A good weekend with kids and grandchildren

Last week was all the normal stuff - in addition to doing food prep for Anthony and Lori and my own stuff here at home, we had Lenten service on Wednesday evening, I had Bible study at Calvary Thursday morning, and choir practice Thursday evening.  Our weather was and continues to be fickle.  Lots of cool temps and rain with a surprise warm, sunny day thrown in every now and then.   But no snow in the past week, thankfully!

On Friday evening we offered to babysit for Anthony and Lori.  We took the boys to Chick Fil A.

Hunter enjoyed chumping on French fries.  He doesn't have a whole lot of teeth yet.

He actually had more fun playing with the French fry container!

We played for a while after we got back to their place, then this sweet baby allowed me to sing him to sleep.  Anthony took this picture after they got home.

I gotta share this adorable, funny video of the boys playing together.

On Saturday we had a fun Sip and Paint event at Houserville.  Our teacher Alexis took us through the steps of painting a beach.

Here are the finished products.  I would like to buy my own paint and continue to work on mine.  I'm just not 100% satisfied with it.

Before going to bed Saturday evening I put a pork roast and a few other ingredients into the slow cooker.  I got up really early and shredded the pork and mixed in BBQ sauce then turned it on warm while we were at our service at Fillmore.

Right after church was over at 9:30 we came home and loaded up the pork (wrapped the slow cooker in a heavy comforter to keep it warm) and the other things we would have for lunch and headed for Sam and Jenn's.  Ray and Thyda were at their place for the weekend.  On the way down I found out that Bjorn and Jess would be joining us for lunch too!  We actually arrived at Sam's place at exactly the same time.  I love when things just fall into place like that.  What a perfectly wonderful afternoon we had.  Besides eating we did lots of relaxing.  It was a very chilly, cloudy day outside.

I think Jenn and Bianca were counting when I took this pic.  Bianca loves to count. She's so smart.

Is this not the cutest picture of Bella and Leo??  As Bella is getting a little older and not quite so frisky they are beginning to get along better.

It was so good so spend a few hours with Thyda and Ray. 


Unfortunately I did not get my camera out early enough and missed getting a picture of Jess and Bjorn.  Bless their hearts, they're both working and going to college.  Jess had worked night shift and needed to go home and sleep.  Bjorn had a boat load of home work to do for the rest of the day.

Sammy made a determined effort to direct our activities for the afternoon.  He makes up games for everybody and is always making announcements that we're all supposed to listen to, hahaha!!  

Sometimes we have to break it to him that we aren't always in the mood for activities and games, we just want to sit around and talk.  So boring!  Thyda took a few pictures as we lazed around.

Dick was napping in Sammy's bedroom for while, so no picture of him.

At some point Bianca put on a good show for us with her keyboard.  She's hilarious!

The kids had fun with the straws and connectors.

Eventually Ray and Thyda packed up for their return trip to Norfolk, and we packed up our leftover food and left for Dad Stauffer's.  They were giving us a light dinner before we headed for home. 

We had a good time with them.  They enjoyed seeing the pictures of deer that Dick's trail cam has captured in Anthony's woods.  

We were back home soon after 8:30 - a very good day.

Next week at this time we'll be getting ready to leave for a few days in Austin, Texas.  Lori has a conference there and we're all going - ON THE SAME FLIGHT!  If you don't know why I capitalized that you'll have to go back to the surprise ending of my January 24 post.  

I gotta finish with a very interesting story.  Jeremy is at the semi-annual furniture market in Las Vegas this week.  It's a huge event that draws many thousands of people.  Today he was eating lunch with a woman who is from Lancaster, PA.  He told her that that's where he grew up and that he had actually bought a house in Lancaster City when he was a  young adult.  She wondered where and he told her the address of his Lancaster house.  She exclaimed, "I live there!!"  She had bought the house from the couple that Jeremy had sold it to.  Can you believe it??  She invited him to stop in the next time he comes to the Lancaster area!  

Have a good rest of the week!

The changing weather, an engagement, and Steve and Faye weekend

What a gorgeous day we're having!  Before I back up to the horrible weather we were having last week I want to show some pictures I just took today.

Dick has tried so hard to protect our flowers through the freezing temperatures we've had.  We're thankful for each one that is surviving.

The sun is bright and we're in the 50's today.

A week ago we had the snow, then on Wednesday came the wind.  I had made dinner for Anthony and Lori and needed to get it over to them.  I definitely did not want to try getting up their hill, so I decided to take it to Dick at work and let him deliver it.  The drive to and from Dick's shop was not fun.  There were a few times that the blowing snow was like a white out - I couldn't see the cars coming in the other direction or the edge of my side of the road.  I was thankful to be back home again.  This is what it looked like outside my window lots of times.

