Glidewell's Adventures

Wow & Thank You!

2012-01-25T14:35:00.000-05:00

Wow, Thank You so much for your out pouring of love, support, prayers, and gifts. I'm truly blessed! When I wrote my blog I really just wanted to catch you all up on what has been going on with the Glidewells. Many things didn't get documented like the skunk story. LOL If you don't follow us on Face book then you probably don't know the story. Just raise your hand and maybe I'll retell it. :-) Thank You again for the flowers, prayers, tea, herbs, & letters of encouragement. You are so WONDERFUL! I was amazed how each part of my blog met people in different areas that you all are struggling with. There's a scripture verse I think in 1 Thes. that says something about encouraging our brothers in Christ and all the more as we see the day approaching. May we all encourage one another.

My blog reached national headlines with NTM! Yup got called into the counselor office! Reminded my of my school days. LOL Guess they were worried about me and wanted to make sure I wasn't mental. Well I am! JK Its good to know your loved. Thanks Millers! I was so overjoyed that I personally got to use the Kleenex box in the office too. :-)


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Ace and I had a little family conference.... When we got married we took marriage classes, when we had babies we took pregnancy classes and birthing classes and family planning classes. As our kids grew we took parenting classes. I guess its time to find perimenopausal (I think I can almost spell it now) classes.

1.) Pray and ask the Lord to move me to the next trial. I'm ready to learn something new.

2.) Listen to everyone's stories - find I'm not alone

3.) Listen to Family Life - menopause series Guest speaker Lois Rabey, Very good

4.) Order Lois Rabey's book Postcards from Menopause: Wishing I Weren't Here

5.) Make Dr. appt. to just check and make sure its menopause and not depression advice from family and friends. (I guess they think I'm to young, Thanks Mom for passing the gene of no grey hair until your in your 50's!)

6.) Recognize I'm going to have a melt down, SOS friends, jump in bed with Kleenex box and cover my head with blanket. (On good days its nice to laugh about it all isn't it?)


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So the question is, what was God thinking when it comes to perimenopause? Or, does it fall under the category of pain in labor when Eve sinned?

Coming Back to Blog Land!

2012-01-13T11:33:00.002-05:00

Standing at The Lowell House what we thought would be our last time ever.

I've decided its time to blog again that is if I have anymore friends out there who will listen. Big Smile. Its been a roller coaster ride since I last blogged. That is why I stopped, I was going on a ride that God is still taking me on. We last left off with that crazy house in Lowell. We tried selling it in summer of 2010 and gave it our all. Then it flooded a week after the showing. Insurance covered a huge chunk of it but there was the deductible that took every last dime we had. No sell, No renters, No money, No Mortgage payment! We started a road we never thought we would take and found out how nasty Mortgage company's can be. Lots of notices in the mail, lots of long frustrated phone calls. Our house went into foreclosure and a few days before it did a few generous givers gave us just enough money to redeem the house. It was a hard decision to make whether we wanted to give the house to the bank and keep the funds that was given to us or did we want to redeem ourselves and keep a house that eats our income and causes us such heartache? We choose the harder rout knowing it was what God would want us to do.

Through a FB plea we found renters who moved in a month after the foreclosure episode. God continues to be good! Our renters are wonderful and are a christian couple. Praise The Lord!


Telling the kids were having a baby!

During the whole foreclosure episode we announced to our children we were going to have a baby!!!! :-) This announcement was made near the end of November. In December we delivered Gabriel Joy Glidewell (into the arms of Jesus). Dec. 17th at 20 week Gestation. It was a very sad day. I delivered at home and lost a lot of blood. After going to the Dr. in Jan. my test results showed I was very close to needing a blood transfusion. I have a very, very strong faith that God will take me home when he is ready to take me home. I guess it wasn't my time. Ace should have been a Dr. he was sooo wonderful during this time. He was my nurse, Dr., comforter, & took my place in the family with kids and homemaking.

Glidewell Baby #11

So here is the surprise! In Feb, I just wasn't getting better from my miscarriage in Dec., because we were pregnant! I cried at this ultrasound watching little baby wiggle and heart-beating. We got pregnant with this little G the week after we lost Gabriel. We carried this baby again 20 weeks and lost him/her we were so very, very, very sad we didn't want to tell anyone we couldn't bear it. Because of my anemia and low blood count we scheduled a D&C. It was so very hard for me not knowing what our little-one was going to be. But God knows so I left Him to name him or her.


Refrigerator number 2

We went through 3 frig's during that same time of loosing Baby G. They all belong to NTMA. The last one they had to offer us was a small family frig so we are snug. I'm praying that God would bless us with a bigger frig so we have room to put a week's supply of food and not 3 days.

Currently, Ang is walkin thru the Desert.

For the past year and a half I've been living in the desert with God not just in AZ. but in my spiritual life. When I open Gods Word to read it I cry, or it's word's are meaningless to me. Its like my ears are sealed shut. I pray to Him and it feels like He's not there. Have you lived in the Desert? I have a wonderful series that I bought from Nancy Leigh Demoss on living in the Desert. I listened to one lesson and our CD player broke. After listening to the first CD I think of the Israelites in the desert and I wonder how long will my spiritual life be in the desert.

I am also dealing with Perimenopause. My Mom went through this and from my perspective it wasn't that difficult, she didn't even take drugs. What I'm finding out is its very rough! Lots of suicidal thoughts, tears, feelings of hate, feeling of not being loved, feeling angry. Friends have encouraged me to take natural progesterone and drink soy milk. I've noticed a difference, but I still have some very low times. At the same time the three oldest are going through teen mood swings & puberty. Lots of fun in the Glidewell home.

Siding, Gas, Electric, Heating & bathtubs are being installed these past couple of weeks.

NTMA is replacing all there trailer homes with stick homes. We are the next family to receive the next stick house. They have given us a lot of freedoms to choose with boundaries. This freedom comes with mixed emotions as its difficult to make choices that will effect others who may live in the house. The process building has been a long one because it's based on finances and volunteer help. We are looking forward to more space. But, when it comes down to it we would much rather live off campus so we can have a pet.

Something we would love to have is a small dog. However, NTMA has a policy of No pets inside the home. We are a pets inside family and even more when its hot outside with snakes, large birds, and coyotes who eat small pets. We would love to move off campus so our family could enjoy a pet. Please pray for us as this tends to be more of a need than a want. Many times my Perimenopause emotions are set off by the need of a pet. A missionary told me their pet brought a lot of healing to their family and I think the same would happen here in the G fam.

On the Ministry side it has been a long wait but we are seeing progress. NTMA was organized by a committee, that committee was not working out. Last summer we were told by NTM HQ that NTMA would be downsizing, nobody was sure what was meant by that information, so we waited, and waited, and waited. While we waited for HQ to deal with some hard issues involving Grace and MK abuse in the 80's & 90's. Finally, they were able to make a trip to NTMA and a NTMA Board was formed and the NTMA Committee no longer exist. We were pleased to see most of the changes that have taken place. During that waiting we were wondering if this was the place God had called us to be? Ace is a gifted man and he has many former students and friends who call him up often asking him to come work at their airport. So lots of options were available and believe me I was rooting for other options. Its not pleasant living on a missionary income and we would love to have a pet in our home. Ace didn't have peace about leaving NTMA God is still calling him to stay here.

This is just a few of many Glidewell Adventures you've missed out on while I've not been blogging. Hopefully, I can set a New Year Resolution to do some more Blogging!

Closing with a prayer to God

Dear God thank you so much for loving us even when we are in the desert! Please help any of my friends who are in the desert spiritually may they learn what they need to quickly so they can press on for your name. If any of my friends are going through Perimemopause wrap your loving arms around them and give them a big squeeze. Give their families wisdom on how to be there for them. I pray that they wont do any thing stupid like commit suicide or kill anyone and I say that with all seriousness. (I know you laughed!) Lord PLEASE please help me to be content! Content with our measly income, content with not having the right frig, content with not having a dinning table that can seat just our own family, content with the house we live in, content with not having a family pet. Every time I think of my needs I think of the poor people in other countries that don't have electricity, kitchens to put their kitchen tables in and the list of all the other things they don't have that I'm so rich in. Help everyone to remember its all about people and saving them from the awful fiery eternity.

We Love you God!

Amen

One Last Hurrah in MI., Florida, & Travels

2010-10-30T12:05:00.009-04:00

Ang's Parents are very creative and want to make memories every moment they can get. When it came closer to our departure they kept thinking of one more thing to do. One event that we miss out on is Homemade Chinese which is made every New Years Day. It is an all day project with all the chopping and preparing. So we had to make Chinese before we left.

Papa sitting at the table surrounded with all his grand babies and lots of egg-rolls

Ang's Sister thought it would be a fun summer project for the kids to tie-dye T shirts. So while Ang was packing like crazy the kids were having some fun.

Everyone sporting their new shirts

Traveling to Florida we got a flat trailer tire it even blew off the fender of the trailer. We were in Indiana on a piece of Highway that had a lot of tire carnage so much so, that it was impossible to drive around it. We were not surprised that we joined the many who lost their tires. We were thinking something must have been on the road.

We found a Wal-mart 21 miles away who had a tire and tools we could use but they wouldn't do the work. Ace changed the tire and we were off.

Arriving in Florida we were flagged down by friends who told us the family we were going to for dinner had just been in a car accident and they are now being taken to the hospital. Two children were thrown from the vehicle. We immediately went into prayer mode and wondered if we arrived in time for a funeral.

