Shooting after decades

I have fallen behind with my writing as I have something going on with my left foot. I noticed it about a week ago and each day it has gotten more painful and swollen. Yesterday I realized that it was acting like it did about 8 years ago when I ended up going to the doctor after I could hardly walk anymore. Even he couldn't figure out what it was, but the steroids that he gave me took care of it after a few weeks. What a miracle--NOT! That is certainly not a pattern that I care to fall into!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yesterday I freaked out as I recalled that month and a half long nightmare. I decided to soak in the whirlpool with a cup of apple cider vinegar added. This draws out a lot of poisons. I also put myself on the Master Cleanse, with additional fruit, until this is cleared up. That was a rather abrupt decision but I am NOT going to go through that whole ordeal again.

As the water swirled around me and I started to relax, I could think a little bit. I started doing the BodyTalk Access procedures and felt more and more calm. "I have the skills to deal with this now," I told myself.

When I reached the wrist to ankle reciprocal, though, something broke loose in me and I wept for about 10 minutes. "What is this all about?" I prayed and then slowly I came to understand what was going on with my ankle. I believe now that most of it is emotionally based. Let me explain.

Close to the the time period involved when I had the extremely painful episode on that foot, we were also dealing with West Nile in our horses. One of the best friends that I have ever had was our horse Gabriel--Gabe for short. Wouldn't you know it--Gabe got West Nile. It was a long ordeal with 3 vet visits and finally coming out of the house that morning to find him dead. We had moved him under the tree close by so that we could nurse him. The minute I opened the door, I knew that he was dead. I could feel his absence on the earth!!! I can't even write about it now without weeping. Maybe I'll try to find a picture of Gabe and post it sometime.

Anyway, yesterday in my BT session, I realized that Gabe's death was linked with the infection in my foot which had turned my foot black. Well, for the past 3 weeks we've been trying to get Cora's milk cow, Leisle, back on her feet after a complicated birth. I understand now that, as I watched Leisle's decline I was going back in my mind to the time when I was forced to watch Gabe's decline and death. God was taking me back to deal with Gabe's decline, which I have never dealt with not having the skills to do so before this. Well, now I do so I dealt with it.

I did Active Memory on myself to Gabe's death and then I had to do Emotional Freedom Technique on top of it as the trauma of it all was so painful. I cried like a baby and let out years of pent-up emotions. I should add here that all 3 of my children got West Nile the week that Gabe was dying too. I had treated it with massive doses of Tahitian Noni juice and their suffering was mild. All of this did NOT have a mild affect on this mother's hearth though.

So to make a long story short, today I have about 1/4th the pain in my foot as I had yesterday at this time. My conclusion is this: watching Leisle slowly die was horrible for me as I know how much Cora was being affected by it. Yesterday, when Robert shot Leisle to stop her misery, Cora was devastated. Gabe's death and the children's week-long battle with West Nile all came back to me in full force and I fell apart. I praise God that He has given me the skills to deal with such trauma through BodyTalk procedures and Emotional Freedom Technique. I praise Him too for a whirlpool which seems to free up my emotions like nothing else.

I'm still going to stay on the cleanse until the pain is completely gone but my heart tells me that the weight has been lifted that brought on the infection in my foot. Isn't it incredible how the mind affects the body?

WOW. I cannot urge you all enough to give BodyTalk a try at your next health crisis. Better yet, why wait for a blowup? Sure, I'll gain a little money by doing your sessions for you, but you will gain peace inside and what is that worth in our crazy world? Please consider giving BodyTalk a try. End of advertisement--I really had not planned on going there at all. It just sort of oozed out of me in my enthusiasm to help others! :)

Here are pictures from last Sabbath. We're trying to prepare for our Appleseed Shoot which is scheduled for October 3rd and 4th here at our farm. We're still waiting for them to post it on the website but you can study there and see if you'd like to join us. You can find the link on my sidebar.

Anyway, we first had to set up the targets. We used some electric fence posts and duct taped some cardboard to a wire that we strung between the posts. The targets get stapled on at an official shoot but we just used tape them to the cardboard.

