Pictures to view .. from last blog

Still Landscaping, how much longer ...

Well, this entry is a bit late I must admit, then I went to update two days ago, and it somehow goofed, and it didn't get posted, so here goes again. Yes, Earl just got the last bit of heavy duty landscaping done before the snow blew in! It's amazing how big our yard is ... like everybody else we though the bigger the yard, the better. What we didn't figure on, was the amount of work we would have to put into it. But, we're finished now and it looks wonderful! Except you will have to wait till Spring to see it now. Everyone in the family is well, except Earl's step father Leonard Meckelborg, he fell and broke his hip ... not good news for someone who is 98 years old. They did surgery to fix it and so far so good. You will remember Earl's mother passed away last year in March, she was 93, and mentally alert till the day she died. Whenever we would visited them and asked Leonard how he was, he'd always say 'I don't know I have no one to compare myself with! Remarkable people!! Christmas is upon us and this year it will be quite quiet, ours usually are. No more small kids or grand kids around to liven things up, maybe we will live long enough to have great grand kids, that should liven things up again. Ruth & Royden will be here this year and it's always such a pleasure to have them, they are such a 'have it all together' couple and always such a blessing to us, their commitment to the Lord is wonderful to see. Our other two grandchildren Russell and Amanda are both studying at the U of A and are going to Mozambique for Christmas. Lynn and Dwight had some air-miles burning a hole in their pocket, so they decided to put to better use. They leave Dec. 18th. They are both doing very well in their studies, both love the Lord, and we are extremely proud fo them both. Pat & Eric are well, Pat just had surgery on her back and is recuperating, she'll be off work for 3 to 6 months. The pain hasn't lessened, but the numbness in her arms and hands is gone, and so are her headaches, so she is very happy for that. Eric has been such a great helper and taken care of the house the dogs, and everything else Pat usually does. I will be going on here another day and adding some pictures ... when I get help from Pat! Till next time ....

Where has Autumn gone?

Since coming home from our trip we're busy trying to beat the snow and get our yard ready for the winter. All those nice flowers in big pots that graced the front of our house in the summer, are now frozen and wilted and have to be plucked up and chucked. Trees that weren't meant to be planted under the overhang of the roof where they never catch a drop of rain, have to get a real good watering before winter, shrubs need to be cut back, and the lawn has to be mowed one more time before it gets covered in snow. It's amazing how much work a yard takes to keep it looking decent. I can't believe that Adam and Eve didn't have t0 work by the sweat of their brow before they got kicked out of the garden of Eden, which incidentally, I hear was somewhere in present day Iraqi.

Everyone in our family is fine, Pat had a rather complicated back surgery on Oct. 29th , everything went well, and she is now recuperating and has to take it easy for a few months. Eric has picked up the slack and is taking good care of her by doing all of the usual household chores what a good, kind husband she has, and son-in-law we have.

Lynn & Dwight are in Mozambique and hassling the usual problems and challenges of the very third world country they live in where things rarely work the way they're suppose to! Their two children, Russell & Amanda, both in the U of A , got through their mid-term exams and did very well as usual. Russ already has a job waiting for him in Lloydminister AB/SK beginning the first of the new year I think! He's in the co-op program and has the advantage of working his way through university! He'll be moving to Lloyd, and that means Amanda will be alone in the apt. in Edmonton for eight months. She will sure miss him, they are such good friends.

Lucas Lara (Luke) is back in Brazil and we sure miss having him around. He was always cheerful, upbeat, and was most helpful around the house and yard. He also helped us so much with missions stuff, doing up videos etc. Our Portuguese correspondence to Mount Horeb in Brazil was not nearly so difficult as before! He would like to come back to Canada ... just loves our country and wants to make it his home. Hopefully he will be able to do that, and we will try to facilitate the process for him. We're almost into the flurry of year-end events and can hardly keep up going to all the different events we bought tickets for! Our church has grown in numbers and there's a lot more work involved in keeping things running smoothly. Besides our pastor, we now have an associate pastor, a youth pastor, a Children Ministry director, and believe it or not I have the title of Social Convener (not just sure what all this title entails) but I'm learning. At least I still feel reasonably useful. Earl is just going to town on the backyard and it's looking nicer and nicer all the time. He really does have a touch for design ... he's just never had much opportunity to express it before! ... so nice of you take the time to read our blog ... please leave a message anytime.