The accident scene. They rolled the car a few times and went thru two fences!

We were soooo thankful that there was no funeral and God spared all their lives. You can read about their accident on their blog here.

Florida bugs which I DO NOT! miss

Florida was a short visit and so wish we could spend more time visiting everyone. But I think we were at the end of our social capabilities and very anxious to get home. You know you've traveled to long when your nesting instincts become active every time you enter someone's home. LOL

Back on the road again Sam & Cherry camping out

We had to stop a the Biggest rest stop in Texas. Anyone else been there? I had to take this picture because I thought of my sister Becky who we call Bucky. Nice bathroom facilities by the way; the only one the whole trip.

Celebrating 2 more Birthdays

2010-10-29T15:14:00.003-04:00

Ace and Aurora share the same Birthday. This year Ace turned the Big 40 and I wanted to do something special with him and hoping his parents would be able to participate. This was very hard to accomplish because I wanted it to be a surprise but Ace held the schedule to everything we were doing. Soooo, My brother in law wanted to take the family out bowling and I took the opportunity and asked if we could make it a combined thing so we went ahead and all worked it out.

The Banner Tow Cake

Ace helping nephew Gibby with bowling

Opening all the homemade cards & gifts all the little people made. My mom who is standing there, her love language is gift giving and she does a good job teaching her grandchildren this love language. This year she was teaching all her grand children how to make cards not any card but Iris folded cards. If you don't know what Iris folded cards are you can do a Google image search.

Celebrating Aurora's Birthday the next day

After cake ice cream and opening presents we went and did sparklers in the backyard these were given to us in Arizona but with it being so dry there I get so nervous doing fireworks so we brought them with us.

Cherry didn't care about the sparklers she rather try on shoes

Very smoky Sparklers

I was wondering what the neighbors were thinking about all that smoke. We had a good time celebrating all our Birthdays and had sooo much fun. Now this Mamma gives the clear that we can leave Michigan and head back to Arizona. My one wish was to celebrate our birthdays with the family and my wish was granted.

Tradgedy Strikes The Lowell Home

2010-10-28T11:59:00.001-04:00

UGH!

Can life at the Lowell Home get any worse? After our trip to PA. we decided to close up our home in Lowell and wait to see what the Lord had in store for it. When Ace went to winterize our home and turn off utilities he opened the door to hear water trickling. Not a good sound to hear. Ace walked into the house with 2 1/2 inches water on the floor. He spent a good deal of time cleaning it up thinking that was all that needed to be done. However, when bringing me to the scene I told Ace there is no way we could leave and go back to Arizona and leave the house this way. There was mold growing between the floor boards and I knew it was just going to get worse. The damage was a lot bigger than Ace had thought.

You can see the mold seeping through the cracks that only means that there is moisture under it.

We took the end trim off and saw standing water.

After talking it over we decided to check with insurance to see if this would be covered we were pretty sure that it wouldn't be covered but we had to check.

After checking with Insurance we discovered it was covered after a $1,000 dollar deductible and that wasn't really something we had but God knew that.

We hired our friends who helped us with prepping our home to sell it. We figured who would better know our home and care for it like we would. When they looked into all that needed doing we discovered what had happened. A pipe in the bathroom wall had rusted out and gave in. It then filled the wall with water until that gave out flooding 5 rooms. The drywall soaked up a lot of the water. Needless to say the damage was more than $1,000 and the insurance kicked in.

This is the bathroom where the pipe broke. The cabinets were trashed as they were made out of particle boards.

James 1: 2-4

July 4th Weekend

2010-10-27T12:48:00.000-04:00

We came back to Michigan to close up our home in Lowell for the winter since it didn't sell and celebrate three Birthdays with family before we headed back to Arizona.

Nana made the cousins matching 4th of July outfits.

Visited Lake Michigan which is missed dearly in the Hot state of Arizona. I laughed when I heard my Hygienist say Arizona has a lot of lakes. Hmmm maybe there are some up North in AZ.

I think she liked the sand.

After wards Ice cream

Ang's parents were overflowing with fun activities that they could do with their visit with their children and grandchildren. One was eat dessert in the dark on their back porch for Ang's Birthday. Set the mood with Kenny G playing on their deck speakers. Turn on the Christmas lights on the pergola. Serve Ice cream and cookies and enjoy each others company.

Everyone enjoying their dessert

Opening presents from my children

It was soooo nice to be with my parents for my Birthday. It was my one request for our whole trip was to be able to be home for my Birthday.

Thanks Family!

Jershey Shore, PA WAYUMI

2010-10-26T12:53:00.000-04:00

We said we needed some R&R and that is just what we did at the New Tribes Wayumi retreat center.

Ace's Dad's side of the family comes from Lancaster, PA. and next door to Lancaster is Jersey Shore. We have heard soooo much about Jersey Shore from all our instructors and the the older staff with NTM they all have so many fond memories of their days in training there. This is where NTMA started too. So since it was so close to family and our desire to visit history we decided to see the place.

Did I mention to you that Jersey Shore NTM training moved to Missouri? NTM was going to sell the property in PA. but someone game up with a really great idea and Ace and I agree. Its called Wayumi and its a retreat center for your church, your youth group, your Sunday School class, Your home group, Bible study group, Home school group you name it. They just need a minimum of 25 participants.

The room we stayed in.

This was the main living room with small couch, table & chairs, and two bunk beds. This room had three bedrooms off from it each having a dresser, chair, and bunk bed.
Bathrooms were down the hall.

Having some relaxing evening fun.

We took a hike up to Jungle Camp.

Everyone trying out a hammock up in Jungle Camp.

Some of our findings up in Jungle Camp

A birds nest in the ladies bathroom.

Was wondering which of our colleagues carved this back in the day.

Now for a nature walk, the family saw a bear but I wasn't with them so no pictures.

There was a group of teens there for a retreat and we got to see them in action. Here they are getting the international airport experience.

After the teens had the International airport experience they got to experience immigration.

Ace and I had so much fun just watching them that we wanted to participate too. This place is not just for those wanting to be missionaries but for those who support missions too.

Day trip to NY to visit Pipers Penpal

2010-10-25T11:29:00.004-04:00


Pipers Pen-pal Charlene. Piper and Charlene became pen-pals threw Focus on the Family's Club house. They were born on the very same day.

Charlene's family. Here mothers name is Dorothy (Ace's mom's name is Dorothy) and her sisters name is Angela. Our families seemed to have a lot in common. Charlene's parents were Amish growing up and it was neat to hear their testimony of how God showed them the truth and hear how they are on fire for others to hear the truth of God.

They took us to Watkins Glen State Park. Wow! Sooo breath taking. Here are a few pictures of Gods beauty.

Piper is on the bridge waving.

Off to Pennsylvania for some R and R

2010-10-24T16:24:00.000-04:00

After our busy time trying to fix up our home and sell it we headed to Pennsylvania for some R and R. While traveling we had to make a detour to a maintenance shop to figure out why the emergency engine light was on. A very HOT day with no AC in the van. It was Ang's job to keep the campers hydrated, fed, and happy while Ace worked with the mechanic.

While in PA. we gathered at Ace's sisters house along with his sister Anne from Florida and Ace's parents form MI. we took the opportunity to celebrate Ace's mom's 70'th birthday again. :-)

The girls had fun playing with their cousins Lindsay and Emma. They are playing Pretty Pretty Princess. Loads of FUN!

We also had to celebrate Fathers day with a gigantic hamburger cake. Uncle Tim gets first bite!

A Family Portrait!

A trip to Gettysburg for a car tour of the battlegrounds that went sour. Note to self: next time do it with AC in the car. We ended up detouring to Dairy Queen then calling it a day. Have you ever met a grouchy missionary?

Weird things you see in PA.

Some Of The Fun Things We Did In PA.

2010-10-24T09:56:00.003-04:00

We caught lots of firefly's! Stormie is catching one on Gusties neck.

A firefly on Stormies shirt.

While Ace was talking to friends at Smoketown Airport. Ang and the kids watched two air balloon launches.

A favorite picture.

We had to go to Chocolate World and get some chocolate!

We went on their free tour ride which came to a screeching halt. We sat for about 5 min. then they asked us to climb off.

Here we are exiting the back hallway of the ride. We still got our complementary chocolate. LOL There was a hail and wind storm that caused our ride to come to an end. After 20min. of waiting we climbed back on and took the tour again.

Here is the some of the damage from the storm. All of their plants looked like someone had taken scissors to them and chopped them to bits.

We enjoyed some chocolate on the way home.

We went to Lancaster, PA. to spy on some Amish but of course there wasn't any Amish to spy on. We did however enjoy some shoe-fly pie and some BBQ sandwiches at (supposedly) an Amish restaurant.

Yummers! Meat smoked overnight with sweet-potato fry's and coleslaw.

Ang needed to do some shopping that's her kind of

R & R. She didn't have any money to spend but sure enjoyed looking. We went to the outlet mall had to take a picture of the QVC store. Who would have guess there was a QVC outlet? Not a big fan of QVC but know people who are. We had a good laugh!

Catching Up!

2010-10-23T11:32:00.002-04:00

Wow time fly's! We haven't been blogging oops! I guess it is soooooo much easier to Face book then blog. I, Ang have been busy trying to catch up with our blogs. I like to go in Chronological order and really don't want you to miss out on the highlights from our past summer so I will be actually backlogging. If you don't mind! Someday Creative Memories, (Scrap-booking program) is going to come up with a way that I can put all our blog Adventures into a book. LOL So I really don't want to miss any details on Blogger world.

