Forbes Forum

Our Michigan Family gathered and we had a great time together.
































It is wonderful to have Nate & Lissa home from Oregon, and Michael & Jenny back from their visit to Colorado. The stairway is a little more crowded this year, but we had a great time together!

CHRISTMAS EVE: need I say more?

"GUARDIAN OF CIVILIZATION" at work.

Just think about it for a moment--the Guardians of Civilization are not politicians, or teachers, or artists--they are plumbers. If you were to go camping, which do you prefer, "civilized" camp sites with running water and indoor plumbing, "primitive" sites with outhouses, or "uncivilized"--where you create your own...well, you know. When the plumbing does not work, things are bad.

The evidence was several feet behind the house--bare patches over the septic tank--and those little bare spots were especially concerning, as it was bare earth visible where there is normally lush grass. Hmmmm. So I popped the lid on the lift station (between the septic tank and the leach field. It was full to the brim with gray water. Very Bad News! So I had to dip the water out until I reached the pipe going to the leach field (I saved most of the water in buckets I have collected for this purpose), and disconnected it to pull the pump out. It would not work, and since I had replaced the float switch last year (yes, this has been a regular event), I had to go to the store to purchase anew pump. Four hours later, the job was done--only $170 invested, since THIS plumber works cheap. We are once again "Civilized"!

Here are some old pictures of Cheryl and her kin. Cheryl is the baby--perhaps a year and a half old, being held by her mom, Pat. Next to Pat is her mom, Marian who is standing by Elsie, Cheryl's great grandmother. The same four are in the later picture about 5 years later. Around the table we see Cheryl in the center with a bunch of her cousins (plus two aunts and an uncle--I bet you can't tell who THEY are--unless you already know).

The aftermath of the snow fall we had yesterday. Because of drifting in the rural areas, there is no school today--and we MUCH appreciate it. Thanks to Michael & Jenny, we even were able to blow out the driveway (I would normally just drive up and down the drive with the car--but this is much nicer!)

LET IT SNOW! It looks like we are headed for a significant amount of snow (8-12 inches according to forecasts). We wish it was 24 hours later, even though it will be a short week of school anyway--but we love the snow. I took these pictures and noticed the red streaks. I think it is the Doppler Effect. The reflected light from the snow flakes indicating that the snow is moving toward us. Kind of cool!

Photographs say a lot. In these two pictures are my fore bearers, and me.

I am the baby, about two months old, and I am being held by my dad, Al, who is 20 years old in this picture. To the left of him is my grandfather, Norman who was 40 in this picture. Beside his is my great grandfather, Will, who was 60 here. In the other picture is my great great grand parents, James and Elsie Forbes, who emmigratred from Scotland on the same day as their marriage. James' family would have been VERY upset that he married a Protestant girl (Elsie Ross).

PRAISE GOD FOR HIS FABULOUS BLESSINGS!!!

This house is now paid for in full! We moved into it in May 1987, financed by a land contract. In October 1993, we financed it through the bank, and today, we made the last payment by giving the last check to the same branch manager with whom we arranged the mortgage. The pay-off was eight months early because we rounded up our monthly payments (about 4% of the monthly was paid extra).