March 7, 2009

Ready for church.	Sunday was pretty rainy all day long.  In the morning Terry preached on the church, "We Be Brethren", taken from the verse where Abraham speaks to Lot about their splitting up the herds.  We went to Leon Dueck's for a delicious lunch of roast beef, potatoes, carrots & corn.  This was Gavin's 4'th birthday so we enjoyed his "farm" cake for dessert.   Brent Heges & Dwayne Stovers were also there for lunch.  The children had a great time playing together.  Came home for much needed naps then went to church for our final night of revivals.  The topic tonight was on the "Courage of the 3 Hebrews to Stand".  Challenging!
Playing "House"	Monday was pretty ordinary.  I went to my 2nd meeting of the Rotary club.  Sheriff Ed Carroll was there today to talk about the gang problem in Barnwell County.  Somewhat worrisome!  Ina Sue spent most of the day on a large batch of laundry.  She is suffering from a sinus infection so that made her feel kinda bum.  When I got home from work I helped fold the laundry then I took the older children out with me into the yard and laid down on a blanket to look at the stars through our new binoculars.  The binoculars defintely allow you to see so much more.  It was pretty cold though so we came back in before too long.
Touring a Hutterite colony's woodworking shop.	Tuesday was another frigid day.  I went to work.  I am trying to get all my jobs finished up so that I can leave on our trip without worrying about unfinished tasks.  Ina Sue did the ironing and did some clothes mending.  I was fasting today but still came home for an hour or two to be with the family then went back in to the shop to catch up accounting.
Uncle Paul had rapport with the Hutterite boys.	Wednesday was very ordinary with me at work and Ina Sue with the children at home.  She started packing things for our trip.  For supper we had asparagus bacon quiche.  We went to church for prayer meeting in the evening.  Myron Brubaker let our continuing discussion on "The Sermon on the Mount".  After church I went over to Carl's to work on his computer while Ina Sue worked to catch up our finances.
The immaculate butching facility	My lovely wife turned 35 on Thursday.  I fixed us cheesy egg bake for breakfast then headed off for a busy day at work.  Ina Sue spent her day working like a tiger to get everything packed up and ready to go.  I rushed all day but still was not able to get home until a little after 7:00.  After changing clothes and doing some last minute packing we left for Georgia at 7:45.  We drove over to Dad's and enjoyed a delicious snack of gingerbread and lemon sauce.  We had a nice time visiting with Dads and got to bed before too terribly late.  Ina Sue did not sleep very well.
Growing cucumbers & tomatoes in the Alberta winter.	Friday was one very long day.  We got up and around by 7:00 and left for Atlanta, leaving the children with Dad & Mom.  We flew out of Atlanta at 11:19 and had a pretty long lay-over in Chicago.  Ina Sue tried to rest in the airport without much success.  The flight from Chicago to Calgary took about 1 1/2 hours.  By the time we got our rental car and got on our way it was after 7:30.  We got a little bit lost in Lethbridge and so it was around 10:00 by the time we got to Uncle Pauls.  Aunt Lula served us refreshing fresh squeezed lemonade from Belize and we visited for a while before finally hitting the sack.  It is very cold out here and lots of snow.
A delicious Saturday supper at a Chinese restaurant.	We slept in a while Saturday morning then got up in time for a delicious brunch of breakfast pizza, smokies, fruit and coffee cake.  After brunch we visited a while then went on a tour of Uncle Paul's farm and the town.  It was interesting to see Uncle Paul's operation, and especially informative seeing how his wheel line irrigation worked.  They seem a lot more labor intensive then our center pivot irrigations.  We also toured a 15,000 head beef cattle operation where cousin Anthony works.  From there we went to a fairly new Hutterite colony close by for a tour.  We started at their wood-shop and the gentleman there gave us a tour of their shop and the projects they were currently working on.  In addition to making their own furniture, they also do custom work for other people.  Very nice looking work.
and a good game of Rook to finish off the evening.	Then the young daughter of the minister took us for a tour of the rest of the facility.  Their kitchen and slaughter house were quite impressive.  All the walls, floor and ceiling were white ceremic tile and absolutely spotless.  She was very open in answering whatever questions we had.  She also took us through the laundry, metal working shop, and greenhouse where they were growning beautiful cucumbers and tomatoes in the middle of winter.  Overall I was quite impressed.  I told my wife that the efficiency and regimentation of a colony would have certain appeal to me....  After we got done there we came back to Uncle Paul's for a quick rest then back in to Lethbridge for supper at a Chinese restaurant.  A delicious meal and very nice time visiting.  After we got back to the house the cousins and I played a game of Rook before bed.