Beulah means "married" and that is exactally what Kirk David Hartstrom and Sarah Fayrene Dickey will become September 23rd. On June 17th 2006, I asked Sarah if she would become my wife, and she joyfully consented. We are both looking forward to establishing a new home in Bridgeport, and a family dedicated to serving the Lord.

Kirk, probably the most flamboyant member of our household, can often be found whistling, but now there seems something more to it. He goes to work promptly at 8 and leaves right at 5 rather than going in early and leaving late. What is going on?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so the picture to the right should explain things pretty well. Her name is Sarah, and she is a very nice young lady. (I don’t know why people keep asking me if she is a nice girl, I guess they just want to hear my very biased answer that, yes she is.) She lives in a little town called Browns Valley, about 40 minutes from Grass Valley. She and I met in 2001 while doing a Christian children’s program. About 4.5 years later in December 2005 I asked her father for permission to court his daughter, and in March he granted his permission and we began the courtship process.

Courtship, what’s that?
Well it depends who you ask, it’s basically a term that we have adopted to mean that we are going to try and follow principles from God’s word the Bible in romantic relationships. For us it translates into two major principles: parents authority, and preparedness for marriage. We are committed to looking to our parents for guidance, counsel, and instruction in the process. Scripture clearly teaches that we are to honor and obey our parents, and I know that mine certainly have more experience and expertise about relationships of this type than I do. The second thing that courtship means to us, is that we began this relationship with the idea of a possible marriage at the end. We both chose not to seek pleasure in temporary dating relationships during our youth; rather we chose to save romantic relationships until we were ready for marriage.

How it happened
Well because of our previous commitment to courtship even though I first became interested in Sarah in 2001 (and just recently found out that she became interested in me at the same time), nothing happened until very late in 2005. I wasn’t ready for marriage four and a half years ago, and I knew it. Because I waited, I now have my parents’ wholehearted approval, her parents’ wholehearted approval, and even my grandparents blessing in this relationship (well, blessing might be putting it mildly, lets just say that Grandma would probably shoot me herself if I backed out of this thing). The Lord used those years to teach me some maturity and responsibility, and draw me closer to himself. In fact, it’s been neat to see all the lessons the Lord taught both Sarah and I through during that time of waiting. I was also able to do some practical stuff like get a good job, save some money, and make progress on a college degree. The Lord brought us to the point where this is no longer just my idea, or Sarah’s idea, but God seems to be blessing it and confirming that it is His idea. I started out by asking her father for permission to court his daughter. He had some questions for me, and we ended up corresponding for about three months. Then the day arrived; he gave me his permission and blessing to court Sarah. So I asked her if she would allow me to court her, and she graciously replied that she would.

The Juicy details
OK, admit it, you skipped all the other stuff and went for this section first. It’s actually kind of boring to tell, thought I’m enjoying the process. She thinks I’m great, and I think she is great. We are talking about topics like our relationship with the Lord, family harmony, finances, having, raising, and educating children, roles of husbands and wives, and other important, but not real juicy topics. We are mostly communicating by e-mail, but we call and visit each other too. (Ok, by my best count we sent close to 93 e-mails to each other in the last 45 days, plus 14 chat sessions, and I’m not sure how many phone calls). We are saving our first kiss for marriage. Neither of us has courted anyone else before, and if I get my way never will, so it’s full of the excitement of something new, and the hard work of digging ditches to lay a firm foundation for our future together. Our families have decided that we are both twitterpated (it’s a term from the movie Bambi – don’t worry about it, I didn’t know what it meant until I looked it up either.) I think it means we are starting to daydream and spend more time thinking about each other than the tasks at hand.

So, What Happens Next?
I really don’t know the answer to that question. In general the process goes something like, courtship to engagement to marriage. Basically our goal in this courtship is to determine beyond a shadow of a doubt if this is the Lords will for us. What the timeframe is for the whole process, I don’t know, but based on the typical efficiency with which I try to get things done, I’m not imagining the process taking too long.

