Christmas 09

We had a great Christmas.  We definitely missed not having the opportunity to enjoy this Christmas with our extended family, but nonetheless it was great.  Jessica's job was waking everybody up early in the morning to open gifts.  By her standards she did a great job, she woke us all up before 10 o'clock.  After the gifts were opened we had breakfast and a few hours later dinner.  Once all that was pretty much settled in our stomachs my dad and I played a few games on one-on-one to work it all off.  Jared has been battling a little bit with his knee lately so he was not able to play.  After that we wasted the last few hours of the day and went to bed.  This was our Christmas.

A White Christmas

How many times have your heard the song that contains the words "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas"?  How many times have you said the words "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas"?  How many times have you had a white Christmas?  This is what our Christmas looked liked

You may be thinking "Whats so special about that?  You live in North Dakota."  What is so special about this is the fact that visibility is less that a quarter mile.  According to our mathematical calculations it would be around 400-800 feet.  All you see there is the church parking lot, nothing more.  Here is a picture with snow, but pretty much full visibility

Now that you can see the difference I must say that it is actually quite amazing and awesome.  This is what makes Christmas memories.  This is the opportunity to play more basketball, eat more food, and listen to more XM radio.  I totally forgot to answer the question that someone earlier asked about us being able to listen to the XM radio.  The answer after much suspense and delay is YES!  It has been a staple so for this winter.

Merry Christmas

Right now I am sleeping, or at least hope that I am sleeping.  I scheduled this post so that I could be the first to wish you Merry Christmas on the day of Christmas.  You may have woke up and a family member told you "Merry Christmas" but I still said Merry Christmas first.  I hope you all have safe and Merry Christmas.  Hopefully all of you that are out west are able to get a little bit of snow.  Perhaps this could happen on the first week after Christmas Break so you can get a few days of school.  But through all the hustling and bustling remember who made this all possible.  Remember who came to this earth and sacrificed his life so that we could have the opportunity that we have today.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Just a Little Something

Here is a picture of some Norwegian cookies that a lady in our church gave us.  They look very intriguing.  I have not yet tried one, but if they taste as good as they look than I hope she makes some more.

On an entirely different subject, I though you all might want to know what our entry way into our house looks like.  The only way for it to look like this was for us three boys men to go outside and freeze ourselves until we started to turn blue and then come back inside and feel the warmth upon our frozen bodies which hurt like getting poked with needles.  Nonetheless the work needed to get done and is done.  Here is the picture...

Update

Earlier today when I walked out side and took those pictures it was around 24 degrees and it felt like it was over 30, it was warm.  Now, just a couple of hours later, the temperature is 19 degrees and the wind chill has it marked down to 4.  Visibility is just over a mile, we will still be having church tonight.  In some parts of the parking lot you can actually see the blacktop, not a good thing, because the snow is getting blown around so much.  It is actually a pretty cool site to see.  Hopefully, we are not home bound the next few days.  We have a Youth Retreat starting on Sunday and we have to drive a couple of hours to get to it.  It would be a terrible thing if that was canceled.

It's Here

I am obviously not talking about Christmas for that is still a day and a half away.  I couldn't be talking about Christmas Eve because that is half a day away.  I could be talking about December 23rd, but I am not.  How about the mailman?  Well he just left a couple of seconds ago, so I could have been talking about him.  But with a logical conclusion I am not.  Has anyone seen the news headlines lately?  They probably said that snowstorms were hitting the west and the mid-west.  To all of you out west, even though North Dakota is east of you we are still in the mid-west.  Matter in fact here is a link to the article that I saw on the front page of Yahoo.  For us in North Dakota it has arrived and will keep on arriving.  It is sort of like the gift that keeps on giving.  Once the snow starts to melt then we get flood, TERRIFIC!  Or maybe I should say horrific, I don't know.  But none the less I braved the snowstorms and took a couple of pictures which may not excite you at all.  Here they are

These are deer footprints in the snow

Thank YOU!

