd explain more with pictures...

The fruit truck was supposed to arrive at 2:30, so Mindy and I showed up at Susan's house shortly before that. Women kept coming and pretty soon we were having a little party with tea and cookies as we waited for the fruit.

Finally, around 5:00 he arrives! All of the women start making their way outside, some making subtle comments about what time they arrived so that they could get their deserved place in line.

As the peach man gets set up, we all stand around waiting for someone to make a move. Finally, LaVonne breaks out and then the race is on! Will he have enough peaches for all of us?

Women carry out big boxes full of peaces with the hopes of canning fresh peaches to have all year, maybe making a pie or two, and having lots of yummy peaches to put in our farmer husbands lunches.

All for a peach.

When it's Hot, We Get the Hose Out

2011-08-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

This a favorite game - spray stuff with the hose. The garage door makes a fun sound, so it's a favorite. They did wash the inside of the garage once, but they are pretty good about spraying where they're supposed to.

But look at that face - I know exactly where he wants to point that hose when I take pictures like these!

After church one day we decided to play in some water. Daddy was a good sport and took it in the face more than a few times.

Dawson was spraying water towards the boys.

And I taught the boys how to run right through.

This pool burst the other day though, so we'll need something different for next year!

Life

2011-08-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

There is always a lot going on around the yard, especially in the summer. One morning before swimming lessons, we headed over to see the latest project in action. The guys were all working together to pour a cement foundation for a bin. The big highlight for the boys was the cement truck...and also a gravel pile that they discovered on our way there!

Yes, that is Jerusalem. And yes, she is sitting behind the steering wheel of a car! Look out Lustre, we are teaching Jerusalem to drive!

Family time in the garden. We all have a job. I'm the weeder, picker...

Dawson is the rotor tiller. The really disturbing thing is that he was not wearing any shoes, and unfortunately the whole time I couldn't get images of his foot slipping into the blades out of my mind! But I do REALLY appreciate the help with weeding even if he loses a few toes in the process.

Oh, and the boys job...playing in the mud? Maybe we'll work on being helpful next year.

One night Dawson and I had a meeting, so Jerusalem was in charge of putting the boys to bed. It happened to be a stormy night with lots of thunder, so they ended up like this in her bed. She ended up on the floor.

This is our "around the yard" family car. It seats 5 rather comfortably. We were headed to Ron and Ettas to hear about Landon and Mindy's adoption process, see pictures, watch a video. So, I thought that would be a perfect opportunity for us all to dress up in our Ethiopian clothes =) I am kind of glad I'm taking the picture and not in this one!

This is my view of the sunflower field right across the road!

Our life consists of lots of little things, and I really like almost all of them!

Farmer "Federal" Holidays

2011-08-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

When I was an elementary teacher I knew when every holiday was. The school was decorated with holiday crafts and lots of people around me were wearing clothes that coordinated with the day. Since moving to the farm, where Federal holidays are generally not recognized as a day off of work, I usually only know to check the calendar when I don't get any mail. But, I've also noticed that farmers in Lustre have their own "Federal" holidays that do constitute "days off" (which actually means doing a different kind of work!)
* Kill day and cut up day (pretty much just what it sounds like) right before Schmeckfest
* Schmeckfest (almost a three day "holiday" from farm work)
* Annual clean up day at the high school (which was today, and also the inspiration for this blog)
* Occassionally basketball playoff games
* Camp cleanup day
We do take Sundays off in case you think we work too much!

Swimmg Lessons

2011-07-30T16:09:00.000-07:00

For the last two weeks I drove into Glasgow every day to take Diek to swimming lessons. Thankfully there were four of us moms going so we were able to carpool. I thought it would be fun to blog each day of swimming lessons to see Dieks progress, but the first day was so traumatic that I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of the poor guy. But, it really did get better each day and he even started liking it! Here is a picture of the whole crew...

Alexa Reddig, Aubri Holzrichter, Vince Gonzales, Diek, Hadden, and Joel Reddig
Joel and Hadden weren't quite old enough for swimming lessons this year, but they were good sports sitting out!

Waiting for swimming lessons to start... it had rained a lot the night before and the kids noticed that the ground had become very swampy...

Diek and Hadden thought they should go check it out...

perfect! They splashed around and got soaking wet - just in time to hop in the pool!

Diek with his favorite teacher - Maddie

Poor Hadden - next year, buddy!

On the last day of swimming lessons Diek actually went off the diving board! I was so proud =)

(He loved wearing goggles) Getting out after his big jump

and getting back in line!

one more jump! Way to go, Diek!

