Getting ready for Stauffer Camping

I woke up before 5:00 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep.  Second morning in a row, ugh!!  But I did have a reward when I finally gave up and came out to the kitchen for my first cup of coffee.  A sunrise!  Hadn't seen one of those for a while because they're so crazy early these days.

Ever since my last post on Saturday I have been pretty much preparing for this upcoming weekend - the annual Stauffer Camping with Dick's family.  This year it is our turn to be in charge of the Sunday morning worship.  So last Saturday I worked on that, deciding on the songs we will sing, making copies for everyone, and making sure I had someone lined up to do something with the kids while we adults have sharing time around the fire.  

On Sunday afternoon Dick brought our little pop-up camper home from storage and we had a horrible surprise.  Despite the bars of Irish Spring soap we had put in it to chase the mice away, we discovered that mice had actually eaten the soap and partied in our camper all winter.  What a MESS!!  So we spent the rest of Sunday scrubbing, vacuuming (with a shop vac - didn't want that stuff in my good vacuum cleaner), and laundering everything. 

But alas, when I went into the camper on Monday morning it still reeked of mouse odor.  So I did a search on Amazon and ordered OdoBan, which was Amazon's choice.  Then I needed to email our niece Laura about something else and mentioned our mouse issue.  She called and told me about a product, ClenAir, which her husband's company uses and can also be purchased from Amazon.  She said they have used it with great success.  So I ordered that too. 

Both products arrived already on Tuesday.  I put the ClenAir odor neutralizer in the camper at 11 AM, and when I came home at 3:00 in the afternoon I couldn't smell any mouse odor at all!!  I couldn't believe it!  However, on Wednesday morning, after everything had been closed up and the sun was hot, I walked into the camper and there was still a faint mouse odor.  So I opened up the box of OdoBan products and put that odor neutralizer in the camper too.  Last evening I again vacuumed everything with my good vacuum cleaner and sprayed the disinfectant on all the upholstery and canvas walls.  I went out there this morning, and it smells fresh and clean.   I know one thing, that camper is cleaner than it's ever been since we own it!  And it won't stay that way long!

Other things I've done this week were lots of shopping for camping food and supplies, planning, writing.  Austin has an all-day Ninja camp this week at a new facility a few miles from our house.  So pretty much each day I've been picking him up at 5, then picking Hunter up from daycare and taking them home along with any food I prepared for them.  

On Tuesday evening Dick was going to be grilling the breakfast sausages for Saturday morning at camp.  (We'll have 30-some people to feed, and Saturday breakfast will be our responsibility.  We've found it to be easier to make the sausages ahead of time and reheat them in a pot over the fire, so we can just concentrate on making the pancakes.)  Before he got started he decided to bring our three cooler chests into the house, and in the process of trying to carry two of them at the same time he started to lose his balance and jammed his hand against the edge of our front door.  He heard something crack, and his ring finger was sticking off at an angle.  So it was the ER all evening instead of grilling sausages.  He came home much later with a splint and a hand specialist's name to contact.  He just saw the hand specialist this morning and will have a more stabilizing splint.  Thankfully he will not need surgery.  Whew!!  

So on Wednesday I did all those sausages on the electric griddle instead - 162 of them!!  Stauffers, you can eat plenty of sausages!

This morning I made this delicious blueberry sauce that I make each year.  I tripled the recipe.  Sometimes when I don't feel like looking for a recipe that I may have printed out before, it's just easier to look it up online on my phone and take a screenshot of it.

So that's all for this time, believe it or not!  I'll post sometime next week with plenty of stories and pictures. 

Wonderful times with our parents and grandchildren, Father's Day weekend, Crystal's funeral, Hunter reads books!

It's a gorgeous Saturday morning!  I wish I could sit on the porch to blog, but I don't have a laptop and blogging from my phone is too slow and frustrating, so I'll open the window and pretend I'm outside.  