We would like to thank you all for coming to our blog.  We would like to give an extra special thank you to Sis. Cheri Witmer for all the comments she has left.  We really do appreciate your thoughts via comments.  Thank you all for coming!

Goofin' Around

  The worst thing about Christmas Break is all the excess time that you have on your hands.  Not that I don't enjoy that fact because you sure can dispense of this time by doing bible quizzing, playing Xbox, being lazy, or possibly even playing a game with the family.  Last night we started a game of rook around 9:00 pm and got done with the same stinkin' game around mid-night.  If you looked at the score sheet you probably would have been surprised by how many times the game could have been over.  My dad and I won by scrapping for every single point possible.  On the winning hand if we would have lost another five points we would have gone set and played another hour.  But instead we were able to overcome the fact that we did not have the rook and the trump black one was captured with the rook.  This is simply Christmas Break.  Not many other times during the year would I tell you about a rook game, but this just happens to be the time.  When we finally accomplished the feat of finishing the game we looked outside and the ground was covered with a sheet of snow.  I hear that supposedly we are going to have a blizzard sometime this week before Christmas.  With the thought that we might be going to the mall pretty soon I must end this post, probably to your delight.  I have said it before and will say it again, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Party

We had our home school Christmas Party Friday and as you can see these are the pictures.  We had a great time and the fact that Christmas Break is here is really settling in very nice.

Gingerbread House

It is that time, or maybe I should say past that time of the month when all gingerbread houses need to be made.  Jessica and my mother accomplished the job last night.  This was also the night that their was a five part Johnny Dollar series, but that is a different subject.  They did a great job and I took a couple of pictures to commemorate the moment.  Here they are...

 

 

Something Interesting

Yesterday there was a surprise for us all, Jessica won a coloring contest.  We went to a restaurant called "Badlands" and Jessica entered the picture that she colored in a drawing contest.  Now she can go to "Badlands" and eat for free, one meal that is.  I do not have a picture of the picture that she colored.  Sorry!  I do have a picture of this up north and to your right though.  Everyone is making that last second phone call, getting Christmas gifts, and in the midst of all that getting a picture together.  Hope you all have a blessed Christmas - or as the stores say it "Happy Holidays"!

Christmas Program

In the midst of the cold, hustling and bustling we had our Christmas Program last Sunday.  It went great!  In the picture on the top and to the left you can see my dad and sister all dressed up for church, something I didn't do.  Due to the fact that we were having our Christmas Drama we did not have to dress up for church.  In the second picture  to your right you can see Jessica and the many other Sunday School kids performing their performance.  They did a fantastic job singing "Joy to the World" and giving us the legend of the candy cane.  I would say history but as we all should know a legend could very easily be a myth so it possibly could be inaccurate to call this the history of the candy cane.  After all the kids were done performing they thought that it would be a nice time for the youth and adults to perform their drama.  We could and probably should end this post here, but I must go on.  On the third picture to your left you can see Jared playing the role of Joseph.  Every boy has to play that role at least once in his life just to build memories it seems.  Jared did a fine job, I would expend some more time on him but I think you all know what Joseph does in every single Christmas play.  One thing that was different in this play unlike a lot of other plays was the fact that there was a lot of music (they are holding mics in the picture because they are singing).  Next, we come to the role that I played in this play.  I also was a husband, except my wife was bossy.  I am trying to sleep and she come and tells me to get up and get to work.  In the bottom left picture you see me talking with a friend about how we always are getting told to get up and get to work.  The play turned out great. It never ceases to amaze me how you can go through practice for one of those things and everyone will be goofing off and having a grand old time, but then the Saturday before the play when you have your big practice they all settle down and you are able to get it all together.  This year I had to wonder whether or not it was all gonna come together but in the end it was fantastic.

Merry Christmas everyone!

