Septic Workers for Hire

Experienced Septic line installers for hire. Reasonable rates. Only work as a team. Call 1-800-NEW-PIPE.

The crew has been working since Friday afternoon and as of Sunday night they have dug 450 feet of 24" X 24" trenches. Several more days of work and the use of a Bobcat should complete the job. The kids all caught on quickly to operating the track-hole although Jansen and Dayton did the majority of the trenching. The other crew members hauled wheel barrow after wheel barrow of rocks ( two dump truck loads) and placing pipes in the trenches. Thanks to Grandpa for his hard work and help too. It has been all hands on deck for this job.

Our new kitchen cabinets were delivered on Friday! The kitchen has taken a back seat to the very necessary septic system work. I am still hoping for the new kitchen to be at least functional by Thanksgiving.

Creative Pet Costumes

Our local Atwoods held its anual pet costume contest recently and the Deal family was very proud of their creative pet owners and cooperative pets.

Above: Landon, Cole and Orin showing Landon's goat, Geis. Geis is disguised as a Texas Longhorn.

Below: Olivia's dog, Gloria. She kept this get-up on for over an hour- sunglasses and all.

Landon is a TEENAGER!

I can't believe it but Landon turned 13 yesterday. Imagine my littlest boy a teenager. He posted his birthday wish list on the refrigerator weeks ago to ensure we could not overlook it or misplace it. He is still waiting for the go-cart.

No need to worry. Landon has not grown a beard. He made himself a felt one in honor of his 13th birthday! Very creative. He was thrilled with new camo insulated coveralls as well as a few new tools, and a pellet gun.

Janine's Travel Date!

The plane ticket is bought!! Janine will be back in Oklahoma on November 25! Praise the Lord for the quick visa process. Well, quick compared to how long it could have taken.

Progress

A few pictures of our progress. At this point a lot of the progress is in the form of demolition. The boys are very good at this part of the remodel and more than willing to lend a helping hand.

The front enrty looking into the den before:

Dayton and Landon tearing out:

Looking into the den from the front entry after:

Looking from the den into the front entry after the wall came down.

Remodeling: Bathroom & Pantry

Jansen removing the kitchen cabinets in prep for the new windows. A much larger window will replace the old, small one.

The remodel on our house is coming along very well. So far we have finished the new bathroom and pantry. The ultimate goal is to have a new kitchen, living and dining area in the space that is now occupied by the den and school room. The existing living room will be the library and the kitchen will become the den. Sounds confusing.

The new windows are scheduled to be installed on Thurday and Friday. Pretty exciting! Last week the new workshop was erected.

New Pantry! So pretty and organized!!!!!

New Bathroom...just a few finishing touches to go.

Next time pictures of the workshop and new windows!!!!

Why I Love the Country

Landon's goat, Geis- German for Goat.



Keaton building the goat house.




Keaton's goat, Pearl. Keaton and Landon share the momma goat, Mocha. She was camera shy.




Our little horses, Apache and Dusty.






Landon painting the newly built horse shed.

Life is good. We serve a good God..One that desires to give His children good gifts. Capturing these moments make me so happy. I love it that the Lord has led us to a place where our lives can have little bit of simple in the midst of a crazy world.

She Said YES!

An email from Haden:

We went to Bible study, which seemed ten times longer than normal! After all there was something burning in my pocket. Right afterwards we left, around 9. She said, "The weather is really nice. Lets go for a walk by the river". So we got on the 36 bus at the end of the block from the church. At one point she said, "I have something for you", I returned with," I have something for you too." I thought this is great! because thats what I was planning to do anyhow. We walked for a little bit and then sat down on the river bank. She pulled out a swiss army knife from her back pack and said that I couldn't leave Switzerland without a swiss army knife. While we were still talking about the knife, I reached my hand into my pocket, opened the box, and pulled out the ring. I slipped it on the tip of my finger, and while she was still talking I pulled my hand out of my pocket...she stopped breathing for a good thirty seconds! Yes, I know what your thinking. The answer is yes, I said those infamous words, "will you marry me" purely out of tradition. I knew what the answer was going to be.

And when you least expect it, God sends you the greatest gift~

A little background info: The beautiful, wonderful bride-to-be is Janine Claire Fischbach. She and Haden met in Basel at Crossroads International Church. I am not sure if they had a love at first sight experience, but close! And we are so blessed and excited to welcome her into our family.

Haden returned to Claremore a couple of weeks ago and set the wheels in motion for a fiance visa. Janine is still living and working in Basel while they both wait. The visa process can take up to six months. Everyone is asking about the wedding date but... that cannot be set until they have a better idea about time frame of the completion on the visa process.

Janine's family will be traveling from Germany for the wedding. Haden had the opportunity to travel to Janine's hometown twice. The first time for a weekend visit and the second to ask for their daughter's hand in marriage!

We are looking forward to Janine's visit in August. Her first trip to Oklahoma but not her first to the U.S. She spent four years living, working and going to college in Virginia.

Janine is the wonderful godly young woman that we prayed God would send Haden as a bride!

Claremore: Settling In

Today marks the one week point since our return to Oklahoma. It has taken me, as well as the children, a few days to adjust, but I am glad to be home and sleeping in my comfortable bed. For a day or two I felt like I was in someone else's house. Couldn't remember where I had left certain things. Couldn't figure out where I was when I would awake each morning. And the confusion when I would wake up to barking dogs rather than noisy trams was very odd. All that has passed now.