A New Woman

2011-07-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

The other day Dawson taught me how to use the gun. Yesterday, I saw the gopher that lives in our yard so I felt confident enough to get the gun, load it, and take a shot at him(the gopher, not Dawson). As I was walking up our driveway my father-in-law comes riding over on the four wheeler and I felt slightly hillbilly. Today, as we were eating lunch I again spied that mangy gopher out the window. I ran to get the gun while Dawson popped off the screen in the window. After two shots I successfully finished him off. Seriously, I wouldn't have predicted this scene in a million years, but I guess I've become a new woman since moving out to the country!

2011-07-09T16:06:00.000-07:00

My sister in law, Becca, was up in Lustre and took some pics of the boys. I think she did a pretty good job, but I also think these boys are so darn cute that it's hard to take a bad picture =)

Random Pictures That Need to be Blogged

2011-07-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

This year has brought some pretty crazy weather. This fall/winter/spring I blogged pictures of snow, snow, and more snow (I just read that we got over 110 inches!). Well, the spring has brought lots and lots of water, which is also not common. I figured that since I turn my blog into a book I should probably steal some pictures of the Fort Peck Dam off of facebook (Thanks Jen) and record this historical moment =) I don't think the dam has had the spillway opened for 20 years (or close to that) and currently all of the gates are open.

The other night we had a storm. A verse in Nahum says that "He displays His power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath His feet." I know what billowing means, but I'd never seen it. I stole some more pictures off of facebook to show it to you...

That thing just billowed right over my house, shot some hail and rain our way, and had Dawson looking for tornadoes. Wow.

Fort Peck Here We Come!

2011-07-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

The Browns were in Lustre and called to invite us to spend the day on the lake. So, we dusted off the boat, made sure it would start, and packed it up!

Yep, they all fit in one boat =)

Since I'm the one taking the pictures 99% of the time, I occassionally ask Dawson to take my picture with our children, so that they will know that I did go on family outings too. This was an attempt at that...and I'm the only one looking. Well, we're blogging it anyways.

Sarah and I took the little ones on a tube ride behind the boat!

Hadden makes such great faces =)

Soccer Lessons

2011-06-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

Jerusalem took the boys out to play a little soccer.

Good job, coach!

Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Couch

2011-06-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to teach your kids not to jump on couches. But our couches are so great for jumping on...and look how cute they are!

Zwieback Anyone?

2011-06-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

I am loving my new Mennonite Girls Can Cook cookbook! I have tried quite a few things and they have all turned out - I am giving all credit to the cookbook!

One mennonite tradition that has always been mysterious to me is zwieback (or twieback if you're more of a low-german fan). Selma and Etta are both zwieback masters, so I've eaten them many times and always enjoy them. It's not the taste that is a mystery...it's the funny shape. I am sharing the pictures of my zwieback, but know that this isn't quite what they're supposed to look like. But, thanks to Mennonite Girls Can Cook, I gave it a try.

I've never seen anyones zwieback with poke holes in the center, but thats what the cookbook said to do. Now when you eat these, you pop off the little bun on the top and you sort of have two different sized buns to eat. This is where the mystery comes in. The top bun is fun to eat with a little butter and jam, but the bottom bun just has a little spot (where you took off the top bun) to put the butter and jam. Then you're left taking bites of plain bun just to get to the little spot with jam and butter. Do you sandwich them together? Do you turn the bigger bun over and spread it with jam and butter? (I think thats what Dawson does, but it doesn't feel right to me.) Why not just make one bun, cut it in half and have two even shaped buns to eat? It would also be less work to make one bun - these snowmen shaped buns are a little tricky for me (as you can tell from the picture)

Zwieback has some history with it. I guess when the Mennonites immigrated from Russia the women would make a lot of these because they have a long shelf life. When they were older and drier(the buns, not the women) they were called reistche twieback.
I'd love to hear your thoughts =)

So Long, Julie

2011-06-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

Julie headed back to PA this week. We were sad to see her go, but glad that she could spend some time with her family. We'll get her again next year - and (the boys especially!) can hardly wait to get her back. In the morning they wake up looking for Julie, wondering where Pennsylvania is - which usually distracts them as they start to ask questions like: Do they make pencils in Pennsylvania? Have a great summer Julie! Until then, we'll keep the boys occupied with Leah and Jerusalem...we'll post pics as soon as I take some.

How We Eat Fried Worms

2011-06-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

Having boys (and never having had brothers) often requires me to be tougher than I really am. I didn't play with worms, pull legs off of grasshoppers, catch snakes and bugs, or any of that gruesome boys stuff. I guess I've always been a cautious one. The other day as I was working on my flower beds the boys discovered worms. I was slightly surprised because I wasn't at all scared of the worms (mainly because I was wearing gloves so I did't actually have to touch them). The boys just kept gathering the worms and made little worm families, which (of course) consist of a mommy, a daddy, a big boy, and a little boy worm. Now the boys scour the ground for any sign of a worm when we're outside. I like being a mom of boys =)

What does a worm smell like?