Ready For Open House Weekend

2010-10-22T22:11:00.000-04:00

I have been avoiding this blog for several reasons 1.) We really detest this house in Lowell and every time we have to talk about it we get discouraged. My favorite quote from Stormie upon our last visit before leaving MI. was " I knew it we were stopping at that terrible house." 2.) We are expecting and I've been very tired and with foggy brain have been able to think past feeding my face or sleeping. Now that I'm past the first Trimester I'm not as tired and feel more like myself.

So, here is a tour of our finished home before the Open House. I'll show you a picture, title it, and then I'll list off all the things we did to that room please don't bore yourself by reading it all. What I want you to see is how hard we worked this past summer and take into account all the money we put into this home and feel our frustration.

The Front of our home

1.) Grass mowed & raked.

2.) Flower Beds were weeded and filled with more perennials & annuals

3.) Trees & Bushes were trimmed.

4.) All window screens were replaced with new.

5.) All windows were washed inside and out.

6.) All trim was touched up around windows.

7.) New front screen door.

8.) Sidewalk to front entrance had a lot of pot holes a few of the major ones were filled.

9.) The over grown grass was cut back from the sidewalk.
10.) Perimeter fences repaired.

Living room view #1 as you enter the front door.

1.) Fresh ceiling paint

2.) New ceiling Fan/light

3.) Pine floor received a new coat of Polyurethane.

4.) Window frames were growing mold. They received a good bleaching and then stained in areas of need; finalized with some Polyurethane to protect.

5.) Added a mirror to make the room appear bigger.

6.) Dusted and vacuumed the fireplace.

Living room view #2

1.) Put up some window blinds and curtains.

2.) Borrowed the area rug and some furniture to stage it for the Open House.

Pine room or so it was

1.) Realtor's and Friends thought this room was to dark because of the pine walls and ceiling. So, it received fresh paint on the walls and ceiling.

2.) The carpet was shot so it also got new carpeting

3.) There was a broken window that got replaced

4.) The door and trim to this room was never stained so we stained and Polyurethaned it.

Bathroom

(Sorry for the sideways picture Blogger does this to all my pictures that I take on my camera sideways???? Yes, we have a program to turn our pictures, and I do, but every time Blogger turns them back. I've even tried playing tricks on Blogger by downloading the picture on its side. Blogger just flips the picture to the other side. So I try to avoid pictures that are taken sideways. Many pictures you don't get to enjoy because of this problem.)

1.) New caulk around tub and toilet

2.) New paint and boarder trim (used to be a white and very sterile looking bathroom)

3.) All the Iron stain was scrubbed from the toilet, tub, and sink (not in that order!)

4.) Lots of water damage under the sink so mold was bleached and wood was repaired.

5.) Tub was porcelain and wearing out so we repainted it.

Side note: This was the room Ace and I wanted to remodel for the next renter before we changed our thoughts to selling. Very important note to future blog.


Front Entryway opposite of bathroom Note to Architects: Don't ever put front door across from the bathroom. It leads to some exciting events when unexpected company arrives!! LOL

1.) Front door received a major overhaul. New paint, weather strip and some planing to make fit nicer.

2.) Entry received an updated light.

3.) New Flooring lighter in color

4.) Fresh Paint on ceiling and walls

5.) Closet received fresh coat of paint too

Kitchen/Dinning

1.) Fresh coat of paint on ceiling and walls

2.) New curtains

3.) Lots and Lots of scrubbing. Degreased ceiling for the paint. Degreased cupboards around the stove.
4.) Scrubbed all the appliances and cupboards inside and out. Hours and hours of scrubbing! Just wanted to give the kitchen a thumbs up for being very clean.


Back Entry way/ Laundry room/Utility room

1.) Fresh paint on ceiling and walls

2.) Lots of scrubbing around the heater, water heater, water softener system a lot of dust bunnies (they multiply fast) and mold

3.) The floor was in need of paint or something so it got scrubbed 3X's to prep it for paint

4.) Shelves were painted

5.) Door was white and painted green inside and out to match the front door.

6.) Trim was missing from two doors so we trimmed in some doors too.


Nursery/Office/ Small Room

1.) Fresh Paint on ceiling and walls

2.) New Carpet


Largest Bedroom

1.) Fresh paint on Ceiling, Walls, & Closet

2.) Trim & Door were bare and needed stain

3.) New Carpet

4.) Replaced blinds as they were broken

5.) Replaced some outlet covers and light switch cover because they were missing.


Garage

1.) Garage was striped (huge job) and repainted

2.) Garage front and back door was painted green to match the house doors. My favorite part! I think it made the house look really sharp.

3.) The Garage was dejunked and dejunked again.

4.) The inside surface of the Garage door was painted white to add light to the inside of the Garage

5,) The floor was power washed for a cleaner look.


Shed

1.) Painted the Shed and it was a paint guzzler!

2.) Shed was dejunked and cleaned

3.) Missing window was replaced

4.) There isn't much listed but the shed took the whole month to accomplish!


Sandbox

1.) Rotting wood planks were replaced

2.) Was a bed of grass and the kids spent a lot of hours pulling out grass roots.


Back Yard

1.) Outside of house was powerwashed made a huge difference

2.) Some Shingles were replaced and a few nails were pounded back down.

3.) Leaves were swept off the roof top.

4.) Spent a whole day and $300.00 to repair the well which was clogged from not being in use.

5.) Lots of clean up because of big Weeping Willow tree in back yard. Anyone need some firewood?


Wood Pile for Fire Pit

1.) A big mess now neatly stacked and a lot was burned. We ate a few Hot Dog Lunches.


Fire Pit

1.) Burned up this mess! We sure wish we had more time to have a Bon Fire Party because this was a huge pile of wood. Lots of carpenter ants too.


Flower Bed

I know I already told you about my flower bed. However I had to throw this picture in because I would work on it in the cool evenings many tears were shed here over per exhaustion and memories made here. Lots of prayers were prayed on my knees here for a Miracle.

Taking our last family photo in front of 761 Lincoln Lake, Lowell, MI.


So here we are excited and ready to sell our home! Whoo Hoo!

Two long days of showing our home. We had 100+ people stop by and look. We had 26 bidders some were low-offers but, there were 6 real offers.


I forgot to mention our guide to all this racket!


Ace on the phone with the Round Robin Bidding.

After lots of phone calls we came up with a buyer for $65,500. $24,500 short of what we owed. We sure were hoping for a bigger miracle than that. God is good lots of miracles tho, like how many people came to the Open House, How many offers, and really with this economy a high offer.

Ace called the bank and friends and nobody would help us to make this deal go thru. Very discouraging yet we knew the chapter was not finished. What was to come???

At the buyers request we placed the SOLD sign up although our hearts weren't in the excitement. Deep down we knew this wasn't going to happen.
Thank you for your prayers!

Successful Filter Filler!

2010-10-11T00:09:00.001-04:00

Two years ago we bought a Berkey water filter, and we are very happy with it. However, it created a twice-daily chore for me to fill it. So this past spring I thought I'd make a system that would fill it automatically. What seemed simple up-front project turned out to be a little bit of a challenge, and quite educational for me. Here is a little of the puzzle, then I'll show the solution.

The Problem: The filter system consists of two 2.5 gallon containers, one on top of the other, and two candle filters. Water is added to the top container, and gravity slowly causes the water to drip down into the lower container. At first I thought I'd install a float type valve (think: carburetor or toilet water tank type valve) but that wouldn't work: If the float was on the top container, the bottom would eventually overflow, and if the float was on the bottom, the top would overflow before the bottom would fill and shut the water off (that is an abbreviated synopsis of unworkable solutions, there were many more).

The Solution: Weight the whole filter unit, and as water is drawn out, it weighs less, and will replenish the same weight that was drawn. The idea seemed valid but I did not have the technology to implement the concept until this spring; I was introduced to micro-controllers. A micro-controller is like a little computer that can be programed to do simple functions (see Arduino). So I bought one, and after some trial and error (no floods yet!) have a working filter filler!

How it works: There are four pressure sensitive resisters under an aluminum pie-plate. They allow electricity to pass thru them in proportion to the weight upon them. The little controller sense the electricity decrease when the filter gets lighter, and turns on a solenoid (electrically activated water valve, taken from a discarded dish-washer). As the filter fills with water, the weight increases until the resisters reach a determined value, and the valve shuts off. If the filter overflows, it will spill into the pie-plate, and two wires there will sense that spillage, turn off the valve, and turn on an alarm.

Still to do: Neaten up the wires, box it up, and put the lid on the filter. This is just to show you the "works".

Our Time Spent at Ace's Parents Home and Memorial Weekend

2010-09-17T12:16:00.000-04:00

Ace visiting with his big brother Dan.

Piper plays Happy Birthday.

Ace's mom just blew out the candles on her cupcakes. She is celebrating her 70th.

Opening the gifts

I love Cherry in this picture so I had to post it.

Off to the graveyard for Memorial Weekend to learn about family history.

Grammy telling everyone about her parents.

Ace's Grandparents grave.

Just because I thought she was sooo cute!

Celebrating Sam's Birthday.

Blowing out the Candles

We had lots of fun visiting Aces family while in Michigan we will continue our visit in Pennsylvania later in our trip.