Gone and Back Again

On Sept 21st. we left Salmon Arm headed to northern Alberta with our little Lasharo RV with hopes that it would take us to our desired destinations with quitting, it is twenty years old and doesn't owe us anything. We planned to visit churches in LaGlace, Manning, McLennan AB. Then head further south and east to Belbute, Weldon, Regine (for conference) and Porcupine Plain all in SK. All was well till we left Mannning, we got as far as Fairrview, and the Lasharo decided it had had enough and packed it in. So there we were between nowhere and nowhere. We had a good reliable van in the garage at home but that was now 1400 kms away. Fortunately for us my nephew Dan Litke and his wife & Karen live in Fairview as well as a very good Brazilian friend that we always stop to visit when we go through. Dan & Karen invited us out for dinner and as we walked into the driveway Earl commented on the car sitting in his driveway. It was a Chrysler Intrepid, "it's got just the motor I need to adapt to the imported Lasharo diesel. It didn't take Earl long to inquire where he got the car and how did he like it. Dan told him he just got it but he hit two bears with it a few days ago and the insurance company wrote it off. Earl perked right up and said he would be interested in paying Dan for the wrecked car if the insurance let him keep it. Dan would only find out the next day. Then we told them of our dilemma, somehow Earl had to get back to Salmon Arm and pick up the van. The next day Dan called and said Earl could have the car if he wanted it, the insurance company didn't want the thing. He also said he and Karen were planning to go to Sicamous that week end to see their friends, and if Earl wanted to drive the car home, they would follow him in case anything went wrong ... but they couldn't leave until Friday 5 pm. So that's what we did, Earl drove to S.A. and back, a 2800 km round trip. The car ran well but the trip was brutal, he only got in 4 hours of sleep between Fri. and Sun. where we had another service to go to in McLennan. Luke came back to help him keep away. There were two very groggy guys sitting in church that Sunday, but we managed to stay awake through it all. The RV is parked in Dan's yard, and the motor for it is in the little red car sitting in our driveway in S.A. What fun, but the Lord must have had thing already worked out before all this happened ... who else would have given us a free motor. And it also takes care of any extra hours of leisure Earl thought he might have this winter. The nice thing is he now has a nice heated garage in which to work. We are so grateful to Dan & Karen. And, we managed to stay and help our Brazilian friend finish some jobs on her newly moved house. Other than that we enjoyed visiting with friends and relatives all along the way. Earl even got to sit on the tractor and make a few rounds in out friends field. Daughter Pat just got out of the hospital after back surgery. We are all praying for a full recovery, and hopefully some relief from her constant pain. Lynn & Dwight are doing just fine in Mozambique, their kids are doing very well in University in Edmonton. Our Brazilian boy wasn't able to find a sponsor so he has gone back to Brazil. We will keep looking for a sponsor and hopefully he can come back some day soon. We will surely miss him, he was such a wonderful guy, so kind and considerate, and he lit up our lives. Now we are hunkering down for the long dreary winter. But we have a nice new furnace, warm blankets, lots of homemade jam in the pantry, and enough money to buy whatever else we need to get us through the next four months! That's it for this round ...