Worm in my shoe!

Diek: "Mom, we should really fry these worms up."

Me: "What?"
Diek: "That's what we do at Grandma Foos'"
Me: "Hmmm..."

Our Niece is Here!

2011-05-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

I stole this picture off of Mindy's facebook page because I just couldn't wait to tell all of you/show you that Landon and Mindy were able to finally get this sweet girl home!!! She is Tessa Hope. Please keep their family in your prayers! I can hardly wait for our turn to come =)

Graduation

2011-05-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

We had graduation this Sunday at our Lustre Christian High School. We had quite the class - 2 boys from Ghana (Martin and Alidu). We're excited to have Alidu staying to work with us this summer, and they're both planning a trip back for Thanksgiving since they'll be attending Minot State. Two boys were from China (Marcus and Carl). Two were from Korea (Aron and Jackie). A boy from Kentucky, Cody, and a boy from Texas, Michael. This was the first year in Lustre history to not have any local students in the graduating class. It is sad to see them leaving since they're all going to far away places and I've found that Lustre just isn't really on the way to anywhere...so, we really hope they'll come back and see us. Congratulations!!!

The Apple

2011-05-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

Apparently Diek and Dawson had a conversation about having an apple right before bed (this is at 9:30 at night). I didn't know about this conversation (Dawson says I just didn't hear him tell me - oops) so I told Diek that he couldn't have an apple. He ran to Dawson pretty upset about this.
Dawson: Did mommy say no to the apple?
Diek: No, she said no to me!

Why I Like Rainy Days

2011-05-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

When you live in the city a rainy day is, well just a rainy day. But, when you're a farmer trying to put seeds into the ground with big tractors a rainy day means...

finishing up home improvement projects (with help)

and...
pillow fights!

The rain makes the seed that is in the ground grow (my garden included), makes my grass green, and gives us a little time with daddy during a really busy time of year. I can't say I mind it at all =)

Oh, and this is a picture of how Diek now prefers to wear his pants. Hopefully, we can fix this before kindergarten!

Our Little Artist

2011-05-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

Diek found a pack of sticky notes and went to work drawing a picture on all of them. There were probably 100 pictures of "tormadoes" but I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you!

ambulance

a guy with one shoe (this one cracks me up every time!)

um...aliens (he says they always have three eyes)

"a guy without any any legs"

I have no idea what inspired him. We don't talk alot about aliens and we haven't seen many people without legs that would bring up that discussion. So, I guess he just has a good imagination - I'll be thankful for that =)

My Running Adventures

2011-05-09T15:45:00.001-07:00

Thanks to some inspiring and motivating friends, and my husband who found a great deal on a treadmill, I kind of started doing some running after Christmas. The idea was to be able to run the Montana Womens Run in May - the 5 mile race. Well, I have been pretty faithful with running considering that I've never ran or pretty much done any exercising in my life. But running has always been hard - I never end up going very long distances, going very fast at all, or being able to run very long. So, all these things considered I was really nervous about doing the run. I packed up the boys anyways and we drove to Billings. I did the run. My goal was to run each mile at an average rate of 15 min/mile. I realize that this is slow and some people could probably walk that. But, I wanted a realistic goal - I didn't even know if I could run 3 of the 5 miles. Now, keep in mind that my 20 week pregnant sister-in-law had to leave me in her dust, but my goal wasn't to beat anyone - just to finish (Ok, well I also didn't want to come in last place, so I guess beating someone was also part of my goal). And I did! In fact, I averaged a 11 1/2 minute miles!!! It felt so good to finish and the run was really fun. I even got a shirt and some chapstick! Well, I didn't have my camera so I tried to put together some photos for you that are as close to the real thing as I could.

YES!

Seeding Has Begun

2011-05-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

We were finally able to start seeding on May 2, about a month later than last year. We will hopefully be seeing this in the next months...

wheat

sunflowers

canola

and peas!

Happy planting everyone!

Am I Getting Old?

2011-05-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

So, I'm in line at Target and a boy gets in line behind me. Here is the conversation.

him: Weren't you a teacher at Shepherd?
me: ya. You did look familiar, you were in the play. What was your name again?
blah, blah, blah
me: So, have you graduated already?
him: um, yeah. Class of 06. I'm 24.

Some background info: I taught 4th grade at Shepherd for two years before I had Diek. I also did the high school play both of those years. I'm thinking he was a Senior my first year.
Seems like yesterday to me =)

Gopher Hunting and Cow Branding

2011-05-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

Spring Break continued...

Gopher hunting. Now I have to tell you - I actually shot my very first gopher. Yep, and real hillbilly style too. I went out my front door, propped the gun up on the flower bed, aimed at the gopher in the yard, shot it, missed it, shot it again, hit it, Dawon walked over and finished him off. Seriously. So, the next day after church =) we headed out to find some more. This time we took Jasmine and Julie along.

