Thankfully, there were many things that brought me joy during this past week. My flowers! Last Monday I showed my daffodils. This week the tulips took center stage. I was so excited to see my very first one early in the week.
Later in the week Austin helped me to count them. I showed him buds in various stages of opening, which fascinated him.
This is our first year to have nice-looking tulips. Just two years ago we transplanted them from Lori and Anthony's garden that had surrounded their pool that was being torn out. The poor flowers protested their move and soon looked wilted and unhappy. Last year the rabbits ate them off before they got a chance to bloom. This year we were ready for those little guys!
Last Monday evening Dick and I had fun watching Anthony play volleyball again. These two teams were really competitive, and it was a lot of fun to watch.
Lori left on Wednesday for a conference in Seattle, so I helped Anthony out with Austin for the rest of the week. We went to four different parks, and the airport park wasn't even one of them!
On Wednesday evening we had Bible study at Houserville before praise team practice (we're studying Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby). Since I've already done that study twice, I've agreed to be the babysitter during the studies. So it worked out well that Anthony needed me to watch Austin during his volleyball game. I had just Austin and 9-year-old Sabrina, so I took them to the Spring Creek Park near the church. It was a nice, warm evening.
On Friday his preschool was closed for in-service, so Anthony brought him here for his nap after lunch. When he woke up we went to the little community playground behind our house. I used to hate taking him down there because everything was so rusty. We were pleasantly surprised to see that it was given a makeover this past fall. We found out that a local girl scout had done it as her project for Girl Scouts. Isn't that wonderful?
We also had fun playing volleyball with a balloon. Here Austin was having fun batting the balloon up into the ceiling fan!
Anthony and Austin joined us for Dick's birthday dinner of pot roast, carrots, and potatoes. Of course, Austin's favorite part was the chocolate birthday cake and ice cream. I didn't get a picture of it with the candles on it, because Austin and I were holding it.
On Saturday afternoon Austin came here for his nap again. Afterward we went to the Buffalo Run Community Park, which is at the entrance to our community. It was cold and blustery, but we bundled up and had fun anyway.
That evening Anthony and Austin had dinner with us again. Anthony started setting up an iMac computer for me. The transfer is not yet complete, so I'm still on my almost eight-year-old Dell. They left just in time to pick Lori up at the nearby University Park airport.
Yesterday (Sunday) we spent the evening at Circleville Park on the other side of State College. Anthony and Lori had recently discovered it and liked that there was a pavilion with a fire place. So Dick got some wood out of his shed and we brought the makings for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows and making S'mores. Once again, it was quite chilly, but at least sunny. And really, it was perfect weather for making a fire. We had a wonderful time and will definitely be doing it again.
And one more beautiful picture. I admired this bouquet during the service yesterday morning at Houserville, assuming it was a dried arrangement. Afterward Pastor Renee asked if I'd like to take it home. It was from a funeral that she did on Saturday. And it's REAL and the roses smell amazing! Isn't it absolutely beautiful?
7 comments:
Looks like everyone had a nice week! I did the experiencing God study a few years ago. It's a good one!
Love the flower arrangement. :)
This post is such a snippet of LIFE. Celebrating birthdays, remembering tragedy and death, exalting in the glorious world that we are living in, and finding incredible beauty in the flowers from a funeral. Enjoying the lives of your varied family and being involved in community life. And all the while, chasing that handsome young man on his many jaunts and adventures. (Isn't having grandchildren the most fun of all??? Seriously.)
I enjoyed this so much (as always).
I love your garden of tulips. I miss tulips. Remember my garden of 50 tulips in Landisville? Remember that the squirrels at every last one of them? Every. Last. One!!!!
I have only one tulip in my yard and the poor little thing looks so puny. I am wondering if it is the only one that escaped the squirrels.
You have a lot of lovely parks in your area. The girl scouts' makeover was amazing.
Don't you wish you could freeze the funeral arrangement and keep it forever? It is lovely.
I remember the Experiencing God study. I also remember that the greatest lesson I took from that study was praying the Word back to God. It changed my life! (In 1999 and it continues to change me.)
It has been a week for the historical archives for sure.
The word is ATE! Where is my cup of coffee?
It's always fun to see all you've been doing. You stay busy busy. Me too. You're so lucky to be able to see Austin as often as you do. Your tulips are GORGEOUS!
Big hugs,
Kat
Love tulips! I will be digging (uh, Dale will be!!)up some bulbs to take with us when we move. You have a lot of parks to go to. Bless you for braving the chill to make a little boy happy. That fireplace is beautiful...what a great idea!
Have a wonderful week!
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