Happy Birthday, Lori!

Today is our beautiful daugher-in-law, Lori's birthday. What a year this will be for her as she becomes a mother after waiting and hoping and praying for so long. We love her so much, and I thank God every day for bringing her to our son Anthony and to our family.

A gorgeous and peaceful day in PA

It feels almost wrong to be having gorgeous weather and a peaceful day when so many lives are being disrupted today by evacuation and an impending storm. But gorgeous weather and a peaceful day is exactly what we had.

We had a precious time with our church family this morning. I must say, though, that I missed the energy and excitement of being with the other churches like we were last Sunday.

This evening we spent with Dick's family at his brother Fred's place for a cook out. Onto tables that were spread with heavy brown paper, they put freshly cooked corn on the cob, smoked sausages, small potatoes, and shrimp. There were dishes of butter and sauces to dip the food into (no double dipping!) and we ate the meal without dishes or silverware! What fun! When we finished, we rolled up the paper along with the corn cobs and shrimp tails!

Then came dessert - homemade vanilla ice cream. Yum, yum, yum!!

The guys played basketball and other games, the ladies chatted, and the kids played. We ended the evening setting off a few canons and fireworks.

Fishing

Thursday evening Dick, his dad, brothers, and a few others slept at their hunting cabin. Very early in the morning they headed out to the Juniata River to go fishing.

Now that's the life!

Dick's self portrait!

Now that's a nice one! But wait.....

Can anyone beat THIS one caught by 14-year-old Josh??!!

They called it a day mid-afternoon and came back to the cabin where they built a roaring fire....

....and just hung out on the front porch.

Destiny and I drove up to the cabin yesterday afternoon and joined Dick and his brother Jim and son Josh. After hot dogs and fish cooked on the open fire, the guys were exhausted from having gotten up at 4 AM to go fishing, so they all turned in early. I played dominoes with Destiny till she was ready to settle in her bed with her little DVD player and Finding Nemo. I woke up at 11:30 PM and she was still awake, sneaking out to the kitchen for pretzels and juice. I bet she thought that was really cool to be the only one awake!

She just LOVES being in the woods, walking barefoot in the stream, finding frogs, etc. She and Dick hiked to a deer hunting tree stand and climbed up into it. Here she is looking around with the binoculars.

A view from the tree stand.

This morning Jim's wife Carolyn and their other four kids (teens and young adults) joined us. We had fun just hanging out and eating lunch together. I don't think we could possibly ever get tired of being together, but Dick, Destiny, and I had to leave shortly after lunch, because Dick had to work at Advance Auto Parts this evening.

Destiny went to her Daddy's for the evening and I'm getting some stuff done around here. The news of Gustav is so terribly disheartening. It seems unreal to be watching all this evacuation again.

What might have been...

Well, it looks like my common, everyday life doesn't inspire many comments from you readers, so I'll have to go to something a little more sensational, ha, ha ha!!

Several other bloggers have been having fun with a website called Yearbook Yourself. I was having fun with it too, but I couldn't find any hairstyles like the one I had in my high school yearbook!! I think it's discrimination against Mennonites! Anyway, below is my real yearbook picture in 1969, followed by a few "might have beens" from the Yearbook Yourself website. Unfortunately, the face on those pictures is from my 56-year-old school picture last year!

Now I know what I might have looked like with "big hair" like Lisa had in her 1992 yearbook - minus those little bangs, which they did not erase from my own picture.

He's gone fishing

After school today I went to Reading to pick up Destiny for the weekend. As soon as we got home Dick was ready for me to take him to his Dad's place where he was meeting his dad and brothers. They are sleeping at their hunting cabin tonight and going fishing in a canoe and kayaks on the Juniata River tomorrow. Here they are tying everything onto the trailer. (I took all of the pictures below with my cell phone, so they're not too great.)

Ready to go!

Ever since the day his dad called with a date for this fishing trip, Dick has been thinking about and planning for it almost non-stop! I could have almost cracked up a few times as out of the clear blue he would say something about this fishing trip and I would have to guess what he's talking about. I guess he thought I was reading his mind, ha, ha!


After the guys left, Destiny and I did a few errands. Then I took her to the pool at the rec center. She had been sitting in school all day and then the car for a couple of hours and her muscles needed to MOVE!

We both have off school tomorrow due to the holiday weekend. Tomorrow afternoon Destiny and I will make the trip to the hunting cabin and sleep there for the night. The rest of the guys are going home after they're done fishing. I haven't slept there for many, many years, but Dick and his parents took Destiny there one weekend when I was in Florida, so she is really excited about going. She's looking forward to climbing up into one of the deer hunting tree stands like she did the last time.

My Wednesday

Today was my first Middle School Chorus period for the year. I already have the Christmas musical picked out and I'm so excited to get started on it.

After school I went to visit my dad for a while. I wish I had taken my camera. The weather was just gorgeous as we sat outside on their lovely brand new deck.

This evening I finally went to the gym for the first time all week and I got a good work out. I surely hope I can get into a regular routine. I don't feel like I have the energy I had at the beginning of the school year last year, and I know it's because I haven't been as regular with exercise, and I've put pounds back on. It's a never-ending challenge.

I can hardly believe what I'm hearing on the news about Tropical Storm Gustav. They're talking about planning evacuation for New Orleans. God, have mercy!