The next day was branding day! The girls and I headed over to help out. We used the wagon to haul over some food for lunch and some kids.

Jerusalem discovered a hidden trap! The ground looked hard and dry, but that wasn't true at all and she fell right through. And that isn't just mud!!

Next time I hope she brings her own shoes!

The kids explored the barn.

Lunch break!

After lunch, Julie decided that she was ready to go in. After Jerusalem fell in the p%#p she went home and changed into her dainty pink house slippers and came back over. Great. So, Julie traded Jerusalem for her tennis shoes. Then when Julie wanted to help I traded her my boots and I got to wear the lovely slippers! Here is Dawson giving Julie a lesson on how to grab the calves and pull them out.

She is a quick learner. She even had time to give me a cheesy smile for a picture =)

Way to go Julie!

Easter Adventures

2011-05-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

I am so enjoying watching the boys grow. This Easter was fun to see them understanding more about Jesus and how he died for us and rose again - and that that's why we celebrate Easter! We also had Jasmine(China) and Jerusalem join us from the dorm for their Spring break.

We dyed Easter eggs. Hadden was a little confused about "dying" eggs and Jesus "dying" on the cross. I think Jasmine was just wondering why we dye them in the first place =)

This year we hid plastic eggs with candy in them. Diek discovered that these are the best ones to find and was not very interested in putting the real eggs in his basket. He is also now very unimpressed by plastic eggs that don't have candy in them. This was Dawson and Diek having a little jelly bean snack after the big hunt.

cheeeeeeeeese!!!!!!

The girls were the egg hiders

Then on Easter morning we headed to Landon and Mindys for the traditional sunrise service (starting at 5:45 am)

The Fasts brought their crew + two dorm boys from China - Marcus and Carl. Ron and Etta, and Landon and Mindy's + their three dorm boys - Arthur (Rwanda), Steve, and Damian

Oh, and this is Diek and Hadden's sunday school class with their wonderful teacher Mrs. Unger!

Happy Easter everyone!!!

The Rest of the Story

2011-04-19T10:37:00.001-07:00

I told you about the package that I found in my yard, but I had to conceal the details because it was a present that we hadn't given yet (and she's a blog reader, so I had to be careful what I said).

My sister-in-law, Mindy, is from Ohio and we'd been talking about getting a picture painted of a special place to have in her house - to remind her of home. We were all going to give it to her on her birthday, which is in January. After some calls, Mindy's mom offered to paint it for her! Well, she paints it and mails it, but we don't get it. There was a lot of calling the post office trying to figure out where this package ended up. After a while we gave up, bummed that our fun gift wasn't going to work, Mindy didn't get a birthday present, and all of her mom's hard work was lost. Until...four months later I find the package in a snow bank that had just started to thaw! It was postmarked December 15th and I found it April 9th! It must have blown right after the mailman delivered it because it was halfway between my house and the mailbox. It has been so cold, windy, and snowy here that the snow has never melted, it just gets taller and taller. So, the painting was perfectly preserved in the freezing cold pile of snow that whole time =) We were able to give it to her this weekend and share the story with her! What a fun story to pass on with the painting. I am hoping that I might find some more treasures in my yard as the snow continues (hopefully) to melt.

I Think it is Spring...

2011-04-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

even though I still see this out my front door.

It must be Spring because gophers are out (I don't have a very good zoom on my camera so I'm pretty sure you can't see our gopher, but trust me they're out)

Oh, and we have bugs so it must be Spring. These are our giant flies. I've also had a wasp in my house and an earwig in my sink yesterday. And our giant anthill is also in full working order.

We also only wear rubber shoes. They are my new favorite thing! As soon as the boys go outside they go stand in a mud puddle, I don't always catch them in time and that is why we have...

a shoe dryer at my muddy shoe washing station. I washed these this morning. So, it must be Spring if we have mud.

Happy Spring!

Big Boys

2011-04-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

We have made some big changes lately. Changes that make me realize that my baby boys maybe aren't babies anymore =(

These are Hadden's nuks (dee's) hidden away in a cupboard. I think he was finally able to kick his habit.

Our monitor finally quit, so we no longer have a monitor plugged in. I think I have heard the soft buzzing of the monitor for almost 4 years. I'm sleeping amazingly well without it.

A bunk bed!! When my parents were here they helped us build this. I was going to make their beds for the picture, but that would have been deceving since I don't usually make them.

I guess I just have to deal with the fact that Diek and Hadden are growing up, and they sure are alot of fun!

You Know There's Been Alot of Snow When...

2011-04-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

you find a package in your yard that was mailed 4 months ago and has been preserved perfectly in a pile of snow since then!