Our Michigan Home

2010-09-16T18:38:00.000-04:00

Before we even left Arizona, our plan was to go to Michigan and do some maintenance on our home there. 1.) Remodel the bathroom 2.)Touch up paint on the outside of the home 3.)Find a renter.

On our way home we met a lady at one of the churches we visited in New Mexico. She was from Michigan and she was a missionary who wanted to help us remodel our home. Her husband was a contractor and she thought he might be interested in helping us with our home too. Later this couple encouraged us to sell our home. Also, while in N.M. another man talked with us about selling our home instead of renting it. So, after much thought and prayer we began three weeks of intense LABOR to prep our home for an Open House. The Glidewell's and our new friends from MI. put in many hours of hard work.

Ace picking up pizza for our hard working crew.


Ang's sister Aimee painting, she has energy the size of 10 people!

The little ones trying to stay out of trouble. Aimee's children and Cherokee.


Carson who got into a paint war with Piper.


Piper painting trim notice paint on elbow from paint war.


We had a few helpers Doug came and helped us mow the law which was a lot of work because it hadn't been mowed in a long time maybe not at all that year? This was a huge blessing since Ace gets terrible allergy attacks when mowing the lawn so he hates doing it.


Gustie is cleaning the walk way she spent many hours on her hands and knees separating the grass from the cement walk way.


Gene helping Gustie with the front walk-way.


Stormie working on window screens all the screen frames were cleaned and screen was replaced some window screens had to be made as they were missing.


Piper raking all the tall grass up to make the yard pretty. Very hot and tiring work.


Caught Aurora singing while she worked. Maybe she was singing I've been working on the rail road or some slave hymn.


Sam causing trouble. Very few things a four year old can do but every once and a while he had a job.


The huge pile of grass the kids raked up and hauled to the garden location.


Aurora polishing the bathroom light fixture. Details, details, details! We wanted to advertise the place was clean so every last nook and cranny was scrubbed.

Our Time Spent at Ang's Parents House

2010-08-25T11:55:00.000-04:00

Aurora making Fruit Smoothies with Nana & Cousins


Getting tractor rides with Pa

Sam & cousin Gibby playing Go Fish they were best buds.

Piper and cousin Carson eating/drinking root-beer floats on the back porch.

Gustie and cousin Cera sipping their floats and playing Cootie.

Pa took the Glidewell children out to his wiffle ball yard and took some time to teach them how to play wiffle ball. I think the girls are sidetracked by Winston the cat.

Gustie getting a lesson on how to stand and hit the ball.

Sam's turn for a lesson.

When it came someones turn to hit the ball Pa taught them a chant, everyone shouted, "Can she do it? Yes she can!"

Day 4 On Our Long Drive North

2010-08-14T13:44:00.000-04:00

Day 4 is always the toughest day. Being in the car for 4 long days we needed a break. So we took Sunday, Mothers Day, off from traveling. We just happened to be in Abraham Lincolns home town of Springfield, Illinois, and decided to head to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum. Our time there was wonderful. The girls just finished studying about Abraham Lincoln in their home-school studies! Once again God has perfect timing even when it comes to learning about History.

The Glidewell's with the Lincoln's

After the Museum we went out to eat for Mothers day we tried the local cuisine called a "Horseshoe". Click the word horseshoe to to see a picture of a meal with enough grease for a month! Very interesting! :-) We stopped off at a restaurant that was giving free pony-shoe sandwiches to Mothers for a Mothers Day special (of course a "pony-shoe" is a small horseshoe). We all enjoyed our Sunday Lunch and agreed we probably wouldn't make a habit of eating this sandwich if we wanted to live more than another week or two.

"This sandwich will make your arteries cringe and your taste buds rejoice!"


Ang with her Free Pony Sandwich.

Gustie didn't get any! Sorry Gus.

Then we were off to see The Abraham Lincoln Home. Here are a few pics of our time there.

The Family in front of the Lincoln Home.

The room Abraham was asked to run for President

The sitting room where the family would hang out together for the evening.


The Master Bedroom, Mary also had her own private bedroom for the times Abe was up late at night studying or writing.

Notice anything peculiar about the decorating? The Lincoln home was in fashion and the fashion was called "Contrast in Confusion". So, the next time you feel like nothing matches in your home just pretend you're living in high style like the Lincoln's!

One more fun pic of a factory outside our hotel window.

Sam called these smoke stacks "cloud making factory".

Our First Furlough

2010-08-07T18:56:00.000-04:00

(OK NTM'rs, I know that "Furlough" is not the correct terminology, but the new words just aren't working for our friends.) SMILE.

Our plans before we left Arizona was to visit family, friends & supporting churches. Also to remodel the bathroom in our Lowell home along with doing some touch up outside painting and then renting it out to a prospected renter. We also planned on making contacts with new churches in hopes of gaining more support.

Our first stop was New Mexico, to visit a church in Lu Luz. It was during this stop that we were encouraged to sell our home in Lowell instead of fixing it up to rent. We also met a lady who was visiting her friends at this church. She was from Michigan too and was interested in helping us with our home so we exchanged information and were very encouraged. We enjoyed our overnight stay at the Brock home which is always a blast.

Playing Simeon says with the Brock children

Cool Story

One of the things that encouraged us the most in New Mexico was a man who told Ace, that our first visit back in March, was also his first visit to this church. Ace not knowing anyone at this church approached him and shook his hand and took some time to get to know him that Sunday. Our seconded visit in May, this same man approached Ace and said that he had come to know the Lord as his Savior since our last visit and wanted to tell his grown son. He wasn't sure how his son was going to take it. When he called his son to tell him the news of his salvation his son was the one that said "Dad I got saved and am going to church" and asked him if he was OK with his decision. It sure is neat to see how God works everything out and what incredible timing He has.

Our AC was broken in our van so we wanted to go North asap. The Brock's told us of a scenic rout and we enjoyed the frigid ice cold windy atmosphere up, up, up in the mountains along with the beautiful view.

March Update

2010-04-14T15:06:00.000-04:00

In March we love to make Shamrock shakes and what goes good with Shamrock shakes homemade french fries. Yum!

Sam is very interested in Guitars so he has a homemade one. It is a sponge, ruler mini Frisbee, rubber band, sting and a knob from some toy. Very creative don't you think?

We have had a hard winter with being sick Piper and Gustie are out side trying to recover, by getting some sun and warmth.

On the 25th our 15th Wedding Anniversary came and went with a hug and some hope to have more of a celebration another time when we have more time. (See Aprils post)

At the end of March we were invited to New Mexico to meet and get know a family and speak at their church. We had some mighty tail winds while traveling. We also traveled through some dust storms which reminded us of whiteouts in Michigan. Here are a few pics of our view.

I know there are Mountains out there somewhere.

We didn't take very many pictures of our time in New Mexico but as we were leaving we decided to do a little touring. We stopped off at White Sands Missile Range Museum. Next to the White Sands National Monument

You might remember our stop at W.S.N.M. a 1 1/2 ago we posted pictures on Facebook. I thought I blogged about it but I couldn't find the blog so I guess I didn't. The problem with so many good ways to communicate with friends.

Piper is standing in front of this missile.

The Glidewell's with the Brock family. We had such a great time with them and getting to know their family. Thank You Brock Family!

FEBRUARY

2010-03-13T13:01:00.035-05:00

We started February off with celebrating Groundhogs day with Dirt Cake. Yummy!

So many majestic views of the mountains and sky. It really makes up for the loss of green and color we don't get living here in the desert. I love the mountains peeking their tops out of the clouds.

Ace is always giving tours to friends who come through to visit. Our kids always have questions and are always asking what is behind that door? Not having time to answer their questions because he is busy giving the tour to company he decided to schedule a visit with the family

Front office Door

First stop is the bulletin board in the front offices that holds photos of all our Aviation missionaries. Gus is pointing to where her Grandparents live.

A detour first to see the Kodiak get fueled up.

These are mailboxes for all the countries we serve in. Each mailbox holds airplane parts that that particular country is asking for.
Sam!

Everyone gets to sit in an airplane and try it out.

Everyone gets to sit in a Helicopter and try that out too.

Then we also get to look at Daddy's project he's been working on, and frustrated with. Its a golf-cart that NTMA bought to help start the Kodiak and to help push the Kodiak in and out of the hanger. The Kodiak is a big bird and it takes a lot of men to move it.

Ace spent a weekend in Phoenix taking apart this school gym. A Christian school gave NTMA a gym for our campus. We just have to disassemble move it and resemble. Lots of work! The Sowers were here to help when everything came to a screeching halt and we found out we needed an inspection for hazardous materials and a dissembling work permit. Ugh.

Piper turned 12 years old.

February 22-26 we had Spiritual Emphasis Week. This is were we come together in the mornings and listen to a special speaker and sing Hymns and Praise & Worship songs and just be encouraged and refreshed to continue on with the fight.

Justin & Courtney are leaving us to serve in Indonesia. They were our classmates when we first arrived here in McNeal. They are the last of our fellow training student to leave here.

Piper is singing a Praise song and Cherokee is enjoying her a.m. snack during intermission.

This is what our family looked like the whole week of Spiritual Emphasis: sitting on the floor coloring, doing schoolwork, and listing to the Speaker.

The teenagers sang and played Praise and Worship music on Thur. & Fri. They did an awesome job. (Just a side note - The public schools here had a budget cut last year so now there is no school on Fridays.)

