Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Christmas Letter
Here is a copy of our Christmas letter FYI!
The Andersons wish you God’s blessings for the Holy-day season and throughout the New Year. It certainly has been a whirlwind of a year! We did not travel last Christmas but enjoyed the quieter pace of Christmas and look forward to having a busy fun time with family and friends.
Winter 2007 was FUN. We had lots of fun snow and time to play in it! Collin and Hans participated in Basketball clinics and Erin did gymnastics. Alan has not chosen an activity or sport yet. Collin continues in piano and got to learn some fun songs like the theme to STAR WARS and the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Spring 2007 came too early and then left. A beautiful wheat crop came out of dormancy and then got frozen Easter weekend. It was predicted to be the best crop in years and yet it was so badly damaged that it ended up being the worst crop in decades. On top of that there was such a shortage of “good wheat” that many scrambled to get seed good enough to plant for 2008. Then it rained and rained and the farmers had a hard time getting the summer crops into the ground! Sigh, the farm year stunk, BUT GOD is so amazingly faithful that there is just nothing to do, but TRUST HIM! The willingness to do so, pleases HIM and He blessed our guys with the strength to endure the adversity. Sometimes the slow insidious trials can stretch us in different ways than the catastrophic. Is it really ironic that we are participating in 2 different Bible studies: Trusting God (Jerry Bridges) and Believing God (Beth Moore)??? Both are excellent and I highly recommend them! Praise His name!
Summer 2007: We had a slow lazy summer, well the kids and I did! Chris worked his tail off! We went to the pool, the park, the ball field, the library and worked the vegetable garden. Mostly we just goofed off! Hans played baseball and loved it. He did a great job and was a natural batter. We had a lovely trip to Colorado for a family vacation. Went on our first camping trip with Uncle Bob and Aunt Marlene, who were so awesome and patient with us!!! (for details check out the blog!) School came way too fast, even for Mom who kept dreaming of all the scrapbooking she’d do when all the children were in school. NOPE
Fall 2007: All 4 children head to school. Alan is in all day kindergarten, Hans in 2nd, Erin 4th and Collin is in 5th grade. We make it through all the Open Houses and get all the school supplies bought. So why is mom not scrapbooking? A part time counseling position opened up at Sterling College. Long story short, I recertify, get my license back and head off to my first out of the house paid job in 7 years! It’s been an adjustment, but I am amazed at God’s timing! His sovereignty is more than we can ever fathom. Remember those summer crops we had a hard time getting in the ground well the corn was not good, the milo was great. Somehow, we managed to make it with enough to see us through another year. I don’t know how God does it! I am so thankful for a husband that just does not give up & a God who has mercifully chosen to bless his hard work!!
Year’s End: As we come to the close of the year we are enjoying some wintery weather, deer hunting, Christmas music and caroling. Chris got 2 deer this year and he is still in the midst of processing it. For more updates on our lives check us out on the web at: http://www.christeri.blogspot.com/ my scrapbook website will move to http://scrapbooksbyteri.embarqspace.com/ I will continue custom Scrapbooking in the new year, but on a limited scale.
That is our lives in a nutshell, well a big nutshell.
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to Hhim who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
In Christ’s Love,
Winter 2007 was FUN. We had lots of fun snow and time to play in it! Collin and Hans participated in Basketball clinics and Erin did gymnastics. Alan has not chosen an activity or sport yet. Collin continues in piano and got to learn some fun songs like the theme to STAR WARS and the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Spring 2007 came too early and then left. A beautiful wheat crop came out of dormancy and then got frozen Easter weekend. It was predicted to be the best crop in years and yet it was so badly damaged that it ended up being the worst crop in decades. On top of that there was such a shortage of “good wheat” that many scrambled to get seed good enough to plant for 2008. Then it rained and rained and the farmers had a hard time getting the summer crops into the ground! Sigh, the farm year stunk, BUT GOD is so amazingly faithful that there is just nothing to do, but TRUST HIM! The willingness to do so, pleases HIM and He blessed our guys with the strength to endure the adversity. Sometimes the slow insidious trials can stretch us in different ways than the catastrophic. Is it really ironic that we are participating in 2 different Bible studies: Trusting God (Jerry Bridges) and Believing God (Beth Moore)??? Both are excellent and I highly recommend them! Praise His name!
