Weekend this and that

I was really a church hopper this morning!  The regular pianist for Houserville's 8 AM traditional service was out of town this weekend, so I subbed for her.  However, there were going to be quite a few people missing from Fillmore's choir this morning, so they put the choir song at the end of their service to give enough time for Dick and me to get there for that!  When their service was over we headed back to Houserville for the 10:30 service in which I regularly lead worship.  It was a good service, more people than usual and a beautiful sense of the Lord's presence as we worshiped.  I led Lincoln Brewster's God You Reign, and my little piano student Sabrina did the spoken "God You reign"s the last few times through the chorus.  So beautiful and very moving.

We went to Subway after church.  I thought my lunch date was looking quite dapper today, so I had to snap a picture of him and he of me.  

This was just a lazy, take-a-good-nap kind of Sunday.  This evening as I sat here at my computer and Dick watched TV we heard what sounded like a snowplow go by.  We both said,  "What was THAT??"  I looked outside and discovered that there was snow covering everything and we hadn't even known it!  Must have been a quick and heavy one.  Glad I wasn't driving in it!

Since we got rid of the blues in our livingroom/diningroom and invited the reds/golds/greens I'm always on the lookout for pictures that don't break the bank.  I found just that at Ollie's on Friday.  I love it. 

I was so delighted to notice last evening that even on a cloudy day it was still somewhat daylight at 5:30 PM.  It's almost February, folks, which means Spring is on its way - as I try not to remember that winter lasts until May up here. )-: 

Flashback - Choraleers, Freedom Singers, and Skankin' Buvas!!

Ahhhh!!  I finally gave my house a thorough cleaning for the first time since Christmas.  And there's not even anybody coming.  Oh well.  I like it clean for me too.  Dick was hanging some pictures for me and other stuff, and in the process of going out to his shed for something, he found an old cassette tape player.  It needed to have head phones, but he connected it to the TV.  Did we ever have fun listening to some old cassettes.  We listened to our WEDDING!!!  My wedding singers were friends from Choraleers, the youth chorus I belonged to.  Wow, they were really good!  Here they are, singing at our reception along with director Arnold Moshier and his wife.  October 2, 1971.

We also listened to a very poor quality tape of The Freedom Singers, the group we had in the 80's.  This poor picture isn't great to start with, and then someone even wrote on it, but I love it.  This is where we practiced at our house every Thursday evening.  Bass player Don always sat on the step, I was always at the organ, Dick on the guitar, his brother Steve behind me, and at the time this was taken, a girl named Nancy was in the group.  

And then we jumped ahead to the nineties and listened to the Skankin' Buvas!!!  They were a great bunch of guys that Jeremy sang with when he was in high school.  Their genre of music was Ska.  Here they were playing at Jeremy's 18th birthday party.  Jeremy is on the far left.   That was a such a  fun night.

After all that reminiscing I had a phone call from Miki and we talked a long time doing the same thing - reminiscing.  We did a lot of laughing.

"This is the way we eat our dinner"; Inspiring memorial service

We kept Austin for a few hours this evening and had so much fun.  Whenever he wasn't talking he was humming the tune to that little song, "This is the way we....."  If you watch this little video all the way to the end you'll see what I mean.

Yesterday there was a memorial service in the Bryce Jordan Center for Joe Paterno.  It was aired live on our local NBC channel.  It was touching and inspirational from beginning to end.  From the opening moment when his pastor prayed that the Holy Spirit would speak through every person who took part, to the closing moment when Joe's son led the entire audience in the Lord's Prayer, because that's what Joe did with his players after every game, whether they won or lost.  What a man, what an impact he had.  A man who in spite of power and money and fame stayed humble, faithful to his wife and family, selfless, caring, and forgiving to the very end. 

His job was not that of a spiritual leader, but he was a living example and inspiration to thousands.  It occurred to me that there are plenty of spiritual leaders whose personal lives are a complete mess.  They could gain some wisdom from the life and example of Joe Paterno. 