Our speaker was Greg Sanford we really enjoyed listening to his stories of his life growing up as an MK and also serving with NTM as and adult. He currently is helping NTM's Wayumi ministry. "Wayumi", you ask well just click on the word Wayumi and see for yourself.

Our next adventure was a scheduled working date. Ace and I planned on getting a babysitter and going to Tucson and running some errands followed by dinner together. As we were driving to Tucson he pulled out tickets to the musical "Fiddler on the Roof"!! Then he said that was not all.......He planned a night at a Bed & Breakfast! WOW! I actually got butterflies in my stomach. He even planned on a place for the kids to stay and packed my bags. Now a little bit about me, NOTHING gets past me I always discover surprises before they are given. This one I didn't even see coming. AMAZING!

On our way to our wonderful weekend Ace said he felt led to stop at the Hospital and visit our friend Billy Haslam who just retired from NTM last May. Recently his health has been failing and he was given two more days left to live. We wanted to stop by and say good-bye. We arrived 1/2 hour to late; Billy went home to be with His Lord and Savior. We were glad to be there to help his wife Loretta and comfort her during this time. The Memorial Service was in March and was a wonderful time spent in celebrating his life here on earth.

Our Bed & Breakfast the name Jeremiah Inn came from Jeremiah 9:2a "Oh that I had in the dessert a lodging place for travelers..."

Front view

Us eating our breakfast and the only picture of us during our whole weekend.

Our gorgeous view out our bedroom window

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful blowing March Winds!

January In A Nutshell

2010-02-01T12:21:00.019-05:00

Our first weekend we took off to the Tucson Zoo something we wanted to do last summer but realized its just to hot in Arizona to go.

Our favorite was the Giraffe with his 22 inch tongue. Guess How many Vertebrae Giraffe have in their long neck?

Sam wanted to feed the Giraffe it was his dream and kept talking about it all day and the next couple of days. (He never got to.)

Rodent of Unusual Size (R.O.U.S. )

The Kodiak arrives here at New Tribes Aviation

The Family enjoying new computer games and boiled peanuts. Piper and Ace are playing monopoly. A very long night.

Celebrating Gusties 10th Birthday with a cooking party.

Aurora spilled her hot water, (for her Hot Chocolate) on her chest. She had a bad burn. The girls took very good care of her with putting cold cloths on it and with in 3 or 4 hours she was pain free. Today you can hardly tell she was burnt so badly thank you Lord!

Sam being torchured by sisters who love to play dress-up.

Some of our students graduating here at New Tribes. We don't have an official graduation day. We just call a fellowship get together as soon as the Lord calls a family to a certain field. These three families are going to Indonesia.

The Kane family came to visit us. We know them from Missions Training School. Ben got to share at the graduation how long it took for them to get to the tribe they plan on working with. This was a blessing to hear how aviation will help in Indonesia. We sure did enjoyed their short visit. They are returning to Indonesia to finish their language study and then move into a tribe.

And more dress up...
It is so neat to see the big kids playing with the little kids.

Snow Covered Mountains sooooo Beautiful!

Giraffe have 7 vertebrae the same as humans.

Catch-up From December

2010-01-25T09:12:00.020-05:00

The Sunday before Christmas started December for us this year.

Notice the girls matching Christmas dresses? Piper made the skirts all by herself. She decided to add matching ribbon on the bottom of the skirts along with the sleeves of the blouses. It was really nice to have her talent of sewing this year.

Piper participated in her first piano solo in the NTMA Christmas program she did an awesome job.

The Pryde family came to visit us. Ace went to college with Thomas and they renewed their friendship on Facebook. Their stay was so much fun and their children and our children got along so well together so impressed were we.

Our Little Family

Pipers Piano teacher Linda

Sam's new friend Stephen they were so cute together. We miss you Stephen.

Piper with Anna & Sara working on their crocheting projects.

The guys hanging out before the Pryde's left. It sure was hard to say good bye. It is times like these when we long for Heaven so we never have to say good bye.

Pipers Old Smile.

Pipers Upper Cuspid teeth were not falling out so she had to have them pulled. The root on one was very long and it was not an easy pull. Our Dentist was a Spanish speaking man whose Hygienist was his translator.

Pipers New Smile.
We hope that her new Upper Cuspids will fall down naturally and we wont have to get braces.

Christmas dinner. You have to excuse my tongue as I wait for the photographer who always has to take a million pictures. It just so happened the millionth was was the best shot if it wasn't for my tongue. LOL

Singing Happy Birthday to Jesus

The Day after Christmas we packed up and went to the Heft home for 10 days to watch their dogs and help Grandma. Here the kids are enjoying the movie Sound of Music with the Hefts entertainment center and cozy living room.

Their Dog Sadie.
This is on the last day. We were packing our van up to move back to our home when I looked out the front window and saw someone in our van. I did a head count in the house everyone was accounted for. So I asked the kiddos who is in our van? Nobody knew. We found out it was Sadie. She sat in our van for three hours. she just wouldn't not get out until Piper pulled her out. I think she misses us.

Amiga, who is a foodaholic and enjoyed sitting under Cherokee's highchair.

The kids with Grandma Eppler

Well, that was basically our month of December it was very busy time but a very special time too. It was our first Holiday Season not in Michigan and we did miss our family but it also was quite relaxing to just stay near home.

Skunk

2010-01-06T09:33:00.006-05:00

Our next door neighbors had an unwanted tenant. This little guy decided to spray while living under our neighbors home. So the hunt began! The men on camp were on a mission. First seal up all holes leaving only one exit. It took a couple of weeks but we were excited when they finally caught the fellow. I just want you to know the smell from their home was strong and I couldn't imagine living in the trailer during this time.

Waiting for his trial.

I laugh because of all the men on campus that have guns who could have ended this troublemakers life and they call in a woman to do the job.

Well, that's all folks did you know skunks marry for life and that two days later we smelled skunk again. We didn't catch the partner in crime hoped he or she moved on.

A New Desk

2009-12-08T12:48:00.004-05:00

Ace has been using a counter top as an office desk since joining the team here in McNeal.

Ace recently was blessed with a new desk. Pops, a carpenter here on campus makes a lot of the cabinets for NTMA. Thanks Pops for doing such a beautiful job.
Maybe you have retired from your job and are bored with nothing to do consider becoming a missionary using your skills on the field.

Thanksgiving Day

2009-12-08T12:32:00.007-05:00

We hope you had a wonderfully relaxing Thanksgiving weekend.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving day wishing we had company but didn't ask anyone in time. :-(

Yummy!

Looks like a traffic light. LOL Sometimes blogger will turn my pictures back to the way I took them on the camera even though I turned the picture on my photo file. Crazy! Anyways this year we made a blueberry pie since we had an abundance of blueberries.

Swine Flu

2009-11-16T10:44:00.010-05:00

I believe we had the Swine Flu. Since the Dr.'s in the area don't want us to come in and get tested to really see if you have this type of flu, we could only go by a list of symptoms sent to us by several e-mails. Another clue was Swine Flu was working it's way thru the public school systems and here at New Tribes.

Notice the thermometer has normal temp. written with a sharpie marker on it. This was used to help teach the kiddos how to take their own temp along with administer their own meds. as long as mom gave the OK.Lots of Rest.

Lots of soaking in the tub to help fevers go down.

I would sleep with a cough drop in my mouth. I know dangerous, but it was my only source of comfort and helped me fall asleep.
Ace was the only one who did not get sick with Swine Flu. I called him and asked him to please go to the store and get meds. and liquids. I was so thankful he was able to come home and take care of us for most of the morning. Then back off to work he went.

Lots of liquids to replenish the fluids our bodies were loosing through high fevers. The secret was 7 Up the kids wanted to drink knowing they were able to have POP a luxury in our home.

We were also told to take vitamin D. We didn't have any in the house so we would sit our lawn chairs out in the yard and relax in the sun. We did, however have milk in the house and ate cereal every day for breakfast. Having cereal for breakfast everyday might not sound so good if you've been sick before but we were actually craving it.
A Big Thank you to the families who brought us soup we lived on it for the week as none of us felt like cooking. Can you here the kids? This again? Ace and I didn't mind because we didn't have to make it and it tasted so good.
Oh, one more thing....... We started our sick journey Oct. 27th and finished the swine flu Nov. 9th we then picked up the stomach flu Nov 10th and finished that Nov. 14th anything else?
*If you haven't had the pleasure of having the Swine flu I have one tip. Prepare your sick cupboard ahead of the game because when you come down with it their is no warning and you won't want to go to the store to get anything.

Brighten My Morning

2009-10-28T12:06:00.000-04:00

Spotted Friend

2009-10-23T11:17:00.003-04:00

Got to watch your step!

Sam and I were walking to the hanger when Sam panicked and started crying. (Not unusual for him. Any parenting advise for an over sensitive boy?) Anyways, he started saying something about a snake. I looked over and saw the snake and the first thing I asked was did it bite you? Sam said "it did nothing." I was four feet in front of Sam I must have stepped right over it. One of the more experienced missionary ladies here on campus said when you walk always keep your eyes on the ground. Well I wasn't keeping my eyes on the ground. I then took a picture of it so I could look it up on line. It is a Mexican Hognose a harmless snake to humans.

There's A Hole In My Floor Dear Liza

2009-10-23T10:57:00.007-04:00

When we first moved in, the floor was very soft next to the door. I guess a year and two months time it finally caved in.

