We praise the Lord for His many blessings and mercies throughout this year! God has been so very good to us.
This year we have traveled to Missouri three times; in April for construction work on Randy and Joy’s house, in June to get acquainted with our new grandson, James Aquila Albertson, (born June 11) and in November to see all of the Scoles family for Thanksgiving/Christmas celebrations.
We traveled to South Dakota in May to see Brenda Stevenson graduate from college.
Brenda has been living in Johnstown since graduation, with our dear friend and neighbor, Eileen. Besides helping Eileen, Brenda babysits 4-5 days a week for a family with three children. Tim and Brenda got engaged in August, and plan to be married July 11, 2008.
Tim, 20, has been home from SD since May and working for our friends, the Petersons, in their remodeling and landscaping projects. This fall, Tim took two classes at Front Range Community College in Ft. Collins: Reading Blueprints and Introduction to Machine Shop. He learned a lot and had good aptitude for the subjects, making A’s in both classes.
Jeffrey, 16, is still logging the 50 driving hours needed to get his driver’s license. His teeth are coming into line with the braces he will have for another year. He is scheduled to get his wisdom teeth extracted in January. Jeffrey bought a dulcimer in May and has enjoyed learning to play hymns on it. He worked all summer for abeLAWNS mowing lawns and is getting some snow shoveling done this month as we have had 9 inches of snow in December thus far. He is a junior in high school this year.
Beth, 14, has been a huge help around here this year. She is the morning dishes and lunch maker person. She helps with laundry, ironing, vacuuming. She enjoys scrapbooking with Brenda, and has been sewing some of the Christmas projects. She finished her first quilt this year; we hope it is the first of many to come! She had the opportunity to babysit some this summer, which helped with the postage costs of God’s Girls Newsletter which she continues to publish and send to ~100 girls each month. Beth enjoys playing the piano, crocheting, knitting, and cross stitching. She is a freshman in high school this year.
Jason has been growing this year. That is the first thing most people notice about him. He passed up Beth, Jeffrey, and Tim, and he is only 12! He is in 8th grade. He and Beth do history and science subjects together in school. He mowed for us and one neighbor this summer. He also worked alongside Tim for most of the summer in landscaping. Jason continues to devour books and excel in piano playing.
Emily, 9, is getting tall, but she is still shorter than her Mother. (Nobody else has that privilege.) She is in 4th grade. She has recently learned to play the recorder. She also has an ear for the piano. She loves helping, especially if the job is out of doors. She loves her dolls, riding bikes, reading, coloring, and making things. She can crochet and knit. She loves snow!
Randy and Joy came to see us Labor Day weekend and plan to come Christmas week, Lord willing. They keep very busy with the children’s ministry which is averaging in the mid-20s in attendance. Joy has started a God’s Girls Club with girls who are 12 and up. Randy has become an excellent painter and had some side jobs painting in the evenings this summer. They are blessed with a healthy baby boy, whom we call Quil, though some call him by his given name, James. Quil is a very sweet little boy. We really enjoy getting to be with him. We are so happy that they are living close to Janet’s parents, (Quil’s great grandparents), and that Janet’s mother gets to babysit him during the kids’ ministry activities. That is such a big help to Randy and Joy and she enjoys getting to do it.
Rowen now works for Carestream Health instead of Kodak, as part of Kodak was bought out in May this year. We are thankful that everything about his job has stayed the same. Janet still babysits 3-4 times a month, does the scheduling and billing for abeLAWNS, is active in the homeschool groups, and homeschools the four students left in our family. She made a quilt for Tim and Brenda using their wedding colors, which is being machine quilted in MO now. Janet and Tim also got to be election judges in Johnstown for the second year.
We have enjoyed having a family blog since September which we try to update weekly with pictures and stories of our activities. We would love to have you read it and give comments. You can find it at http://johnstownalbertsons.blogspot.com/ There you will see the details of our lives!
We are looking forward to celebrating 25 years of marriage before the next Christmas letter comes out!
This year we have traveled to Missouri three times; in April for construction work on Randy and Joy’s house, in June to get acquainted with our new grandson, James Aquila Albertson, (born June 11) and in November to see all of the Scoles family for Thanksgiving/Christmas celebrations.