My birthday girls, Paterno procession

On this night thirty-eight years ago I was sleeping in the hospital after having spent my first day as Lisa's mommy.  I remember trying to go to sleep, having lost an entire night of sleep the previous night, and still barely able to go to sleep!  I was in some pain, of course, but mostly I was just so elated.  So newly in love with the most beautiful baby girl I had ever seen. 

Thirty-one years later my baby girl became a mommy to her baby girl, Sophie.   Yesterday was her 7th birthday.  That sweet little face on the left was my first sight of her on the computer screen at school soon after she was born.  The picture on the right was taken at our Christmas Eve brunch.  What a beautiful, delightful little girl she is!

Below are both of the birthday girls.  How I love them both!

This is quite a week here in Penn State country.  The true impact of a person is often seen best when they pass away.  Joe Paterno's impact was immense as shown by the tens of thousands of people who came to give their respects the past few days.  Below is a picture I took of the live coverage on TV this afternoon of the funeral procession past Beaver Stadium and then through State College.  The buses behind the hearse held his family and close friends.

What a man!  He and his wife still lived in the same modest house they had bought many years ago, yet they donated millions to the university!  Last summer Lori and some of her co-workers were walking on his street and they met him walking too.  Lori said, "Joepa!  You wanted a picture with me, didn't you?"  He agreed, and her co-worker took a picture of them together!  What a treasure now!

Beaver Stadium, a visit with Destiny and Sammy

After church today, we left for a little trip to see Destiny and Sammy.  As we drove we soon learned that Joe Paterno had died earlier this morning from complications of his lung cancer.  I never met him in person, and I know there have been varied opinions about and feelings toward him in the past two months, but there was much to admire and plenty to feel very sad about.  My heart aches for his precious wife and how her life has turned upside down in these months.  As we drove home this evening and approached State College, we noticed that the sky was very lit up.  Before long we saw what we had guessed it would be - Beaver Stadium lit up tonight.  It was an incredible sight.  With the low clouds, the bright lights, and the snow, it truly seemed almost like daylight.

Now, back to our little trip.  We ate a packed lunch as we drove first of all to Destiny's house in Reading.  I had brought them some donuts and some baked corn, which Destiny's mom has been saying she's hungry for.  Here's Destiny and her brother demonstrating how you eat a donut and baked corn at the same time.

Then it was time for a visit with Sammy.  As we had been driving I had seen this picture that Jenn had posted on FB.  Her caption was "Ready to watch football."   So cute!!!

He had just woken up when we got there and was ready for me to give him a bottle and then play and sing and talk.  He even had a big poop while he was on my lap which called for a new diaper and a clean shirt!  But he was so happy without it!

When we were playing on the floor, guess what he kept trying to do?  Watch football!!!! Does Sam have him trained already, or what???

We had some yummy Chinese take-out while we were there.  Eventually Sammy went to sleep in my arms.  We were feeling a bit uneasy about the freezing rain in the forecast, so we left at 7.  But there was almost no precipitation on the way home, and we were able to listen to the Giants vs 49'ers game almost the whole way.

A good day.

Austin's party, snow, donuts

Time for a quick recap of the week.  

On Tuesday was Austin's 3rd birthday.  To celebrate we went to Hoss's with some of his little girlfriends.  There were so many other people there with little children, so we didn't feel out of place with all our noise!  Wow, their salad bar is a meal all by itself!

They wait staff brought him a little birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday to him. He loved it.  Look at that little grin.

Look at those lips!  I guess the ice cream cake Lori brought had blue frosting on it!

We had snow several times this week.  I had to drive in it on Thursday after my piano lessons, and the roads had not yet been treated.  I was honestly in tears.  There was a whole train of cars behind me, probably with some swearing drivers, but I did not care.  I was SO thankful to get home. 

But no question about it, it's beautiful!  I'm so glad we have so many big evergreen trees around our house.