I love having a maintenance team hear on campus. Imagine a honey to do list never growing long. All I have to do is put in a slip of paper and the next day they are on it.

The goal is to do as little as possible as all the trailers on campus are going to be hauled away at some point.

The kids enjoyed Mr. Guimond pronounced "G-ee-Mon" its French and the Guimonds are from Maine almost another country too.

We hardly got any school work done as they really loved watching Mr. Guimond work, especially Sam.

The Night Before

2009-10-10T00:16:00.002-04:00

What are you doing tomorrow?

Food For The Poor

2009-10-04T16:52:00.004-04:00

October 1st is payday for the Glidewell family. I was very excited to be able to go grocery shopping and collect the few items need on my shopping list. Ace and I have been pinching pennies so we can get extras like clothing for example. So I try hard at cutting back on our food so we can have a little extra each month to spend on other needed items. Anyways, I was in conversation with a friend who asked me what was my plans this week I told her one thing I was going to do was, Oct. 1st was payday and I was going to go grocery shopping. My favorite quote from her was ... "rich for a day." And that's what it feels like.
That same friend called me up the next morning Oct. 1st and said when you come into town stop by before you go shopping. So I did and........their family went grocery shopping for us the night before and collected all this food for us. WOW! We were so surprised and so very encouraged at this wonderful blessing to our family. I still am in aw of how much food they blessed us with. They said they had a lot of fun shopping. I can only imagine! I think I too would enjoy shopping for some one else.

First Day

2009-09-14T16:17:00.009-04:00

Of School

Well, today marks another year for the children. We did homeschool all summer and it was good. At times it was hard as we watched others have fun but, I can see huge improvements with their learning.

Mr. Mom

2009-09-03T23:15:00.002-04:00

Angela left Ace with the family from Friday the 28th until Wednesday the 2nd, an act of faith.

Friends offered Ace much encouragement on Facebook, and we thought we'd share some of the dialogue here:

Fri 28th: Ace has the kids all to himself while Ang is away for the next few days! . . . where is the cereal? Has anyone seen Sam? Whadya mean that shirt doesn't fit?? - oh, it's not yours, sorry. No, I don't know where your cup is. Or your... shoes. Go find a sister to put a band-aid on it - it will heal. . .eventually. You gotta wait at least a full sixty-seconds after dinner before asking for a snack! Yes, PB&J again.

At this point, one reader suggested a Youtube video: "Mr. Mom". Click here to watch.This video / song pretty much sums it up. This is a noteworthy exception to my opinion that the FCC should ban Coutry Music from the airwaves.

Sun 30th: Went shopping, and successfully bought more than just Doritos. Took the kids swimming, none drowned. Another lady took the girls into the changing room, which solved a potentially awkward situation. Sam dropped his shorts and ...was taking aim at a chair leg by the pool, but I arrived in time to haul him to the boy's room. Had a picnic; remembered the food, but forgot all the plates, cups, tools.

Mon 31st, AM: Got up early and went to work before kids got up; left cerial, milk, and bouls out hoping they could figure it out. Came home at break to find kids eating cerial with fingers. Duh, forgot the spoons. Had a nice ham and peanut butter sandwich for lunch - a new one for me.

Mon 31st PM: All was well till suppertime, couldn't find the seasoning for the taco meat. Looked desperately thru entire house. About to order a pizza, when seasoning was found in crock pot on top of fridge. Almost lost sanctifi...cation over that one. Right after supper, with full, happy tummies, kids jupped on neighbor's trampoline and

Angela checks in: Ang is having so much fun realxing, eating, shopping, talking, watching chick flicks,and having spa momments. AHHHH! The peace and quiet!

And Ace replys: Ace is also having his own sort of "AHHHHH!" moments. Usually followed by "What did I step in?!", or "You put WHAT in my coffee?!"

Tue 1st: Had Ravioli for dinner. Forgot how "empty" Ravioli is, everyone was hungry before the dishes were clean. (Actually, that might be true most of the time. . . ) so instead of cooking another dinner at 7PM, we just made cookies. Was a good day- most of house swept & mopped, cleaned under the couch cushion's (more of an archaeological dig). That the pot of coffee was gone at 4pm might be a clue?

One reader writes in that while the Mom was away, the family ran out of Dish soap, and Dad substituded the Car-Wash soap! See? I'm not the only resoursefull guy out there. I wonder if, in a pinch, 10w30 can be used to keep pancakes from sticking to the skillet?

Wed 2nd: Got up early to make oatmeal and put supper in a crock pot. Crisis level of tired today. Came home for lunch to find meal burnt, except for a gooey core in the center. Salvaged meal by adding a cup of water, stirring the ch...arcoal ring and the goo in the middle all together, and turning the crock on Low. Also, found out hamburger was supposed to be cooked ahead when Ang arrived home. Yeah!

Now that Ang is home, Ace is off to get the fire extinguisher re-filled, put the furniture back up-right, and tell the rest of the kids it's safe to move back in now. . . "MOM"S HOME! !"

We Believe In An Early Education

2009-08-21T12:23:00.006-04:00

One of the big questions homeschool moms ask is.... What do you do with your babies and toddlers while you school the others?

Stormie thought of this on her own. While she was doing her math she sat Cherokee on her lap and gave her the the travel tangrams to play with. I thought it was cute and had to take some pics.

Sling Load Practice

2009-08-20T13:10:00.007-04:00

One of the fun things about being here on campus is watching the pilots practice. Here is one of them practicing sling loads. This shot was taken in my front yard. The pilot is setting a 55 gallon drum down into the trees. The drum is filled with water to simulate what missionaries need in those drums????

This is a net with plywood. They also carry a refrigerator around inside that net too which I didn't get a picture of.

One Year Old

2009-08-06T19:50:00.003-04:00

To our little Cherokee "Cherry Pie" or "Baby Cheekie",
We are so Thankful you are part of our family! You are such a happy laid back baby. It is such pure joy to take care of you. There has never been a Glidewell baby that has been so fought over. All of your sisters and brother want a part of taking care of you. There were many times Mommy had to tell all your siblings that you were my baby and I want to take care of her. We love to see you smile, dance and blabber. You are a Daddy's little girl your face always lights up when he comes into the room. So many wonderful things you have accomplished in your short little life. We can't wait to see all you will accomplish this coming year.

XOXOXO
Mommy

NTMA Housing

2009-08-06T16:43:00.001-04:00

One of the many, many projects that are taking place here at NTMA is the housing. The trailer homes have been with NTMA for a very long time.

This trailer is a guest trailer we call it little blue. When you go inside you get the feeling you should be at one of the many lakes in MI. camping. The inside gives you an RV feel. In the 50's is when travel trailers became made into permanent Mobil homes. In our own bathroom we get the feel like we are in a RV too. Everything is made for a 4ft person. Both Ace and I have to shrink to rinse our hair when we shower. Ace has to lean to the side to see his face in the mirror when he shaves. Kind of fun...well for me to watch. I' know Ace doesn't think it's all that fun.
Here is the back side of Little Blue. I took this picture because of the trailer lights. I really think they should sell little Blue on eBay as an antique.

This is the front of our trailer. Most all of the trailers have trailer hitches. I have never seen a trailer hitch on a Mobil trailer until we moved to Florida. I think its because Mobil trailers don't last very long in the snowy weather.

NTM Maintenance Team has been working on a new house since we've arrived. It is fun and exciting to watch them build the next home. It is a very slow progress since a big portion of the work is done by volunteers.
The cement mixer has arrived! I've been waiting for him.
This work team came for only the cement poring a one day event.
Another team came to put up the frame, a week event. The group that came to put this frame up comes every year to do this ministry. One of the guys on this team lost his life when he fell from the roof and landed on the back of his head. It was a tragic experience for us here at NTMA.
And then again another team came to put up the siding and windows. Just last week another volunteer team came to put in the insulation and dry wall. I talked to the Missionary who will be living in this home and she said it looks like September that she gets to move in. Yeah! In the background is the a the house they built last year.

A New Dinning Table

2009-07-27T12:50:00.000-04:00

We were in the market for a dinning table for three years. We had put this purchase on hold until it was determined which country we would be serving at. Some countries have furniture available there but not in others; so we might have to bring our own. We were unsure where we were going until this past winter.
Now that the decision has been made to stay and serve here in McNeal, Arizona, we have been on a mission to purchase a dinning table that would fit our family. We have spent many hours on Craigslist looking for the perfect table. After much searching, we found one we liked. That same day we received an email from a friend who was down sizing and wanted to give us her table - free! So to save money which is tight we choose the free one. A savings of $375.00!

11 1/2 Months

2009-07-17T16:41:00.009-04:00

I forgot to post her 11 month pic.
It was July 4th weekend and I was a single Mom so you understand. :-)

I really don't want to smile because I am rather grouchy.
My top two front teeth are coming down.

I'm to busy playing to look at the camera!

Every Little Girly needs a doll house to play with.
The red mark on her temple is lip gloss, a kiss from big sister Stormie.

Major Slacker!

2009-07-05T15:25:00.003-04:00

Yes, I know I haven't blogged in a long time! I do have some unfinished post sitting in my draft pile. Life is just really busy. Finding it a little easier to just leave a Status quote on Facebook than a real edited story here at our blog. Pictures are easier too on FB as I just down load and wala!

Things we are working on:

Ace, has been putting in some longer days just because he hates to put his tools down in the middle of his project. What is the project since the 206 is finished. Well that's another post.

