Sukkot, Thanksgiving and Puerto Rico

Grandma Effie is an awesome gardener.  She definitely has a green thumb.  Below we're harvesting the potatoes with the help of the Massey and the antique potato harvester.

 In the background, you can see the set up we lived in all summer.  The kitchen and pantry were in the trailer and under the blue tarp we had a very nice shower :)

 By the time Sukkot rolled around it was starting to get cold outside so we built two sukkahs in our half built house.  One for eating in....

 ....and one for sleeping (and playing in)...   It was so nice in there that we never did move back to the motor home.  After Sukkot we just started living in our new home and continued to build all around us :)

 Dayton and Abigail, Ronen and Aiden showed up just in time to give us a much needed boost.  We were racing to get the house insulated before it got really cold.

 Dayton put in some long hours covered in insulation :)  He's the man! :)

 We put in dense pack cellulose and it turned out great.  All winter our indoor wood furnace kept the house nice and warm even when it was -22 out!

Trey and Deborah with Zadok and Benaiah made it up for a quick visit and we were able to take a family photo.

We got everything insulated and took off for a well deserved break.  We headed to Grandma Rogers' house first for Thanksgiving and a family reunion with my side of  the family.

 Quentin replacing the 32 pin charging port on Tshava's ipod  :)

Quentin made a fun video while we were there.

Next we headed to Puerto Rico to visit the Warren's. 

Puerto Rico is an extremely diverse little island.  It has a desert, a rain forest and everything in between. We spent a day at the Rain Forest. Below we climbed a tower for an awesome view (and a little fun with the panoramic picture :)  )

Benaiah Jasher Lance

Benaiah Jasher Lance

“YHWH has Built”  “Upright”

Was born to Trey and Deborah Lance

Sept 14, 2016

He weighed  7 lbs 1 oz and is a beautiful boy.

It was quite the adventure for the Grandmas!!!  

Deborah had been having light contractions on and off for two days.  They were gradually getting a little stronger so we called the midwife and let her know she would probably be needed later on.

The girls were being goofy with the chalk, so we decided this would be a fun way to let Trey know it was time to wrap things up at work and head home.

These pictures were taken at 4:30 pm.

 

Trey got the message and started heading home while we started getting the birthing pool out. The contractions were still light so we were having a fun time with it.

Tracy is making sure there aren’t any lumps in the padding under the pool  :)

The contractions started getting stronger so we called the midwife to come on over while we started getting water in the pool.

I couldn’t get the hose fitting off the washing machine which was our first plan to fill up the pool.  But, Trey was prepared and had bought some other fittings.  (I’m sure if he had been there he would have been able to get the hose off the washer.)  Tracy was able to get the hose hooked up to the shower head and we were in business.

You can tell that we weren’t too concerned yet, because I’m still taking pictures :)  

That was the last picture until after the birth :)

We got the pool half full before we ran out of hot water in the tank.  In the meantime, Deborah’s contractions were getting pretty strong.  She got in the tub while we started heating water up.  She wasn’t in there long before she was feeling the urge to push.  There wasn’t enough water yet to have the birth in the pool so we moved Deborah to her bed after the next contraction.  Trey got home at 7 o’clock and Benaiah was born at 7:12 pm!  Tracy and I were able to talk with Deborah’s midwife as she drove, despite poor cell reception, and the birth went very smoothly.  We didn’t really have time to get nervous which was a huge blessing.  In fact the whole day was a huge blessing from YHWH, we really felt His peace and we are very grateful!

The proud Grandma’s after their first solo and truly accidental midwifeless homebirth :)

 

Since this was my first time really assisting in a birth, Tracy took the lead while I helped out.  Since she got to catch Benaiah, I got to dress him for the first time.

Zadok wasn’t sure what to make of Benaiah at first, but he warmed up to him real fast.

Mom and baby are both doing great and resting quietly.

 Grandma and Sarah are helping take care of Zadok. (Grandma is learning how to take selfies :)  )

I am working on getting the blog updated.

Summer of 2016

The Brendemuhl Family – Masons

We are repurposing a big shed to be our home.  We found a date in the cement that Paul's dad put there in 1959 when he built it.  It has served as a barn, machine shed and grain bins. It was built to last, it is still in great shape!
We are building a root cellar in the center portion and we had a truck bring us some cement out.
When he pulled in and saw us, the cement truck driver asked Paul if he had any help.  Paul pointed to all of us and the truck driver said, “well, there’re a lot of them…”   It all went well and by the end of the second day we were getting pretty good at it J

It’s a blessing to have the root cellar in place and all joined together with the rest of the house.  The walls should go up quickly now and we’ll be ready to put in the electricity.  Quentin has done most of the work in the main part of the house and he’s got it ready for the electricity and sheet rock.

The guys put in a custom tiled shower in Nondalton to practice for our new home here in North Dakota.  It turned out great and my new shower is looking good so far J

Below David is reading a book while waiting for an opportunity to help work on the house.  When I asked him why he was hiding back in my bedroom, he said that Quentin knew exactly where he was if he needed him J  

We’ve gotten to take a couple of breaks from our labors J   We went to one of the biggest air shows in the world at Oshkosh, WI.  It was awesome!

Caleb

Caleb made a parachute for the gokart. I think he was inspired by the paragliders at the air show.

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Deborah and Trey and Zadok (and their little chocolate lab puppy) came and stayed with us for two weeks while Trey worked for a friend who is a roofer in the area.

The wheat is just about all harvested all around us.

Grandma Effie’s garden is providing us with a lot of fresh vegetables.  We’re eating corn everyday and I’m trying to learn how to cook what’s ready when it’s ready.  It’s a big change from having a six month supply of frozen vegetables in the freezer.  I’ve been letting too much go to waste.  We put up a bunch of corn, beans, beets, pickles and the tomatoes are next.  I’ll get better J

Aiden Asher Warren

Dayton and Abigail had the most beautiful little boy!

Aiden Asher Warren

(which means Paradise of Happiness

in english we spell it Eden, but in Hebrew it is pronounced more like Aiden)

At 7 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches he is tall and lean :)

So far he has been the perfect baby, very alert but not fussy and a good eater :)

Grandma Brendemuhl got to go to Puerto Rico to hold him and

tak big brother Ronen swimming.

We are in North Dakota building our house.  Everyday is a new adventure for the kids here on the farm.