So I was planning to REALLY clean my house today.  But the snow made me feel like making donuts.  Nobody was coming, so the motivation to give my house a good cleaning just wasn't there.  I also made some sticky buns because I got tired of rolling and cutting donuts.  

Sorry, not one picture of Sammy this week.  But I'll remedy that situation tomorrow.  After church we're planning to make a little trip to see him. 

Happy Birthday, Austin!

Three years ago today Austin Mitchell Stauffer entered the world in the wee hours of the morning.  Some of you remember his website on which Anthony was updating the progress of his arrival!  Seems like yesterday.

Later that day I fell in love....

Lori was on Cloud Nine - the dream of her life come true.

Three generations of Stauffer men started to get acquainted.

We look at those pictures and miss that precious little baby.  But we would never trade him for the charming, intelligent, FUNNY three-year-old he is today.

Happy Birthday, big boy Austin!

Some pics of my favorite little boys

Just a few pics of my very favorite little boys.

This past Monday Austin was coughing too much to go to daycare, so he came to Grandma's house for part of the day. We had a wonderful time together. I just love how he remembers all the things he used to do when he was here on a daily basis - opening the blinds, certain foods and snacks, the balloons, his little bed (the cot), the piano, the cash register and debit card, the Lego wheels, the lids. He wanted to go outside and play with his hulahoop, but Grandma said it was too cold. Mostly I LOVED hearing him sing Mary Had a Little Lamb in perfect tune and with whatever words suited the thing he was doing at the moment.

Last evening (Saturday) we babysat him at their house.  It was delightful. 

I hope Sam doesn't disown me for posting this picture that Jenn sent me earlier this week.  Is this adorable, or what??  Sam and Sammy taking a nap together and they're both sleeping in the same position, hahahaha!!

And here's the "Good morning, Grandma" picture Jenn sent me this morning -  the big boy sitting in the rocker we gave them at the baby shower.   I think he's winking at me, saying, "See, Grandma, I can rock all by myself now."

Januarys past

Since I haven't blogged for days and there's nothing current I want to blog about, I've decided to take one of my trips down memory lane. Here are pictures of Januarys past from my Picasa files.

2004 - Destiny and her babies in her favorite spot in our farmhouse.

2005 - Sophie was welcomed into Lisa and George's hearts. Well, all of our hearts, of course!

2006 - My sister Mary Ellen and I went to see a movie that was sold out, so we rented one and watched it at home.

2007 - A very warm January day (in the 70's) at my parents' house. Ahh, there's my dad.

2008 - One of the FUNNEST times ever with my MCDS co-workers - the conference in Pittsburgh and the bus ride.

2009- Austin entered the world.

2010 - A year later I was his nanny, and he was already doing this!

2011 - I "passed the baton" of worship leading at Grace Community Fellowship to Herb Suereth.

2012 - Sammy has been charming us for several months now!

Cramming it all into 48 hours

I think we are becoming experts at cramming as much as possible into 48 hours!  On Friday Dick and I left as soon as he got off work and drove straight to his brother Steve's house near Lititz without stopping - made it in two hours flat.  All of Dick's brothers and wives were there with his Dad and step-mother Arlene to celebrate her 80th birthday.  Can you believe this beautiful woman is 80?

A few candid shots around the table:  Jim and Carolyn.

Fred and Deb  - Fred's face is indicative of  the mood that prevailed most of the evening! There is never a Stauffer gathering without a LOT of funny stories and memories accompanied by loud laughter!

Doris and Bob from Minnesota, Steve and Faye.

Dick and I, Dad and Arlene. Not all of our memories from this year were funny, but we felt a great deal of thankfulness as we remembered the last time all the brothers were  together around a table in March after Dad's stroke.  