Summer 2007: We had a slow lazy summer, well the kids and I did! Chris worked his tail off! We went to the pool, the park, the ball field, the library and worked the vegetable garden. Mostly we just goofed off! Hans played baseball and loved it. He did a great job and was a natural batter. We had a lovely trip to Colorado for a family vacation. Went on our first camping trip with Uncle Bob and Aunt Marlene, who were so awesome and patient with us!!! (for details check out the blog!) School came way too fast, even for Mom who kept dreaming of all the scrapbooking she’d do when all the children were in school. NOPE
Fall 2007: All 4 children head to school. Alan is in all day kindergarten, Hans in 2nd, Erin 4th and Collin is in 5th grade. We make it through all the Open Houses and get all the school supplies bought. So why is mom not scrapbooking? A part time counseling position opened up at Sterling College. Long story short, I recertify, get my license back and head off to my first out of the house paid job in 7 years! It’s been an adjustment, but I am amazed at God’s timing! His sovereignty is more than we can ever fathom. Remember those summer crops we had a hard time getting in the ground well the corn was not good, the milo was great. Somehow, we managed to make it with enough to see us through another year. I don’t know how God does it! I am so thankful for a husband that just does not give up & a God who has mercifully chosen to bless his hard work!!
Year’s End: As we come to the close of the year we are enjoying some wintery weather, deer hunting, Christmas music and caroling. Chris got 2 deer this year and he is still in the midst of processing it. For more updates on our lives check us out on the web at: http://www.christeri.blogspot.com/ my scrapbook website will move to http://scrapbooksbyteri.embarqspace.com/ I will continue custom Scrapbooking in the new year, but on a limited scale.
That is our lives in a nutshell, well a big nutshell.
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to Hhim who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
In Christ’s Love,
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Just a few more ice shots
Our ice storm story is below, but ehre are a few more pictures:
The trees fell over but the sunflowers did not?
The chicken coupe fence:
Tumbleweed on ice:
Restored...
OK, I confess, I blog in groups. Praise the Lord, we have power! It was closer to 6 p.m. and finally blinking lights showed up in our driveway....city utility trucks! Halleluiah! Can you see the expectation on the kids faces? 
The generator was a blessing but we still we are limited power, no TV, laundry, microwave, several rooms were without power etc. So tonight we turned on the Christmas lights inside and out and the children have both tv's and both computers going! We are such pansies!!! I almost feel guilty because there are so many other people who will go the Holidays without power, our prayers are with you. Our generator made it's way over to Mike and Staci's house so they can keep they can use water and the fridge and freezer. We had about 6-8 inches of snow as forecasted last night which made for more pictures:
The generator was a blessing but we still we are limited power, no TV, laundry, microwave, several rooms were without power etc. So tonight we turned on the Christmas lights inside and out and the children have both tv's and both computers going! We are such pansies!!! I almost feel guilty because there are so many other people who will go the Holidays without power, our prayers are with you. Our generator made it's way over to Mike and Staci's house so they can keep they can use water and the fridge and freezer. We had about 6-8 inches of snow as forecasted last night which made for more pictures:
Powerless!
On December 10th KS got hit by quite an ice storm! People were predicting a bad storm (over reacting I thought!). Those way out in the country prepared for power outages...it's common when you live out in the country. We were thankful we lived so close to town, we don't often lose power during such storms....until now. Monday night we started hearing significant size branches fall from trees. Bill and Paula were already out of power and firing up the generator. I woke up at 1:30 am to darkness and cold. Soon after Alan woke up scared because of the pitch black. We lit a few candles and huddled under blankets. I slept fitfully watching the candles. The City Power plant number was busy until 4 am. By 6:30 we had power--phew. I made a pot of coffee, actually 2 and put one in the thermos. At 8 am the power went off again and it's now Saturday at 5 pm and we stil are powerless. Praise God for the generator that Chris bought to help service harvest equipment in the field. He was able to wire it to the house and have minimal power (fridge, freezer, heat and water). That warmed our spirits and our bodies. Until we learned that we probably ruined the furnace running it on low / sporatic voltage. We will see, we are thankful that we should be getting power soon! Here is our tree back by the kennels Sunday afternoon before Monday's storm, we'd had a light freezing rain...
Here os the same tree Tuesday morning! Our chicken coup is buried under the second picture. are buried under it, f ortunately no one was hurt.
