Excerpt from The Secret in the Steeple

It’s not every day that your dad gets accused of trying to burn a church down. Especially when he’s the pastor.

The church fire was no accident. Titus knew it. He also knew that his dad was innocent. No matter what he was hiding. When Pastor Rich is the only suspect the police have, the PK Detectives set out to clear their dad’s name. But what if he really is hiding something from the police? And do the strangers in town have anything to do with it

Is it possible to rejoice in the Lord even in the midst of total chaos and danger? Join Titus Rich as he and the rest of the PK Detectives as they try to save their Dad from jail, and the church from ruin before it’s too late.

Coming Soon!

 The 3rd PK Detective book, The Secret in the Steeple, will be released on November 25th! 

Winter Happenings. . .

 End of January and February were crazy busy, but I did manage to snap a few pictures of my doings…

We did a lot of babysitting, and with all the nieces and nephews, we ended up with kids sleeping at our house at least 7 nights.

So, Dad bought this adorable hockey set for the grand kids! 

A lot of evenings, I’ve been working on paperwork and planning for our students A.C.E. Convention, and the students ganged up on me with gifts as a thank you for helping out.

This 308-piece train model was one of those gifts, and while I’m not a professional, I think it went pretty well! I only had a handful of leftover parts, but what mechanic doesn’t end up with a few extra pieces? 

I enjoy attending the ND Homeschool Convention! It’s always fun getting to meet the speakers, and when my nieces and nephews found out I was going to see Ranger Mike, they were super excited! His videos are a huge hit when babysitting. 

It was probably my favorite convention yet! It helped that the weather was SO gorgeous.

And on the road, I had to get my yearly Shamrock Shake.

A friend gave me an early birthday present, and I’m LOVING it! It’s amazing how much cleaning I can get done when I need to listen to a new record! 

And of course, you have to get some selfies snuck in with the kids!

I’ve maybe had a little too much fun coming up with props for the students One-Act-Play. 

And what’s babysitting without a little dress-up?

Somehow, when I’m running around with my infamous paperwork, I lose track of my phone… and don’t notice, until someone comes up to snap a selfie with me, and then I realize it’s in MY phone! 

Playing Masterpiece, was a real throw back! My brother and I, and then my friends and I would play this for hours! 

And of course, we had skating in there. . . 

I didn’t get out as much as I would have liked, but it was fun when I did make it out! 

In other events… I’ve also been:

1. Writing weekly for the newspaper.

2. Attending election judge training refresher courses, for the election on Tuesday.

3. Planning last minute details for my Ireland trip in just 9 days! 

4. Putting together logistics for the First Aid/CPR class I’ll be doing end of March. (I do still have a few open slots in the group if anyone local wants to contact me) 

5. Taxes…

6. Had my hair dyed. 

7. Working days at the coffee shop! 

So that’s my winter happenings in a nutshell! 

Skiing!

It was negative digits, but we’d already made plans, so we decided to go anyway. 

It ended up being beautiful!!! The wind wasn’t too bad so we didn’t freeze. 

I had never been to Giant’s Ridge, but I’m so glad I went! It was pretty amazing. 

 

 

Christmas Pictures!

Christmas program night with the nieces. 

Christmas Eve with the family.

Christmas Day, we went to Grandma Ortmann’s. Even with a new place, her Christmas decorations still made it feel like home. 

I miss Grandpa, especially at Christmas, but it was special to see his wooden Christmas army with his flag. 

Her piano and churches look as great as ever! 

We played an awesome escape room/clue game. 

And apparently, I leave my phone around too much, because after Christmas, I found dozens of selfies of the nieces and nephews. 😂

They even snapped a pic of me! 

I hope you all had a great Christmas! 

 

My old car…

When we were cleaning up Grandma’s basement for the auction, the box of cassettes was voted into the dumpster because apparently, cassettes are archaic or something.

Well, I bought my grandma’s car last year, and it has a cassette player! So I maybe, sorta, kinda snuck the cassettes out of the dumpster…🫣

On the way to and from work, I’ve been listening to these cassettes, and while a lot of them are just grandpa’s old favorites, like Johnny Horton, or Johnny Cash, there have been a few super special ones. Like this one. 

It’s a recording of my great-grandmother Ortmann’s memorial service. 

I never met her, but it was incredible hearing about her godly legacy, and how much she prayed for her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and me. Even though she died a few months before I was born, her greatest prayer was that I would know God. 

Then, I cried a little when I heard my grandpa’s voice reading a poem. 

I miss Grandpa a lot, especially at Christmas time, but I know he’s in heaven now, telling his mom all about the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren who know God.

I’m so thankful for the godly legacy I was given from Grandma Tina, and I hope someday, future generations will know God because of my faithfulness.

So, if you see me driving and think my car is old and ugly, I wouldn’t trade it for any of your Bluetooth vehicles for anything.

ZANDRA’S Christmas Morning Scones!

 

I know it’s not Christmas morning yet, but these scones freeze well!!! 

And with a cup of coffee, what could be better? 

The problem with getting a recipe from a fiction book, is that it’s easy to read while waiting for the oven… and sometimes you forget the things in the oven!