It is wonderful to hear the birds and watch the horses running in the morning sunshine. AND shopping at Sam's Club again was so fun! The man who works at the flat bed checkout and the customer service lady were glad to see us again. Several employees asked where we had been. It was a nice reunion. Getting behind the wheel was strange after four months of trains and trams. It is so much easier transporting groceries in the back of the Yukon than it was in my bright pink shopping trolley and children carrying multiple shopping bags through Basel.

Our flights home ran all ran on schedule. No problems at all! We were so surprised to be greeted at the airport by our fellowship group bearing balloons and silly string. Good friends!

Basel was a very good home to us for the time we were there. Some things I really miss are fresh bread, our friends, and walking along the river.

Almost everything is unpacked and put away. The boys are back to fishing at the lake, camping outside, and lawn work. Olivia has her playhouse all cleaned up and ready for guests. And I am beginning to think about school plans and other projects that need tending.

One last note: doing laundry whenever I want is not as exciting as I thought it would be. The four flights of stairs and assigned laundry days weren't so bad after a little adjustment.

Paris-The Louvre

Sunday, April 27, 2008



After our picnic in the Latin Quarter we headed for the Musee du Lourve. The palace that houses so many great masterpieces of art is a masterpiece itself. The official website of the Louvre is full of info-too bad I didn't look at it before we went. Here is the link directly to the history of the palace. http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee/histoire_louvre.jsp?bmLocale=en Be sure to look at the virtual tours on the site. It is a free art history course.

Above is the view from the third floor of the museum out into the courtyard where the pyramid entrance to the palace is located.

It would take days to carefully examine every piece of art, artifact and sculpture in the massive palace. The few hours we had were just not adequate to see much. We did see the Mona Lisa. All of the Biblical related art was the most beautiful. Especially the Wedding Feast at Cana by Paolo Veronese from 1533.

Paris- Latin Quarter

Sunday, April 27, 2008

In the center of the Latin Quarter in Paris stands the Fountiane Saint Michael. It was created by French sculptor Davioud in 1860 and shows Michael the Archangel, considered the protector of France, slaying the evil one.

The Latin Quarter is filled with narrow winding streets, restaurants and small shops. The area got its name from the university students who would congregate in the area and speak Latin in their academic discussions.

Robert and Olivia napping after our picnic lunch.

This guy was part of the entertainment at an African themed restaurant. Two others dressed in ethnic clothing were playing music on the side.

These four young men had obviously spent hours and hours developing their street routine. The crowd they drew was huge. Not sure how much money was put in their hat when all was said and done, but they were very talented. Keaton said that it was unnatural for people to move their bodies in the way these guys did, especially the one white guy in the group.

Dinner in the Latin Quarter. As dinner time approached all of the restaurant owners in the quarter stood in the door ways of their restaurants trying to lure tourists inside. We decided on gyros-the Greek version of the Israeli schwarma and the Turkish donar kabop. The twist on the gyros here was the yogurt sauce and the french fries! And of course the Greek decor.

My Favorite Pianist

Sunday, April 20, 2008



Is it okay to take pictures in church? Hope so. I just had to! Keaton played the piano during praise and worship. And it is no surprise that his playing was wonderful. Grace, who leads worship, had asked him to play with the praise team. She had originally intended that he would gradually be worked in by first playing during the offering. When the two other pianist told her they would be out that Sunday, Keaton was in! He practiced and practiced. It was a wonderful day. I was so blessed to worship with Keaton on the piano and Haden playing guitar.

Weekend in Paris

April 26-28, 2008 I never understood all the fuss about Paris. That is until this weekend. The old part of the city is full of history and beauty.

We rented a VW van and armed with a map of France loaded the crew up and followed the signs to Paris. Getting to Paris was no problem. We had a few discussions about what various road signs meant and figured out the tolls by following the flow of traffic. Driving through Paris to reach our hotel is a whole other story. Have you ever driven through a round-a-bout in Paris? No order what so ever. The goal is to get off of it without getting hit. Lots of honking, yelling, accelerating and brake lights. (Leaving Paris we made three loops around the round- a- bout because we didn't know which exit to take! It was kind of fun. We were using our map quest directions in reverse. So it took a few loops to count the exits accurately. All the while the kids are laughing hysterically.) Thankfully we were able to leave the van parked at the hotel and take the train into the city center each day.

We checked into the hotel and caught a train to see the Eiffel Tower. It is enormous and beautiful and oh so graceful looking. The iron work reminds me of lace.

We walked around the city (partly because we were searching for the WC) taking in the architecture and loving the warm springtime weather that we haven't had in Basel. The flowering trees that lined both sides of many streets were in bloom. After a delicious dinner of roasted chicken, Asian noodles and vegetables we walked back to The Tower. Landon was happy to be eating ratatouille in Paris-you know the movie.

It was nearing dark by now and so we got in a very long line to buy tickets to ascend the tower. The closer we got to the ticket window the more of a chicken I became. We purchased our tickets and started to climb the 600 plus steps to the second level. I did not make it very far until I chickened out and abandoned my family. They have wonderful photos of the view.

That was day one in Paris.

Olivia really did not eat all that food. She had Robert's plate in front of her. She is quite a good little actress though!

Robert and I with our new biker friends. Keaton started to take a picture of the two of us when these two guys got into it. Then they took one of our family.