Thursday, June 13
I've got over a week of pictures and stories to catch up on.  In my last post I said that I would be going to Lancaster County for a couple of days since Lori and the boys had gone to visit her parents in NYC.  I left early afternoon on Thursday and went to pick up Destiny, arriving at her place near Columbia at 4:00.  She needed some work pants, so we went first of all to Salvation Army in Lancaster.  We laughed at the fact that I used to find school uniform pants for her at this store and now we were looking for work uniform pants!  She works at Y&S Candies, so think of her every time you eat a Twizzler! 

We had no luck finding pants there, so we tried Walmart, but no luck there either.  We were running out of time, so we ditched our pants-finding efforts and went to nearby Dragon Hibachi & Sushi Buffet to eat.   A girl's gotta eat before working a 12-hour night shift! Isn't she just the cutest???

It started raining hard on our way to her job and I wasn't allowed to drop her off at a door.  There are specific parking spots for dropping people off.  Thankfully I had two umbrellas in the car, so I gave her one of them and we said our goodbyes till the next time.  I love her so very much.  

From there I went to my sister Mary Ellen's house in East Petersburg.  It was still raining, so I used my other umbrella to walk into her house.  When I got to her door, she said, "There's my umbrella I lost!"  Can you believe it???  Apparently she had left it at my house over a year ago.  One time I found it hanging on a hook under a jacket inside our front door.  I thought, "I wonder whose umbrella this is?"  I had no idea.  But I tried it out and I liked it.  It has been my favorite umbrella ever since, hahaha!!  I reluctantly gave it back to her Thursday evening, but that's not the end of the umbrella story!

She had gotten her living room painted recently and I wanted to see it.  We had a nice evening relaxing and talking and laughing.  I played her piano for a bit too.

Then I went to my brother Dick and his wife Nancy's house just a few miles away to spend the night.   I enjoyed driving those few miles.  It used to be part of my bus route in the 80's when I drove our children's school bus for three years.  

We talked just a bit, but I was ready to sleep.  I loved seeing this chair when I walked into their guest bedroom.  It was our chair at home when I was growing up.  I miss my mom when I see it.

Friday, June 14
On Friday morning I had some good coffee and conversation in Dick and Nancy's kitchen, then I packed up and went to Park City Mall.  I had just one store I wanted to visit - Boscov's.  I miss that store so much since we live up here.  I could have spent hours in it.  (I got this photo off the internet and took a screen shot.)

From there I drove the very familiar Route 72 up through East Petersburg, past our first house there, past the church we attended the first 15 years of our marriage (Kauffman Mennonite), through the town of Manheim, past the school where I taught for twenty-some years (Manheim Christian Day School), past the church of my childhood where my dad was pastor (Hernley Mennonite), and then to Dick's dad's house.  

We had lunch together.  Arlene had made really delicious lasagna.  After lunch Dad decided to mow his yard.  He gets very bored and that's an activity he can still do.  Almost 94 years old!

From there I drove across the country roads of Lebanon County to visit Grandma Mary at Richland Christian Home.  Just the day prior her daughter-in-law Crystal Zimmerman had passed away (more about that later in this post), and the day before that Mary's good friend Edna had passed away.  So we had much to talk about.  We shed some tears, but of course we laughed too.  When I took our selfie I told her that if I held my phone higher it might make our faces look thinner, hahaha!

When I left her place I really needed gas in my van, and I knew I had 60 cents off per gallon from Giant, so I really wanted to go to a Giant Fuel station.  I googled and found one at the north end of Lebanon.  I got there and gassed up, then realized I wasn't far from Walmart where Mary Ellen said she had gotten that umbrella.  So I went there, and guess what??  I found one just like it!  I sent this picture to her and said, "Look!  We have matching umbrellas!"  I feel like I should give her the new one though since I've given hers a year's worth of wear.  And believe me, there's been plenty of wear this past rainy year!