Old Testament names in the Primary Department

I had to smile as I looked over the class rosters the other day. In the Primary Department there are five names I don't remember ever having in any of my classes before. They are good Old Testament names - Abe, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as Moses and Miriam. Last week I was talking to the Pre-K teacher about the fact that she will be having 15 or 16 little tykes in her class this year. I was asking her what she knows about the kids that are coming (readiness, personality, etc.) She said, "Well one of the little girls is named Miriam, so she doesn't sound like she'd be too bad." I cracked up and still smile when I think about it. I haven't had the Pre-K class yet, so I'm eager to see if little Miriam will live up to her name, ha, ha!! I wonder if Moses and Miriam are brother and sister. Definitely Abe, Isaac, and Jacob are not grandfather, father, and son as they were in the Old Testament!!

And speaking of grandfather/father - my dad came home from the hospital this afternoon and is doing well. He did not have a good night of sleep in the hospital, so hopefully tonight will be better, at home in his own bed in his own quiet house.

He's doing great!

Well, praise God, my dad's heart had absolutely no problems during his back surgery this morning. The doctor did indeed find calcium and arthritis build-up to remove, as well as a bulging disc, which he "fixed", each of them things that were pushing against a nerve and causing him pain first of all, and eventually complete numbness. They are keeping him overnight, but he's in fine spirits. He even thinks he's already beginning to have some feeling in his leg. This all started last NOVEMBER!! If this gives him the use of his leg back, we are surely going to wonder why it took so long for them to decide to do this! But most of all we will PRAISE GOD!!

My first day with students was quite easy. I didn't have a full load of classes today because the two kindergarten classes had only half a day today. I would normally have their classes on Monday afternoons. It was great to watch the kids sing their hearts out again. It was especially fun to watch the faces of the new kids in each class as we sang. Nothing but smiles, great big smiles.

After school I went to the hospital for a while. My dad and I talked up a storm and laughed a little and cried a little. My step mother added her two cents when we gave her a chance!

On my way home I stopped at the Berean Bookstore to look at the Christmas musicals. It's that time of year again!

Joint Worship Service = joint blessing

This morning was finally the culmination of months of planning - three small churches joining together in one place (the school gym) with one heart - to worship the Lord. There was such a sense of expectancy from the very beginning this morning as people came in and greeted one another enthusiastically. As soon as we started our first song I looked at my pastor. He gave me a thumbs up and said, "He's here." I was thinking, "Oh, was someone missing?" But just that quickly I realized he meant the Lord was here. And He was. There were many, many tears shed this morning as hearts and emotions were ministered to during praise and worship.

The Veritas mime team from our church presented dramatic interpretations of two songs. They are really, really good. This past week they entered the talent contest at the Elizabethtown Fair. Out of 18 contestants, all of them secular in nature except theirs, they won 3rd place. Go Veritas!

A great hit at this morning's service were the choir numbers - Fly Away Medley and He Never Failed Me Yet. I had so much fun directing them, because the choir members were so enthusiastic and they sounded amazing - especially considering we had only had two practices. I don't have any pictures of the choir yet, but someone at church will be emailing his to me, so I'll post them another day.

After the service we all had a meal together, also in the school gym. I just had the greatest time talking with people from the other churches that I hadn't seen for a long time. It took a long time to clean up afterward, but there were many, many helpers.

We spent a few hours later in the afternoon hanging out at home with Ray and Thyda, who came home for the weekend again. Yes, I know - we said our goodbyes to Thyda last weekend, but we had to say them again today, and if by chance they discover that they both have off for Labor Day weekend, they'll probably come up and we'll have to say our goodbyes again!! Her ship leaves on the 12th, so we're glad for every chance to be with her before that.

This evening we took Destiny back home to Reading, and now I must take my weary body to bed. Tomorrow school officially starts - that means the KIDS are coming!!

Also, tomorrow morning my dad will be having his back surgery, so all prayers are more than welcome!

Pajama Party!

Yesterday when I left school (in-service day), I went home to take a short nap, drove to Reading to get Destiny, took time to go through all her clothes to make sure she has enough school uniforms, came home and threw some things together to take to our church's Women and Girls Pajama Party held at Karrye's new house, pictured below.

When we arrived, the place was crawling with women and girls of all ages. I headed out to the campfire where some of us sat and talked and made s'mores. Later it was time for the Pajama Show, complete with prizes!

This little girl must live with a grandma that likes night shirts!! She won "Most Comfortable" category.

And this little sweetie pie won "Most adorable!"

And here is our church's greatest treasure (besides the Lord Himself) - a very YOUNG at heart 80-something named Hope. She loves the Lord and everyone else LAVISHLY, and we all love her dearly. She joined in on the pajama show with great gusto, just like she does everything else! What a hoot she is!

Here the pajama show contestants were, awaiting the results of the judges!! Of course, everyone won some kind of prize.

With that over, it was time to hit the food again!

At that point, I decided to turn in along with a few other party poopers. I was honored to get to sleep in the master bed along with Hope. She and I and some others on air mattresses in the room made great snoring partners!! If this had not been the weekend of this joint worship service that I'm so heavily involved in, as well as the weekend before school starts, I would have loved to stay up and play games and be crazy for half the night. However, they did a fine job of it without me!! I think I slept through a lot of their noise, but every so often I would wake up and hear all the fun they were having.