We went a-cruisan

Well, summer is about over and we've had a busy time. We, the Schalm siblings rented a huge houseboat for seven (7) days and tried our hand at boating. First we all had to find a place to sleep, that was easy. But there were choice sleeping rooms, and we didn't get one, but ours was okay after all, and we actually slept fairly well. If you really want to know whether you get along with your siblings and their perspective husbands and wives, after very many years of living apart, try a houseboat trip! It is a fool proof test of tolerance and patience! There were 15 on us in all, all over sixty (6o) except for three young'uns! I think they got quite bored but they knew better than to complain! The fist night was a sort of trail for us, we docked the boat but didn't secure it very well. During the night a strong wind bless in and soon I could hear all sorts of commotion on deck. I thought, "how inconsiderate of people to be slamming doors and talking so loud while the rest of us were trying to sleep". I looked at my watch ... it was 3:00 am. Exasperated, I finally got up to give them a piece of my mind. Here was captain Eddy, first mate Gerry and second mate David, and a friend Bruno (he and his wife Margaret came along for the ride) all rushing around trying to save us from sure disaster. Our ropes had snapped from the strain during the wind storm and we were adrift and quickly approaching another houseboat. Fortunately our neighbour was already awake and aware of our plight, got out of his warm bed, went out into the howling wind, fired up his motorboat and towed us back to our mooring spot. Quickly the guys fastened our ropes again and this time took much more care. Wide awake but anxious to get more sleep we all went back to our sleeping quarters and were drifting off to sleep when the scenario was repeated, the ropes had come lose again! Again most of us were up and offering what good advice we could think of at that ungodly hour of the morning, and trying to help our crew get a handle on things. Again our next door houseboat neighbour came to our rescue and helped us get things sorted out, at one point he was suspended like a clothes line with his feet on one boat and his shoulders on the other keeping them from apart. Finally we got squared away, the ropes as tight as we could possibly get them. It was now 5:am and we were reeling from the loss of sleep we'd suffered and were heading back to bed when over the din we heard, "For Pete's sake, can you all just shut up and go to sleep and let others do the same". It was our youngest sister Wilma ... she'd slept through all the excitement and thought we were just out to rob her of her sleep! She honestly had no idea that we were in grave danger and about to collide with another houseboat, and Lord only knows what damaged we might have sustained. We teased her about that the next day. Luke really enjoyed the first four days, but from then on time sort of dragged for him and the other two young'uns we had aboard and they got quite bored. It's luck Wilma and Rinska, (Eddy's wife) came along, they kept him busy on the water slide, flying into the deep cold water at breakneck speed ... or learning English. Those two sure made a hit with him. We will have to think about bring over a few more just like him for them to enjoy! All in all we had a very good time, read an entire book out loud called 'Butter Down The Well' by Robert Collins (a boy's perspective of growing up in Saskatchewan in the hungry thirties).

We also sat around a camp fire every night and chewed the fat, and ate too much of the wonderful food everybody had a hand in making and preparing. All we lacked was enough sleep!! But then that's not the worst ... most of us seniors can sleep whenever we want to and always managed to make up for loss of sleep! Edith who orchestrated the whole event did a fabulous job and we commend her and owe her our thanks.

Well, I wanted to update my blog because we are leaving for a trip visiting churches in northern AB. and SK. and won't be back for many a day. I'm enclosing a few pictures for viewing. Tchau!!

Here, There, and Everywhere

Guess it's time to update this blog. We have just been so busy. We spent a week visiting Ruth & Royden in Seattle and Amanda joined us and had a good time with her cousin. Seattle is a hip bustling city but I'm glad I don't have to drive to work there every day. Ruth is a nurse and works in a clinic ... Royden is an animator and has a neat job ... he will be famous some day. Already some of his free lance stuff is being printed and sold in Christian bookstores. And Ruth is the best little cook around! Luke ... our adopted son is here and hoping he can get an extension on his visa ... just loves Canada and says he wants to stay and make this his home, get married here and have lots of kids. I tell him just tell that to immigration ... they'll love it and let you stay! His English is almost perfect and he's popular with everybody. The Schalm siblings got together and rented the biggest houseboat on the Shuswap from Sept. 08 to the 16th. It's off season and so we pay much less. At high season they rent for over $ 1000 a day, there will be 17 of us aboard. That's the closest Earl & I will ever get to taking a cruise so we're really looking forward to it. The we leave for Sexsmith AB. on Sept the 21 ... the first stop on our itinerary trip. We will be visiting churches in Alta. and Sask.Will be home again on Nov. 01. God is so good to us and this summer we were able to get a central air conditioner put into our home.We though we would be putting up about $ 4000. but when the men came to install it they found the air exchange on our furnace was cracked and so we ended up putting in a new furnace! The old one just squeaked in under the guarantee so we will replace the part and try to sell it. The new one has a much longer guarantee and it much more efficient. These spec houses for sale usually have the cheapest appliances on the market put in, and one can sort of expect this sort of thing. But we are just glad it's done and God provided and we managed to pay for it ... that's what counts! Pat and Eric are well as are Lynn and Dwight in Mozambique. Amanda and Russ just starting university classes tomorrow ... Amanda in her second year of Biochemistry, and Russ goes into his third year of electrical engineering. Amanda turned 19 today ... what a clever and beautiful grand daughter she is. Russ is a strapping young man, but of few words. He never asks questions but at least he answers ours! Until another day .....