From there I drove back across the miles of country roads to Bjorn and Jess's sweet little apartment between Manheim and Elizabethtown.  I totally forgot to take any pictures of it.  It's a walk-in basement apartment with a great view of the countryside, a sunroom, and a patio.  Perfect for a hard-working college couple. 

We went to Divine Swine BBQ for dinner and had a great time talking, eating, and catching up.  I just love them so much!!

And then I hit the road for home.  Around 10:00 I called Dick to let him know my approximate arrival time.  When we finished talking I put my phone down.  After a while it sounded like someone was talking and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from.  It wasn't my radio.  Then I looked at my phone.  It was lit up and said I was calling Grandma Mary!!  What???  That person talking was the greeting on her voicemail!  I accidentally called her at 10:00 PM????  I felt horrible and hung up quickly.  I assumed I had probably woken her up and she probably thought there was an emergency.  THEN my phone rang and it was her calling me!  I answered and explained what happened and apologized.  She said, "You can talk to me.  I wasn't sleeping yet, I had just crawled into bed.  But I couldn't find my phone!  When I did find it I was saying, 'Hello? Hello?'"  Well, we just laughed and laughed.  And then said goodnight.  I hope I'm that good natured when I'm 91!


Saturday, June 15
My bed felt good that night!  On Saturday I gave my house a good cleaning because we were getting company!  After Sam got off work at 3:00 he and the kids came up here.  I hadn't had time to cook anything and we knew that places would be full on Sunday, so we decided to do our Father's Day meal out that evening.   We decided on Hoss's.  It would have been nice to have Anthony join us, but he was on the coffee crew at Calvary's Saturday evening service.  

The kids made Father's Day cards for Sam on the back of their placemats.  

When we got home the big bathtub was calling their names!  I'd gotten some new tub toys and they were thrilled.  

When they were finished and we came out to the kitchen, look what we saw!  First time Cookie ever got up that high, haha!!  He stayed up there for a long time, even slept part of the time.  Cats!!

Sunday, June 16
The next morning the kids came with us to our service at GBRV.  I LOVE having them along.  Everyone enjoys them so much.  Bianca stands behind me while I play piano and makes up her own interpretive dances.  I always wish I could see her, and this time my friend Cindy took a couple of videos and sent them to me.  Unfortunately I can't figure out how to share them except in FB messenger.  

For lunch we had chili and all the fixin's.  We invited Anthony over, but he was enjoying his down time.  Sam and Dick were watching the World Cup Women's Soccer.  Sammy wanted to play Monopoly.  He had never played it.  I had played in ONE TIME - in 2004 with Bjorn and Katrina when they were 8 and 11 years old!  And Bjorn had beat the pants off me!  There was even a pen in the box, probably from 2004, hahahah!!  

WELL!!  Sammy LOVED this game.  We played it for hours and hours and never did finish.  After the World Cup game was over Sam and Bianca and Dick all took naps.  Not Sammy and me.  We played Monopoly!  When Bianca came out from her nap and saw us she said, "You guys are still playing this game??"  She seemed disappointed, and I realized I needed to do something with her.  So we decided to quit the game.  Sammy had a lot more cash than I did, but I had a lot more properties.  So we weren't sure who had won.  But he loved all his $100 bills!  

I did a puzzle with Bianca while Dick did a home-made version of Scrabble with Sammy.  It had been a cool, rainy day.  But just when they were packing things up to leave, the sun came out!  We decided to go to Airport Park before they left.  We had the most fun after a day of being inside.

Then we had to come back to our house for a few more things, and we said our goodbyes till the next time.  It was indeed a happy Father's Day!

Monday, June 17
Monday was a regular day of food prep and then piano lessons.  I also had Austin part of the day and took him to his Ninja camp at 2:00.  I went to bed earlier than usual that night because we were getting a really early start on Tuesday morning.  

Tuesday, June 18
We left at 7:00 AM Tuesday and drove to Ephrata Community Church in Lancaster County for Crystal Zimmerman's funeral.  Crystal Stauffer was Dick's second cousin, about 14 years younger than he.  Just a few months after my dad got married to Mary in 1983, her son Jay Zimmerman got married to Crystal!  So she became my step sister-in-law!  

