A beautiful week - until today!

 I've had an unusually quiet Sunday here at home.  Of course we were at church this morning.  The choir sang for the first time in a couple of months.  By the time our worship service was over it was raining and seemed even cooler than it had been earlier.  It was nice to be able to go home and stay home.  

We had BLT's for lunch, probably for the third Sunday in a row.  Our tomato plant is producing the BEST tomatoes!  I'm sure we will have gotten 25-30 tomatoes from just one plant till the season is over!  

I enjoy checking on this little corner every few days.

This petunia was from Lori and Anthony for Mother's Day.  I had it hanging on the porch, but it almost died.  Dick decided to set it on the driveway, and after a few weeks it is doing great again!

On Thursday I had to do a shopping errand in downtown State College and saw this beautiful display along the way. 

My roses have slowed down a bit lately, but here are a few from this past week.

Here are some pics from last Sunday.  Pastor Jim had a fun children's  "sermon" that included fire in a bottle on top of which he set a hardboiled (??) egg.  The heat sucked the egg right into the bottle. I had never seen that done before. 

After the church service the sanctuary committee went to the building site to envision and plan the placement of the stage, piano, organ, ramp, etc. Elizer had so much fun with the puddles that were there from the rain the previous day.

Monday was back-to-school for Elizer.  After school I had him try on some size 3 long pants that I might need to altar at the waist (since he's so slender).  We also tried on the outfit he would wear for picture day on Tuesday.  What a ham!

After I picked him up from school on Tuesday we went to "airport park" with his bike.  But I forgot his helmet.  He was having fun with other kids that were on bikes and scooters.  At one point he made a wrong turn and started down a hill.  I called to him that he was going the  wrong way.  Instead of putting on his brakes he put his feet on the ground and was about to tip front over.  Then I felt afraid to let him ride his bike after that without his helmet.  

That evening I had a meeting at church with the sanctuary committee to make some final decisions.

On Wednesday I made chili and rice and all the fixin's for Mexican Pile-up.  I also made a slow cooker of beef and cabbage stew.  After I picked Elizer up from preschool at 3:30 we took the chili over to Anthony and Lori's place.  Then we went for a few groceries.  We were so delighted that this very cool shopping cart was available!  Every grocery store should have these!  The BEST for shopping with young kiddos!

And again we went to "airport park."  This time I had his helmet.  He had the best time riding.  He's getting really good at steering and braking.  

Again he had a lot of fun with other kids.  

There were a number of dogs there that he could pet.  This golden retriever was especially sweet. 

Thursday was Destiny's 23rd birthday!  It was fun to reminisce throughout the day.  I was at her birth as her mom's birth coach.  Frank worked night shift and I remember calling him and telling him that if he wants to see his baby being born he'd better leave work and get to the hospital!  And he did! It was a very exciting night for us. 

On Thursday evening we ate at Gigi's Southern Table in State College.  What a lovely place!  Dick and I had never been there before.  We arrived with Elizer before Destiny and her friends did, but no problem.  Our table was in a snug corner with a corner bench and pillows where Elizer could lounge and watch YouTube Kids. 

Three of her friends joined us, Jina, Lena, and Lei. Elizer LOVED all the attention from his mommy's friends, haha!

I had brought a little cake and candles.  Elizer was so cute, as always, when we sang Happy Birthday. 

As we were eating our cake we heard someone else singing "Happy Birthday" and there was Lori!!  I had told her we were going to eat at Gigi's, and she was coming past after visiting her dad at the hospital and stopped in to bring Destiny a card and gift.  What a fun surprise!

I had a fun thought as we drove home.  There Dick and I were, older white people of Mennonite heritage, eating dinner with our Puerto Rican granddaughter and great grandson, along with her Middle Eastern friends, and our Jamaican daughter-in-law stopped by to join us.  

On Friday morning, as I was working on making meatballs and spaghetti, I was video chatting with Miki in Sweden for about an hour-and-a-half.  I thought she looked cute so I took a screen shot, but alas, I did not look so cute up there in the corner, so I scribbled over my face, haha!

We laughed together and shared concerns.  It's good to know exact things to pray for.  

Destiny and I met after I picked up Elizer from preschool.  She was taking him to spend the weekend with Alex and his family.  I took the food I'd made for Lori to Dick at the shop.  He was going over to their place to mow.  I went home to get stuff done because I had a big day ahead. 

On Saturday I left home around 7:30.  I was heading to Sammy's 9:00 soccer game in Duncannon. Dick had more mowing to finish up over at Anthony's, so he didn't go to the game.  

I had fun sitting with Jenn and Steph.  Sam was at work, so I didn't get to see him.  And Bianca was at her other grandma's house.  

Sammy was the tallest one on his team!  It was a great game. Unfortunately they ended up losing by one point.  

After the game I took Sammy to the nearby campground where there was an antique car show.  I had some fun stories to tell him about my dad's 57 Chevy and also the time nine of us girls piled into my friend's VW bug all the way from Baltimore to Lancaster. 

Then I took him home to Jenn's house where Bianca had just arrived from her other grandma's house.  I hung out for a little while.  I took these pics of the kids snuggling with one of their precious cats. 

In the evening we went over to Anthony and Lori's place.  They had invited some long-time friends for some BBQ from a favorite place in State College.  

First of all I had to get some pics of Lori's lovely container garden on the deck.  

We had a lot of fun with these friends we hadn't seen, except in passing, for a long time - friends from Unity Church of Jesus Christ.  They all came with teens the age of Austin and older.  They used to all be kids in the nursery and Sunday School class together.  

Others came after I had taken the above picture.  But I never did take any other pictures, because it got dark and so chilly!!  

This fire felt good.  I wrapped in a blanket and stayed close to the fire.

One picture I forgot to post was Brennan's first day of school pic.  He did not go back to school until after Labor Day.  Here's his official picture!

And now this blog post is finished and my Sunday is over, and I'm going to bed.  Goodnight!