Home Life and Poll Results for How Many Siblings You Have

Hey all,

Been really busy the last while. Especially with Joel's film project Little Jake and Hairy. It is a comedy based on the story of Jacob and Esau set in the wild west. Joel's hoping to have it finished in time to submit it to the San Antonio Independant Christian Film Festival.

Here are some pics:

Emily with the writer of the script (Jesse):





I've also been really busy with my graphic and web design business. Recently relaunched my website: www.siahdesign.com

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Poll Results for How Many Siblings You Have

OK, so for the last several months I've been conducting a poll regarding the size of your family.

Here are the final results:

How many siblings do you have?

0-3	26 (24%)
4-7	39 (36%)
8-10	26 (24%)
11+	15 (14%

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Total votes: 106

It appears that the minority of readers to my blog have between 4-7 siblings. 0-3 and 8-10 came in tied at 26. And there were 15 votes for 11+ siblings. I was really surprised to see that large of a number for that column. It's encouraging to see a lot of other large families are out there. :)

The next poll I'm conducting is:

"If you could meet one of these Bible characters for one hour today, which one would you choose?"

David, Paul, Esther, Noah, Adam, Jonah, Ruth, Daniel

Please put in your vote!

God bless!

Safely home again - Baling - Friends visit

We arrived safely home from our tour on July, 7th. We had another amazing trip!

On Thursday, (July 3rd) we drove by Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse sculptures. We weren't able to come in close to Mt. Rushmore though as it was totally packed with people. There were cars parked over 2-3 miles back in both directions. Pretty popular place these days!

Friday, (July 4th) we arrived at the Jeff and Laura King family home. We had such a blessed time with their family. They have 7 kids aged 3-19 and live near Billings, MT. Mr. King played Major League Baseball for 12 years with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals. It was neat to talk to him about that. We played a lotof whiffle ball and Speed Stacking with them. It was such a blast!

Speed Stacking with the Kings:



Sunday (July 6th) we had a good time of fellowship with the King family in the morning. In the afternoon we did a concert in Billings at the Yellowstone Baptist College. We always enjoy meeting new people and sharing with them afterwards.

Early Monday morning we left the King family and headed home. We stopped in Great Falls, MT to do a load of grocery shopping and then we came home. We also had the axle replaced on our trailer.

After getting home, we had a TON of weeding and yardwork to catch up on as well as 2,000-2,500 bales to pick up.

We were very blessed to have three of the Hounsome kids (Zack, Gabriel and Zoe) visiting from Ontario for 10 days (from July 10th to 21st) and they were a huge help picking up all the bales and are all really hard workers! We also had help from two of Sharla's friends visiting from Washington (Lucy Endicott and Anja Martenson). It made the job way more enjoyable doing it with friends! One morning, we picked up 500 bales before breakfast! Mom always had a great breakfast waiting. :)

The bale picking crew:


We had a boat load of fun with the Hounsome kids during their visit which included hiking West Butte (Sweet Grass Hills), tubing down the river, music, baseball, eating ;), talking, etc. It was hard to say goodbye to them yesterday!

Gabriel, Joel, Myself and Zack posing as water fountains at Writing On Stone park. (A little photoshop help) :)



It is Mom and Dad's 27th wedding anniversary on the 25th of July! They will be going down to Whitefish, MT for about 10 days for a little vacation together. Mom's parents own a home there and it is a super cool place to relax and have fun. Mom and Dad are such awesome parents and are a great example of a loving couple. :) Hope they have a great time together in Whitefish! Pray that they have a super and edifying time and that all the kids here at home behave. ;)

Have a super day in the Lord!

Time in Colorado!

Ahh... we had such a super time at the GospelGrass Festival in Calhan, CO! Met so many great people and heard tons of great music.