Crystal had struggled with Lupus and kidney failure ever since 1990, having two kidney transplants, one of them from Jay.  They have two adult children and four grandchildren.  But you never would have known about her struggles from talking with her!  She was always interested in others and was the sweetest, funnest girl!!  When we learned a month ago that her kidney was failing again and there could not be another transplant and she had chosen to go home and enjoy the rest of her life with her family, we were really sad.  I was on my way to Lancaster County last Thursday when I heard that she had already died that morning at home with Jay by her side.  

Her funeral was so beautiful and very emotional as we watched a slideshow of many, many pictures of her enjoying her family.  Her daughter, her sister, her pastor, some of Grandma Mary's other sons shared their memories and tributes.  

After the burial there was a meal.  Here Jay (in blue) is sitting with his brother Pastor Lester Zimmerman. 

Grandma Mary was sitting at a table with her sons Carl and Marvin and their wives.  As I came over to take a picture I just happened to catch her like this.  How we laughed!!  Marvin had some wise crack about what she supposedly was saying to him back in the day.

So many losses of loved ones, but still life and laughter remains.  

We enjoyed sitting with Crystal's uncle Elam Stauffer and his daughter Gloria.  When Elam was around ten years old he came to live with Dick's parents.  (Dick was just a toddler at the time.)  Elam's dad had died and his mother had to let relatives help her care for her children.  Years later Elam and his wife Doris were missionaries in Central America and adopted their two children Gloria and Luis.  Dick and I were newly wed at that time.  Some years later (when Lisa and Anthony were little) their family lived with us for two weeks while they were on fulough.  Later they settled in Ohio, near Columbus.  Gloria and her husband started a ministry in Costa Rica, where they still are.  Luis and his wife have a successful interior design company in Columbus.  Elam's wife Doris passed away around '05, but he has continued in ministry in Ohio and comes to PA to visit family regularly.  I took this picture of Elam and Gloria on Tuesday.  She would be driving back to Ohio yet that evening (8 hours) and flying back home to Costa Rica early the next morning!!  (She told me the next day that they got to Ohio at 11 PM and she didn't sleep at all until she was on her plane at 6 AM.)

After the meal that day Dick and I went to visit his parents for a while.  It was fun, because Arlene's brother Robert and his wife Jean stopped in too while we were there.  Lots of good conversation!  Before we left Arlene asked if we would like to have Dick's mother's Bible.  Wow!!  Would we ever!  I didn't even realize it was still around.  I had such a good time looking through it on our way home.  I still haven't checked everything out.  One very interesting thing was a 13-page handwritten letter from me.  I had written it a month before she died in 1981, expressing my great appreciation for her and sharing many memories from the 14 years I had known her.  Many of the things I have since forgotten, even that I had ever written that letter!  So it was incredible to read and remember!  

Another thing was a letter she had written to be read at her funeral.  Dick said he read it at the funeral but broke down at the end and had to have me finish it.  Why do I not remember that????  But when you see what she wrote at the end you'll know why he broke down.  So very, very precious. 

The rest of the week
I had Austin here each day the rest of this week.  He had Ninja camp from 2:00 - 4:00 each day, which i took him to and picked him up from.  This is how he usually looked when I picked him up - hot and sweaty!

I haven't posted any pictures of the food I cooked lately, and this post is already hopelessly too long, so why not?  Here's a picture of the Beef and Bok Choy Stirfry I made for Anthony and Lori yesterday.  Trust me, it was scrumptious!

After I picked Austin up from Ninja yesterday I picked Hunter up from daycare and brought them here for an hour or two.   We ate the hamburgers I had picked up from Burger King.  Dick had gone straight to their place to mow after work.  Anthony and Lori were having a date night. 

After a while the boys and I went over to their place.  Dick was just finishing mowing and it was a PERFECT evening for hanging out at the pond.   Here's the view from each end of the pond. 

