Sibling Weekend 2019

This past weekend we had our bi-annual sibling reunion.  On Friday morning I heard that Barb had arrived from Idaho, Rose was leaving from the Atlanta airport, and Betty was about to leave for her road trip from New Hampshire - brave lady!  I left mid-afternoon from State College and later we all descended upon Dick and Nancy's house.  This picture wasn't taken till Sunday, but I'm putting it here to introduce the post.  

After a dinner of taco pie and corn on the cob, we headed outside to try out the corn hole game that  Dick and Nancy's grandson had made.  Oh, how we laughed and laughed.  We Witmers were never known for our athletic abilities, but we surely had fun trying!

The funniest time of the whole evening was when I somehow or other kept putting my beanbags right into the hole.  Like six times in a row!!  We were just screaming laughing! I had finally found my sport!

Later we came back into the house for some snacking and talking and catching up.  

We sisters had our "dorm room" in the basement - some of us on air mattresses, one on the sofa, and one in the guest bedroom.  

On Saturday morning, after a breakfast of "Grandpa's breakfast" made by Dick and Mary Ellen, we piled into Doris's van and headed to Longwood Gardens about an hour away.  All but Dick.  He had a very necessary repair to do on his tow truck, and besides, he wasn't that crazy about going to see flowers. 

Just as we arrived they were starting their musical fountain show.  So beautiful!

We did a LOT of walking, and it was a really hot day.

A woman, holding the most adorable baby, offered to take our picture all together. 

Early in the afternoon we drove to the nearby picnic area to eat our packed lunch.  It was such a lovely wooded area, and we had it all to ourselves most of the time we were there. We took our good old time relaxing there and talking nonstop, of course. 

Then we went back to see more.  

We were so hot and tired by the time this was taken.  Not sure how Mary Ellen took it without us knowing.  Something was funny, I guess!

We had intended to go out to eat that evening, but we were so tired and hot when we got back to the house, and we really weren't that hungry, so we decided to stay in and just eat leftovers from the meals we'd already had.  We spent a lot of time looking through a whole lot of pictures that Grandma Mary had given back to us, deciding who wanted which ones.  Lots and lots of memories and laughter!

Then we did another special thing.  We watched the DVD of pictures Jeremy had put together for our dad's viewing ten years ago.  We had never watched it since.  Favorite pictures that we all had submitted for the slide show.  I took pictures of a few of them that were special to me.  

We had had plenty of laughs throughout the day, but bedtime was laughter on a whole other level.  One thing after the next struck us so funny as we lay in our beds talking, looking at pictures on our phones, and trying to settle down.  Even after everyone was completely quiet I started thinking about something that made me giggle again.  Thankfully I was able to hold it in or I'm afraid we soon would have started up all over again.  Nothing like sisters, I'm telling you!!

Sunday morning was slow and lazy.  Nancy made us a delicious cinnamon bun coffee cake, and we had granola, yogurt, and fruit.  And lots of coffee, of course.  

Some of them went on a hike on a nearby rail trail after breakfast.  I had already showered by that time and didn't feel like getting hot and sweaty, so I didn't go.  

Dick grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for our lunch.    Then we headed to the front porch for our attempt at an official 2019 sibling picture.  We had all kinds of issues, but Nancy's patience with us and her expertise and good camera produced this one!  Thank you, Nancy!

Then we piled into Doris's van again for our trip to Richland Christian home to visit Grandma Mary.  Some of the girls had never been there since her move last year.  And most of us had not seen the new, bigger room she moved into a few weeks ago.  It was a joyful time when we arrived. 

First of all she took us on a tour of the home - the lovely deck, the dining area, the big sitting room.  She and one of the care girls had us laughing as they bantered and teased each other.  Mary brings so much fun and joy everywhere she goes. 

There was a big, beautiful mural on the dining room wall, and Nancy set up her camera to get our picture in front of it.  

We had reserved the craft room for our group to visit.  What a wonderful time we had together!  Mary had a few stories that completely sent us over the edge with laughter!  

And of course, we had to spend some time singing together!  This was our worship service.  Here's just a bit of one of the songs we sang.  

Then we said our goodbyes to her and went back to Dick and Nancy's house.  Some of the girls were staying another night, but I needed to pack up and hit the road.  It was hard to leave.  I hate missing any of the fun!

On my way home I picked up someone special who is attending Broadway Camp here in State College this week!  I'll do a blog post about that another day!

We saw the most lovely sunset that evening as we got near State College. Perfect ending to a most wonderful weekend!