NEWS

It's been ages since I've added something new, so here goes. August has been a pretty good month so far. It was so hot in July we called and asked the air-conditioner company to come out and give us an estimate of what we're looking at cost wise. Of course lots of other people had the same idea so we were booked for Aug. 16th. We signed the deal and they started the next day. and they When they went to install the condenser, they noticed the heat exchanger was cracked, which meant our 10 year old furnace had the bun. So now we had to think of installing a new furnace as well. In the end, what was suppose to be a $ 4300. job turned into an $ 9000. job! As it happened the old furnace was still under warranty so they ordered and are having a new air-exchanger shipped. Earl will install it and then we will try to sell the old furnace. It was about the cheapest model one could buy at the time. Spec houses get the cheapest of everything put in, and in a few years one has to begin replacing stuff. Our kitchen lino already needs replacing as well. Earl put two tube lights in recently, one in our main bathroom, and the other one in our laundry. Man does it ever make a difference, these two rooms were just dark holes and the darkness has been turned into light. My husband is so smart, he can do pretty much any and everything around the house.

We are busy trying to find a way that Luke can stay in Canada, he just loves it here and we think he would be a great blessing and asset to Canada ... and especially to the Trekofski/Schalm/Nelson household! We are just enjoying him so much. He will try to get a promise of a job at a reputable company, and then apply for a work permit. Pray with us for God to open a door for him. The fact that they granted him a visitor's visa was nothing short of a miracle! Immigration is very suspicious of all single young guys, and most applicants in that category get turned down.

We go to the immigration office in Kelowna this Friday to check out all our angles. Then on Sat. Amanda gets here from Edmonton and we will drive to Seattle to visit Ruth and Royden. Luke has to stay home, the Americans wouldn't grant him a visitors visa. He was disappointed, but has gotten over it just fine and will stay home with Eric and keep the dogs company. The Schalm siblings have rented a houseboat for a week and are going to cruise the Shuswap. We are so excited, and it's the closest thing we'll ever have to a cruise.

I'm adding a few pictures this time. Little by little I'm learning to do this blogging right!

Wow, what a summer!

We go from very hot, to rain, muggy, cooler and then back to hot again. But at least we are getting more rain this year and forest fires aren't a constant threat! what with the mountain pine beetle, forest fires and what have you we may find oursleves in a dessert in a few years! How sad to travel around this beautiful province and see the forests turning brown. We have kept busy what with church events, landscaping, agrowing a small vegetable garden and lots of flowers ... well there's hardly time for the kids who expect quality time. Our newly adopted son 'Luke' went off to Alberta and we miss him terribly. He kept us all upbeat, and there was never a dull moment, but he is havng a lot of new experiences in this great country. He keeps commenting on how well everything works, and how smooth the roads are, how friendly the people are, and how there is no niose and everything is peaceful etc. etc. He may just decide to hang around here for a lot longer. But we tell him ... just wait for a few more months, you may decided things aren't always what they appear, and he may be very glad to get back to Brazil. Our concern is that he think seriously about furthering his education, it would be such a waste of a brilliant young mind to chose to work at MacDonalds or Wendy's, rather than go to school! We also remind him that God must enter into the equation, He surely has gret and wonderful plans for him. I will learn to post pictures as soon as Luke gets back, that should add interest. Daughters Pat & Lynn both have a blogspot ... Pat Nelson, Salmon Arm - nelsonsdogpatch.blogspot.com Lynn Lagore, Mozambique - lynnlagore.blogspot.com Till next time ... Ruth

Some like it hot ... Some like it cold.

Haven't visited my blog for awhile, gees how time flies. It's hot, hotter and hottest in B.C. these days. People are rushing to stores getting fans, and portable air-conditioners. Not us tho, we want the real thing, a central unit, decided to spend some of our kids's inheritance money! Only thing is the company is so busy they can't come give an estimate until July 16th. and by then, knowing our luck, the worst of the heat may have got up and went! Earl is finishing his garage, and has done lots of lanscaping in the back yard. Once in awhile I go out and commend him for his hard work and tell him how nice it looks. I managed to put in a small vegtable garden, and my flower gardens keep me busy. The rest of my time is spend on the computer. I'm suppose to be writing a book! We plan a trip to Ab. for a cousins reunion 1st. of Aug. Then we go to Van. and Seattle to visit Elmer & Marlene, and Ruth & Royden. For Sept. the Schalm sibblings rented a huge houseboat and we are spending a week on the Shuswap Lake. that's about as close as we'll get to a cruise. Are sure looking forward to it. It's way too expensive to try it alone, one has to invite as much family as possibe to share the cost. Off season is more reasonable however. After that we plan a deputation trip to visit most of our supporting churches in Ab. & B.C. We will be away for 7 weeks and hope to get back before the snow flies. All is wwell with the family. God is good and we rejoice in Him.