Swinging with Grandpa!

After we were inside the house I had to run outside a couple of times to capture the sunset. 

Sitting on their porch and watching this is a divine experience.

I have a video to share yet.  Hunter's ability to read (at age 3) and his voracious appetite for words and books is beyond anything we've ever seen.  He wanted to take some books along in the car last evening, so I grabbed two books that I had gotten for Destiny to read when she was in kindergarten.  One of them, "We Eat Dinner in the Bathtub," is hilarious and has entertained every grandchild since.  However, I had not yet ever read it to Hunter.  I realized as we drove that he was reading the book aloud to himself.  When he got to a word he didn't know he would spell it to me and I would tell him what it was.  Words like "kitchen," "dining room," "attic."  Later I had him read the book to Dick so I could make a video.   I'm sorry we had some issues with turning the pages, etc.  And you'll have to excuse Grandpa's shoes, haha!!  But this is just amazing.  

Whew!!  This was a looooong post!!  I don't blame anybody for not having the time to read my blog.  I'll still post anyway, because I don't want to forget this stuff!

Beautiful summer, lots of time with Austin

Weekly update time!  Last week's blog post was all about my weekend with my sisters Mary Ellen and Doris.  There were actually a number of things I skipped over, so I'll add them into this post.  First of all, I took the picture of this beautiful flower on Lori's porch about two weeks ago, and it's still as beautiful as ever.  I LOVE that color so much!

Last week I picked Hunter up from daycare one day and this is how I found him.  Reading a book aloud, word for word, as he followed each word with his finger.  We are as amazed as anyone at his ability to remember almost everything he hears or sees.  Yesterday Lori's sister (from Atlanta) was at their house and gave him a Dr. Seuss book.  She said he read the entire book as soon as she gave it to him and knew every word!  I told Anthony that I remember his second grade teacher telling us that whenever she needed to leave the classroom to copy papers or whatever, she would sit him in front of the class to read a book to them.  I think Hunter's kindergarten teacher will be able to have him read to the class, lol!!

Another thing I did not include in last week's post was the "tea" I attended right after my sisters left for home that Sunday.  At GBRV we had a ladies tea.  I had found a few songs about spring and summer in an old Lutheran hymnal I have from my childhood days at Manheim Christian (Yes! We had a Lutheran hymnal at a Mennonite school, haha!  I'm sure they must have been free!)  So the ladies from the choir sang those songs with me as we wore our fancy matching fascinators on our heads.  My friend Vicky had made them.  I don't know if anyone took a picture of us.  The food was AMAZING!!!  Someone put a lot of work into all those fancy little sandwiches and goodies.

Last week school ended for Austin, and at this point he hasn't started in any summer camps, so he's been my buddy pretty often.  On Friday he decided that we need a deck here at our house.  I said, "They cost thousands of dollars."  He said, "No, I mean you could buy the things and Grandpa could build it.  I'll show you what I mean."  So he proceeded to draw up this plan for our deck!  I should have taken a video of him explaining it to me.  He knew exactly how many of each post and piece of lumber, etc.  I think we have a future architect here!!

My front flower bed is looking better than it ever has, thanks to Dick's green thumb and hard work.  Actually, this picture is almost a week old.  The lilies have gotten a lot taller.  Pretty soon they'll be showing off their dark red and bright yellow flowers.  And hopefully, the impatiens in front will do a lot better than they did last summer.  We just had way too much rain last year.  

Remember when Austin insisted we buy the pack of dark red sunflower seeds?  He's been checking out by the shed where Dick planted them every day he's been here.  Just yesterday the first chutes popped through the soil!  He hasn't seen them yet.  He'll be so excited!  

Last Friday evening I was sitting here at my computer and I noticed that a FB friend in Lebanon County had just posted a picture of a vibrant sunset.  So I quickly looked out the window and ran outside with my phone.   Later a lot of people posted pictures of the sunset.  I love that we were seeing the same beautiful sky as people who were several hours away from here! 

