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Lilligren
Family Newsletter |
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I guess we could call this our "post-Christmas 2009" newsletter!
It's a little late, but we thought we'd update our friends with what's
been going on with our family. 2009 has been a year of changes for our children. In July, Hannah moved to Portland, Oregon, to continue her studies (the picture above was taken shortly before she left). She is working part-time at a medical imaging company there, in addition to taking some college classes. In October, Hannah lost her little dog, Chili, in a tragic accident. It still pains her to think about it. Bel and Dave used to call Chili the "grand dog." Chili will be sorely missed by all of us. You can see her in the picture below, which was taken the day Hannah left for her "Oregon Adventure."  Josiah
moved back from Fargo, and became our "neighbor" in
the newly renovated Grainery (which now resembles a cottage). It
is a cute place, with knotty pine wall boards and a little Jotul wood
stove. He now works weekends (three 12-hour shifts) at a long-term
acute care hospital in Golden Valley as a nursing assistant. He
also works part-time during the week at the Pine Medical Center in
Sandstone, and helps out around the farm whenever he can. Josiah is
looking at the possibility of continuing his studies in 2010.Bel still works as a server at the buffet in Hinckley, and really loves the people with whom she works. Bel's flower gardens continue to be the "talk of the town." She did a lot of canning this year as well, including 40 jars of apple sauce. This Christmas, Bel baked more goodies than she has in many years. A lot of people were happy with the gift baskets she prepared. She and Dave helped to host a delightful Christmas Eve party for friends and neighbors.  Dave
continued to do some part-time computer consulting work, and some
technical training at QWEST in Minneapolis. The farm continues to
keep him busy these days. This fall, he started smoking meats
right here on the farm. There was an old tar-papered wooden smoke
house that we were going to tear down, since we have never used it.
But he's glad we didn't! He smoked hams, bacon, summer sausage,
and venison snack sticks. Meat has never tasted so good! He
also got some fishing in at Grindstone Lake this summer, and helped a
friend land a 6 pound small-mouth bass. Deer hunting was pretty
successful as well.In the spring, some one dropped off three little kittens he found on the shoulder of the road, just a few blocks away. They have grown up to be the nicest farm cats we've ever had (one of them is in the photo with Bel above). We named them Clarence, Elmer, and Mabel (good old farm names). With feed costs the way they are, and with all the work that needs to be done off of the farm, we found it necessary to cut back a bit on the livestock we raised. We only did 100 chickens for butchering, and raised just two hogs. The beef herd is down to about 20, and we are raising only a couple dozen of egg layers. Hopefully, the hay we harvested this year will get what cattle we still have through the winter. It was so nice to have Hannah "home for the holidays." We had a wonderful family Christmas, and were able to spend time with all of the relatives in Ham Lake. The snow storm couldn't keep us away! That's the "news" from Dell Grove Township. We wish for all of our friends a most Happy New Year!. |
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Soli Deo Gloria!
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