​Dear family and friends, 

Since our last newsletter in September, 2023, there has been both a flurry of activity and many peaceful times of rest. We have enjoyed a few visitors, worked on the finishing touches here in Ruby Cottage and Macs Music, and done a bit of landscaping! There are many more projects on our to-do lists, but we are trying to take them slow and easy. In this season of our lives that plan is both wise and necessary! 

Our first visitors were two of Jeanne Ann’s (as they knew her) girlhood friends from Topeka! Debbie Tucker Haukenberry and Gail Price Scott arrived a little over three weeks after we moved in. We still had the camper then, so we gave them the run of the house and we became campers again for a few days. Debbie and Gail cooked for us, drove us around to see the sights, and we enjoyed many hours around the campfire and “porching” with coffee and memory-filled conversation. They also came bearing the perfect housewarming gifts. Debbie created a beautiful Kansas sunflower picture and Gail created a gorgeous piano quilt to hang over Den’s piano!

We had a wonderful trip to KS in early spring visiting family and friends. The photo at the end of this newsletter was taken at Ward Meade Park in Topeka as the tulips were first blooming!

Dennis will be in his seventh year as a referee beginning with clinics and meetings in July. He still enjoys the activity and connection with kids. He’s glad for break in seasons this time of year as he needs to keep up with mowing our four acres! But he loves riding his tractor, too. God has given him several songs since he’s been in his studio, but inspiration often began on his tractor! He is ready and looking forward to doing small recording projects, so let him know if you want more info. Dennis is also writing instrumental music for JA’s Tresia series as background for the audio books that are in the works. We will keep you posted on that project! Here is a preview of the Tresia Theme. Dennis first wrote it for the book trailer video, but it has been updated in Macs Music Recording Studio! ​

Jeannie keeps busy writing her own new book series, as well as mentoring her online writers group, Warriors Writing. Two of her Warriors began blogs over the past year. Carol’s “Positioned for Purpose” and Krista’s “Consider the Wildflowers” are encouraging words for women from these amazing new writers. (Both can be subscribed to and delivered to your inbox.) Her third Warrior is Jeannie’s niece, Amy. Some of you may remember the three “Cousin’s Backyard Mystery Club” picture eBooks that Jeannie wrote a couple of years ago for her great-nieces and nephews and her writers email list. Amy wanted to add to the collection with another story about the now dozen cousins! The first draft is done and Aunt JA loves it! 

Please visit the website for updates to J.A.’s Reading Nook. This list contains books Jeannie is reading and if they made the list, they are recommended. She recently finished the Truth Series by F.D. Adkins. If you enjoy futuristic political thrillers, this is the series for you. It is especially timely in this election year to get a glimpse into what our country could look like around 2050. Here’s my review. ​

Speaking of an election year, for Believers we highly recommend following current events on “Victory News: Coverage in the Spirit of Faith” on the Victory Channel at noon and 5:00ET. We also enjoy “Flashpoint” which airs Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 8:00ET on the same channel. Victory Channel can be found online and on DISH, Direct TV, Roku, and Rumble.

Our latest great-niece, born in December to Adam and Kelsey Aadalen, is Jolie Jeanne, her Great-Aunt Jeanne Ann and cousin Stacie Jeanne’s namesake. This was such an honor. Aunt JA asked her friend Gail to make a special quilt for Jolie Jeanne so she will always know the connection. Jeanne Ann was named after her mom’s best friend Norma Jeanne, so Jolie Jeanne is the fourth Jeanne in the “family.” What about all that dark wavy hair! We are a proud Great-Aunt and Uncle! 

Dear family and friends,

The Spring/Summer Edition was postponed so many times due to still working on our house that we decided to skip it this year and go directly to Harvest and Holiday News! We’ve packed in double news and photos! Here in NC, autumn is in the air (in the cool mornings anyway) and a few trees and bushes are already beginning to display colorful traces of a change of season.

The news many have been waiting for is here! We moved in to the new house on August 30! It took a while longer to finish the construction and decorating than we had planned, (like a year…) but we are finally done. A few glitches are still being worked out, as always happens with new construction, but it’s good to be out of the camper! 

As you can see, Ruby Cottage is decorated with all of our daughter Stacie’s Coca-Cola collection. We saved everything. It has all been in storage for over eleven years since she moved to Heaven. Unpacking and putting things up again brought many memories filled with laughter and tears, but we are glad that we planned it this way. We love that Stacie inspired this house. 

​One of our favorite things is taking a cup of coffee outside and “porching” every morning while watching our hummingbirds and family of deer! We think they know they are protected by our angels! 

​On our trip west in April, we had wonderful visits with many of you. Good food, fellowship, and shopping! We found this adorable “phone booth” cabinet which was perfect for all the small Coke collectibles that Jeannie didn’t want to dust! Macs Music also has many bits of Stacie’s favorite musical mementos such as a signed copy of a Gene Kelly photograph and two Singin’ in the Rain posters! Our Macs tartan tablecloth (from our former tape and CD table) is the scarf for the new piano (a wonderful gift from our pastor and family.) Our first Macs photo is displayed on top. The sign above this inside door includes our Macs MountainView verse. We love the sign and that it was a gift from Jeannie’s dear friend, Cindy and family in Silver Lake, KS. 