Adoption Update

2011-04-05T09:37:00.001-07:00

So, it has almost been a year since we submitted an application to CWA to start adopting a baby. We finished up our dossier (the big packet of information - birth certificates, police clearance, fingerprints, ....) in September 2010, and have been waiting for a referral since then. When we started the process it was taking around 3 months to get a referral and maybe 3-6 months after that until you would have your baby home with you. Well, "on March 7, 2011, the Ethiopian Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs released an announcement of their intentions to reduce intercountry adoptions by 90% beginning March 10, 2011. The Ministry states that this reduction is being put into place because of the assumption that 'corruption in intercountry adoption is systemic and rampant' and that the Ministry’s resources should be focused on the children for whom intercountry adoption is not an option. The reduction in adoptions will take the number from four thousand a year to less than five hundred. This is a huge slap to those who are looking to adopt from this country. They have stated that they will process only five adoption cases a day. By putting this into place, the wait time for the children in the orphanages could be extended, making each child wait almost seven years for placement." Please be praying for us and even more for Landon and Mindy, who are still waiting for the call to bring Tessa home. Thanks!

Grill or Boy?

2011-04-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

Dawson: Yum, I really like the grilled chicken.
Diek: I think I like boy chicken.

Doughnut Seeds

2011-04-04T06:54:00.000-07:00

http://familyfun.go.com/april-fools-day/april-fools-day-printable-pranks-kids/

If you liked the doughnut seed joke and you want to grow your own you can go to this website. There are other cute ideas that look fun, too. Let me know if you try any that are a success =)

April Fools Day...and How I Slice Bread

2011-04-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

Dawson always jokes about how I slice bread because my slices are always crooked. So one side of the bread is thick and the other side is thin. For my birthday he bought me this handy thing that makes sure my bread slices are consistant. This is a picture of the loaf I sliced from (the crooked one in the middle) and then there's Dawson cutting perfect slices on the right.

And then there was April Fools Day...We gave out doughnut seeds! That's right, doughnut seeds. You just plant them and in one day a doughnut plant grows. We gave seeds to Grandma Olfert and here is what happened.

You fill the packet with cheerios =)

Amazing. So we've been eating doughnuts today. Thanks Grandma!

Finally, Some Verenike

2011-04-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful day for Schmeckfest...finally! We ended up serving over 600 people, which is about 300 less than last year, but a pretty good turnout considering our crazy winter and two postponements! Here are some pictures to get you all excited about coming next year...

Wow! Check out that bake sale table. Homemade jams, jellies, breads, cinnamon rolls, noodles, leftovers, frozen verenike, and other german treats

Jet, Marcus, and Luke checking out the noodles!

The serving lines

Great Grandpa taking tickets.

We all bring our food in crock pots and roasters. Looks like Gladys' sauerkraut roaster and some Neufeld/Reddig cabbage rolls!

Cooks in the kitchen =)

The dessert table - Haddden's favorite.

Some hard working high school kids

Don't let this picture fool you - Schmeckfest is exciting!

Abby and Hadden enjoying the program after the meal.

Little Things that Make Me Happy

2011-03-30T22:24:00.001-07:00

Getting mail! I'm learning that the whole "mailman comes rain or shine" thing only applies to city mailmen. We got mail today, but it hadn't come since last Thursday.

Ahhh, seeing blue sky and dirt on the ground makes me really happy these days.

Watching Diek and Hadden play outside in the snow all by themselves made me really happy.

The swingset isn't quite thawed out yet =)

Then daddy came home for lunch! The boys had already discovered that they could slide down the piles of snow, but daddy brought the actual sled out and headed for the tallest pile.

This is all out my front door =) But, now it is supposed to rain and snow this weekend, so we might be back inside for a few more days! Spring will come soon - it has to, right?

It Snowed Again

2011-03-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

Someday Spring will come, but until then we take fun pictures of the unbelievable amounts of snow up here! Dawson took the four wheeler for a ride this morning and this is what he saw. If you've been to our house, this is the road our house is on and he is close to our house in all of them.

Coming back...our house is on the left by those two trees in the distance.

Snow for miles!

Paint Schmaint

2011-03-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

I really want my kids to have opportunities to try new things - like art. But I have to admit that I often get discouraged by the amount of time it takes to prepare, and even more time to clean up, compared with the amount of time they actually do the activity. I got some paint and some fun sponge shapes for the boys. We've painted a few times while we've been trapped in our house this long winter, and it pretty much always happens the same way...

We always finish in the bathtub because Diek ALWAYS paints himself. Hadden not so much, but Diek always does. The last time we painted he also managed to get paint on the wall and both layers of shower curtains as we made our way to the bathtub! I think they probably painted for 5-10 minutes. But, I'm trying to remember to enjoy the little things, to not be such a stressball, and to let them paint themselves - they probably needed baths anyways.