In the evening I heard loud banging on the porch.  When I opened the door this is what I saw.  I decided that the poor rocker wanted to come inside and was knocking on my door, even on its knees begging, hahahaha!

Thursday was still cold and windy, but not nearly as bad.  I was glad to be able to go to Bible Study in the morning, did a big grocery shopping run for the weekend, and had choir practice in the evening.

As I mentioned in my last post we were looking forward to having Dick's brother Steve and his wife Faye here for the weekend.  So of course I was busy cleaning and doing food prep.

On Saturday they arrived here around noon.  Dick was at work, so we loaded up in my van to meet him there.  He had just gotten off work.  We went from there to Sowers Harvest Cafe in downtown State College.  We love the atmosphere, the people who own it, and the delicious food.  It's just a really nice place to take out-of-town guests.  But wow!!  I have never seen it so crowded!  We were very lucky that a table opened up for us, actually two tiny tables pushed together in a very tight corner by the back door.   I think they are going to have to find a bigger location.

And here are the handsome Stauffer brothers!

From there we went to the other place we always like to take our out-of-town guests - Berkey Creamery.  Another crowded place where I was lucky to grab a table just as its occupants were getting up to leave.   And here are the Stauffer brothers' lovely wives!

When we got back we were full and sleepy.  The guys took no time to get comfy in the living room, but Faye and I opted to go for a walk first.  (Bless Faye - it was her idea.)  It had been so long since we'd ever had a chance to talk without lots of other talking and noise going on, so when we got back from our walk we were not in the mood for a nap anymore and just kept talking and talking and talking, first on the porch and then at the kitchen table.  After a while we overheard the guys' conversation in the living room  and joined them for some more talking.

Before we knew it, it had been hours since we'd eaten.  So I got busy putting together some Southwest Quesadillas for our dinner.  Faye had also brought some BBQ chicken from the mud sale at the Penryn Firehall near their place.  Was it ever delicious!

Before cleaning up the mess in the kitchen we headed to the piano.  Steve played Dick's 12-string, I played the piano, and we sang through some favorite worship songs together.

When our children were young we had a group called The Freedom Singers.  (This was after the Witmer Trio had stopped taking singing engagements.)   In the group Dick played guitar, I played keyboard, our friend Don played bass, and Steve, I, and another female sang vocals.  We started with a friend Nancy for a year, then Linda for a couple of years, and then my sister Doris for a few years.  Let me tell you, we were pretty good, and I can't believe we never recorded.  So it was fun to be singing with Steve again.

The wrestling championships in St. Louis were on TV and it was getting really exciting for Penn State, so the guys kept a watch on that while Faye and I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen.

Meanwhile in Reading something very exciting was taking place.  Frank had told me earlier in the week that he was planning to take Lauren out to eat Saturday evening.  Meanwhile her friends were going to be getting the house ready for a party and he was going to be asking her to marry him.   His plans worked out - he did ask her and she did say yes!  She says it was the happiest evening of her whole life!  We are very happy for them.  He wants a big wedding, so she's getting to work on all the planning.

On Sunday morning we had a light snow, the beautiful kind that was clinging to the trees.  I was really disappointed that my flute player was not going to be able to make it to church.  I had a beautiful offertory planned and I really wanted Steve and Faye to hear her.  But I had to come up with plan B.  I asked Steve if he wants to sing with me, and Dick suggested that the four of us could sing "The Mennonite Anthem."  (If you missed my video of the Stauffer's singing this song around the table a few weeks ago, go back to my March 4 post.)  We practiced in the kitchen and decided it would work!

This was the beautiful view as we left for church. 

At Fillmore there were a number of people missing from the choir, so Steve and Faye sang with our choir song too - a beautiful choral version of Jesus Messiah.  And our offertory went great too.  We were SO glad to have them there with us!  

After the service at Fillmore we went to Calvary.  This was the beautiful view from the lobby there.  

Lori and Anthony came here after church for lunch - my favorite chicken noodle soup with crusty bread.  Faye had brought blueberry cobbler for our dessert.  There was a lot of story-telling and laughter.  (Please excuse the napkin on Dick's head!  He said he was keeping the glare down!)  

Later in the afternoon we all went over to Anthony and Lori's so Steve and Faye could see their place.    Then Steve and Faye headed home to Lancaster County and Dick and I headed home for naps.  I felt sorry for Steve and Faye needing to drive for several hours, but usually it's us making that trip home in the opposite direction.  

I'll finish off this post with some adorable pics of Hunter.  Here he's modeling the camouflage onesie that Dick got for him.

At his one-year check-up.  Seriously, it doesn't get much cuter than this!!!

Except maybe this - smiling in his sleep!

Have a good rest of the week!

