Stauffer Camping 2016

Tuesday is almost over, and this is my first chance to start my weekly blog.  It's going to be loaded with pictures.  Destiny is here for the week, so we're doing lots of fun stuff wherever we can squeeze it in.

On Friday Dick and I loaded up both vehicles with all our camping gear and food.  It's SO MUCH WORK!!!  But we so look forward to the time with the Stauffers.  Dick drove straight to Camp Hebron above Harrisburg to set up the tent and blow up the mattresses.  

I drove to Sam and Jenn's in Lebanon to pick up Sammy and Destiny.  Sam had picked her up on his way home from work.  Just before I got to their place the area was hit with a strong rain and wind storm.  Cars were pulling off the road.  I managed to get to a Sheetz gas station about two miles from their house and sat there for at least 20 minutes waiting for it to slow down.  I heard that some areas really had flooding that evening.

On our way to Camp Hebron we got into another similar storm near Harrisburg.  But, praise God, those storms never made it over the mountain, and Camp Hebron was dry and sunny!!  We had no rain all weekend!!!

This was the gang, all but Anthony and Lori's family who were there for Saturday only.  This was taken on Sunday.  

This is our tent.

Wall to wall air mattresses - Destiny on the left, Sammy in the middle, Dick and I on the right.  Believe it or not, we were really comfortable. 

It was very late when we went to bed Friday evening and we lay there telling stories for a while.  At 5:30 AM the sun was shining brightly into our tent and the birds were singing their hearts out.  Dick and I and Sammy were wide awake already and Destiny soon afterward! 

Dick and I were in charge of Saturday breakfast.  We scrambled eggs with hash browns, onions, and bacon and also had breakfast sausages, toast, cut-up melons, my granola and peanut butter rice krispie treats.  We had already done a good bit of the prep at home.  I had also taken my Keurig along, which got a whole lot of use.

And now enjoy the pictures from our full, very exhausting Saturday.  I don't think I had one chance to just sit around the fire and talk that day.

We four were in our beds by 10:30 that evening.  Sammy was hoping we would tell stories again, but he was sleeping before we ever had a chance.  When he woke up the next morning he said, "Did we tell stories yet?"

Here are the pictures from Sunday - breakfast, church around the fire, Frogmore dinner, and some more time at the lake. 

Bjorn and Jess joined us on Sunday.

The entire Fred Stauffer family was there, complete with two new baby girls, so they wanted to get a family picture.  Sammy saw the group picture being taken and wanted to be in it, hahahaha!!

This is such a fun, fabulous family to belong to.  We are incredibly blessed!

When we had said all our goodbyes and left the camp mid-afternoon, we took Sammy to Jenn's parents just fifteen minutes from camp.  Sam and Jenn were there.  Bianca came running to greet him yelling, "Sammy!!!!"  It was just darling!

I think it was about 5:30 or 6:00 PM when we got home, and then there was seemingly endless unloading and putting away to be done.  But we did it and actually got a chance to sit down before the day ended!

Destiny and I are having fun and I have more pictures to share from this week, but that will be another post.  I'm SOOOOO sleepy.  

Good night!

Camping weekend, here we come!

Just a quick post before our big camping weekend.  Stauffer Camping weekend.  I think we have camped with Dick's family each summer since Lisa was a year old, which would mean 1975!  We cancelled camping just twice - 1981, the summer Dick's mother died, and last summer when Carolyn's mother died and also cousin Joyce.  Both their funerals were held that weekend.  As it turned out, it was the coolest, rainiest weekend ever, and we were glad we had cancelled camping.

This is the real deal - sleeping in tents and cooking over a fire.  Lots and lots of work, but lots and lots of fun.   I squeezed in a lot of food prep this week any time I could, and I'm ready, all but the packing.  Right now my kitchen looks like this.

Hunter was his irresistible self on Wednesday.  He is so pleasant and easy to care for.  I'm so, so in love with him!

He likes to look at the guitars hanging on the wall.  Maybe he'll soon like guitar magazines too!

And here's precious little Alaya!  Destiny sent me this picture last evening.  

We had rain off and on yesterday and a rainbow in the evening.  

Gotta run!  Have a great weekend!  I know we will.

Sunrise, sunset, good times, flowers, and babies

Good Tuesday morning!  June 21, folks.  Enjoy these long summer days, because they're gonna start getting shorter day by day.  How's that for a downer, hahaha!!   Here's a sunrise I captured from our side porch last week.