This was the weekend of the annual yard sale here in our community.   I did not feel like taking the time to sit out front selling stuff, so on Friday morning I set up my card table with a huge "FREE" sign taped to it.  I put a bunch of stuff out there, adding more stuff as there was room.  I got rid of all of it!!  Easy peazy!!   

On Saturday morning I had fun walking up the street looking at peoples' things and meeting our neighbors.  I found something for Austin for $5.00 that you'll see later in this post.  I cleaned the house and got other necessary stuff done around here in the afternoon.   Dick worked in the morning and then was over at Anthony and Lori's for most of the day, mowing and working on the "hunting shack" that he and another guy are building in Anthony's woods.  I'll tell you more about that some other time.  He's very excited about it!  

It was another beautiful evening and Dick didn't get home till around 8 pm.  I sat out on the side porch, feeling a little bored.  So I entertained myself with these wild Snapchat friends, hahahaha!

On Sunday we went to our service at GBRV and then to Calvary.  In the afternoon at 3:00 we had a "hymn sing" and fruit fest at GBRV.  For almost an hour I played piano as people called out the number of the hymn they liked.  We sang first and last verse of each one.  There was only one that I wasn't quite sure I knew, but I figured it out!

Lori left for a work trip, so Dick and I went over to their place for a while afterward.  We were bringing Austin here for the next few nights.  Before we left with him we went down to the pond so Austin could do his favorite thing.  He loves to catch frogs in the net, hold them for a while, then release them back into the water.  As I sat watching him I was overwhelmed by the beauty of everything.  There was a lovely breeze and the fragrance of honeysuckle, the sound of the birds, the music of a live band at the nearby VFW wafting up the hill, so much beauty all around!  

We stopped for groceries at the new Giant on the way to our place and got a new toy for the cats.  Austin had so much fun!  Cookie, usually the lazy old man cat, came to LIFE trying to catch that thing!! 

On Monday I showed Austin my yard sale purchase and he built a remote control car.   It worked!  Another time he decided to build his own thing without following the instructions and ended up with the "tank" in the lower right picture.  

Another thing he worked on was his next project for Kids' Day at Arts Fest in July.  He's making spinners, each one decorated differently.  He told me a song he wanted me to find on YouTube that he likes to listen to when he works.  I found a video of the same song playing over and over for 10 hours, haha!!  Trust me, he didn't do this for ten hours!  And I need to work on his pitch!  He needs a good music teacher, hahaha!!

On Tuesday morning I had a hair appointment.  Lori had told me to see if anyone there would have time to do Austin.  So while my color was processing, my girl cut Austin's hair.  Of course, his iPad entertained him the rest of the time.  I'm lucky I got that smile.  Almost every picture I tried to take for his mom ended up being a silly one, sticking his tongue out.  Boys!!

Later we picked Hunter up from daycare, then took Austin to his Ninja class.  Hunter accompanied me to the grocery store, then we picked Austin up from his class (he was a HOT, sweaty boy!!), got some Burger King, and headed over to Stauffer Acres.  Daddy took over then, and Lori got home later that evening, along with her sister from Atlanta.  

Today the sisters and the boys are leaving for New York till Sunday to visit the other grandparents.  

Yesterday I made a big pot of potato cheese soup and bran raisin muffins for the guys.  Anthony and Dick will both be batching it.  While Lori and the boys are away I'm going down home to spend some time with loved ones.  I'm kind of winging it, since this is a last minute plan.  I know I'm sleeping at my brother's place tonight.  And I'm going to be with Destiny later this afternoon.  The rest I'll plan as I go!  

One more thing!  When Austin was three, Lori had sent me an audio file via text message of Austin singing "You Are My Sunshine."  I remember how my heart MELTED when I heard it.  This past  weekend I was looking for something from Spring 2012 on my blog and came across my attempt to share the audio file.  It did not work.  I decided to go to my computer files and put "audio file" in the search bar.  Would you believe, when I clicked on the very first file at the top of the list I found it!!!  I decided to find a picture of him at that age and make a video while listening to the song, so it would be sharable and easier to find.  So you see, there was a time he sang in pitch!  He's not a lost cause, hahaha!!  

