Long Awaited Scans

Since I (Pastor) finally got the scanner hooked up. I get to write the blog for them. :-)

Since several who have not seen Sarah up close have asked, the proof is in the scans (of the ultrasound that is). I give the world wide web, Strawn baby #2 at 19 weeks. At this posting, they (Sarah and child) are 28 weeks along.



Is this my good side? ha ha, get it, side (view)


already bony like my father, ha ha.


Get those sound waves out of my eyes, I'm trying to nap!



ah, peace at last.

Long HOT week

This past week wasn't too out of the ordinary, except for the 100 degree heat we had every day. And when the wind blows, which it does, it's a hot, dry, blowing heat combined with dust & small rock particles. Great for the vehicles. Tastes pretty good too. It's especially wonderful to get out of your hair and teeth....

Al had a wedding on Saturday, which means working Friday, rehearsal that evening, and dinners after both. It was very nice, very packed, and very hot. The AC froze up in the church (note to all Pastor's out there: Do not set the AC to 50 degrees for 40 hours in your church, there WILL be repercussions). During the service, the overhead units would chatter loudly, and then spew ice chunks out at random people, soaking organ music in the process.

Eden is getting very proficient in her ability to climb. She can reach the windowsill on the back of the couch now, so that place is not safe for a stash of M&M's (see below).


She can also climb out of her crib, which has added a sense of stress to my life. At random hours of the night, you will hear her wandering around, playing with loud toys. We have started shutting her door now, and Sunday morning, I found her fast asleep on the floor, with carpet embedded in her cheek from laying there all night. Or at least from 0200 on.

She is also somewhat amazing in her ability to take off a diaper, whether or not she has pants on, in the amount of time it takes you to throw away the old one and wash your hands. No pictures of that yet.

Her new 'thing of the week' is being able to climb into Samson's water pails and get wet from top to bottom. Doesn't really matter to her if her shoes are on or not, or if she is in church clothes, wedding clothes or pajamas. I think that's totally irrelevant.





















This week, we get ready for our biking vacation in Colorado. We leave on Saturday (Happy Birthday, Chad and Mom) and come back the following Saturday. Look for updates and pictures after the 7th.

Until then, stay safe, and enjoy my favorite all time EMS quote.

"Air goes in and out. Blood goes round and round.
Any variation of this is a BAD thing."

Branding...among other things

This week's blog could go on forever, but I'll try to keep it reasonable!

Monday we had 2 extra girls here for the day, and Eden thought the playmates were great for a while, then was content to sit in her sandbox by herself for a spell. It went that way all day. Unfortunately, the pool in Bridgeport doesn't open until 1:00p (nap time) and the library is closed on Monday, so we had to settle for a spin in the sprinklers instead of an outing.

Al had meetings Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evening. On Thursday, Eden went to a ball game with the Douthits and he and I went to a play in Scottsbluff called "Married Alive". As the title implies, the production dealt with married couples. Two couples, one newly wed, and one a little more seasoned. It was hilarious! Al & I were roaring with laughter. By far, the best play we've seen in Nebraska so far. I haven’t heard him laugh like that in a long time. It was good.

We also had fun in the sun before the storms came. Here, Eden is playing in the hose. Her little green duck doesn't stay full for very long, so she likes to steal my hose from the flower beds. She was definately in her glory for a while.









Friday, we took another trip to Scottsbluff, as our
camper was fixed (3 cheers for Butch!!) and needed to be picked up. Al got to drive an El Camino out of the barn for the owner. That was almost as funny as the play the night before.

Also on Friday, we went to Sonny's bike shop and got tip top service trying out new bikes. I have been putting off buying a new one, as my old was is 'just fine'. However, two weeks before we're set to go on a biking trip in Colorado, my brakes gave out completely. Since they've aleady been fixed twice, and I had a check in the mail from a 5 year CD, we decided to get a nice, reliable bike. So, Sonny got me fixed up with a "Giant" that is incredibly comfortable and definately a step up from my high school Huffy! In the one day that I’ve been able to ride it (unusually stormy here over the weekend), I have acquired two large, dark bruises, one on each inner thigh, from the metal water bottle holder Al had him put on. Hopefully, I’ll figure out how to dismount the bike w/o smashing into it before we go on vacation. They look brutal!