The Snow Starts to Melt

2011-03-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

And the first thing they want to do is go potty outside. I know I probably shouldn't post these pictures, but I couldn't resist! I grew up with one sister, so I am learning all kinds of things about boys...this being one of them!

We are enjoying our big puddles...

What a mess! Daddy was helping feed the cows, so we walked over to visit him. I wish I could say they're just standing in a mud puddle...but it isn't just mud!

But there is still a lot of snow to go - that is a tree with the trunk still covered with snow.

Postponed again...

2011-03-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

We are determined to have Schmeckfest. Our latest plan...Thursday, March 31st!!! So, draw some arrows on your calendars from the original date Friday, March 25th to the first postponed date of Monday, March 28th, to the second postponed date Thursday, March 31st!!!

Schmeckfest has been Postponed!!!

2011-03-25T06:35:00.001-07:00

If you were planning on heading over to Lustre to eat verenike and pluma moos like these guys were, you'll need to update your planner.

Ok, so this isn't really a picture of Lustre, but I thought it would tell you why we are trying to get people to stay home Friday - but to COME OUT ON MONDAY! Schmeckfest will happen on Monday, March 28th. So come, eat, and support our school!!!

We're praying it will look like this for Monday...OK, or maybe that it will look like this at some point in 2011!

Bible Study at the Dorm

2011-03-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

Some friends and I are going through the Search for Significance: Student Edition with the high school girls. It is a fun group of girls from all over the world; Korea, China, Ethiopia, California, Maine, Pennsylvania, and even some locals! Please be praying for us and them as we learn about our identity in Christ.

I Probably Shouldn't Compare

2011-03-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

Something I miss about living in Billings...

Yes, sidewalks. I loved going on walks with the boys during the day and often with Dawson in the evenings. We would walk to the park, the grocery store, or to visit a friend. We walked the boys around the block as babies many times to get them to go to sleep. We swaddled them tight and carried them like a football under our arms - really. I think my closest sidewalk is only as close as my closest grocery store, which just isn't condusive for a casual walk during the day.

Something I like about living in Lustre...

being across the street from a free petting zoo

DIV (The Diek's Interpretation Version)

2011-03-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

Diek: (while attempting to get everyone to pick up before nap time)
Hadden, the Bible says that you need to pick up your toys.

Diek: Hadden, the Bible says that you shouldn't go p*#p in your diaper.

How I Like to Make Verenike

2011-03-16T07:17:00.000-07:00

For Schmeckfest I think we serve around 3,000 verenike (?) So, I guess I only had to make around 200. But, the best way to make verenike is with help! Julie has helped me with three batches, and Leah and Danica got to help with this one! Thanks girls!

Some of my helpers were more helpful than others

Oh, in case you're wondering...I did help too. I just took a break for pictures!

Finally Getting Some Fresh Air

2011-03-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

We have had snow for quite a while around here (since October or something). I thought having a goal of making a snowman would be easy, but we still don't have one in our yard. I think that in order for the snow to be wet enough for a snowman it requires an increase in temperature so that the snow melts a little. We don't often experience increases in temperature, so we don't get to make too many snowmen. Maybe soon...

Well, we've been so desperate to get outside that we went on a walk anyways - it was 0 outside! Dawson and the boys made it a little ways past the mailbox and I picked them up in the car.

But yesterday it was in the 20's and it felt like Spring had arrived at last. Oh, did I mention that we almost ran over a gopher at church on Sunday. Ya, I bet he's confused.

Hadden shovelling snow.

Hadden likes to put two hats on and say, "me, Lannon" (which means, I'm Uncle Landon)

It Might Not be Hawaii, but...

2011-02-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

if the temperature difference is 50 degrees, I'll take it! We went to Billings for a little trip. Dawson worked
and we played (in between Diek being sick). It was beautiful weather - 64 one day!

For one of our adventures, Uncle Rick took us all up to the airport (where his dad "Big Rick" is a fireman) to see the snow plows, runway broom trucks, and best of all the fire trucks!

Another adventure... A haircut - and not one given by daddy. I thought they might think it was fun.

Hadden didn't mind at all...

But poor Diek cried the whole time. He didn't feel very good, but I think it might've been the same even if he was.

Final results! I guess I decided that it looks pretty much the same as when Dawson cuts it...

Then the boys got to build a snowman with Granpa Poos (Grandma Foos - He was calling them Granpa and Granpa Poos all week)

Well, it looks like Spring is coming to Montana afterall...Billings anyways. Hopefully, Lustre gets to have Spring too eventually!