Here's the tree in our front yard. It was the first one to go. It was so eerie walking around Tuesday morning listening to everything creek and make noise like it was going to fall down.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Deer Hunting--Graphic photos
Ok all you deer hunters, you have got to come out to KS to hunt with Chris and Mike! These guys have it down to a science. They went out at 4 p.m. yesterday. By 5:30 ish I got a call from Chris that I would probably have to take Collin to piano because he and Mike both got deer. Mike's was not dead and they were looking for it but they could see the trail it left. Anyway, by 7:48 he was home with his deer. They are out again looking for Mike's this morning. I hope they find it!
More Fall Fun
We had a quiet Thanksgiving. We met with Mom and Dad A and Bill and Paula for a nice Turkey late lunch. 
It snowed on "Black Friday" and on White Saturday the kids had fun following tracks that critters left in the snow. Seems some bunnies were checking out the chicken coupe & then headed to the RR tracks.
It was warm that Sunday so I decided to see if my big evergreen tree (that still had last year's lights on it) would still light up. Of course, a year's worth of KS wind rearranged the lights thoroughly, so I had to get the ladder out and fix some. It actually lit up, although the tree has out grown these lights and needs another strand. I had some helpers! I think I had all 6 kittens up in the tree with me "helping" me grab onto the lights. Especially those deep in the tree.
Fall Overview 1
OK, time for my bi-monthly blog update!! I thinking I have Halloween parade, Thanksgiving, Christmas lights and hunting to cover. Where to start... this Trick or Treat was a bust! We had church and AWANA that night. We had a very fun time at school They had their parade through town and fun parties in their classes. However, to get some trick or treating done before AWANA we needed to hustle and get started early. This really upset Collin who loves the idea of going around town in the dark.... Erin was kind of headachey and did not want to rush, but was willing to let the whole thing go. The younger boys fell in line with her. They did not even get back into their costumes for me... :o( Fortunately I have pictures from the parade. We forgot to carve the pumpkins we got too. Did I mention that I started working on Monday of this week??? Oh well, like Erin said, what's more important learning about God or a trick or treating. Here's Alan the Power Ranger, Hans the Storm Trooper, Erin the vet and Collin another storm trooper
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Gutsy Pastor
You may have seen this already, I am not sure exactly when it happened, but I thought it was worth posting!
It seems prayer still upsets some people. Please read....
When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate,
everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard;
"Heavenly Father, We come before you today To ask your forgiveness and To seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good" But that is exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium And reversed our values.
We have exploited the poor and Called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness And called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn And called it choice.
We have shot abortionists And called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline Our children and called it Building self esteem.
We have abused power And called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's Possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and Pornography and called it Freedom of speech and expression.
We have ridiculed the time honored values of our Forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, And know our hearts today;
Cleanse us from every sin And set us free. Amen!"
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea. Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio Program,
"The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our Nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called "one nation under God."
"If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."
It seems prayer still upsets some people. Please read....
When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate,
everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard;
"Heavenly Father, We come before you today To ask your forgiveness and To seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good" But that is exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium And reversed our values.
We have exploited the poor and Called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness And called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn And called it choice.
We have shot abortionists And called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline Our children and called it Building self esteem.
We have abused power And called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's Possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and Pornography and called it Freedom of speech and expression.
We have ridiculed the time honored values of our Forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, And know our hearts today;
Cleanse us from every sin And set us free. Amen!"
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea. Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio Program,
"The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our Nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called "one nation under God."
"If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
My Man!
Staci tagged me on her blog to complete this set of questions. Pretty fun!
1. Who is your man? Chris
2. How long have you been married? 12 years 8 months.
3.How long dated? Met in December 93 Engaged July 94. Married in Feb 95
4. How old is your man? 39
5. Who eats more? Definitely Chris, although I can do a hurtin' on a bag of m&m's
!6. Who said "I love you" first? He did, we were dating long distance and after we hung up he called me back and told me and then he called me again and told me.
7. Who is taller? Chris, but even children are taller than me!
8. Who sings better? Chris, I looooooove how he sings!
9. Who is smarter? What a silly question!
10. Whose temper is worse? Hmmmm, another silly question! We both have our moments!
11. Who does the laundry? Me and lots of it!!!!!!!!!! The children have started helping with it more though .
12. Who takes out the garbage? Hans
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me and it is terribly hard for me not to.