We arrived in Calhan on Thursday afternoon where Mom and Dad checked into a hotel for the weekend (room courtesy of the event organizer). Joel, Jeremiah, Joseph, Joshua and I were able to set up a couple of tents and spend the weekend right at the same location as the festival. Thursday night, we did some music along with High Prairie (the Gregg family) and Grandpa's Neighbors (the Neal family). It was a really neat night. There was a great turnout for the evening.

The festival was such a blast. Here are some of the highlights:

- There were about 20-30 bands there. Almost all the family bands were homeschooled. There were bands from North Carolina, Oklahoma, New Mexico, etc., as well as quite a few from Colorado.
- There was a band scramble Saturday night. (Emily helped judge.) Everyone did really well. The band I participated in came in 2nd. :)
- We used our sound system for the indoor concerts and Joel did approximately 18 hours for the festival and everyone really appreciated it.
- Lot's of really good workshops were going on....like dobro, mandolin, guitar, etc.. Mom helped lead a couple of song-writing workshops.
- We played 5-10 hrs. of Ultimate Frisbee in Whittemore hall. It was awesome! Played 'till 1:00 AM some nights. :)

Overall, the festival was really edifying and had a really sweet spirit. Would love to go back again next year! I'd say that meeting new people is one of the best parts about traveling to these events and being able to sing and play together for the Lord.

Unfortunately I've misplaced my Canon camera so I don't have most of the pics from the weekend. But, hear are a few pics from my smaller camera:

The Hartman family band:
Desert Skies:
The Foley band:

Sunday morning we said goodbye to all our new friends and left for the Ernie and Julie Gilbert home. We did an outdoor concert in their yard that night. There was a really great group there, in an incredible setting. Beautiful country! Sunday night we stayed with Ernie Gilbert's parents home, Dick and Sharon. They were very hospitable and loving people. Very interesting and talented, too!

Monday morning, we were able to have a really good visit with Ernie and Julie Gilbert's family. They have 5 kids and are such a God honoring young family that I know God has great plans for. Monday evening we left their home and stayed with the Langemann family in their beautiful home in Lakewood, CO. We've known them for years, but it was really good to visit them and get to know them on a deeper level.

The Ernie and Julie Gilbert family:


Tuesday (July 1st - CANADA DAY!) morning, the Langemanns served us a delicious special waffle breakfast with whipped cream, strawberries and raspberries. We left their home around noon and went to the Red Rock Amphitheatre. Wow, that place is huge. Really cool to see it.It is the top spot for outdoor concerts in the U.S., and almost every famous group has performed there at some time or other. Tuesday evening we traveled to Erie, CO to do a concert at the Life Song Church where the Boardwell family was hosting us. They have 7 children. It was a really encouraging evening with some unique opportunities to minister afterwards.

Wednesday morning we left the Boardwell home and traveled to New Castle, Wyoming. We plan on going to Mt. Rushmore tomorrow as we make our way to Billings, MT.

Until later! In Christ,

Josiah

On The Road Again (And grateful for God's Protection!)

Last Thursday we left on the road again. We traveled to Regina the first day and stayed with some good friends, the Durstons, for Thursday night. We always have an awesome time with them! Friday we left for the Thousand Oaks Gospel Camp jamboree. It was a really awesome weekend with really nice weather. There was a really good turnout as well. There were over 1500 people in attendance for most of the weekend. We had a lot of fun hanging out with one of the other family music groups - the Waddington family - from North Dakota. We also got to spend a few hours with our friend, Judy Ford, who came out to spend Saturday at the Jamboree.

We left for Mandan, North Dakota Monday morning. We got held up at the border for almost two hours, which was totally unexpected. The complication was with getting our CD's into the States. But they eventually let us through, thanks to the fact mom is American. :) One of the border inspectors that inspected our van was a Christian and he said he had been praying that we would be able to get through the whole time. That was really encouraging, and it was soo relieving to FINALLY get through. We raced to Mandan for our 7:00 PM concert. We got there at about 6:45. We totally RACED the set-up and were able to do set-up in about 20 minutes.

