Fun and fall and summer all in a week!

I'll start off this week with a picture of the mums Dick got at Way Fruit Farm on Saturday.  They're so big and beautiful!  It seems like we get mums each fall and plant them, but they never come up the next year.  I'm wondering if it's because we have too many other perennials that come up first and get so thick that the mums get choked out.  But we're going to try again.  We'll probably have to thin things out again next spring.

In the middle of September our next door neighbors told us that they were moving and that they had sold their house to someone who would be moving it elsewhere.  It's an older mobile home, and the management of our community is working on replacing older homes with new ones.  I was excited when they first of all tore down the shed which always seemed to be in the way of my sunrise pictures.  Next the enclosed porch was torn down.  For a few days it looked like a hurricane had blown through.  There were weeks that nothing at all was happening and we wondered if it would actually be moved at all.  At last it was put on wheels, but then it sat like that for several more days.  

And THEN!  Last Thursday morning when I was back in our bedroom and bathroom getting ready for Bible study that house left and I MISSED IT!!  I could not believe it when I came out to the kitchen and looked out my sink window!!  Didn't they know I needed to have that last picture of it leaving??  Dick was disappointed too.  Now it just looks like this until a new one is put there.  

Thursdays are again a full day for me.  I go to Bible study at Calvary in the morning, and I love it so much.  Sherilyn Jamison is the teacher, and she's so real and raw and dynamic.  We're studying Hebrews 11 this semester.  

Afterward I usually make a few stops before going home, then I work on choir stuff in the afternoon. I have exercise class from 5:15 to 6:15 and then choir practice at 7:15.  We're working on a new Christmas musical from Brentwood Benson called Good News from Home.  We love the songs and the arrangements.  We always practice the musical first, then our Sunday morning stuff, and then the praise band practices after that, so it's a long evening.  We've added a high school senior, Nicholas, to our praise band.  He plays guitar with Ross.  There's no better way to learn to play than with a group!

On Friday evening I offered to take the boys to GBRV's spaghetti supper.  Austin wasn't in the mood, so we took just Hunter.  Of course we couldn't take him home from that without some playtime at our house.   He loves coming here.  I know I say it all the time, but seriously - he is the cutest, sweetest, most content toddler ever!  

Saturday was a catch-up day for me here at home.  

Sunday was a full day.   At GBRV the choir sang "Oh Happy Day" and everyone loved it, of course.  There also was a baby baptism/dedication.  The church has a ministry of giving out baby blessing bags to expectant parents who tour the maternity ward at Mt. Nittany Hospital one Thursday evening per month.  A few months ago this young couple and their baby started attending services as a result of that outreach.  A lot of their friends and family came to the service on Sunday.

By the way, please notice the flowers!  Those are my flowers in memory of my dad.  

We then went to Calvary for their service.  Pastor Dan Nold's messages never fail to touch me deeply and make me feel "pushed" in a good way.  

Afterward Calvary had their annual Fall Fest.  It was a warm beautiful day.  Maybe a bit too warm, but so much better than last year when it was cool and drizzling.  

There were two food trucks, but there should have been ten!  The line was SO LONG!  I think I was in line for an hour!

At least there was free Kettle Korn, chips, and water! 

Lori's childhood friend Yvette, her two children, and her mother came from NYC to spend the weekend at Anthony and Lori's.  On Sunday evening we had a cookout with them.  Lots and lots of fun.  Yvette grew up in Jamaica until age 15.  Lori's parents came to NYC from Jamaica before Lori was born.  And me - I went to Jamaica with a Choraleers team right after high school graduation.  I loved describing to them the various places on the island that our team had sung, and they knew where I was talking about.  

Anthony gave Austin his first wood-splitting lesson.

Later the kids wanted to go into the hot tub.  But FIRST the boys had to "go."  How easy was this?  Hahahaha!

They had a great time in the hot tub.  We adults tried to hear ourselves talk over top of their boisterous noise.

I got this shot on the way over to their place.

The weather this week has been almost like summer!  I just love it.  Any time I can wear capris and sandals I am happy!

They say we're getting a big change at the end of the week though.  And of course Michael barreling towards the Florida panhandle is causing concern.  I have some very dear friends whom I met here in blogland years ago who could be in the storm's path. I pray that it will lose strength before it hits land tomorrow.