Robert was so kind and sighted in his rifle for me. He used his dad's old rifle so that I could use his good one. I very quickly learned, though, that I'll need to find a shorter rifle. It wasn't too bad when I shot sitting up but it was imposable for me to even cock the thing when I was in the prone position.

I learned that there are 3 sitting positions. The first one is the best but I absolutely could not get my knee to bend that far back. The second one hurt too as my shoulders ached from leaning over so far so I had to use the third, least secure position. I didn't do too bad with the scope. I got 3 in the bulls-eye and the rest nearby. However, shooting in the prone position for me was a nightmare with that gun. I did terrible!


Checking our results. Everyone did better than they expected except Andrew. He was shooting with his new rifle and it takes some getting used to when you make changes like that.

Reloading to shoot again. I didn't realize that I'd grown so clumsy with a rifle. My goodness it's only been a little over 25 years since I've shot gophers with Robert as a young bride. I'm glad that we're starting to practice ahead of time. :)

How about you? Will you accept our invitation to join us at our shoot? We'd love to have all of you who are concerned about our country's future to come and join us. We'll learn together about the past that gave us the freedoms that we now enjoy. I, for one, am willing to accept the challenge to become the best marks woman that I can be. Who knows--maybe someday I'll even make Riflewoman. Maybe after about 10 shoots or so. :)

Worth Millions *Revised with added pictures*

Dear friends,

How happy I am tonight at the end of a busy week!!!!!!!!! How I love the sunset on Friday nights for it means to me that the Sabbath rest has come at last. No more business; no more school; no more running around like crazy. It's time to rest from all of that and focus on the wonderful God who made this world so very beautiful.

The children and I had a wonderful day together in Bismarck. Andrew bought himself a brand new semi-automatic rifle and scope in preparation for our shoot here the first weekend in October. Then, after we did other errands, we headed out to Geigers for a baby shower for Miss Hannah Joy Young. Hannah is Brian and Lisa's granddaughter and Mariah (Geiger) Young's daughter.

It was great to be with the Geigers again. Miranda stated that this is the 3rd week in a row that we've seen each other which has never happened before. There were many friends gathered together to celebrate the new little life, but one was more special than all the rest to me.

I almost lost my breath when, stepping into Lisa's kitchen, here was an old friend cutting up vegetables. It was none other than my friend, Paulette, who housed me at her health center for 18 days in 2006 when I was on my deathbed. WOW--was I ever surprised. Paulette is a midwife, and was in Bismarck doing her prenatals, so it worked for her to stop in for Hannah's party. It'll be a long time before I forget THAT embrace. :) Cora almost caught us hugging, but the camera was silly just at that moment, so this is what she got. Oh well, it was great to see Paulette again. She even said that she may come down with the Bartletts to our shoot if her babies all cooperate.

Not only were these fruit kabobs cute--they were delicious!!!!!!!! Molly said that there were 6 different kinds of grapes in this beautiful bouquet.

Isn't this the most adorable baby carriage you've ever seen?

Here's the pretty mother, Mariah. Grandpa Brian, Paulette, and Grandma Lisa seated with a baby. I learned later that this was NOT little Hannah. Hannah was floating around the room so fast that it was hard to keep up with her.

Fortunately there were enough babies present for EVERYONE to have a chance at holding one. I had a special joy of feeding a 11 month old, named William. He just loved the fruit that I cut up for him as Cora held him close enough to feed but far enough to keep his chubby little hand out of my plate. Holly, William's mom, stood by chuckling and even his papa laughed when I said, "He's a bottom-less pit." Baby's are just sooooooooo adorable. Somebody said that the informal, off-the-record baby count that day was 8 sweet, cuddly little people present. WOW!!!

Andrew snapped these pictures of me with his new cell phone. By the way, I did get his permission to post these pictures. :) The roses were just lovely and Molly said that she got them "On discount" at Wall Mart. HMMMMMMM. I never knew that they sold discounted flowers at Wall Mart. It's just so much fun to pick up tidbits like this when I get the chance to get away from the farm. :) The punch was sooooooooooo delicious that I'll "Have to get the recipe" the next time I am planning a party.

"Find any carrots, Lisa?" "Nope--all out."