Most of the rest of the decor in the studio is connected to family, friends, and even our Messengers Quartet days in KS. The framed poster is from one of the biggest concerts we ever performed with the Kingsmen and the McKameys. The piano on top of the wardrobe is one Dennis played and is signed by Florida Boys Darrell Stewart, old “Red Socks” himself! We had the privilege of singing onstage with many well-known groups in both the Messengers and the Macs. Side note: Let us know if you are interested in any Messengers albums, cassettes, or CDs. Our former manager, John Oathout has a closet full! Dennis even found a shelf to display his 1973 Shawnee Heights Regional Championship basketball team trophy that Jeannie saved when they cleaned out the old trophy closet at SH. (With permission.) 

​These gorgeous wood signs were made and given to us by John’s daughter and her husband. If you are in need of a custom-made wood sign, see info below.

With the new music studio in operation, Dennis has already written a new song and looks forward to many more to come! He is deep into volleyball season as a referee, which he truly enjoys. Basketball begins in November and Dennis still runs up and down the court - but now he has a whistle and can stop the game!
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​Jeannie’s new writing area is ready to go, although her old personal computer didn’t make it through five years of storage. She is switching to a Mac that Dennis is passing down to her. He is upgrading his computer in the studio, thanks to his life-long friend, Dave Barkes who keeps him supplied with all things Apple. Jeannie will have a new learning curve to navigate the new system, so pray for her! She is anxious to get back to writing her next project, an adult trilogy, working title is “Tales of Tresia Depot Bookshop.” She is also thrilled to have recently started a mentoring group for new writers. The Warriors Writing charter group is only four members including Jeannie, and they are all excited about what God is going to do through this group. If Warriors Writing sounds interesting to you, find out more about it on her website. 

There are many people who have helped us through our 49 years of walking out God’s Plan. You are all so loved and appreciated. God has given us amazing family and friends and we want you to know that your prayers for us have helped bring us to this brand new season. Divine connections are a huge part of who we are and what we do and we pray for you on a regular basis. Our Father is so GOOD! He gave us Jesus, Holy Spirit, and YOU! 
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We praise the Lord for the Vision of Macs MountainView. When we purchased our land in 2016, we started believing and planning to build a mortgage-free Ruby Cottage guest house and Macs Music recording studio. Drawings of the house have been on Jeannie’s Vision Board since then, but this past week she took those pictures down because the building of Phase II has come to pass! We believed God, spoke His promises, did the work, and now we see it! Praise the LORD! What remains in our Vision is 1) spending more time with God, 2) working on our assignments of writing new books and songs and helping other writers and musicians, 3) preparing for Phase III, watching someone else build Sapphire Lodge (our home,) 4) staying healthy, and 5) continuing to walk out the plan of God. For now, we will definitely enjoy living here in the “guest cottage” and music studio! We will share it as we are able, until it can become a full-time guest cottage. 
Three statements were added to the Vision Board this week as a testimony to what God has done and will do. We want to share them because they apply to everyone. 

Please let us know if you will be in our area. We’d love to see you and show you around the new place. Or at least reply to this email and give us an update on you and what God has been doing in your life! 
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Have a wonderful Harvest season enjoying God’s beautiful creation, as well as a BLESSED Holiday Season celebrating Christmas and 2024! Until we send out our MountainView Moments Spring/Summer Edition 2024, or we see you in Heaven, Be BLESSED! 

Love and prayers,
Dennis and Jeannie 

Dear family and friends,
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We are grateful that we could spend some time this summer and fall with family and friends. Unfortunately, our June visit to KS was cut short due to covid, and we were disappointed to not be able to visit with a few special people. We were grateful for the family and friends we were able to see and that God kept us and our loved ones safe. We made it back home and were both back on our feet in a week. We apologize that we exposed everyone that we saw in that brief visit. Thankfully, we only shared it with our dear friends Dave and Kathy, who let us stay with them, but thankfully they also recovered quickly. We plan to go back to Kansas in April (healthy and well!) to visit again and catch up with those we missed!

After living in our camper for over four years, we are thrilled to announce that we are close to moving into the house that Dennis has been building since we moved to our property in 2019. Our original goal to spend Christmas Eve in the “Ruby Cottage” side of the house, may have to be moved back a few weeks. Yes, we could move in and look at Sheetrock walls and sleep in sleeping bags on the floor for a while like we did when we built our first house in 1983. But at this stage, we agree that it wouldn’t be as fun or easy as it was all those years ago! So if needed, we will put up a few Christmas decorations in the camper again and continue to be patient. We are both excited to see visible progress toward Phase II of our building project being complete. Best of all, there will be no mortgage payments when we are through! We praise the Lord for giving us this debt-free vision and providing in miraculous ways to bring it to pass. Not the least of which has been Dennis doing most of the work himself, with help from a few amazing friends. Our vision verse and God-given slogan have been our guide since the time of purchase and breaking ground and will continue to be our declaration: ​