~Jonathan

Christmas Cookies

This past week the ladies of our church have been making cookies for some cookie trays that we sell.  Let me say this, when they broke a cookie I was happy because they were quite delicious.  My mom, obviously, makes the best Christmas cookies, no one can compare.  They can spend all the time in the world, they can make the cookies look like they are for royal company, they can spend all the money in the world for that matter, but it will never compare.  As many of you know, I am not a biased person at all :).  But anyways back to the topic of the article we enjoyed the cookie tray that we received and, of course, my moms stuff on there was the best.  Who could ever beat homemade cherry cordials?  Who can beat homemade chocolate peanut butter balls?  Anyways, they were able to finish the trays and pass them out.  Now to go eat some peanut butter balls.

                   

Annual Weather Check-up

As I am writing this post a nice drizzle of snow is coming down.  Most of the estimates that I give on this blog should probably be considered hope estimates.  Right now I would estimate that there is slightly less than a foot of snow that has fallen.  Considering that fact that the wind is constantly blowing it does not look like much until you mistakenly walk into a drift and it goes up to your knee.  The last few days the straight temperature has been in the negatives.  This is not a bad thing until the wind starts blowing and you freeze into a popsicle.  Now that I mention that about popsicles,  ice cream does sound pretty good about now.

Dickens Festival

This year we had the pleasure of attending the Dickens Festival.  The Festival take place in a small little town in North Dakota called Garrison.  During the day they will have a tea, a house tour, bus rides around the town on a really cool and old bus, and food.  The tea was a fine thing, about as good as a tea could be for a teenage boy.  The house tour was very interesting considering the fact that the house was probably built in the early nineteen hundreds and was completely renovated.  We never actually went on the bus ride but it looked really cool.  It is the only double decker bus in the Midwest.  The opportunity to talk about the food in finally here.  The first few words that would come to mind would be grand, delicious, interesting, and decipherable (OK maybe not the last word).  I had the pleasure of eating some Swedish Buffalo meatballs which were very good and I was able to try this hamburger which was inside some deep fried sour dough bread, or something like that.  But again it was all very good and I believe we all enjoyed ourselves very much.

Brothers

There are so many famous brothers in the world.  You have the Wright brothers who were able to fly the first airplane, you have the Duryea brothers who set up the first American car manufacturing company, and you have the two homeless brothers in Budapest, Hungary that just got amazingly blessed by their grandmothers death.  I was looking at some news headlines and read one that said "Hungary brothers in line to receive 6.6 billion dollars".   They will no longer have to live in a cave on the outskirts of Budapest.  From being hungry in Hungary to potentially living in a mansion, what a story.

~Jonathan

A Plain Day

Today I woke up and was told that it had snowed the night before.  My first worry that hit was whether or not the skylight (I think that is what it is called) would be covered and we would not be able to get reception for our XM radio.  After looking at the weather forecast it looks like winter is upon us for good and if everything stays the same, we will be having another white christmas.  The good news is that less than an inch has fallen, hopefully it stays that way. 

Black Friday

I woke up this morning with my mind on getting more sleep and how I turned off my alarm clock in my sleep.  I quickly dressed and was ready to go at 4:35 am for shopping.  It turned into a long day at the mall and Walmart.  At Walmart it was interesting when they opened up the deals for everybody, I could definently see how someone could get trampled.  My friends and I went into the food section where there was nobody.  After all the shopping we went and had an Xbox party which was a lot more fun.  Hope you all had a great Black Friday.

Thanksgiving Day Trivia

Did you know that the Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving on the 2nd monday in October?  When I read this I found it very interesting.   Thought you might all want to know.

Thanksgiving Day

Hello everybody and how in the world are you anyway?  I stayed up till after midnight just so I could say that I was the first to wish you a happy turkey Thanksgiving Day. 