Well, I should be heading out for the barn but I am just so happy about a note that came with a check for a BodyTalk session this morning. Reading it again now, I just KNEW that I had to share this with you. This lady is VERY ill and has been so for almost a decade. She is skin and bones and has pain, pain, pain, but now she has opened her mind to BodyTalk. She told me after an earlier session, "Now I have some hope that I may be able to pull through this." This is what she said in her note.

Hi Dawn,

Thanks again for a wonderful BodyTalk treatment. I felt better last night after the treatment. It felt soooooooo good to be feeling joyful and playful. I played and laughed with our dog on such a beautiful evening. It brought joy to my soul. :) You are truly a blessing from God!! God bless you and yours! Hugs and Kisses............

After I read these words this morning I told Cora, "This piece of paper (the check) is worth $30 and this one (the card) is worth millions. PRAISE THE LORD FOR WHAT HE IS DOING TO HEAL PEOPLE THROUGH THE BODYTALK SYSTEM! Not only did He save my life through it, now He's using me to help others get well too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If that weren't joy enough for one day, I just got an email from my BodyTalk practitioner. She bore good news that the Module 3 class will be held after all on the 2nd weekend in October. There weren't enough people signed up to take the class earlier in the week so she had sent out an emergency plea for people to register if they were going to take the class. Well, enough folks did and now I get to move on with my training right up in Bismarck. These classes are taught around the world but I can't afford to travel around the world to get to them. I have to wait, then, until they're being taught in my backyard. Now our BT group is finally large enough to start having the upper modules taught here. YIPEE!!!!!!!

Best set the table with china for soon it will be time for our Sabbath feast. Please don't tell anybody that tonight I'm feeding my family pizza from Sam's Club--it's a disgrace. :)

HAPPY SABBATH EVERYONE.

PS. Did I say that another bonus was seeing Mrs. J at the Geiger's home whose family keeps the Sabbath in their home in Bismarck. Only God knows where that warm hug will lead to in the years ahead. ISN'T IT WONDERFUL HOW THE LORD BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME AND PLACE???????????

YES, HE IS WONDERFUL, OH SO WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Geiger's Enthusiasm/Appleseed Shoot Here

What do these two pictures have to do with each other? HMMMMMMMMM. I guess you'll have to read and find out. :)

I realized after I posted about our trip to the zoo, that I didn't finish telling about the rest of that wonderful day. We were having such a special time with the Geiger family at the zoo that nobody could stop talking. Lisa leaned over and said quietly to me, "Would it be possible for you to come out to our farm for supper?" I smiled but was certain that the answer would have to be, "No" as I knew that our chores would get REALLY late if we accepted.

"I'm pretty sure that won't be possible," I told her, "but I'll go and see what Robert thinks about it."

Robert was talking to a fellow organic farmer who happened to show up later that afternoon. I thought it was neat that the Lord gave him a man to talk to. We women were talking women things most of the time although Lisa did take the time to pick Robert's brain about raising dairy calves. That can be a looooooooong topic as it seems to be more of an art than a science to keep those critters alive!

When I approached the men, it was without much hope. I quietly told Robert about Lisa's invitation. He thought about half a second and said, "I think we can do that." My mouth dropped open and I said, "You mean you think we can spare the time to go?" He grinned at me and said, "Yes, let's go." So we went.

What a marvelous time we had too. Anybody who has ever been to the Geiger's home will know what a treat that is! Young ladies bustling around the kitchen, each following their mother's orders, never running into each other--it's amazing! It looked like a small well-organized army. I tell you, there is a family who knows how to work together. Good job, Brian and Lisa!

Well, I was doing my best to stay out of the way when Mikayla very politely asked what was new with us. I told her that we were trying to see if we could get all of the requirements met to host an Appleseed Shoot at our house yet this Fall. I wasn't prepared for what happened next.

All activity ceased and everyone stood staring at me. Mikayla was the first to recover and she said with delight, "YOU ARE?" I told her that I wasn't sure if it would happen this year or not and then everyone came back to life.

All of the girls started talking at once about how excited they were to hear about the Appleseed program--thanks to Jonathan Bartlett who had sent them information before their shoot. Everyone said emphatically that they had desperately wanted to attend the shoot at the Bartlett's and they desperately hoped that we could get a shoot organized yet this fall before hunting season.