Zimwits, scarves, and snow

It's Wednesday morning and I'm sitting here listening to the wind whipping the snow around outside. I really don't know how much snow we got in this March storm -  less than the 12 inches they were forecasting, but it's enough, especially with the wind now.  It's currently 16 degrees and our schools are closed for the second day.   I hope our daffodils are surviving under the snow.  Here's one picture from yesterday - Dick's shed.

Saturday was a fun day.  Dick worked until noon, then I met him at the Weis Markets parking lot.  Lori met us there too with Austin.  We were taking him with us to the Zimwit gathering.  He's an easy traveler - he slept half the way and played on his iPad the other half.   

The Zimwit gathering was held, as usual, at a youth center in Myerstown (Lebanon County).  What a GREAT facility for a family gathering - a big gym, foosball and other games, a huge room for eating and socializing.  Austin had the greatest time, mostly in the gym.  But he even played a game of Life with me and won again.  He and my sister Doris's grandson Aiden really had fun together.  It made us grandmas feel good to see our boys connecting like that.  

All that good food available, but Austin's preference was peanut butter crackers.  And my peanut butter rice krispie treats.  At least he got some protein!

These twins were so cute!  They are my stepbrother Roy's grandsons. 

A three-generation back rub to finish off the evening!

And here is the beloved matriarch of our combined tribe, dear Grandma Mary.  We're so happy that she is feeling better!

We headed home around 7:45, very aware that the time would be changing to Daylight Saving and we would be losing an hour!  Austin had his heart set on stopping at a McDonalds because on the way down we had used the restroom at a McDonalds and he saw the Hot Wheels cars they were offering with Happy Meals.  We told him that maybe we would stop on the way back home.  So right after we left the reunion we went to a nearby McDonalds.  He really wanted a certain car, but unfortunately they had just two choices, neither of them the one he had his heart set on.  So he took a while to choose between those two and was obviously very disappointed.  While we waited for our order the SWEET teenage guy who had taken our order came to the front holding two more Hot Wheels cars of a different color than the two they had offered.  One of the them was the very one Austin wanted!  The look on Austin's face was priceless!  Another employee asked where he had found those.  He said he had gone to the back and rummaged through a big box of them!  I could not thank him enough and Austin gave him a very sincere thank you too.  Bless that young man's heart!!!!

It was very late when I went to bed, but alas, I had been drinking iced tea at the reunion and then Mountain Dew on the drive home, so guess what?  I could NOT sleep!!  I guess I did sleep eventually for at least a few hours.  

When I walked into our bathroom in the wee hours of the morning the full moon greeted me through the skylight!

We went to Fillmore as usual (8:15 am service, yikes!) then we went to Mt. Nittany UMC.  The combined praise teams of Mt. Nittany and Houserville sang the song Whom Shall I Fear (Angel Armies) to introduce their congregation to our upcoming combined Lenten services on Wednesday evenings.  

Dick and I napped and lazed around all afternoon then went for groceries in the evening, finishing off the day with Dairy Queen cones.  Yummmm.  

On Monday I got a very special package in the mail - the scarf I am wearing on this photo.  

Last week I was made aware of an article in the Lancaster Newspaper about a ministry begun by Audra Witmer Peifer.  Sounds like she'd be related to me, right?  Wrong!  Actually, when we first went to Grace Community Fellowship in Manheim in 1987 Audra's dad Dave was our pastor and her grandpa Howard was our bishop.  Audra was just a little girl!  

Here's the link to the newspaper article.

I was so impressed that I immediately ordered a scarf and asked for information about volunteering to make scarves.  I don't have time to do it at this point, but I truly hope that sometime I will.  For those of you who don't have time to read the article, here are brief excerpts:

"Our scarves start as discarded clothing or unwanted fabric," she says.  "We take the clothing and fabric and cut it up to fit our scarf pattern and size.  After the pieces are cut to size, our volunteers design and pair the fabric together to create a one-of-a-kind scarf."

The paired scarves are stitched together by volunteer seamstresses, tags are sewn into the scarves, and the items are ready to be sold.  Each scarf sold sends $10 - half of the case - to two ministries in Thailand that provide refuge homes for human trafficking victims.  

"Ten dollars in Thailand pays for 10 meals or five shirts or four months of toiletries for the girls at the homes," she says. "It is truly amazing how far one scarf goes."

And now for a few more pictures from yesterday.  This was my car yesterday morning.  Even though Dick cleaned it off yesterday afternoon it looks about the same way again this morning. 

This majestic tree is right outside our kitchen window.

Last evening the wind was blowing so the street was covered over again, just as it still is this morning.  

Whether or not we have a Lenten service this evening remains to be seen.  At this point I really have no desire to go anywhere until Spring returns!

We're looking forward to having Dick's brother Steve and his wife Faye here this weekend.  We've only been talking about doing this for the past six years, haha!  I guess we just weren't old enough before!