14. Who pays the bills? Sometimes I write the checks but since I haven't been working, he always pays!
15. Who is better with the computer? me although he sometimes will patiently work at something and figure it out. I usually cave and call Mike for help!
16. Who mows the lawn? Chris and Collin
17. Who cooks dinner? Me, but Chris does pancakes Sunday mornings, better hamburgers than I do (per the kids) and makes a mean chili
18. Who drives when you are together? Chris, unless it is an all nighter to PA and then we take turns. I am dreading that this year!
19. Who pays when you go out? See question 14.
20. Who is most stubborn? Chris
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Me
22. Whose parents do you see the most? His live local so we see them most, but my mom comes 2x a year and stays for 2 weeks. So she catches up...
23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me first, wow that seems like a long time ago.
24. Who asked who out? His sister in law called him in KS and handed me the phone in PA to invite him to PA for Christmas that year to meet me. So it's her fault right?
25. Who proposed? Chris, with his trusty dog Jake at his side, and then in between us and then behind us, "Jake go away!". I wondered why he was so upset at the dog and then he knelt down next to me...
26. Who is more sensitive? With out a doubt...ME
27. Who has more friends? That's hard to say.
28. Who has more siblings? Me. I have 5 older sibs and he only has 2.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Well, we both wear pants, but Chris' pants are definitely bigger than mine and he is definitely the head of the home.
1. Who is your man? Chris
2. How long have you been married? 12 years 8 months.
3.How long dated? Met in December 93 Engaged July 94. Married in Feb 95
4. How old is your man? 39
5. Who eats more? Definitely Chris, although I can do a hurtin' on a bag of m&m's
!6. Who said "I love you" first? He did, we were dating long distance and after we hung up he called me back and told me and then he called me again and told me.
7. Who is taller? Chris, but even children are taller than me!
8. Who sings better? Chris, I looooooove how he sings!
9. Who is smarter? What a silly question!
10. Whose temper is worse? Hmmmm, another silly question! We both have our moments!
11. Who does the laundry? Me and lots of it!!!!!!!!!! The children have started helping with it more though .
12. Who takes out the garbage? Hans
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me and it is terribly hard for me not to.
14. Who pays the bills? Sometimes I write the checks but since I haven't been working, he always pays!
15. Who is better with the computer? me although he sometimes will patiently work at something and figure it out. I usually cave and call Mike for help!
16. Who mows the lawn? Chris and Collin
17. Who cooks dinner? Me, but Chris does pancakes Sunday mornings, better hamburgers than I do (per the kids) and makes a mean chili
18. Who drives when you are together? Chris, unless it is an all nighter to PA and then we take turns. I am dreading that this year!
19. Who pays when you go out? See question 14.
20. Who is most stubborn? Chris
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Me
22. Whose parents do you see the most? His live local so we see them most, but my mom comes 2x a year and stays for 2 weeks. So she catches up...
23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me first, wow that seems like a long time ago.
24. Who asked who out? His sister in law called him in KS and handed me the phone in PA to invite him to PA for Christmas that year to meet me. So it's her fault right?
25. Who proposed? Chris, with his trusty dog Jake at his side, and then in between us and then behind us, "Jake go away!". I wondered why he was so upset at the dog and then he knelt down next to me...
26. Who is more sensitive? With out a doubt...ME
27. Who has more friends? That's hard to say.
28. Who has more siblings? Me. I have 5 older sibs and he only has 2.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Well, we both wear pants, but Chris' pants are definitely bigger than mine and he is definitely the head of the home.
My MAN!
I'd tag some of my friends but they don't have blogs: Kathy, Tara, Ruth you are tagged...now make a blog and get going!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Hunting & Football
A few more memories and I'll be caught up! We have so many favorite fall things and hunting and football are a few of them. Chris, Uncle Bill, the boys and Mike went dove hunting a few weeks ago, taking our new pup Lacy. They had lots of fun and shot some birds.
Lacy was like, "You mean I get to go?" Now anytime anyone goes near a vehicle if she can get to it, she jumps in!
My brother Mike arrived a day earlier than Ann, so he had some precious football playing time with his nephews. They loved it!
I must confess I shed a tear as they drove down the road, thanks guys!
PS Cathie and Mitch if you read this posts, remember the photos are on your camera! Once I get some I can blog them too!