On Saturday, we got up and headed 25 miles into nowhere’s-ville for a branding session. It was 95 degrees with no shade but sand burrs and tumbleweed aplenty. Eden sat on my leg, holding on to the fence watching for hours. Samson barked at the cows, and Eden said, “Moo” over and over and over and…

The preacher jumped right in with his steel-toed boots and went to work. For a man who wouldn't stay in the room when his wife got an IV during labor, they let him have the two vaccination needle guns. Every time a calf was roped and pulled over to him, Al gave it two shots, while the rest of the ranchers held it down, snipped him, shaved him, sprayed him with alcohol, squired stuff in it’s nose, marked it with chalk, and freeze dried a brand on him. They had two teams of people, with two rope men on alternating horses working, so it went quicky. As quick as you can do 200 head in the blazing sun, anyway.

I’m glad we went, it was certainly a learning experience, but if I’m going to be out in that kind of heat again all day, I’d rather it be at an auction.

Roping a calf and dragging it to it's destination.

Al with the vaccinations

All in all, it was a fruitful week, and full of entertainment. Thanks to the Douthits' for babysitting, and the Cordes' for letting us 'help' in branding. Enjoy your week!

Little Joshua contines to grow!

Eden's new favorite spot in the back yard is in the flower pot with the black potting soil. Since it's Samson's territory back there, we have no flowers in the pot. We just grow Eden.







Our last week was relatively calm. We celebrated Camp Clarke Days last weekend with Bridgeport, and Al got to ride shotgun with Eden, throwing candy out of the new ambulance window. It was very fun, lots of people to wave at and beautiful weather.

Monday - Wednesday, I worked hard at getting the spare room cleaned out and ready to make into a nursery. It will first debut as a guest room, complete with an air mattress on the floor, when all the grandparents are here for the future baptism. I had no idea I'd shoved so much stuff in there, in addition to all the boxes that were yet to be unpacked! Eden was not much of a help, but as long as I kept finding shoes for her to try on, all was well.

We had an interesting guest show up at the church just as Al was coming home to lunch on Wednesday. So, the mystery man also stayed for lunch, which led to supper, and then to an overnight stay on the army cot in the garage, then Al drove him to Ogallala on Thursday morning. Apparently, Brother William was travelling across the western states on his bike, proclaiming the Good News to the Amish. So far, I've seen no Amish out here. With the wind was gusting as strong as it was those days, he couldn't ride. Supposedly, his bike was also broken, and he was towing a brand new bike with no wheels. The man ate like a horse (my microwave is a splattered mess...hello paper towel!?!) and talked like a confused politician, with some religion thrown in for good measure.

It was an exhausting 24 hours, and we took the rest of Thursday to recover before having a supper meeting with the President of the Wyoming District of the LC-MS. That was a very pleasant dinner with a seemingly genuine man.

Friday, Eden took a 4 hour nap, and then we took a trip to Scottsbluff to drop off the camper at an RV shop. Hopefully, our 2nd try at getting it fixed will be more fruitful.

This week is supposed to be hot...and it is. After lunch, my thermometer was pushing 100.

Enjoy the dirty photos.

A little bit of everything

Well, after much consideration, I have decided that Marie and I can't be pregnant at the same time. For one, I have no clothes (since I borrowed hers the first time) and more importantly, number two, she has had their beautiful little boy, and I can only look at him in pictures and blame the hormones for all the far away tears..... Here are some more pictures of baby Joshua. He really looks sweet.

The Strawn's kept busy last week with Vacation Bible School. Every morning, I peeled Eden off her bed sheets and drug her to church with a bowl of Life. She likes her sleep more than the cereal, but anyway... I taught Pre-K/K and Al did all the rest of the grades for story time. Overall, we had 30 kids, and it was considered a success.

In the afternoons, we spent time napping, and working outside in the gardens. Eden loves to help me water the flowers with her little green duck watering can. She tips the can and says, "quack quack" over and over and over again. It was a nice, cool week.

Here you see Eden on the table. You may think this is just an ordinary picture, but consider the surroundings. Eden has climbed up on the table while I was on the phone, turned up the CD player REALLY loud, grabbed the children's music book, and started singing at the top of her lungs. She is also turning in circles, wiggling her butt. When I took the first photo, she dropped the book and began smiling for the camera.

Her other fascination is chairs. We climb on all sorts of 'chairs' and she enunciates it very well. I bought this yellow chair on an auction, and she won't stay off it. Bought her her own small chair on another auction, and now she thinks they are both hers.


When she's not being a pistol, she's rather cute. As seen in the photo below. Once again, had used my chair to climb up on the island in the middle of the kitchen. I'm waiting for child services to come knocking on my door.