Ang, has been sorting clothing we need to down size whats in storage. Plus she has been painting making this trailer her little nest. Working on another project, a big secret surprise, which is also another post in unfinished drafts. Still homeschooling the children - to many interruptions this past year with Ang being part time missionary.

Piper, mother/wife in training is learning all kinds of things that keep Mom on her toes with trainning her.

Gustie, has been testing, another post

Stormie, Aurora, & Sam have been enjoying a gift. What is that gift you ask. Hmmm another unfinished Post.

Cherokee, Need to write a post.

So there you have it our life is a bunch of unfinished post.

Thanks For Checking in I think of you often, as you are wondering when we will post again.

PINK HOUSE

2009-06-13T15:36:00.006-04:00

Since I was a young girl I've always wanted a Pink House inside and out. I know, you probably think I'm way out there but I actually got the idea from a Country Living Magazine. So, there are more of me out there. ;-) Check out this NTM Mission News Article maybe I should go serve in Brazil. Just click on the word Pink House and it will lead you to the article.

10 Months Today

2009-06-04T01:28:00.002-04:00

And so not happy about it!

A 3 Year Old !

2009-06-01T12:28:00.005-04:00

Sam's chosen Birthday dinner was pancakes with syrup and nuts.

Happy Birthday Sam we love you!

The Tarantula Wasp

2009-05-29T13:22:00.002-04:00

The girls found this Tarantula Wasp on the ground and they got out the camera to take a picture of it. They are following their moms foot steps. He, He!

A link to a video of the life cycle of the Tarantula Wasp on eHow.

About it's stinger from Wikipedia:
These wasps are relatively docile for a wasp and rarely sting without provocation though the sting, particularly of Pepsis formosa, is among the most painful of any insect. Commenting on his own experience, one researcher described the pain as "…immediate, excruciating pain that simply shuts down one's ability to do anything, except, perhaps, scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations."[2] In terms of scale, the wasp's sting is rated at the top of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, second only to that of the bullet ant and is described by Schmidt as "Blinding, fierce [and] shockingly electric.".[3] Because of their extremely large stingers, very few animals are able to eat them; one of the few animals that can is the roadrunner.

Tooth Fairy

2009-05-28T12:17:00.005-04:00

Another silly smile!

Argh!!!!! Why does blogger turn my photos?

Not on this occasion but on another Tooth Fairy visit. Mrs. Tooth Fairy said it would be fun to do something different with the paper dollar like Origami. Mr. Tooth Fairy chimes in I have a sight saved on my bookmarks. Mrs. Tooth Fairy raises one eyebrow and says "you do?" Mr. Tooth Fairy pulls up the sight to show Mrs. Tooth Fairy. Astounded and excited that we actually can do something special Mrs. Tooth Fairy says who in the world would save that sight on their bookmarks? Mr. Tooth Fairy says, "You never know when it will come in handy."

Mama: "Did you see the Tooth Fairy?"

Stormie: "No."

Mama: "Oh darn."

Stormie: "Mama do you think we will see the Tooth Fairy up in Heaven?"

Mama: "Yes, we will get to see her and she'll run over to you and give you a big hug."

Cubbin'

2009-05-16T23:47:00.010-04:00

Took the Mrs. out Super Cubbin' yesterday! What fun!

Here sits the cub, ready for a scenic flight around the area.

Wind check: straight down Runway 17.

View of our "park" from as seen from the South. Our house is the 4th from the left, front row. (Everyone want's to see their house from an airplane! )

A view of our "park" as viewed from the West. Notice the contrast of our little oasis compared to the rest of the desert!

The pilot, and the (co-pilot, passenger, flight attendant, victim, wife, general domestic manger; you pick). I think she looks kinda cute in a headset!

Lining up on final, seconds before touchdown. Ang described the landing like this: "Ever been to the large airport terminal where they have these conveyor belts that moves people along a little faster? Ever run fast on one - you feel as if you are running like a Olympic hero. Imagine running off the end of the conveyor belt, and tripping over your feet as they try to catch up? That is the sensation I experienced as we came in and landed." So, how am I supposed to interpret that landing score?!

All put away, ready for another flight on another day.

Cubbin' - flying as flying was meant to be.

A Rolling 9 Months

2009-05-13T01:59:00.002-04:00

From this tooooooo..........

This.......
Look at all those rolls!
She hasn't started crawling yet. It almost looks like she is going to do the bum scoot.
Time will tell.

Umpa Lumpa

2009-05-08T11:17:00.003-04:00

Sammy sing the Umpa Lumpa song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He has a couple of scratches on his face which makes his face look dirty.

Swamp Coolers

2009-05-07T16:22:00.003-04:00

They turned on the swamp coolers last week and we are staying cool! Thanks guys!

The guy on the roof is Danny he helps with maintenance of our housing. Danny has been working on the new house that they are building on camp which is across the street from where we have ladies training. He always ask us ladies if we've learned anything when we leave our ladies training class. This time he surprised us because he was on the roof of a totally different home and we didn't know where to look.

Along with the swamp coolers comes allergies. Sneeze, Itch!

Death In The Pot

2009-04-22T16:42:00.002-04:00

2 Kings 4:38-41

A New Song & Dance

2009-04-17T12:52:00.011-04:00

This is a goat head.

It's a seed for a puncture vine.

Ace took a picture of it up close it's actually the size of a pea.

Goat head season has come and gone but they are still out there just not as noticeable.

Stormies flip flop. I think the park on camp has the most goat head plants maybe its because all the kids collect the seeds on their shoes and deliver them to the park.
We take our shoes off at the door to help prevent goat heads on our floors. I have a new song and dance its goes like this AHHHHH!

The goat heads puncture the girls bike tires.
Piper and Aurora have two flats and Stormie and Gustie have one.
We have to purchase special goo to go in there tubes or buy a heavier tube that is thorn resistant.

4:00 A.M.

2009-04-13T10:41:00.015-04:00

Sunrise service at the Chambers Ranch. Sam and Piper trying to stay warm. Sam was very crabby. He is not a morning person.

Staying warm

The view of the mountains was very beautiful.

Waiting for the sun to peak above the mountains.

The service just got over and the sun was seconds away from appearing.

After the service about 66 people piled into the Chambers home for breakfast.

We enjoyed egg casserole, fruit salad, ham, muffins, hot chocolate, coffee, and OJ it was delicious!
Thanks Chambers!

Mrs Chambers also gave all the children an Easter Basket filled with a few treats.

One of the Chambers Bulls, there are no fences to separate us from him.
Hmmm..... No red Easter Clothes please!

The children in their Easter finest.

An Easter treat sent to us from Nana & Pa Yum! Thank You Nana & Pa!

We didn't have time to boil eggs, this year, so we colored raw eggs. We only cracked 4 eggs, not to bad, and they were salvageable. I'm almost thankful for colored raw eggs instead of boiled ones. My children really love to color eggs and each child colors a dz. That a lot of hard boiled eggs to eat.

Sweet Laundry

2009-04-04T03:05:00.005-04:00

Happy 8 Months

BWV (Big White Van)

2009-03-26T08:30:00.001-04:00

Ace left at 2:00 am to take our friends Nomad & Yufanty to the Tucson Airport. This was his second trip. Last week he took our friends Yus. and Fitria and their family to the airport. We are always so happy to meet new people but, it is always so hard to say good bye too! We look forward to heaven some day when we will be able to see all our dear friends in one spot.

*A little side note: Both families are from Indonesia and are going home. Ace, had Nomad & Yus as students at SMAT. When they arrived in America they did not know English so, Ace was unable to get to know them because of the language barrier. When they left us they could speak English at an elementary level. We were very blessed to be able to get to know them and their families here in training. It was so much fun to help them learn new words and to laugh at them knowing that we would be on the other side of the fence some day.

Cute story: One day Ace was telling Yus to do something mechanical I don't remember what the task was...anyways, Ace said don't go crazy with it. Yus didn't understand what he meant by going crazy. So Ace explained what he meant. (Ace enjoyed helping Yus with his English. It was challenging and mind stretching for Ace.) Yus say's in Indonesia don't use crazy that is bad. The fun part is after he learn t about the word crazy and what it means to us Americans he used it all the time. ;-)

Our Class

2009-03-26T08:20:00.001-04:00

2009 New Tribes Mission Aviation Class

It's that time of the year when the students are finishing up there training. So we as a class got together and had a potluck and said our last good byes. Both Indonesian family's visas were denied so they are on their way home. In April two more families will leave us. The rest of our class, three other families, are staying here. Our family of course will stay much longer but the last two families to stay are moving on to helicopter training.

Overwhelming Hair

2009-03-20T13:15:00.012-04:00

Hair, Hair everywhere lots of hair to share!

It may be the first day of Spring but for us it feels like the middle of summer. So, the girls all got their summer do. We had to cut off more than we really wanted to. But, we enjoy donating our hair to Locks of Love. Each of our girls gave 10 inches to those who don't have hair. Ang's disclaimer: Don't look to close at their hair cuts I'm not professional. Hey, they are kids and they don't care.

Piper decided she wanted to grow her hair even longer before she cut hers off. She did want some bangs so we did.

Tea & Wii

2009-03-17T19:12:00.007-04:00

The ladies in our class decided that we needed to get together and have some bonding time. So, once a month we gather at someones home and hang out. This month we got together at Courtney's home and she introduced us ladies to Bubble Tea and Wii music.

