We had a wonderful visit by Nikolai this past summer.   We bonded with him and it was very hard to send him back on the plane to Ukraine.   We hope to host him again this Winter for three weeks.  We found out that he has a younger brother that we now hope to adopt with him!   The target is Spring 2011!   We are planning an Adoption Fundraiser Concert for November 19 in Hudson, WI.  Please watch our schedule for more details.   Please also visit our adoption blog  www.alzenadoption.blogspot.com

 

 

The Alzen Family is following the Lord's leading to pursue the adoption of a six- year old orphan boy named Nikolai from Ukraine!    We are so excited about bringing this little boy into our family and provide him a family.   We hope to bring him home sometime this summer or fall, and it will require Brad & Denise to travel to Ukraine, possibly twice.    We will be holding fundraiser concert events in both Wisconsin and Minnesota to help raise funds for our adoption.   Please watch our schedule for these events.   You can also follow our Blog (see link above) where we plan to provide updates about our adoption journey.   Please pray for little Nikolai as he waits for someone to call him their son.   "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being poluted by the world."  James 1:27

 

 

Our new CD is finished!    It is called "On the Sea of Life",  and we are excited to have it in our hands after a lot of hard work (and fun) making it.   Come visit us at a concert and check it out.   You can purchase the CD on this website now.   Isaac's graduation open house in June went very well.   We had beautiful weather and well over 300 people visited us that day.   There was lots of volleyball, football & ultimate frisbee played, water balloons tossed, and the sound of bagpipes, banjos, etc., ringing throughout the neighborhood.   Thanks to all of you who made it a special day for us.  We wish we had been able to visit more with all of you.   We are preparing for a busy summer, including our first festival in Canada.  We hope we see you at one of our concerts soon!

 

 

Spring is finally here, and we are enjoying the warmer weather.   Life is really busy for us right now.   We are beginning to prepare for Isaac's graduation open house in June.    There are lots of things to do around the house to finish some of the work we started on a house addition a few years ago that are still not complete.   We can hardly believe he is graduating!    The good news for our band is that Isaac will be living at home and attending the University of Wisconsin - River Falls, which is only 20 minutes from our home.   He'll do that for at least the first two years of school.    We're also working on our third CD!   It will be called "On the Sea of Life".   We are excited about that, and hope to have it finished and in our hands sometime in June.    Brad is also hoping to get in some fishing this Spring.

  

 

Winter has been with us here in Wisconsin for several months and we have had our share of snow.   We love the change of seasons and are probably among the few that enjoy cold weather.   We are burning wood in our home to keep the heating bills down, and we like the scent and sound of a crackling fire.   Brad and his father hunted deer in our woods behind the house, but had no success this year.   December brought us a group of Christmas concerts in northern Minnesota.    This was our first attempt at bringing traditional Christmas songs and bluegrass music together.   We also played a set of musical cowbells for the first time.   It was a lot of fun!    Brad and the kids have been playing a lot of street hockey in the neighbor's driveway.   It is great exercise and furious competition.  Even AnaLise and Tessa bang around against the bigger boys.   Denise has been out in our back woods cross-country skiing a few times this winter, as we have had pretty good snow cover.    Her skiing excursions were cut short, however, as she had to have major surgery, and is still recovering from that.   We thank the Lord that no cancer was found!

 

February 1st brought us sorrow in the death of Denise's dad at his home.   He died peacefully in his sleep.   We will all miss grandpa Jim dearly.   He was a jolly Irishman who had his wit right up until the end of his life.   He was also a wonderful daddy to Denise, even though he lost his own papa at the age of seven.  

 

 

What a lovely autumn we are having here with the mild weather and brilliant colors.   Our garden flowers rarely make it into October without a frost, but this year they are still in full bloom, especially the zinneas and hydrangas.

 

One of the highlights of our family band is discovering new locations.  Lucas has a map of each state we have played at and he places a pin in the name of every new town/city of which we are invited to perform.   The chldren are noting the geographical differences within a state.  For instance, when we played at the SEMBA festival in Houston, MN, one of the children marveled, "Is this still Minnesota?" because of the glorious the river bluffs.  Our exchange student said it reminded him of the countryside in Spain.  We went biking along the Root River in Lanesboro, MN.  We hiked up a waterfall in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we hiked along Lake Superior... what a glorious Creator we serve.

 

Our exchange student also had the chance to observe some inspiring weddings.   The girls were asked to sing a song in Gaelic for the groom's family from Ireland for the Berge's wedding reception.  It makes such a difference when a wedding has Christ as the Guest of Honor.  "A cord of three strands is not easily broken."  Ecclesiastes

 

Perhaps one of the most wonderful benefits of this family band is meeting such sweet, encouraging, down-to-earth people.  Music crosses a bridge into the hearts of many.  We feel so blessed by the warmth and hospitality of those that have gone out of their way to welcome us.  It is a refreshing glimpse of America.

Thank you!     

    

 

 It is Summer 2008, and we are enjoying the travels we've had thus far.  Life has been a bit of a whirlwind, but we absolutely love playing as a family band and God has blessed us with several  experiences recently including horseback riding, fishing and water sports. 

 

We had an exciting time on our trip down south.   The Bontragger Family hosted us in Kalona, IA which is a beautiful Amish area.  What a delightful time!  We met many interesting family bands at the "KSMU Youth in Bluegrass" contest at Silver Dollar City in Branson. .  Another highlight of our trip was being a part of Brad's nephew's wedding in Georgia.  He married a lovely, young lady who loves the Lord.  Brad also has relatives in Greenville, SC, so we enjoyed spending time  with more of our kin. 

 

We also enjoyed some southern hospitality from the Smiths in SC, the Yoders in GA and the Weinzapfels in IN.  Our American History studies came alive as we listened to  locals about their family's history. We drove through parts of the Ozarks and the Smokies.  What a glorious Creator we serve!

 

"The Lord will save me, and we will sing with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the temple of the Lord."  Isaiah 38:20

 

"His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth."  Hab 3:3