Sister Weekend 2019

I have the perfect opportunity today to share all the stories and pictures from this past weekend with my sisters, but my phone and photos and iCloud are not cooperating with my computer this morning.  So I'll start writing and hope I can add pictures later.

On Friday morning I was hurrying to get the last cleaning done as I kept up to date with my sisters' trip from Lancaster County.  When they arrived right around noon I was ready and waiting for them on my front porch.  (I sat there on purpose because last year they arrived here before I got home from Anthony and Lori's place.  They were sitting on the porch and I did not notice them there.  I must have been taking my good old time gathering up all my stuff in my car, having no idea they were watching me, and by the time I did they were bursting with giggles.)  So this time I was hoping they would not notice me, but they did before they even pulled into my driveway and were already laughing their heads off when they got out of the car.  It doesn't take much to amuse us, as you can tell, hahaha!

First thing on our agenda was lunch at our beloved little Sowers Harvest Cafe.  We got our favorite table again in front of the big picture that makes us feel like we're eating at a sidewalk cafe in Italy!

From there we went over to Anthony and Lori's to be with Austin when he got home from school.  Before he got there, Anthony took Doris and Mary Ellen on a tour of his Texas Blues Alley barn.  I stayed on the main floor to watch for Austin's van, so I did not get pictures of the lower and upper floors.  But I took a few of the main floor where he makes his videos (see the big cameras hanging from the ceiling) and where we watch football, etc on the big screen. 

When Austin got home we of course decided to go down to the pond, but first of all Mary Ellen wanted to try out the swing.  She did great!  Then Austin showed her how it's really done!

We tried the other swing too, all three of us!  Austin obliged and took our picture.  Bless him, it was like being with three grandmas at once, hahaha!

At the pond we were happy to let Austin trek all around it with his net while we sat on the bench and enjoyed the glorious sunshine and breeze.  To have good weather on our sister weekend is a rare occurrence and we were basking in it!  Eventually that umbrella went up.  It was actually getting hot!

Later we went up to the house and enjoyed some time on the porch.  I think Mary Ellen might have caught a few zzzz's!

After we left their place we stopped at Wegmans for some groceries, then went to my house.  I made Spanish Country Soup (a lot like Italian Wedding Soup) and we ate that with some crusty bread we'd gotten at Wegmans. 

After our late dinner we went to my computer for a while so I could show them the pictures of some of our Witmer cousins' adult children that I had found in my Facebook searches.  We have so many relatives all over the country that we do not know.  The Witmer family (from our grandparents down) numbers over 1000 people, I think. 

Our entertainment that evening was Mamma Mia! (the first one).   I had never seen that movie, and just recently a friend had loaned me the DVD.  We got lots of good laughs.  Gotta love Meryl Streep!  And some good couches and some good sisters to giggle with.  Dick was sleeping over at the guest apartment at Anthony and Lori's.

In the morning I made my bacon, eggs and hash brown scramble.  Eventually we got ourselves showered and dressed for the day.  Our first order of business was a walk through the arboretum.  In lovely sunny weather!!  Woohoo!!  Last year we were freezing (in May!) when we went there.  Two years ago we couldn't even go because of the cold wind and rain (also in May!) 

So here are a bunch of photos I took.

Of course we need to document every place we go and everything we do with a sister picture!  

I CRACKED UP when I saw this picture taken by Mary Ellen!!!  I have no idea what was going on here.  I can't remember being mad about anything, but I surely wasn't looking happy, hahaha!!  I was probably saying, "Did you take a picture of me??"  (Interpreted, did you take a picture of me and I wasn't even holding in my gut??)