After the concert (the smallest audience I think we've ever had...only 35 people!), we stayed in the church that night. Oh yeah, we also started having problems with the charging system on our van, but made it to Mandan. After the service, Dad found a GM dealership open until Midnight, and they agreed to look at our van that night. They had to replace our alternator, and were able to get it done by Tuesday morning. When it was ready, we left for Springview, Nebraska to do a concert at the New Hope Community church. The concert that night went really well as the people really seemed to connect with the music. A really neat group of people there. We also had to set up in record time that night, too! The group of believers there really refreshed us in many ways.

After the concert, Dad went out to our van and noticed that one of the hub covers on one of the trailer wheels had been worn off. A closer look showed that the entire bolt and wheel bearing had been totally worn off! Some men from the church helped jack up that side of the trailer. And lo and behold, when they lifted it up, the wheel fell off! Nothing had been holding it on! We were all a bit dumbfounded to say the least. We were SOOO grateful that God had kept the wheel on. There is no explanation for why it stayed on. If the wheel had fallen off while we were on the freeway, the results could have been devastating. It was such a reminder of God's protection and care for us. It can only be explained as a miracle. Praise the Lord!

Another huge blessing is that one of the men from the church was very experienced with fixing that type of thing (he actually builds trailers) and he was able to fix the axle and rebolt the tire on by 10:00 AM the next morning and he didn't charge anything. Such giving people there!

Today (Wednesday, June. 25th) we left Springview, NE and traveled to Ogallala, NE. Tomorrow we will go to Calhan, CO for the GospelGrass festivel for the weekend, and our concert tomorrow night.

I may not be able to do another update for a while. Thanks AGAIN to all of those who are praying! It means so much!

Back Home, Wedding, Birthday, etc. :)

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! Once we got home I got totally wrapped up in everyday life again.

We safely made it home on May. 16th. On the last two days of our trip our van started having issues though. But thankfully we made it home without breaking down. God showed Himself so strong through the whole trip answering all our prayers. The motor has been fixed since then. We had to replace both heads.

Once home we had a lot of yard work to do. :) We prepared and put in the garden and did lots of mowing and such. The younger kids all getting back to their school, etc. I've also had a fair bit of graphic design to catch up on for clients and such.

On June. 6th it was Judah's birthday. He turned 5 yrs. old. He is my little roommate and I love him to pieces. He has one of the sweetest personalities I know of. He has such a sensitive spirit.

Judah with his birthday cake:


This last Saturday (June. 7th) we had the privilege of witnessing my cousin Elizabeth Fehr marry James Heikoop. It was such a blessed wedding with lots of beautiful music. The whole day definitely brought glory to God. There were so many great friends there to catch up with as well. They will be living near Mt. Pleasant, Ont. It will be strange to have cousin Lizzy living on the other side of Canada now. We'll miss her a lot.

The signing of the registry:

Lizzy and James singing at the reception:


Later on this month we will be heading out for a mini to Manitoba for a jamboree and then down to Colorado. We'll be leaving around June. 17th and most likely getting back early July.

Until later!

Josiah

On The Way Home!

I'm long overdue for an update! A ton has happened since my last post.

Thank you all soooo much for your prayers! We need them so much. God has been really working. Monday morning (April. 28th) After the concerts in Fenelon Falls and Lindsey, we headed back to Hounsomes for the day. We had some really good prayer times with them that evening. Tuesday (April. 29th) we left the Hounsome home and traveled to near King City to the same group of people (Forget Me Nots band) that gave me the stand-up bass last year. They have done music together for years. They treated us like kings and fed us fantastic food. Wednesday, we set-up and did a concert in the evening at a small hall nearby. Apparently there were a lot of non-Christians at that concert. We pray that the seeds planted will be fruitful.