We traveled to South Dakota in May to see Brenda Stevenson graduate from college.
Brenda has been living in Johnstown since graduation, with our dear friend and neighbor, Eileen. Besides helping Eileen, Brenda babysits 4-5 days a week for a family with three children. Tim and Brenda got engaged in August, and plan to be married July 11, 2008.
Tim, 20, has been home from SD since May and working for our friends, the Petersons, in their remodeling and landscaping projects. This fall, Tim took two classes at Front Range Community College in Ft. Collins: Reading Blueprints and Introduction to Machine Shop. He learned a lot and had good aptitude for the subjects, making A’s in both classes.
Jeffrey, 16, is still logging the 50 driving hours needed to get his driver’s license. His teeth are coming into line with the braces he will have for another year. He is scheduled to get his wisdom teeth extracted in January. Jeffrey bought a dulcimer in May and has enjoyed learning to play hymns on it. He worked all summer for abeLAWNS mowing lawns and is getting some snow shoveling done this month as we have had 9 inches of snow in December thus far. He is a junior in high school this year.
Beth, 14, has been a huge help around here this year. She is the morning dishes and lunch maker person. She helps with laundry, ironing, vacuuming. She enjoys scrapbooking with Brenda, and has been sewing some of the Christmas projects. She finished her first quilt this year; we hope it is the first of many to come! She had the opportunity to babysit some this summer, which helped with the postage costs of God’s Girls Newsletter which she continues to publish and send to ~100 girls each month. Beth enjoys playing the piano, crocheting, knitting, and cross stitching. She is a freshman in high school this year.
Jason has been growing this year. That is the first thing most people notice about him. He passed up Beth, Jeffrey, and Tim, and he is only 12! He is in 8th grade. He and Beth do history and science subjects together in school. He mowed for us and one neighbor this summer. He also worked alongside Tim for most of the summer in landscaping. Jason continues to devour books and excel in piano playing.
Emily, 9, is getting tall, but she is still shorter than her Mother. (Nobody else has that privilege.) She is in 4th grade. She has recently learned to play the recorder. She also has an ear for the piano. She loves helping, especially if the job is out of doors. She loves her dolls, riding bikes, reading, coloring, and making things. She can crochet and knit. She loves snow!
Randy and Joy came to see us Labor Day weekend and plan to come Christmas week, Lord willing. They keep very busy with the children’s ministry which is averaging in the mid-20s in attendance. Joy has started a God’s Girls Club with girls who are 12 and up. Randy has become an excellent painter and had some side jobs painting in the evenings this summer. They are blessed with a healthy baby boy, whom we call Quil, though some call him by his given name, James. Quil is a very sweet little boy. We really enjoy getting to be with him. We are so happy that they are living close to Janet’s parents, (Quil’s great grandparents), and that Janet’s mother gets to babysit him during the kids’ ministry activities. That is such a big help to Randy and Joy and she enjoys getting to do it.
Rowen now works for Carestream Health instead of Kodak, as part of Kodak was bought out in May this year. We are thankful that everything about his job has stayed the same. Janet still babysits 3-4 times a month, does the scheduling and billing for abeLAWNS, is active in the homeschool groups, and homeschools the four students left in our family. She made a quilt for Tim and Brenda using their wedding colors, which is being machine quilted in MO now. Janet and Tim also got to be election judges in Johnstown for the second year.
We have enjoyed having a family blog since September which we try to update weekly with pictures and stories of our activities. We would love to have you read it and give comments. You can find it at http://johnstownalbertsons.blogspot.com/ There you will see the details of our lives!
We are looking forward to celebrating 25 years of marriage before the next Christmas letter comes out!
Keep looking up! Jesus is coming soon and we all want to be ready and busy for the Lord until then.
Love and prayers,
Rowen, Janet, Tim, Jeffrey, Beth, Jason, and Emily Albertson and Brenda Stevenson
Rowen, Janet, Tim, Jeffrey, Beth, Jason, and Emily Albertson and Brenda Stevenson