  Today I was at the store and couldn't help overhearing an employee telling someone happy turkey day.  Later I went to the lady and said "Happy Thanksgiving".  She stumbled over her words and finally said "you too".  This bothered me because shouldn't we be able to say "Happy Thanksgiving".  Aren't we thankful that the Pilgrims came over to the "New World" and eventually started America?  Aren't we thankful that we live in a some what free country?  Aren't we thankful that we have a roof over our head this thanksgiving and a turkey to eat?   After mulling over these questions I came to my conclusion, you can actually find it in the Bible.  In Psalm 106:1 you will find the words "O give thanks unto the Lord".  I challenge you that for this one day in the year 2009 you be thankful no matter the circumstance.  When it comes down to it you probably don't deserve to be where you are but the Lord has been merciful to you and has put you in your circumstance for a reason.  So I challenge you, in everything give thanks.

~Jonathan

Friends Day

We had a friends day at our church last Sunday.  There were over 170 people there.  After church we had a potluck and at the potluck we had a clown

And the clown had a show

I will say this, the people that helped the clown were tired after they were done.

The Farm

The last post of these continual postings is here!  In October my mom went up to the farm to prepare some apples for applesauce.  After a full day at the farm they realized that they were still not done.  But eventually we got our applesauce and apple butter.  Here are a few pictures.

It's Official

While I am here trying to get caught up on blogging, I have been told by my sources that I am cleared to resume all my physical activities.  The doctor said that there is a chance that my spleen will stay bruised for a long while.  If only the gym was not set up for the Thanksgiving Potluck I would be playing basketball tonight.

Tea Party

Our local library held a "Fancy Nancy Tea Party".  My sister, as you might of guessed, had to go.  She went to the tea party and it turned out that one of her friends from the church went there also.  I suppose that she had a great time.  Here are a few pictures.

The Farm

Yes, I have posted once about the farm and I will do so again.    We made lefsa at the farm and had a great time.  Here are the pics.

 A few minutes ago I was thinking "Man, I really should update the blog more often".  I figured I could check my mother's camera and see if there was anything interesting on there.  Hopefully something that would make a post.  What I did not realize was she really has been taking a lot of pictures.  I now feel obligated to catch you guys all up on what has been happening in North Dakota.  Enjoy!

40th Anniversary

In the month of October our church held its 40th anniversary.  Why I did not blog about then? I don't know.  But now I am, here are a few pics.

The services went great.  I will give you a rundown of all the people in the pictures. The top picture is my mom and dad (just in case you guys didn't know).  The next one would be a picture of the Budgells from Canada.  On to the next picture.  This picture is a picture of our family.  The next picture from left to right contains Bro. Bollinger, Bro. Gilbert Pearson, Bro. Vaughn Pearson, and last is our Pastor.  The last picture is Vaughn and Wendy Pearson.

Fall Festival

We had our Fall Festival way back in October.  It went well and
here are a few pictures.

The Clothesline

Figure you might want to see what caused me all the trouble in the first place.

The Farm

Saturday we woke up and traveled the fifty miles south to the farm. This time it was much more enjoyable than last time. We made some lefsa, which is extremely good to eat fresh of the grill, and had much fun. I took a nice little trip on their four-wheeler, took a little walk which turned into a long one, and tried to stay as far from the work as possible. Jason, Leesha, Garret, and I left a little bit earlier to go hunting. Leesha was the one who was trying to fill a tag. She tried to shoot a deer at around five hundred yards, but missed. Later on she had another chance. The doe was running up a hill trying to escape, Leesha jacked her chamber and out came the bullet that was in the chamber. Her dad was getting very frustrated, yet she was able to stay calm. She reloaded the gun, looked through scope, and knowing that she did not have another bullet pulled the trigger. The deer was in mid-stride when she shot. Jason, being the master hunter he is, saw the deer drop its head. We all rushed up the hill to see if it was there and what we saw was very interesting. We saw the deer on the ground squirming around like it had been shot. Jason calmly walked up to it, raised his shotgun, and POW. The deer was dead. The rest of us walked up to it and saw the deer on its side, and the deer’s legs moving as though it was running away. I really wished I had my camera with me at that moment, but if whishes were horses beggars would ride. It was around this time that Garret and I had the pleasure of watching Jason and Leesha gut out the deer. Oh yea, I almost forgot to say that Leesha's shot was a perfect headshot that knocked out some brains, any eye, and part of the nose. 