Now I know these girls pretty well, and they're always pretty cheerful, but that night they were OVERJOYED at the thought that we'd have a shoot. They were practically begging me to do everything within my power to make it happen. They were counting up people who would come from their family alone. "That would be 7 of us," said Molly excitedly. Somebody got on the phone to tell some friends whom they home fellowship with and got off saying, "The K family wants to come too and that's 3 more." I bet X, Y, and Z families would want to come too!!!

Lisa and I just stared at them, almost shocked at their enthusiasm. I prayed quietly, "Lord, are you trying to tell me something here?" YES--HOST A SHOOT THIS FALL!!!!!!!! So I decided right then and there to renew my efforts to TRY to have a shoot here at our farm, SEEDS OF HONOR.

The girls went on and on about how they love hunting, but they aren't very good shots and they NEEDED to go to a shoot so that they can improve.......... They talked excitedly as they prepared supper and everyone was in as high of spirits as most people are at Christmas time. WOW!!!!!!

Miranda and I talked a little bit about how to go about shooting at one of these events in dresses. Neither her, Cora, nor I ever wear any pants. Actually, before this I had asked Cora if she would consider wearing pants for modesty's sake. She had very matter-of-factly replied, "What pants?" Miranda too only wears dresses so it was nice to know that we won't be the only ones in skirts at our shoot!

So now we're working on sewing some long bloomers so that we can be as modest as possible while moving around quickly to try to achieve at least the rank of MARKSMAN. We know that wearing dresses will slow us down a bit, but you're supposed to shoot the way you normally would. Being we normally wear dresses, that would mean shooting the AQT with dresses on. It should be interesting. :)

The rest of the evening with the Geigers was just as delightful. The men were talking at one end of the table; the women at the other; children piled all around us. It truly was one of the happiest moments of my entire life. We were all talking so loudly with each other that it seems amazing to me now that I could hear Mr. Geiger when he sighed happily, "This just seems like old times." Brian's big grin was contagious and we all joined in with smiles of agreement.

All too soon the clock said 9:00 and we knew that we should have been done with chores by then. Everyone groaned at the inevitable separation and slowly made our way to the door. It was so funny as one person would pull himself away from the group and head towards Andrew's pickup. When the rest of the family didn't show up, they came back in for another round of farewells. It was so funny to watch but, when I got out to the pickup myself and found the kombucha mushroom that I'd brought for Lisa, I too made my way back to the house. The boys followed me in to help tear me away from them before I'd start expounding on the wonderful health benefits of drinking kombucha. Everyone was laughing and laughing and laughing. It was just so wonderful to be together with these dear old friends who started home schooling the same year that we did--which would be 18 years ago.

Finally, when we were all in the pickup, Andrew said, "WE HAVE GOT TO GET TOGETHER WITH THEM AGAIN!" All the way home, until I fell asleep, I heard this thought echoed around the cab. OH WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY IT WAS--PRAISE THE LORD FOR SWEET "OLD" FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!! Amen?

Anyway, I said all of that in preparation to make my announcement. Guess what? We have been approved to host an Appleseed Shoot here at our farm on the weekend of October 3rd and 4th. I decided to post the email which we're sending out to everyone we know to invite them to come and join us. I should add here that our shoot hasn't been listed on the website yet, but it should be in a few days, so keep checking. Alex has said that he is coming from Iowa and our North Dakota Instructors in Training are preparing, so we are assuming that it's a go.

You may consider yourself invited but I need you to do one thing for us. PLEASE go to the website and register to attend the shoot. You'll find us listed under the Oct. 3rd weekend listings as Kintyre, ND. We need you to do this as soon as you know that you're coming so the Appleseed people can prepare.

To put it mildly, we're excited around here about this. By hosting the shoot, we not only get to attend one, but we get to see all of our friends for 2 whole days. WOW! If one afternoon at the zoo and supper with the Geigers could bring so much joy to our family, what will 2 days of many friends here with us be like? I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO FIND OUT!!!