With a few of our friends from the "Forget Me Not" group in front of their home:


Thursday morning we left our dear "Forget Me Not" friends and headed to Aylmer, Ont. It was a very full day as we had to travel 8 hours and set-up and do a concert in the East Elgin Community Complex. But God gave us enough energy to do it all. We were able to talk with James Heikoop a bit (my cousin's fiance) after the concert. We stayed at the Peters family's home that night. They have 9 kids and are homeschooled as well. They were a very hospitable family and even did research on our websites to find out what food we liked. :) They served us some delicious whole wheat tortillas that they made for supper. They even had some dark chocolate out for us. :)

Friday morning, we had another fairly long driving day as we traveled to Cobden, Ont. do to a concert at the Whitewater Wesleyan Community Church. They had an incredible supper ready for us at the church. The church was quite new. We did the concert at 7:00 PM. After the concert, me, Joel, Emily, Jeremiah and Jesse and Heidi stayed at the Garfat home. We had a really good stay with them.

Saturday we traveled to Ottawa. We stayed at my dad's cousin's home, Randy and Evelyn Jost. We had such a refreshing time there. Sunday morning, we did a concert at the Community Bible Church on the other side of Ottawa (Stittsville). It was probably one of the hardest concerts for me to do as we were really tired and felt rather empty. But, there were several comments from people stating how there were very ministered to and encouraged. Which proves that God can work no matter how you are feeling. :) Saturday evening, we did a concert at The MET. It went really well and the people reallly seemed to be receptive. Afterwards, for the first time, we met another Jost boy. Randy's son Nathan Jost. :) That was a treat. Really nice guy.

Monday morning, we left Ottawa and traveled all the way back to the Hounsomes home. They had one of the most amazing Turkey dinners ready for supper! So delicious! With strawberry rhubarb pies with ice cream for dessert :)

Tuesday, the Hounsomes and us all headed to Toronto for a Blue Jays game on 'Toonie Tuesday' again. It was so fun to take two huge families to the game again. :) We were able to walk around Blue Jays way for a while before the game. It was a great game even though they lost 5-4, but it was so much fun to hang out there. We all wore orange and the Hounsomes and us made in onto the Jumbotron screen twice. :)

If you look close, you can see us on the big screen:


Wednesday and Thursday, we stayed at the Hounsomes and recharged. We spent quite a while in devotions and prayer with the Hounsomes. It is so refreshing to get together with young people and be able have no wall between regular talk and spiritual conversations. Derek, Jim and Marilyn McDonald came by for a visit, too. It was so great to be with them, and share memories of Mark. On Thursday, Zack drove me, Gabe and Joel into Orillia to donate blood. It was my first time donating. An interesting experience. :)

Friday, Hounsomes and us headed to Huntsville and had supper with the Strongman family and they served us a BBQ and had a great time with them, playing volleyball after we set up. Afterwards, we did a concert in the Fairview Baptist Church which was right next to the Strongman home.

Saturday morning, after an awesome and spiritually refreshing time with the Hounsomes, we had to say goodbye. The Hounsomes have been such a blessing to us this tour with all their prayers and support. We appreciate their friendship so much and it was very hard to say goodbye.

The Hounsomes and Josts:



Saturday evening we stayed in the Galilean Bible Camp which is near Blind River, Ont. It was so nice to just have the place to ourselves.

Sunday morning, May 11th, was Mother's day. Dad served mom some yogurt in bed. :) I am so grateful for my mom. She has been such an awesome example to all us kids of being spiritually aware and being sensitive to others needs. I love her so much! Afterwards, we did a concert in the Gospel Fellowship Church in Iron Bridge for the morning service. And in the evening we headed over to Echo Bay and did a concert. We had a concert there last year as well. There is a really nice group of people there that are very receptive. Following the concert, me, Joel and Jeremiah were billeted out to the pastor Bill McLeans home.

Monday morning, we left Sault Ste. Marie and crossed the border into Michigan. Monday evening, we did a concert in the Mikado Baptist Church. God's presence really seemed to be there. Afterwards, the Jamieson family had us over and served us some delicious food and had us overnight. Tuesday morning they served us a huge breakfast. We then hit the road and made it to Ironwood, MI. Tomorrow we continue to speed home. We have to get home for our friends wedding that is happening on Sunday.