Because there were out-of-state family members from both our families in the area for the weekend that needed lodging, Dick and I decided to stay in a little motel.  I have fond memories of it, because six years of my childhood were spent on a nearby farm, and my older sisters had their first jobs there as housekeepers.  But those fond memories have been replaced, I'm afraid.  It was not dirty, but it was in dreadful need of repairs and updating.  And I forgot to ask for non-smoking.  So if any of you who were with us this weekend wondered if we have taken up smoking, don't worry.  We have not.  But our clothes just wreaked of smoke after being in that room.  

On Saturday morning we dressed up in our lovely, smokey outfits and went to this beautiful Westminster Presbyterian Church for the memorial service of Claire Wichterman, my sister Rose's mother-in-law. 

What a wonderful, inspiring service it was!  She was one of those people with a personality almost bigger than life.  Her three children and grandchildren were richly blessed to have her for a mother and grandmother.  Here is the card that was handed out to those in attendance.  I assume the picture was taken during their vacation in Florida over Christmas.

After the service a lunch was served.  Here are some pics of Rose's family, sitting at various tables with other members of the Wichterman family.  Rose and Bob,

their son Matt and daughter Maribeth,

their daughter Katie (who just got married in May) on the left, daughter Julia, a cousin, and daughter Christy on the right, and their Uncle Dick in the back.  Bet you haven't seen him that dressed up very often, have you?

Youngest daughter Olivia.  What a doll!

After we left Westminster Dick and I did some thrift shopping at a couple of our favorite spots - Secret Sneaker and Salvation Army.   We then went to Reading to pick up Destiny and back to the Manheim area for a family gathering at Grandpa Stauffers.

Around this long table in the basement we ate, talked, played games, and looked at a couple of photo albums I had brought along.

I was concerned that the noise level and the running and screaming of the children might be getting to be too much for Grandpa, but he seemed to take it all in stride, maybe even instigated some of it!

Laura's little dolly doesn't add much to the noise level yet, but can she ever get around!  Only nine months old and crawling all over the place!

I was surprised at how much time  Destiny and Morgan spent looking at my old photo albums.  It occurred to me last week - what good is it to have albums and albums of photos on a shelf that never get looked at?  I'm glad we adults could reminisce and the little ones could get a glimpse of another generation as children. 

Best of all, we sang around that big long table.  Here's a very short video - just the end of Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah.  Our nephew Joe recorded a lot more of the singing, and hopefully I'll be able to post more later.


Dick and I never stop being grateful that we each have a RICH family, musical heritage. 

We and Destiny went back to our smokey den for the night.  Actually, the beds were good and I slept well both nights.  

Sunday  morning we went to our home church, Grace Community Fellowship.  It was so good to see so many of our church family, to worship with them, talk with them, and EAT with them!  We finally hit it on a fellowship meal Sunday and did not need to rush off.  Even so, after we left I kept thinking of people that I did not get a chance to talk with, and of course, I'm realizing now that my camera stayed in my purse the entire time.  

We went from there to Dick's brother Steve's house again.  Just couldn't get enough of being with them, haha!  Actually, we had a mission to accomplish.  In the 80's we had a soft Christian contemporary music group called The Freedom Singers.  (Ray asked me one time if we were political, which so cracked me up!  Far from it!  The freedom part of our name referred to freedom in Christ.)  Anyway, for about two years or so, a friend Linda was part of the group.  Linda is now turning 50 and wants us to sing (at her party) a couple of the songs we used to do when she sang with us.  So we got together yesterday to practice.  It was a bit rough, but we decided on Dallas Holms's Rise Again and Silverwind's I Will Bless the Lord.  Her party is in February, and I'll try to get a video of our songs then.  

From Steve's place we went to Sam and Jenn's.  We had lots of good Sammy time and watched some good football.  Sam has turned me into a Tim Tebow admirer, so as much as I've always loved the Steelers, I was pretty excited as we listened to the end of the game on the radio while driving home later, and I heard the amazing ending to the game.  Sam offered to take Destiny home to Reading for us, so we were able to go directly home from their place.  

Oh, what a charmer!