Record Winter Gazette article

2011-02-06T14:47:00.001-07:00

GLASGOW — Northeastern Montana has set a record for snowfall this winter, but you wouldn't know it was anything unusual by talking to residents.“I guess we're used to the snow and cold,” said Roger Roness, transportation supervisor for the Glasgow School District. “When it gets 10 above, it feels pretty warm.”
The only problem, he said, is that the city is running out of places to put snow scraped from the streets and hauled away in dump trucks.
According to the National Weather Service's Glasgow office, the town has collected 71.7 inches of snow so far this season. The record of 70.7 inches was set in 2003-04.
The heavy snow comes on the heels of 18.06 inches of precipitation in 2010, the eighth-wettest year on record. Consequently, soil moisture is above normal to much-above-normal across much of the state, and river flows are higher than usual.
With 8 inches of snowfall normal over the next two months, there's little doubt Glasgow will greatly exceed the old record for snowfall.
Snow has covered the ground for 79 days, since Nov. 20.
NWS climatologist Don Simonsen said part of the reason for the unusual snowfall is that two air systems have been converging — one from the West Coast, the other dropping down from Canada.
“Believe it or not, the La Nina pattern is only partly responsible,” he said. “It's not the typical La Nina pattern this year.” While snow may be piled to the roof eaves, some roofs have collapsed and parked cars are buried past the doors, there's little indication that the cold and snow are having much of an effect on residents.
Sure signs of cabin fever, such as drinking and fighting, have not popped up, authorities say. Admissions to the hospital for falls, hypothermia, strained back muscles or heart attacks from shoveling snow haven't increased.
Meier, who tracks the weather at his ranch for the National Weather Service, said that, between Thanksgiving and the second week of January, only eight days were above freezing.
Cold isn't unusual in this country, where the wind feels like it's coming directly off the North Pole. Snow, however, especially this much, is a little different.“This whole northeastern Montana is just plugged with snow,” Meier said.

Oh What a Night

2011-02-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd just share a texting conversation I had with my friend, Phyllis, on Friday night.

10:15pm
Me: I've never spent the night in a semi because we couldn't get any further on black ice. Just thought I'd let you know. Sleep tight.
10:16
Phyllis: R u kidding?! Oh, my gosh. I can't even imagine. R the boys with you?
10:18
Me: Ya, we went to a bball game. The dorm bus did a 180 and the team bus was out of control on the ice. They are all stopped now, too. It is really scary.
10:22
Phyllis: And u took a semi to a game?
10:24
Me: Welcome to the life of a famers wife. We took a load of wheat to the elevator where the game was.
10:25
Phyllis: Lol! Well u have a great story to tell. Happy sleepings!
10:56
Me: Seriously a drunk guy just knocked on our door. What a night. Oh, and only one of our doors lock. I can't sleep.
10:58
Phyllis: Im sorry Im laughing =) sounds like a night on the south side
11:01
Me: Oh, did I mention we're parked right next to train tracks. Three trains so far.
11:02
Phyllis: lol! Where r ur boys?
11:02
Me: On the floor.
11:03
Phyllis: Oh no! I was going to sat at least the boys rnt there but guess I cant
11:05
Me: Oh, no. This is the best of the best tonight .
11:19
Phyllis: I prayed that God will give you a spirit of peace and courage! And I asked Him to protect you all night and on ur drive home tomorrow. He said "yes"!

A New Kind of Winter

2011-02-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

We've had a little snow this winter in Lustre. In fact, most people who've lived here for a long time say that it's the most snow they've seen in "35 years" or (for the older generation) "since the winter of 51." I can't tell you how many inches we've gotten. I just say how big the piles of snow are in our yard. So, according to the pictures it has snowed somewhere around 8 ft!! Ok, so maybe that isn't very accurate - but it sounds fun. All this to say that we've had snow on the ground since October and it doesn't look like it's going anywhere for a while.

One day after church it wasn't freezing cold, so the boys and Julie played outside while I got lunch ready. This pile is near the driveway. Dawson just keeps plowing it into a bigger pile.

Now, Julie is kind of short - but she isn't that short! The snow in our yard was almost up to her waist.

We had to have our propane tank refilled and the propane guy asked if Dawson could shovel him a path.

A little time for sledding with cousin Abby

Our swingset

(keep in mind that I took these pictures probably a month ago and it keeps snowing)

Mini snowmen or preparing for a snowball fight?

Things That Cause Frustration

2011-02-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

Diek: I'm a little frustrated

Dad: Why?

Diek: I just don't like anything that's good for me!

Christmas Cabin in MN

2010-12-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

The whole Olfert clan + 5 high school kids (Fu Rao, Carl, and Jet (China), Jerusalem (Ethiopia), and Julie)met up at a cabin north of Duluth, MN to spend Christmas together.
We did a little Twister

Uncle Anthony got in some great devotional time.

Special reading time with Grandma

Naps by the fire

Julie - always helpful - holding Juliana

Landon and Mindy brought back Ethiopian outfits for the kids. Diek wasn't a big fan, but the girls were giddy about their dresses. I think Diek will be a great wiseman again and can wear his then =)

We went on a sleigh ride

The guys + Becca spent a day snowmobiling

Fun Times! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!