This tour has been a fair bit more hectic. Did a lot of concerts in a short amount of time. But, God has given us the energy and strength to do them all. We really feel that God is calling us to be doing this, so even when we don't feel like setting up and tearing down before and after concerts, we know this is what God wants, and so that is what we need to do. It really is worth it when people share with us after concerts how they have been affected by the messages in our songs and testimonies. We have so much to pray for.

We can't thank everyone enough for all their prayers. Without God's working hand, our music is just a skeleton.

In Lindsay, Ontario

Wow, been having an awesome tour thus far!!

Sunday (April. 20th)
We left the Minnett home Sunday morning after a very blessed time with their family in Charlton. We traveled from their home to near Orilia, Ont. to the Hounsome family. We were all so excited to get there and reunite with them! They have 14 kids (12 still at home) and we always have a blast with them! Once we unpacked we met with some of their church at a near by hall and fellowshipped together.

Monday (April. 21st) We chilled out with the Hounsomes which included a lot of jamming together in music and Ultimate Frisbee. In the evening, the Hounsomes sang several songs for us which was a real treat. I love to hear other families do music together.

The Hounsome family singing:



Tuesday (April. 22nd) Zack, Shayne and Gabriel Hounsome took Joel and I out to Orillia to play some squash. That was a blast! A new favorite sport for me. :) Afterwards, they took us out to a really nice restaurant for lunch. Later we met up with our family and set up for that night's concert at 'The Church On The Hill' in Orillia. It went really well. We got to spend time with Jim and Marilyn McDonald. We haven't seen them since their son, Mark, had died. They are sure dear people.

Eating out with Zack, Shayne and Gabriel Hounsome:



Wednesday (April. 23rd) We had a bunch fun more with the Hounsomes. :) Zack (who is about my age) and I, love to eat ice cream together. He bought a bunch of ice cream prior to our arrival. Our special 'emoticon' for wanting ice cream is: :)__ It's a guy smiling and drooling for ice cream. :)__ lol. In the evening, Joe Jesseau came over and jammed for a couple hours and had a really good talk.

Thursday (April. 24th) Thursday evening we did a concert at the Tollendale Village in Barrie.Great turnout, and we really appreciate the work that the Kiezebrinks went to for the concert. Afterwards, we had pizza at the Hounsome home. :)

Friday (April. 25th) We left the Hounsomes in the morning and headed to Hamilton to sing at the OCHEC convention. We arrived there around 2:00 PM. At 5:15 there was a break for supper. We set up for the concert then. Shortly after 7:00 we sang our package of music. We very blessed by their response. It was so cool to be there! There was another speaker after us and once she was done we took our part of the equipment and packed up. We then went to a really cool pita place with the Wulff family. Following the pitas, we went to the Wulff family who had us overnight. We arrived at there home at about 12:30 AM and hit the hay. :)

Singing at OCHEC:

Finding something to eat afterwards in Hamilton, Ont.



Saturday (April. 26th) We had a really nice time with the Wulffs. They took us canoing and showed us their property. They have a beautiful place! They served us some delicious tacos for lunch. We then left for Fenelon Falls and set up for the Sunday morning concert.

Sunday (April. 27th) We did a concert at the Fenelon Falls Fellowship Baptist church. They have a really neat church there. After singing, they served us dinner at the church. Afterwards, we took down our equipment and headed to Lindsay, Ont to set up at the Fairview Baptist church. After setting up, we were able to head over to our great aunt and uncle Don and Esther Jost and spend some time with them. They are such a sweet couple. We did the concert at 6:30. Right now, Emily, Joel and I have been billeted out to a couple here in Lindsay. They just ordered us pizza and they have wireless internet. :) I better get off my laptop now.

Thanks again to all those who have been praying for us! God has been so good!