I don't know about Jack, but I get to be a dull boy with all work and no play. I recently decided that I needed to complete a degree program for a BA in Christian Communications that I enrolled in over two years ago. My goal is to finish by April 14th, and to meet that goal I've spent just about all my spare time studying hard. I've completed a course on the four gospels, a course on scientific creationism, and a basic English test so far, and I have about 8 more courses and four more tests to go.

However, a fellow has to take a break sometime. So pictured is me, sledding on a warm sunny day in shorts and short sleeves. I don't normally wear my hat backwards, but it added to the effect of the picture. I admit that snow boots look dorky with shorts, but have you ever tried to wear flip flops in the snow?

Despite the passage of time, some of the more adventuresome activities of the youthful members of our household, and the increasing age of the rest (They don’t know that I’m writing this, please don’t tell them ;-) ) the end of this year finds all the Hartstrom family alive and well.

The patriarchs of our household continue to do well. Dad, (Keith) is thinking of retiring here sometime in the near future. I guess I would too after working for the county for more than thirty-one years. He continues to enjoy woodworking projects, and is also having fun with a new black powder rifle he just bought. Mom (Beth) is still mother to our little (but quickly growing) Nathan and that is a full time job in itself. Both Mom and Dad continue to be involved in selling health supplements, and promoting wellness stuff.

Erik (27) continues to live in Sacramento with Beth’s parents Rod & Eleanor and practice family law. As a rabbit trail, both Rod and Eleanor are grateful for Erik’s presence as their age is increasingly telling their bodies to slow down. Erik is starting to get into estate planning, and is enjoying that part of his profession very much. He also continues in his efforts to bring the firm where he works into the current century with computer technology.

Kirk (24) happens to be the know-it-all who is writing this letter. He is close to finishing his first year working for Mono County in their Information Technology Department. He has also found time to climb to the top of the 12,264 foot local Matterhorn Peak, and hike to the top of Half Dome with Carissa. It’s been a bit of an adjustment for him living at home with his family again, but he’s managed to do his share of dishes, vacuuming, and firewood cutting.

Melissa (22) spent her summer working at Bodie State Historic Park this year. It was lot of fun for her talking with the people who came through and learning about the history of Bodie. She also announced one day that she had discovered that work was “work”! No one has talked her into marrying them yet, so she continues to live at home and be involved in our community. She also traveled this spring to Michigan with her sister to learn chalk art and to spend some time with some of her friends who are back in the states that she met in Taiwan.

Carissa (19) did a lot of stuff this year. She traveled around and did Vacation Bible Schools, worked a few months with her sister at Bodie, and traveled to Michigan with her sister to learn chalk art. She also traveled to Texas for a six week class called STEP on outdoor skills and emergency preparedness.

Nathan (8) keeps growing, and some people think he is an angel. Some of us who spend more time with him know better. He is talking a lot, and loves to go on hikes. He will get a road map, study it intently, and then point to some out of the way place and say, “Go hike!” He enjoyed getting to play T-ball this spring, and still loves his therapy riding. Mom is looking for a dog with herding instincts to help keep him out of trouble.

Our whole family (minus Melissa, she had to work) had the grand opportunity of spending several weeks on the road as we traveled back to North Dakota to visit Dad’s relatives there. It was fun to see how the old people didn’t change much, and all the young people grew up since last time we were there some eleven years ago.

In closing, we are doing great, and we hope you are too. No, none of us kids are married yet, and if you have any big ideas, please save them, we have enough trouble sorting out the ideas of our own. :-) God is still the faithful Lord who mercifully looks down on our little family. We pray that you would learn to love Him as much as He loves us.

The Hartstrom Family

Carissa, Kirk, & Peter Bangen hiked to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park last Monday.

It was a 17 mi round trip journey, and about 4,800' of altitude gain. Melissa and her friend Jessica spent the day in a less strenuous examination of the valley floor. It was very beautiful and October is a great time of year to visit Yosemite if you want to miss the crowds, as long as you didn't want to see huge waterfalls - they are pretty dry this time of year.