The Last Three Months...

2010-12-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

Or however long it's been since my last post. Here are some updates:

In November, we took the high school kids to Billings for Acquire the Fire. Then we stayed for the week, keeping three girls with us, and spending Thanksgiving with my family.

Hadden turned 2 while we were in Billings!

Grandma even made Hadden a Thomas cake!

Did a little 4am black Friday shopping.

The boys added a character to our nativity set...we're working on it

Got a Christmas tree

Sora's Christmas tree

Decorating it

New earrings or Christmas ornaments?

Family Photo

Yesterday

2010-11-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

I had to walk through a bank drive through to deposit some checks (I had to knock on the window to get their attention). Then I walked across the street to get a coffee and was given a free coffee because I didn't have any cash to pay her! (sidenote: Dawson had cash so I walked back and paid her)
Just thought maybe some of you could appreciate this.

Ah, The Day After Halloween...

2010-11-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

means it's time for Christmas music!!!! I can't get enough. (This is the warning that my playlist is back up and running, so if you don't like listening to Christmas music for two months preceding Christmas, you might want to mute me!)

Seattle

2010-11-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

We didn't take very many pictures of our family trip, but here are a few...

Cow Day

2010-11-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful day for working with cows. We are mostly spectators, but they feed us anyways so we usually show up. We also needed to get Julie some cow exposure.

The boys, Abby, and Grandma watching the cows going into the shoot.

There was even time for a story with Aunt Mindy

Lunch at the barn

Diek Starts AWANA!

2010-11-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

It has been so fun watching Diek in Cubbies. He and Abby love being together. They always sit together and hold hands when going from place to place. It has also been such a treat hearing Diek learning his Bible verses! He does a great job and is getting some pretty precious stuff into his little heart!

Ouch!

2010-10-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

We had Jerusalem and Julie staying with us this weekend. Jerusalem cooked some wonderful Ethiopian food for supper. Ethiopian food is a little spicy. Diek's lips hurt from the food so he went and got a bandaid to put on his lips =) Actually, if you watch his phone call video you'll hear him talking about his spicy food.

Jerusalem and Julie helped me make cookies - Jerusalem hadn't made cookies before! I felt so honored =) And then we carved pumpkins. Today I'm eating the roasted seeds - so yummy!

I took Jerusalem back to the dorm on Sunday night - it's always sad to see her go, but we get to keep Julie. We're excited to announce that she's a new member of our family for now, or the rest of the yearish. So, you'll be hearing and seeing more of her.

How To Pack a Farmers Lunch (When the Farmer is Dawson)

2010-10-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

I learned a lot about lunch making this past harvest season, and I thought I'd share some insights with you.

#1:I learned how to make bread(still working on it) and that you can slice it when it's fresh and stick it in the freezer. Then when I made Dawson a sandwich I would just take out the frozen slices, make the sandwich on frozen bread, and pop it into his lunch box. I was sure the sandwich would be soggy, but it wasn't. Amazing.

#2: I learned that when making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches it is very important to peanut butter both pieces of bread and have jelly in the center. This prevents the jam from soggying up the sandwich.

#3: A "jug" (Dawsons daily water suply) takes two trays of ice to keep cold.

#4: A good lunch should have two fruits and two vegetables. (I think I learned this from Etta)

#5: I also learned about freezing cookies. I could just grab what I needed for his lunch and by lunchtime they were thawed.
#6: It is important to remind him of how lucky he is to have me around, so I taped this into the lid of his lunch box.

This is the infamous "jug" and lunch box. I think I am winterizing them on top of the dryer. I wouldn't be sad if I didn't see them for a while - or maybe until next year (probably not).

I just realized that if you aren't a famer/farmers wife you may not get my lunch box humor. My apologies.

Bug of the Month

2010-10-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

I should've started this bug of the month blog a long time ago and you could have become familiar with all kinds of wonderful creatures. However I just thought of it, so for our first episode...

Meet the boxelder bug. I thought I had boxelder bugs in Billings, and I didn't like them then. But now, I HAVE boxelder bugs if you know what I'm saying.

Ah, there he is. Can you see him? He's heading for the swather attachment. Well I have the boys trained, so look out boxelder...

Sorry for partial nudity, but I needed to show you how Diek smashed him. The boys can often be found carrying fly swatters around seeking a bug to smash.

And this is gross, too, but I had to show you. I finally got some bug spray and the next day I got to see this! What a wonderful sight - they're all dead. I'm a little embarassed to admit this to you, but I even let a out one of those evil sounding laughs (a small one) when I saw them. I really don't like bugs in my house.
Well, until the next episode...