Please keep our shoot in your prayers. Pray that the weather will be perfect; that everyone will come who is supposed to; and that the bonds of friendship will deepen. Truthfully, we need each other in this world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TO FRIENDSHIP,

Dawn


YOU'RE INVITED TO AN APPLESEED SHOOT

WHERE: At the Robert Bornemann farm near Kintyre, ND

WHEN: October 3rd and 4th, 2009--from 8:30 to 4:30 each day

WHY: To improve your shooting skills and learn the history of April 19th, 1775

Hello everyone,

Our family is VERY excited to share our news with you. We have been accepted to host an Appleseed Shoot here at our farm!!! It was pretty iffy for awhile as we couldn't seem to find an appropriate location for the range. Then Robert came up with an awesome idea, which proved to be the answer to the problem.

Recently we purchased a large square baler which makes very high-density bales. At first we had considered using our large alfalfa bales as a backstop for the bullets, but who wants their hay all full of bullets? Well as it happened, Robert and our neighbor had just struck up a deal. Mr. Johnson grew flax this year and he offered to let us bale up the straw. Flax straw bales are virtually indestructible so we are planning on building wind breaks for the cattle with them after the shoot. Being these aren't going to be used for feeding to the animals, it doesn't matter if they're full of bullets or not. It is these bales that we're going to build a backstop with for the shoot.

We needed to KNOW that the bales would stop all of those flying bullets, so we set up a little test. The guys shot ten .22 shells and four .270 shells into a bale from a distance of 5 feet. NOT A SINGLE BULLET CAME THROUGH THE BALE! YIPEE! This means that we can host a shoot even though we don't have a hill steep enough to stop the bullets. So, if you are interested, mark your calendars for October 3rd and 4th as those are the dates set for our shoot. We invite you to join us here for our shoot. By attending you can learn tricks to improve your aim; get inspired to protect our country if need be; and make new friends--not to mention strengthening old friendships. :)

What we need you to do, the minute you know that you can come, is go to the Appleseed Project website here: http://www.appleseedinfo.org/. Find the listing for Kintyre, ND for the October 3rd and 4th weekend and register. Usually Appleseed likes 3 months to prepare for a shoot but we don't have that much time with winter approaching every day. The shoot boss asked me to urge you all to register immediately so that they can get their supplies together. They need a headcount in other words.

The Appleseed founders want everyone to be able to come to a shoot who would like to. They allow all children under 21; all women; and all active military personnel in for free. Isn't that great? Also Alex the shoot boss, told me that if there is a true financial need, nobody will be turned aside. If this is the case with your family, please let me know, and I'll make those arrangements with Alex. Otherwise the price is a mere $70 for men for the weekend. You do need to bring a sack lunch. I guess I should add here that you can come for only one day if necessary and that price is $45. Andrew said that the best day to come then is Saturday as that is when the bulk of the teaching is done.

Just as soon as you register on the Appleseed website, we'd like you to email us too and tell us the number of people from your family who are coming. We'll need to get enough bales to the shoot site so that everyone who wants to participate can shoot. Being we don't have an adequate hill for a backstop, we'll need to build one. :)

As you ponder this, I would like to have you take a few moments to watch this video on U-tube. Appleseed got very good press coverage and perhaps you will get your questions answered by watching. Here's the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYwhN2Uw8e4.

Thank you for considering joining us here. Please seriously ponder attending as Andrew and Jacob were very inspired by attending a shoot last month. Those of you who can't attend this shoot may want to do so next year. Also, we'd appreciate prayers for lovely weather that weekend--that is a way that EVERYBODY can help out!

Hope to see you next month,

Dawn for the Bornemanns

PS. If you have any extra rifles that you would be willing to loan to others for the shoot, please let me know. We have some people who want to come who don't have a gun--YET.

25 years

My brother hasn't stepped foot in my house in 25 years--until yesterday. You may recall that I sent him a love box with things from mom's funeral and invited he and his wife to visit us here. Well, they accepted our invitation yesterday and their visit had a special kind of sweetness
that I've never known before. I have always felt like an orphan in that family--all alone in the midst of a sea of sharks. After spending time with Russell and LV, talking until 1:00 this morning, I can now understand a bit about the making of a shark. I'm not saying that we're kindred spirits or anything (I DON'T SMOKE CIGARS), but it was sweet when he said as I showed them my garden, "So, you grow dill just like mom did."