Here it goes..... Cathy and I are giving our Bubble Tea a try.

The tea is a combination of green tea, soy milk, and sugar. The interesting part was the bubbles. You can see the black beads floating in our cups. They are tapioca pearls. The pearls have no flavor. The best I can do at describing the tapioca pearls is it taste like flavorless gummy bears.

After watching Cathy and I try the tea, Fitria and Martha have a try.

Next we all have a turn at the Wii. Cathy and I made it through the song without getting booed of the stage. Yeah!

Fanty & Fitria looked so good they really need to start their own band in Indonesia.

7 Month Photo Shoot

2009-03-06T11:19:00.006-05:00

Speaker in the House and other fun pics.

2009-03-02T23:57:00.011-05:00

Ace, was asked to give the devotional to the Awana kids. He talked to the kids about a choice they had to make choosing the cross or choosing Hell.

I thought I would show you what a southern Awana game floor looked like. I wish I had taken a picture of the game floor in Florida because it was a grass game floor and they used colored ropes that looked like colored fire hoses for color lines. Anyways, the games get more interesting during the winter when the sun sets early and all we have for light is a yard light. One evening when our family was unable to be at Awana there was a rattlesnake close to the game floor.

Ace and his Sparky class.

Our game director Pam she does such an awesome Job. I've never seen anyone direct games as well as she does. What I like about her is she always opens up game time with a word of prayer and closes with a word of prayer. At the end of game time she tells everyone the positive sportsmanship she saw. Sometimes it was a whole color line or just an individual. She well let everyone know what it is. One thing I've noticed about Sparkys is that they quit early and sit out if they don't want to play. Pam will draw all her Sparkys attention to that one child who called it quits and who later came back to the game to give it another try.
Here she is working with Aurora who grabbed the wrong bag and confused all the others when doing so. By the way who dressed that child?

Yeah! A second try for Aurora! Way to go RO!

YUM, this is what we smell all during game time. If only they were open. I guess it's a good thing.

Ace giving his speech to the Sparky group.

Wild Life

2009-03-02T22:36:00.004-05:00

We went to watch a few cranes estimated 150,000 of them. I took a video but figured you wouldn't want to get dizzy so I didn't post it.

I call this "Our Mountain" just because it is the closest Mountain near our home.

Here's the fam. watching the birds.

The cranes are flying in for the evening. They come and go during the day then they sleep at this pond in the evening. The cranes start arriving here in Late September early October and they start to leave late March early April. It's fun to see them all gathered together. I compared it to a football stadium. Very loud and a lot of cheering so it seemed.

Grand Prix

2009-03-02T21:52:00.011-05:00

Mommy prepared an Arizona snowman for breakfast.

Racers need good fuel to start.

Pit Crew hard at work!

Racers eating their snacks waiting for the race to start.

Piper waiting at the finish line for her car. ART PIPER is behind Piper he is the owner of the garage that we raced in. ART took a liking to Piper and cheered her car on.

Pipers car crossing the finish line. Go speed racer go!

Piper came in 2nd place for speed.

Our favorite car a pink eraser.

Ace's banana car it one 1st in design for leaders.

Laundry

2009-02-24T10:59:00.007-05:00

Our dryer's heating element died. We are without a dryer until the new part arrives.

Dryer parts everywhere!

Hanging clothes on the line twice a day can get old. I'm glad for the spring like weather and the birds chirping. I was wondering who put the clothes line under the pine trees anyways. My clothes never really see sunlight but that doesn't matter they dry very quickly. One day I hung them up and went right back to taking them down. No joking. It is very dry here.

Here's an idea..... Our friend Hemp gave us clothes pins that had her name on them. Since I have to hang our clothes on the line I look at Hemps name and pray for her. So, if you like to hang you clothes on the line I challenge you to get a Sharpie marker and put peoples names on your clothes pins so you may be reminded of them and pray for them.

Can You Say Diabetic?

2009-02-24T10:52:00.005-05:00

OK! So I left Sam by himself at the breakfast table a little to long.
I probably was outside hanging up our laundry - look at my next blog.

Talking Cherry

2009-02-19T18:43:00.004-05:00

Ugh! I'm so far behind in posting. I know you are just on the edge of your seats just waiting to hear of our next adventure. I have been spending a lot of time looking at other blogs and realizing that there are a lot of them out there that look very professional. I also discovered I'm hooked on the Nester thanks to Heather who recommended it on her blog. I've been trying to decide how to decorate our new nest and how to solve some decorating issues that we have. Anyways it might be in some future blogs. But, for now here is our sweet little Cherry who is babbling now, And enjoying her Bumbo, thanks to Joanne!

My Favorite Holiday

2009-02-14T01:31:00.000-05:00

Because..... I love Chocolate and my favorite color is Pink.

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my lover among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
Song of Solomon 2:3
Happy Valentines Day!

Snow in Southern Arizona?

2009-02-12T23:05:00.006-05:00

The other day we got snow. I guess it happens once or twice a year with the snow melting by 9:00 am but, this time the snow stuck around until 2:30 pm.
In the shade the snow stayed until the next day.

I thought these rocks were an interesting shot. Since my kids had no desire to go outside I had to take a picture of something. Nothing like going for a walk in the snow with no winter coat.

The snow covered mountains in our front yard.

The snow covered mountains in our backyard.
We got about two inches of very fluffy snow.

She's Six Monthes

2009-02-03T09:38:00.000-05:00

Our Smiley Cherry Pie

We've Chosen a Country!

2009-01-21T11:31:00.008-05:00

We are excited to say God has placed it upon our hearts to serve here in McNeal, Arizona. There is a little bit of disappointment that we won't be able to go with all of our friends who are going to Indonesia, Philippines, and PNG. But, we have already thought of possibly taking a summer mission trip so we can see first hand the missionaries at work who we are serving. We are excited also that three years ago NTMA started praying for another instructor to help here at McNeal and it was three years ago that we started our journey. Can you see God?

Dear NTMA family,

It is our pleasure to inform you that we have extended an invitation to Ace and Ang Glidewell to join our training staff here at McNeal as a maintenance instructor and they have gladly accepted that invitation. To give you some of the background to that decision, Ace and Ang served here at McNeal several years ago and then most recently, have been going through our training in flight and maintenance. During this time, we have been praying that the Lord would provide someone to fill a need for one more maintenance instructor. After completing his maintenance training, the maintenance ops felt that with Ace’s experience and abilities, that he could possibly fill that need. We approached them on this, asking them to pray about it and seek counsel which they have done. So with the blessing of their home church, the Glidewells have agreed to join us here. Our plan is to use this time between now and August to help Ace settle into this ministry so that he can be an active part of instructing the new class this fall. We want to inform you of this new change and ask that you pray for the Glidewells as they adjust to living and serving here in McNeal.

Thanks,

Tim for the committee

NTMA Office and Hanger

Our Home

2008-12-27T15:44:00.000-05:00

We made it to Michigan! We only arrived two hours late because of a snow storm. We had white knuckle driving thru lake affect snow and were so glad to arrive safely at Ang's parents door to only sink down into the snow and get stuck.
After arrival we celebrated Christmas with both sides of the family and then it was down to business.

One area of our lives, in Michigan, that still remains unfinished is our home in Lowell. We sure wish we could sell it but with today's economy it looks like we have to hang on to it until things get better. Our renters moved out back in October so the house has been sitting vacant. We spent three days cleaning and painting to spruce things up for either the next renter or a buyer.

Gustie scrubbing mold of the baseboards. I don't know why we bother since it probably will just grow back with no heat to dry things out.

The Gas and Electricity was turned off so we were creative and used a generator, a kerosene heater and a camp stove to help out with the necessities to make a clean house.
Is this what jungle camp really prepared us for?

The house was condensateing everywhere.
The girls are drying out their wet feet.

Piper warming her hands with the kerosene heater.

Cherry doing what she does best.

Aaron and Jacob helped us out a lot with painting and cleaning.
Ace's goal was to have the house done in three days and we made it only because of these two young men. Thanks so much guys we really appreciated your help!

Inspector Ace!
Ace would walk around the house making sure everyone was doing a job and if they needed anything to get the job done.

Here we are almost done. We have backed the kids into a corner they did a good job trying not to complain about the cold and helping with the cleaning.
One last huge thank you to Kurt and Kathy for loaning us the camp stove, generator, and kerosene heater. Your family would love Jungle camp!

630 Foot Detour Into the Sky!

2008-12-20T10:51:00.000-05:00

After three days in the car we decided to take a leg stretching walk to see the arch. First, lunch at the Spaghetti Factory. This restaurant was in a basement of an old building and I loved the decor! We all took turns walking around the restaurant to look at its unique style. There were many groups of people there celebrating Christmas.

The arch is so big you can't get it all in one photo with out being very
far away.
(A side note: Ace and I were here on our honeymoon 13 years ago and we had fun showing the girls some old memories.)

We rode up in an elevator called a pod, this is a demo. We had the kids climb in and try it out before the real thing. I also can fit. I didn't think it was possible, but we did it! There were only five seats so some of us had to ride on laps.

Sam trying to check out the view.

We had to carry Cherokee she is starting to get very heavy.
Five of us took turns.

Looking straight down from the center of the arch.

Stormie looking out the window. You can see the Mississippi river.
(This photo is turned the wrong direction.)

Someone taking a picture from below.

A fun view of the base.

Another fun view from the ground.

Back in the van.