Actually, I feel very sad when I look that direction these days.  That shed roof in the picture belongs to our neighbor man who passed away at the end of May.  We did not know he had passed away until two weeks later!  Apparently we were at work the day the ambulance came to take him to the hospital.  Rick was in his late fifties and single, soft spoken and friendly.   We knew he had some health issues, but he enjoyed working in his yard, and we would chat from time to time.  I always thought that someday when I'm not working away from home all the time we would have him over for a cookout and get to know him better.  Ugh.  I still expect to see him puttering around in his yard when I walk into my laundry room and look out the door.  And I feel really sad.  I have no idea if he had a relationship with God.

On a happier note, we finally went to Lowes last week and got some things to put into our planter.

Our lilies are just starting to bloom.  We will have LOTS of them in a week or two.

On Friday evening Dick and I drove down to Sam's place.  At the same time Ray and Thyda were driving up from Virginia.  So many times our trips to Lancaster County do not coincide with theirs, but this time we finally planned ahead.  

It was REALLY unusual at Sam's place that evening.  Jenn was still away on her two-week drill, and Sammy and Bianca were spending the weekend at Jenn's parents.  We took our good old time getting there since we knew that Sammy was not eagerly awaiting our arrival.  Bella, the dog, made up for it, haha!!

I did a little bit of cleaning for Sam that evening and he and I did a late grocery run.  That was fun.  We did a whole lot of grocery shopping together when he was in college.  There was also some excitement outside.  Two helicopters landed in the athletic field parking lot behind their house.  There was also an ambulance.  It seemed that they were transferring a patient, but it apparently was not an emergency.

If you look closely you can see the helicopter hovering just below the tree branches.

This was the sky looking the other direction.

Later when we got home from the grocery store the helicopters were leaving.  A lot of noise, a lot of light, and a lot of wind, but in no time they were gone.

On Saturday Sam was delighted to be able to sleep in.  Dick did repairs to Sam's mower and weed whacker and got both of them in good working order.

We met up with Ray and Thyda at an old favorite hangout - A&M Pizza on the Manheim square.   I wanted to get a picture of everyone, but Sam insisted on taking the picture instead of being in it.  Only later did I notice that we four had all dressed in navy blue and white, LOL!!!  I teased Sam that we had made him take the picture because he didn't match.

After lunch Ray and Thyda went back to her parents to get Leo, their dog, then came up to Sam's place for the rest of the day.   Those two dogs, Leo and Bella!!!  It was like a mad circus for a while.  But I think they ended up liking each other at least a little bit.  Unfortunately, my camera remained out of the action for the rest of the day.    Dick and I left for home around 6:30 pm.

On Sunday late afternoon, after our naps, we went over to Anthony and Lori's for a Father's Day cookout with some of their friends.  We also invited a young family from Houserville whom we have been wanting to introduce to Anthony and Lori.  

There really were fathers there, but somehow I got a picture when all of them were elsewhere!

I love this shot of Andy with his son Kai.  Is that not a classic Father's Day picture?

As always, a gorgeous sunset view from the fire pit.

This was my Father's Day collage for our family.

This is probably the earliest picture of my dad and me.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - he always made me feel loved and special.  I think that's one of the greatest gifts a dad can give his daughter.

And now some Hunter happiness from yesterday.

This boy is just three months old and was already trying hard to go places yesterday.  Look at him digging his toes in to get some traction!

And pulling his knees up!  Lisa's Sophie was just like this when she was a baby.  I have a feeling Anthony and Lori are going to have to baby proof the house sooner than they hoped to!  Austin's life may be about to change!

So far Austin thinks Hunter is the best baby ever.  Look at this precious picture Lori posted on Saturday!

I was still at their place yesterday when Austin got home from YMCA camp.  He immediately wondered if I wanted to watch him play wall ball outside.  Like Anthony said, "It's not worth doing if there's no one watching."  Hahahaha!

Please notice his matching outfit!  Lori said he usually resists her suggestions to match his shirts, shorts, and socks, but that yesterday morning after he was dressed he said, "I guess matching is good."

And now one last adorable picture.  This is a screen shot from a video I took yesterday with my camera viewer reversed.

And here's the video.  As you can see, he likes that baby in the viewer!

Have a good week!  I know mine will be BUSY as we prepare for the annual Stauffer camping weekend at Camp Hebron this weekend.