Here is a picture of Russell Warren Delzer--the oldest in my family. It was a special day for him as he was celebrating 10 years of sobriety. 10 years ago, Russell was in a motorcycle accident that almost took his life. "Not a droop of booze in 10 years," was how Russell described his recovery from alcoholism. GOOD FOR YOU BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!

LV is from the Philippines and has a heart of gold. She is a city girl and was overjoyed to help feed the baby calves.

Here she proudly told me, "I helped to feed the cows, oops calves." We had had a lesson at suppertime about the proper terms for the different types of critters in the bovine family. I never realized that it can be confusing having grown up with that kind of talk all of my life. LV was so excited to have the opportunity to actually touch Cheerio, Andrew's milk cow. Look at that smile. It made me wonder how many other people are aching for a bit of country life!

Russell showed all of us his hybrid car. It has a gas motor and an electric motor. He said that at stop signs the whole thing shuts off to save energy. Then when you're ready to go, the electric motor fires up quickly and gets the car moving. Then the gas motor starts up. He gets about 70 miles to the gallon--WOW!!!!!! It was VERY interesting to hear about this technology as our guys keep searching for ways to save fuel. The battery pack is in the trunk.

This morning all of us were pretty tired from our short night but it was so great to be greeted by Russell this morning. His, "So how is my sister?" almost brought tears of joy to my eyes. It was a good thing that Andrew was standing there so I could bury my face in his chest. Russell isn't too much for shows of affection--YET!!! He's had a hard life but this sweet little lady has done miracles with her loving ways. Thank you LV!!!

LV said as they got in their car, "The next time we come..." THE NEXT TIME--I hadn't given any thought whatsoever to the possibility that they would drive 6 hours one way to see us ever again. WOW. As Russell drove their hybrid out the driveway, I had the strangest warm spot in my heart. Could this be what "Family" is supposed to be like????????????? Oh did I mention that they brought a week's worth of fruit for us to enjoy? It was a joy then to fill up the empty places in their car with just-picked veggies from our garden. LV said that she may even have herself a garden next year!!!!!!!!!!!

As I ponder the time spent with my brother I realize that GOD CAN DO ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!PRAISES TO HIS NAME!

PR

Today I was thinking about the letters PR. To me those 2 letters have always meant a Public Relations person for a large firm--someone who always smiles no matter what!

I was going to use them just now to stand for Prayer Requests. I have several and I need to be brief as I'm supposed to be out in the barn. First of all I'd like to have prayer for my brother's visit tomorrow. I haven't seen Russell in a looooooooooong time and I can only hope that he comes with peaceful intentions.

The third use of the letters PR which came to mind is Press Release. Our news is that we have been accepted by Appleseed to host a shoot here at our farm, SEEDS OF HONOR. I'll write more about it later after we've filled out our application. We were so lazy today, and didn't get it done, but Alex said that he really MUST have it on Monday morning as we are cutting it short here with only a month until the shoot. Anyway, the dates set for our very own Appleseed are October 3rd and 4th, 2009. Please be in prayer for this event and also start pondering whether or not the Lord wants your family to attend. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!!!!!!!!

PLEASE PRAY FOR ME AND MY FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!

Zoo pictures at last

Well, I am FINALLY getting time to post pictures of our trip to the zoo in Bismarck last week Sabbath. We had been antsy to get out of here so we called the Geiger family and asked if we might visit them. Lisa said that she was taking the children to the zoo as it was a free day. We agreed to meet them there around 3:00, but first Robert treated us to a meal at our favorite restaurant up there, THE GOLDEN CORRAL.

Talk about a feast! It's so neat that everybody gets to eat everything they want as they serve almost EVERYTHING at The Golden Corral. I keep asking on the comment card for cheesecake though. For some reason, that is the one thing that they don't serve that I would really enjoy. Of course they have this WONDERFUL banana cream pudding that is simply unforgettable, so that makes up for it. :) I recommend it highly!

By the way, I do have Andrew's permission to post "His" pictures. Being everything is cool there, you can enjoy them as much as I am enjoying sharing them. I'm not sure why the computer keeps changing the picture and word location. I'm doing something wrong but I'm hoping that it'll post properly. Sorry if it doesn't--I'll have to wait until Andrew gets home to fix it if it's a mess.

