Birthday and Grand Opening weekend

 

This has been a good year for my tulips.  They bring me so much cheer!

Last week was a productive one.  

- I got some important weeding done.  

- The pianos at church got tuned, an important thing after a move.  

- I discovered some new music for the choir that we're excited about.  

- I made molasses ginger snaps, some of them for the Grand Opening at church, some for us.  

- I cooked two more meals for Anthony and Lori - roasted brats and veggies on Wednesday, breaded chicken breast cutlets and air-fried brussels sprouts and bacon on Friday.  

- I found a cute Old Navy shirt for Elizer at Kid 2 Kid, a consignment store to which Destiny sold a lot of things and has store credit.  

Friday was Dick's 74th birthday.  He went to work as usual.  We're not sure when we'll ever be able to afford to stop working and earning, so we pray for good health for a long time.  

Here's the collage I made for my birthday wish on Facebook.  Wasn't he the cutest baby?

In the evening we went to Texas Roadhouse as we always do on his birthday.  Sam and Steph had given us gift cards at Christmas, and Dick's been looking forward to his birthday ever since!

He loves his free birthday Cactus Bloom!

 

When we were finished with our dinner we went to Sweet Frog for dessert with Anthony, Lori, and Hunter.  Austin is 15 and sometimes prefers to stay home where he works on projects on the computer. 

On Saturday morning I got caught up on our bookwork and cleaning up around here.  Although that doesn't take as long anymore.  There's so much less to clean up without Elizer here.  But not for long!

They were coming here!!  The children's workers at church really wanted Elizer here for the grand opening ceremony.  So after Ozzy got off work on Saturday they headed to State College.  I was so excited!!

First things first - riding his four-wheeler and his bike around the driveway.  I got just this picture.  It was starting to be quite cold outside when they arrived around 6:00.  

And then LEGOS.   Destiny and Ozzy ended up building three intricate things, but I didn't even get pictures of them.  Boooo.  

Then we of course had to take him to Get Air.  We have that membership, and we might as well use it whenever he's here.  He had a great time.  So did Destiny and Ozzy.

Around and around he goes!

Mother/Son dance, lol!

This was the Sunday morning sunrise view from my dining room window.  We felt lots of excitement!

The Grand Opening Ceremony at church had been publicized extensively.  We arrived about 40 minutes early, and the parking lot was already getting full!  The parking attendants had good strategies in place for helping people find places to park, and I'm quite sure every strategy ended up being used!!  

All the overflow seating in the back hallway and fellowship hall (where people could watch on a TV) was used.  So much excitement in the air!  As Pastor Jim has often said, so many churches are needing to close their doors for lack of attendance, so our congregation being able to build a new building and increase attendance in the process is indeed something to celebrate.  He has been a tremendous leader and cheer leader in the 18 months since he came to our church.  He does not regularly wear a robe, but for this special occasion he did.

The service began with a processional.  Our district superintendent led the way, followed by the children. Our resident artist, my dear friend Vicky, had made banners for the children to carry.  Vicky's career was as a school art teacher, so she is a blessing to us!!  You can see Vicky holding Elizer's hand in the bottom photos. 

Next in the processional were the oldest members of the congregation, escorted by family members or friends.  Actually, Pastor Jim escorted one of the ladies.  She is in her 90's and was afraid she would die before we ever get into our new church.  Pastor Jim had told her one time that he's sure she will live to see it, and he would escort her down the aisle!  And he did!

The children actually sat in front after the processional through the opening and the first hymn.  I'm not sure how much Elizer sat - I couldn't see him from the piano.  But the teachers were sitting on the front row. 

Then it was time for their song, "I Walk by Faith."  We had kids who had never practiced with us!  But the teachers did the motions with them, and the ones who had practiced sang out, and their song was a huge hit!  I felt very much in my element after having done this type of thing for YEARS at Manheim Christian.  Except I was used to seeing the kids from the piano, which wasn't possible with this arrangement. 

Later in the service the choir sang "In Your House, O Lord."  It's so wonderful to have these risers for the choir to stand on. 

We had communion too.  In this church, "all are welcome to the table," even the children.  I took these screen shots from the video.

Lori and Hunter were at the service.  You can see Hunter below.  And Dick had Elizer with him.  In the video, Elizer took the bread and then turned and danced a little jig for the ladies on the front row.  I could hear them giggle.  Ugh!

There were cookies and coffee in the fellowship hall afterward.  And this cake donated from a local grocery store.  

There were a number of other pastors there.  In the fellowship hall I asked a gentleman if he was a pastor, and he informed me he's our Pennsylvania State Representative, lol!  I had a nice conversation with him.

When we came home I made dippy eggs for our lunch, Destiny's request.  

Elizer played outside for a bit, but it was so cold.  He pulled out a puzzle and put it together several times.  Later in the afternoon Destiny and Ozzy went to hang out with some of her friends, and I lay down with Elizer for a nap.  Dick napped on his recliner.

We got our favorite hoagies for dinner.  Our church sells $11.00 coupons, and we can get huge $15.00 hoagies with those coupons! And they're the BEST!!

At 7 pm they hit the road for Reading and were home by 10.  I loved having them here.

One more cute picture.  Sophie had been in a track meet, I think in Kentucky, on Friday and Saturday.  George went to the meet.  Lisa had to stay home for a high school track meet, since she's a coach.  While we were at Get Air on Saturday evening George sent us some videos of her events, then he sent us this picture.  He said that when he went to the airport to return home, there was Sophie with her team, hahaha!  Isn't she adorable???