State Fair
What a surprise a week ago to get a call from my brother Mike saying he and his wife, Ann would be with us over the weekend of 9/15/07. For a fun activity we took the family to the State Fair with other brother Bill and wife Paula! It was such a help with 4 kids to have extra eyes and hands at the fair. Here are some highlights of the fun we had. 
What was a very fun surprise for me, was that Ann bought us both tokens to go on the bungee / trampoline / jumping thingy! I always thought it looked like fun, but would n't buy it for myself. Well here we are! Yawhoooo!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Catch up...
Ok, here goes. In the last month since August 15th when school started until now September 16th... No blogging because life has been so busy. I thought I would post some photos and goofy stories.
This summer I made a real effort to get the kids helping with chores more. Laundry folding is one that I do not love, so they helped out more with that. This one day, close to the beginning of school, things just got so crazy. They had an underwear wearing contest. Yikes, even Lacy got in on it!
Then soon after that we have the infamous first day of school photos. Everyone made it with a smile on the face, for day 1 at least. A month into it, Alan is not so sure he likes this all day every day, but he is adjusting!
Mommy and the pets held down the fort while everyone was gone! I did some exercising & as I was doing my sit ups after my run, Abby decided to get lovey! Good grief! Lacy took the photo...
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Nickerson Tournament
This past Thursday night late we got a call from Hans' former baseball coach asking if he would like to participate in a tourney that got rained out earlier in the summer. I was doubious, but my dear husband thought we should ask Hans. It was forecast to be 100 degrees and we did not know how long it would go. Hans was very excited and Chris must have been too, because he took the entire afternoon off to route for his son! THEY WON EVERY GAME. This group of boys only practiced once Friday night. It was "round robin' style, so every team played every other team. Four games, noon til 6:10, 98*. It was very fun to see how hard each of these little guys worked! I wonder if they will ask us back next year.....
Here's a pic of our team! The coaches were awesome, so encouraging and hard working, too.
Rats, forgot to change the date on my camera after putting new batteries in....again!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
More CO pictures
Sunrise over Eagle's Nest Mt range...Let's see I'll finish out the camping pictures with one of master chefs Bob and Mar making breakfast: perked coffee, pancakes, hashbrowns and eggs, juice and buns! YUM. It was so cold the food was so good!
On Friday we went to the Denver Zoo. Here's a big old Rhino contemplating Hans! A pic of everyone in front of the polar bear. They were actually quite cranky by this point, but smiled anyway, well, kind of!
Hmmm, here's a shot of me or my reflection anyway, taking a picture of some lionesses behind the glass. I got other shots of them from the shade, but realized, hey here's a picture of ME! You can kind of see the lions...
Chris and Alan looking at the Kamodo dragon....I'm sure he was pretty tired by now. Chris, not the dragon. This was Friday, it's Tuesday a.m. and Alan just informed me that he is now able to walk normally. whew.
Hmmm, here's a shot of me or my reflection anyway, taking a picture of some lionesses behind the glass. I got other shots of them from the shade, but realized, hey here's a picture of ME! You can kind of see the lions...
Chris and Alan looking at the Kamodo dragon....I'm sure he was pretty tired by now. Chris, not the dragon. This was Friday, it's Tuesday a.m. and Alan just informed me that he is now able to walk normally. whew.
There and Back Again
We spent the better part of a week in Colorado and had a wonderful time visiting family and camping. We staying with Wayne and Sue where we got caught up with each other and the garden train. Next door is Grandma and Aunt Sherrill so we visited with them too. 
We also got to see cousins Aaron & Tricia and Jennifer & Simon. Then we left civilization and headed up into the Green Mt area to camp with Uncle Bob and Aunt Marlene. Brave folks these 2 are! We did some lovely fishing, swimming in the resevoir and of course eating camp food! Bob and Chris fished and fished. They got about 8-9 small trout. Hans stuck with it a long time but did not get a fish. Much to his dismay!
One last stop was the Denver zoo, where we walked until we were about to drop and then walked some more. Alan fell down midway through the day and came down hard strattling the side of a bridge where he the area between his leg and hip. He would not walk on it and was carried by Mom and Dad the rest of the day. When he was still not putting weight on it by that night, I was worried but he was Ok by the following day. He is still tender on it, but I think he'll heal on his own.
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