Anyway, when we got to the zoo, the Geigers weren't there yet so we pocked around by the gate waiting. This is Jacob and I having fun together.

The monkeys were a favorite of the Geiger/Bornemann bunch. The father took it upon himself to do tricks while the little baby hung onto his mama delighting everyone as she moved around as easily as if it wasn't there. I've seen many home school mothers do the same thing. :)

Talk about stalking.

This guy was a big crowd pleaser...........

especially when he went over to his buddy, the white Bengal tiger, and put his "arms" around him. They played together just like I have seen our barnyard cats do many times--amazing.

I have always loved watching the otters at the Bismarck zoo. They are so much fun that I think I could watch them all day.

This little guy was so adorable as he picked up the Cheerios or corn kernels that people had thrown into his home for him. I think it's so neat that he eats with his hands as all of our animals around here just lean over; stick their heads down; and eat. I could have watched him for hours and many people were able to lean over and pet him.

Well, that's the animal part of the zoo excursion. Certainly when you go to the zoo, one does tend to focus on the animals. However, the most pleasant part of the day ended up being the humans that the Lord brought along to bless our day. Here Moses and Jacob get caught up with each other. Robert noticed that Moses' belt was lighter than it used to be. He must have gotten tired of carrying along half of the shop on his hips. :) I happened to notice, though, that his little brother, Justice, had a huge clip on his belt with about 50 rubber bands so it's nice to see that somebody is carrying on Moses' tradition. :)

Jubilee Geiger has always been one of my favorite little people. I can recall about 2 years ago she came walking into the Geiger kitchen on one of our visits there. She picked herself up a glass; walked to the frig; got herself a drink; smiled sweetly at me and said, "Hello, Mrs. Bornemann, how are you?" This was when she was about 7 years old. She's the "Spittin' image" of her pretty mama and she loves animals too! Here she's feeding the doe alfalfa pellets that Lisa had brought along for the purpose.

Here some of the young people visited when us parents tuckered out. It's so neat to see how home schooled young adults mix with their younger siblings and even care for the baby.

Cora and her good friend, Miranda Geiger visiting...

while the mothers, Lisa and I, rest after a couple miles of walking.....

and the boys of all sizes got tired of waiting for us and took off running as fast as they could. Isn't it amazing how much energy boys have?

Here Molly Geiger stopped us to take a few pictures of the group. Molly is always so

light-hearted and cheerful--it's easy to smile for her. Andrew took her picture as she took one of us. :)


Andrew snapped this one of all of us Geiger and Bornemann ladies walking.
Poor Robert as Mr. Geiger was working and all of the boys were far ahead of us.

His smile tells me that he didn't mind the company TOO MUCH! :)


This is a picture of me and my sweetie walking over the footbridge.

I have ALWAYS loved footbridges and, for some unknown reason, I think that they are wonderfully romantic. Maybe it's because it was on the footbridge that Gilbert proposed to Anne in my all time favorite movie (probably the reason that I was willing to take another look at living in the country) ANNE OF GREEN GABLES.

Now, as much as I love spending time with my husband and family, they were not the highlight of the day for me. I'm sure that they wouldn't even mind my saying so. My precious Heavenly Father knows how I have been aching to see my dear, old friend, Terry Gunia. Terry and I were young home school moms together; we taught Bible School together; we field-tripped together; we worshipped together; we learned together and taught together; and what's more--we were NEIGHBORS FOR 5 YEARS!!!

Well, our family was in the Discovery Center at the zoo when Robert took me by the shoulders and turned me in a different direction from the one I was facing. I thought it was kind of a strange thing to do but then it was that I saw my dear friend, Terry. I was stupefied with joy and stared at her unable to move! When she saw me, though, the 10 feet between us was gone in a millisecond. Oh for joy to be in Terry's warm embrace again and I am shedding tears of joy now as I recall that moment. I think it was Andrew who caught this picture of us meeting after nearly 6 years of being apart. Thanks Andrew and Thanks Lord for this moment of joy.

