Change of plans this weekend

Our plans for this coming weekend have been turned completely upside down.  But before I get into that, I want to share pictures from Father's Day.

We had a hot Saturday followed by heavy rain, and on Sunday morning, when I opened the front door, I thought the air must smell like heaven.  It was an absolutely glorious morning.

After church we got Austin.  It had been ages since we had him for a Sunday afternoon.  We took him to Hoss's for lunch.

By the time we were finished eating the weather was turning rainy again, so we came home for an afternoon of indoor activities.  Like climbing walls, throwing nerf football, puzzles, and the movie Charlotte's Web.  Austin loved the movie.  I had forgotten how touching it is.  I think he will have a whole new appreciation for all those big spiders he finds at home!

And now about our change of plans.   This was going to be our annual Stauffer Camping weekend at Camp Hebron.  Some of you remember pictures like this from other years.

One of our favorite weekends of the year every year.  We were planning to take Sammy with us this year for the first time, and Destiny has been looking forward to it for weeks.  

But for only the second time ever, we have cancelled the camping weekend.  The other time was in 1981 when Dick's mother was battling cancer and died on August 2nd.   This time again it is because of death and funerals that we needed to cancel.  

Early in the week we found out that Joyce Enck, daughter of Uncle Clarence (whose funeral we went to two weeks ago) lost her battle with cancer, and her funeral will be on Sunday.  I know I asked you to pray for her family already, but I'm asking you again.  Her husband Irvin just died from a heart attack in August.  This is a family picture I found on her Facebook, obviously taken before his death.  

Joyce's son in the back just got married recently, and her daughter is pictured here with her husband.  I cannot comprehend such young adults already having lost both their parents.  Some things are just too hard to understand.  

Then another death occurred this week.  Dick's brother Jim's mother-in-law, Erma Geib, passed away after many years of ill health, and her funeral will be on Saturday.  We all knew Erma, we all watched through the years as our sister-in-law Carolyn lovingly committed her life to helping to care for her mom in addition to raising her own family.  So the camping weekend was called off.  

Unbelievably, just days before Erma died, Jim and Carolyn became grandparents for the first time!  Their son Mike and his wife Chrystal welcomed baby Seth.  Look at this ADORABLE  picture of Mike and Seth, bringing joy in the midst of all this sadness!

I wish Erma had gotten the chance to meet this first great grandchild of hers.  But in some ways I think Carolyn will enjoy being a grandma more, knowing that her dear mom is no longer in any kind of pain or need.  The void, however, will be huge.  Holding a baby will hopefully bring healing.  

I made this collage the other day.  

As it turns out, the weather for this weekend looks like a real bummer for campers anyway - mid-sixties and rainy!!  We've survived weekends like that before, but there are definitely more challenges!

So we'll be heading down Friday evening for the weekend for some funerals.  We'll also try to figure out something fun to do with Sammy since he'll be missing out on the camping weekend.  Destiny is coming back with us after the weekend.   

We'll again see many people we don't often get to see, so it will be a different kind of good weekend.