Packed to the hilt

Well, it was another packed-to-the-hilt weekend for us.  We left Friday right after Dick got off work, drove to Reading to pick up Destiny, then went to Dad Stauffer's to sleep.  

On Saturday morning my sister Doris and I went to our sister Mary Ellen's house for our annual breakfast together.  Mary Ellen had made a scrumptious, healthy baked oatmeal and Doris brought fresh fruit and made a fruit smoothie for us, so I was good to go with my Weight Watchers plan.  Here's our annual breakfast picture!

After breakfast we went to a nursing home in Lancaster to visit a very much-loved Uncle Paul, our mother's brother, who was recently diagnosed with cancer.  We had such a sweet time with him, and of course we sang for him too and prayed with him.  Our hearts ache for him and his dear family.  

By the time we left there Dick had texted me that he and Destiny were at the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Lancaster, so my sisters took me there to meet them.  We got some lunch then went to spend a few hours with Sam, Jenn, and  Sammy.   Look at this big boy!!

Seriously!!  How did we go from this...

...to this......in just four months????

Look at these baby blue eyes (which neither his mommy or daddy have!!)

And the cutest thing is the way he often clasps his hands together, even when he's asleep!

He breaks into a winning smile when you look at and talk to him.  However, it's harder to actually capture that smile on a picture, because as soon as you put a camera in front of your face, he stops smiling.  But one time I caught him.

I had so much fun with him, playing, singing, talking, feeding.  And then he just settled in and fell asleep before I even realized it.

Family picture time.  I guess it was stripes day at their house!

In the evening Destiny hung out with my sister Mary Ellen while Dick and I went to a 50th birthday party for our friend Linda.  

We and Linda go back a long, long way.  Dick grew up in the same church as Linda's family.  I went to school with Linda's older sisters.  I so clearly remember the day we were out on the swings at school and her sister announced that her mother was going to be having a baby.  We were SO jealous!!  And that baby was Linda.  Years later when she was in middle school I was her music teacher.  And when she was in college she sang in our Freedom Singers group.  Here's how we looked back in 1982!

And here we are thirty years later!  Linda, me, and Dick's brother Steve.

And Dick, our guitar player.  Don, who used to play bass for us, lives in Texas, so he wasn't at the party.

Dick handed his iPhone to somebody to take a video of our last song, and here it is.  I have absolutely no idea what the guy did with the camera, because part way through the video turns sideways!  Sorry about that!

Later when we went to Mary Ellen's house to pick up Destiny, they were engrossed in a game of Dominoes.  Apparently they had played lots of games.  I wish I had taken a picture of the elaborate trails of Dominoes.  And of Destiny standing beside Mary Ellen, because they are the same height now!  In fact, I realized now that I did not take one picture of Destiny!  What??????  She looked absolutely adorable this weekend with her new hairband.  Where was my head?

  

This morning I dropped Dick and Destiny off for Sunday School at Grace, then I went to a nearby nursing home to visit  Miriam, a dear friend from Grace.  She also was recently diagnosed with cancer.  Her daughter Elma was also there this morning, and we had a wonderful time together.  

Then I went to church, saw many of our friends there, went to Dad Stauffer's for lunch, packed up, stopped in at Grandma Mary's house for a short visit, took Destiny back home to Reading, and drove home to State College.  Thankfully Dick was able to tune in the Superbowl on the radio until we got home at 7:30.  

And for a weekend on the run, I think I did quite well controlling my food intake.  No exercise though.  Gotta get back to that tomorrow.