Life

It is crazy that is already November. To think that I already need to buy Christmas presents again. Nothing amazing has been going on up here in the land of the North. This weekend we are going to the Sletten's farm to make some lefsa (something like a tortilla that is really good with butter and sugar). I told the Sletten's that they need to put a "No Jumping" sign on their clothesline because someone could really sue them over that.

Update

I went to the doctors today and there was some good news. Dr. Lane Lee said that I would need to come back in two weeks and we would have a CAT scan with a chance for me to be cleared.

Now I'm Back :)

Fall has taken on a whole new meaning for me. To the people that are not in the north it is rainy with the leaves turning colors and football season starting, but for all of us up north fall is just snow. The other day our church was having a family day at the Sletten's Farm. We were having a great time going on scavenger hunts in 30-degree weather. Until I got the brilliant idea I could jump over a clothesline. I successfully made it over the clothesline but unsuccessfully landed. Monday we set up an appointment with a pediatrician who then sent me in for an ultra-sound who then sent me in for a CAT scan. After that I went to the ER and then they put me into my room. The results were that I fractured my spleen in half and then in half again. This morning I was released and am feeling pretty good. I do not believe I am destined to be Superman though:( Here are a few pictures of me in the hospital room. Thank you for all the many prayers that have been prayed.

Guess Whats Here?

I am sure that most of you do not know the answer to the question. Most North Dakotans do not want to realize the answer to the question. The answer is
Snow!
We have had about two weeks of spring a few months of a cold summer and now a couple weeks of fall and it is already winter again. In the picture you can see the white stuff on the fringe of the field that is the snow. The crazy thing is that some of the snow melted away. Right now it is 29 degrees outside and with the wind chill it is about 15. Tell me how that snow melted.

They are BACK!!!!

Dad and mom just got back from General Conference yesterday. The good news is we are going to have some really good food today. They had a little bit of fun at the Mall of America and at St. Louis. Dad, mom, and the Pearsons stayed at the same hotel. The hotel room that the Pearson's had overlooked the St. Louis Cardinals baseball stadium. Here are a few pictures...

General Conference

With General Conference coming up the boys are home alone. Jess and Ruth headed East to Minnesota and the Mall of America Saturday and will turn the sights south toward St. Louis probably sometime Tuesday. Jessica is having the pleasure of staying the week with someone in the church. The boys are getting the opportunity to see what it is like being bachelors. They get to try their best to make macaroni and cheese different ways and eat some good ol' hamburgers.

News Update

Jared was spotted playing one-on-one basketball Tuesday night. Come to find out he was cleared by his doctor earlier that day. Jared is now able to play contact sports. His next goal? A slam dunk!

Youth Trip to Medora

Jared and Jonathan got back from a youth trip to Medora on Saturday night after the Huskies beat Idaho (what a delight). We went to Medora on Friday night and set up camp.

Our makeshift grill

Jim putting some food on the grill.Some of the youth groupThe youth went to the National Park and went on a four mile hike. Before they went on the hike they were able to climb a large hill.

This is the view of the hillThis is the view from the top of the hill. You can faintly see the truck and some of the youth.

They had to cross the Paddock River about eight times with a grand total of three people falling in, you had to jump across the river. After that we went up to Wind Canyon. This is a place where you can slide down these crevices which have sand in them, it was much fun. Then we drove to Dickinson got a bite to eat and headed home. Here are a few pics...