After we calmed down a little bit, we talked to Terry about what's been happening in her life since we moved out of her neighborhood. I just couldn't bear to part with her so I invited her to walk with us, which she did. For 2 full hours I was with this "Bestest of friends" as Terry used to call us when we lived together over in the beautiful foothills north of Linton. Oh, how I have missed my friend!

I learned through visiting that I wasn't the only one who almost died. Last winter Terry had to have back surgery and they hit the wrong spot in her back when they were doing the spinal tap. From complications she almost died and she was in the hospital 12 days over Christmas last year.

Listening to her story about the loneliness she endured then, we agreed that we should take up the tradition I learned in my youth of singing carols around that time of year for those so unfortunate ones to be in the hospital during the time of year when everyone is focusing on the gifts that they will receive. God only knows where that will end up.

In case you ever read this Terry, I want you to know that I have always loved you. You are a fantastic friend, teacher, neighbor. You always brought out the best in me and I pray that we can pick up where we left off. In my opinion, God brought us together at the zoo to show us both that we were destined to be friends!!!!

Terry, do you remember the pillow that you gave me once? It's still on my couch and I think of you so often when I see it. For one thing, I LOVE hunter green and the flowers are so lovely too. But the best part about this pillow is the words which read,

A FRIEND IS A GIFT YOU GIVE YOURSELF.

Thank you, Terry, for being my friend and I just pray that you are as blessed as I am by our friendship which has spanned decades!

Thanks to all of you other friends out there too. Each one of you has blessed my life in unspeakable ways and I love you all. Just in case I haven't told you lately, you are special to me and I hope that some day we will meet again as I met dear Terry at the zoo.

I LOVE YOU ALL

Dawn

More Appleseed pictures

We're still wondering if we'll be able to host an Appleseed Shoot here yet this Fall. Nobody officially from the Appleseed Project has said, "No" yet, but we thought that the end of October would be a bit too chilly when that was proposed yesterday afternoon. Then I thought about what Chris had said, after the shoot at his farm, about doing an informal one for those who couldn't attend. So, being the Geigers are aching to learn about this, I'm wondering if I might be able to persuade Andrew and Jacob to share what they know in an informal shoot. The truth is that I WANT TO LEARN HOW TO IMPROVE MY SHOOTING AND DON'T WANT TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR TO DO IT!!!!!! There, now it's out. :)

Anyway, here are some of the pictures from the shoot at the Bartlett's place which Andrew just uploaded from his cell phone last night. Maybe they will inspire more people to want to learn to improve their aim too. :) Here Andrew is driving his new wheels on his first outing away from the family. What a fine young man he has become! I must add that he earned his wheels by running our portable grain cleaning unit for us all Spring! Good job, Andrew! He took this picture of himself with his cell phone so the image is backwards. :)

Now about the shoot. I found it interesting, as I looked at these pictures, to observe the process of learning step by step. First one must be ready, willing, and eager to learn. Here Andrew Bartlett is demonstrating his readiness. First comes the thought......

Next comes the preparation....

Finally it's the real thing--men, women, and children on the firing line learning how to improve their skills.

Then, because learning is REAL work, it's great to take a break and visit with friends. Chris, Jacob, and Andrew Bartlett in the foreground. Instructors mixing with students equals learning when the desire is there. The student must desire to learn what the instructor knows and the instructor must be willing to share with the student what he knows and then there is learning, comprehension, growth. Isn't that wonderful?

I had never really thought of my role as a home school teacher like that before but it really IS a joy to impart to my children that which I've learned in the process of a teacher imparting what he/she knew to me. Somehow, right now, that seems really awesome. Is it any wonder that people called Christ, "GOOD TEACHER?" Not only was he good, but he was a teacher!!!!!!!!! Oh that I would be a teacher like HE is. AMEN?

Well, one of the things on my TO-DO list for today is to send in my letter of intent to home school Jacob this year. It most certainly does seem like a good time to tackle that dreaded task right now--seeing as I'm in such a "Teacher" mood.

To all who teach, may you ponder seriously the affect of the lessons you pass on today! May each one have tucked into it dimensions of eternal consequence, for those are the ones that matter forever.

Blessings to all of you home schoolers as you begin a new school year!!!!!!!!!!!

Dawn