Who's coming and who's going

Here I am again for the latest news about what is happening at our house. thanks for all the compliments on my blog. I'm being modernized by Luke. What a riot, he's not used to working with such dense minds! But we're loosing him for a month while he hoots around the country visiting other people. Someone is taking him to the Calgary Stampede, then he goes to help out at a junior camp, keeping a bunch of rowdy boys out of mischief. From there he plans to visit Amanda and Russ for a while, and from there I don't know. He was able to get some work helping seniors landscape their yards, and earned a bit of money so he can be more independent while he is here.

We will miss him, but like I told him our grocery bill will be less! The joke around here is, he can eat as long as he helps around here! Pat & Eric keep him occupied going to movies in the evenings. We will be picking him up the first week-end in Aug. when we go to a cousins reunion near Olds Ab. Then we have plans for the end of Aug. a trip to Seattle, and then a week on a house boat with the Schalm clan! Here's a few pictures for viewing.

Here's a picture of our pastor's two sons and their newly aquired wives. One was married the 16 of June and the other this last Saturday. Neat eh?

About us!

Hi! I decided to start a blog after much peer pressure from the younger members of my family who like to hang out with us... It's a wonderful way to keep in touch with our family and friends around the world! Just a little bit about ourselves... We were missionaries in Brazil for 30 years, and moved back to Canada in 2000. Our family is small... but influential!!! :)

First, there's Pat Nelson who insists on being my best friend, and I really like her a lot, but I don't like her dogs that much... They are too hyper for me! She lives just a few blocks from my house. She is very stylish, very intelligent, and loves to give orders (bossy!!! :p)... But she is married to the sweetest guy, his name is Eric Nelson, and anytime I really need help, he is always there for me! Partly, because he loves my home cooked meals!!!

Then, there's Lynn, our second daughter. She was born beautiful, talented, and definitely has a way with words, in fact I expect she will write a book some day! But until then, you can check out her blog: http://lynnlagore.blogspot.com/ (Just to make sure Pat doesn't get jealous, here's her blog, too: http://nelsonsdogpatch.blogspot.com/).

Lynn is married to Dwight Lagore, and they are missionaries in Mozambique... And like Eric, he is the greatest son-in-law anybody could have, and keeps his mother and father-in-law on track with their missionary carreer, and reminds us that there's no cut off date, or retirement age with God!!! :D

Then, there's the 3 grandchildren... And most certainly, the most intelligent, capable and talented of anyone in the world! Ruthie, the oldest is married to Royden Lepp. She is a nurse, and you will certainly want her around when you are sick!!! Cause she gives lots of loving hugs... Royden is an animator and also keeps little weird animals as pets on his desk! He's authored several books and he is becoming quite famous... (I think...) They live in Seattle, and their presence there is changing the history of that great city!!!:P

Russell and Amanda spent almost all of their lives in Africa and now are both in Canada and study at the U of A. Amanda just finished her 1st year of Bio-Chemistry, and Russ just finished his 2nd year in Electronic Engineering. And they are both pulling in wonderful grades and the teacher just can't stump them! (Especially Amanda... :P) Don't you agree, they are the most intelligent and talented of all grandchildren in the world?!

Oh... at the moment we have a third member in our family! His name is Luke and he hails from Brazil, in fact he attended our kindergarten many years ago, when he was just a tiny tot! He shares the same name as our son Luke, who went to be with the Lord at the age of 17, while we were in Brazil. He was also born in the same month, so... The Lord has sent another Luke along to bring us special joy and make up for the one He took home for Himself many years ago...

Now that you've met our family, I will update you on what we are doing at the moment!

We managed to get some landscaping done this summer, finally!!! It's looking real good, I can't take much credit for that. Earl has done most of it! I will post a picture of it next time... With Luke's help I finally got my spring cleaning done, and that's not easy when you're not a spring chicken anymore... :P We've planted some really nice flowers in our garden and I actually put in a vegetable garden. Thanks to my good neighbour Barbara, who has given me a spot in her garden plot! :) Sound's like we are going to have a busy summer and I will do my very best to keep you updated on what's going on...

That's all for now... until later...