It was mid afternoon by the time we left and quite hot.  We weren't extremely hungry, but a little bit.  We got the great idea of cooling off with ice cream at nearby Berkey Creamery.  Last year we were freezing as we ate that ice cream, ugh!  But not this time!  We got a table under an umbrella, Doris with her Peachy Paterno ice cream, Mary Ellen and I with our WPSU Coffee Break cones, and we sat there soaking up all the goodness.  

Then we went to Macy's at the mall.  They have brought their petite department back!  Mary Ellen was in her glory!  I didn't really need anything, so I looked around a bit then found a seat in the shoe department and rested my weary feet.  After a while Doris joined me too.  When Mary Ellen came looking for a place to pay for her purchase she snapped a picture of us. 

We had been thinking of going over to Anthony and Lori's to have a cookout of our own (they were at a baby shower), but we weren't in the mood for being hot and dirty.  Dick was over at their place mowing and cutting down brush for a project he has in mind, and we would have needed him to make the fire, etc.  Anyway, it all sounded like too much work and too hot.  So we went home to my air conditioned house and lazed around inside for a while.  Thanks, Mary Ellen, for this lovely picture,  haha!!

Later we took a big bag of blue corn chips and a few varieties of hummus from Wegmans and some grapes with us to the side porch.  There was a nice breeze and we sat out there for a long time talking and mostly laughing, I think.  And trying to figure out how to make the airdrop thingy work amongst all our phones.  In case you're wondering what that Swiffer mop is doing in the collage below, let me tell you!  How were we going to get a good porch picture without Dick there to take it for us?  I went inside to look for something that I could sit my phone on top of for a timed picture.  And that's what I came up with.  I propped it against the door, then propped my phone on top of it, and voila!!  We got that top picture!!  Where there's a will, there's a way!  Actually, I kind of like how the Swiffer mop matches the chip bag, and I didn't even try that!

Dick was coming home all tired and sweaty, and I didn't want to ask him to fire up the grill, so I made our chicken breasts under the broiler.  All four of us sat around the tiny kitchen table to eat our chicken breast sandwiches and potato chips.  I have no idea what time it was by that time, and I don't think anyone got a picture of it.  

Later we tried to watch Mary Poppins Returns, just because I have the DVD, but we were all falling asleep. So we called it a night shortly after 10 PM.  

Sunday morning came soon enough anyway.  We went first of all to our service at GBRV.  Mary Ellen took this picture of our praise team doing the prelude.  Good grief, do I have to look so grouchy???  I'm going to have to work on my resting face.

From there we went to Calvary.  Here are two pictures Doris and Mary Ellen took.  As you can see, it was a cooler, cloudier day.

After the service we enlisted Austin again to take pictures of the grandmas.  We got some good laughs when we saw the photo bomber in the background.  And also when we saw how Mary Ellen seemed to be giving Doris's sweater a disapproving glance.  She most certainly did not disaprove of that beautiful sweater, so we don't know what that glance was all about.  

We went to Mexicana Plaza Grill for lunch with Anthony and Lori's family.  Their food is so delicious!  How do you like Lori's glasses??  She looks so modern and classy!  Hunter was his usual adorable self. 

Then we went home so they could get packed up.  I think Mary Ellen took a five minute nap.  She declared that was enough!  (????)   Dick was there this time to take our front porch picture.  

And then they were off.  Another sister weekend in the books!  This morning when I was waiting for my photo issues to clear up (which they did on their own eventually), I worked on a collage of pictures from all the years Doris and Mary Ellen have come to State College for sister weekends, starting in 2012.  We three are the "Pennsylvania sisters."  In 2015 all the sisters came, including Barb from Idaho, Betty from New Hampshire, and Rose from Georgia.  Nancy, our brother's wife (also PA) was here too that time.  We're looking forward to another such weekend in July at Dick and Nancy's house.  Several times this weekend we mentioned how much we still miss Janet.  Soon fifteen years since she left this life so suddenly in her sleep.  Still so hard to believe.  

Have a great rest of the week!