VBS week

The last time I posted was just 9 days ago, but according to my pictures, I have lived a lot of life since then!

Starting with the forest fire smoke our area was hugely affected by at the end of last week.  On Thursday, July 16, the haze and smell of smoke increased dramatically throughout the day.  In the afternoon we were decorating the church for VBS.  When I arrived I took this picture of the view from the parking lot, which usually is a lovely view of the mountains.

A couple of hours later when I was leaving, the view had changed to this!

Friday was still pretty bad.  Lots of events were cancelled in the area.  Saturday morning we got some rain and storms, and after that the air began to clear.

This past week we had VBS at church, Monday through Thursday evening.  Each day I picked Hunter up from day camp and took him along to VBS.  I led the singing in the whole group assembly each evening, and I also helped out with lesson time.  One evening the story was about God's love and crucifixion.  As the leader was telling the story, Hunter raised his hand and asked if he could tell why Jesus was crucified.  She said he could.  He proceeded to explain the false accusations against Jesus, and the reason he was crucified, in a slow, simple, profound way.  All the kids were quiet and listening to him.  Melissa, the teacher, thanked him and said maybe he could be the teacher.  She meant it as a sincere compliment.   My heart was happy!  

As usual, it was a fun and tiring adventure! On Thursday afternoon I met Steph half way to get Sammy and Bianca.  They helped out with the outdoor games at VBS that evening and were VERY appreciated.  As I took pictures I watched them a bit and was very proud of how natural and confident they were.

On Wednesday morning Dick and I drove to Lancaster County for his Hempfield High School class reunion brunch.  I think I knew one person, and I didn't even sit at the same table as her!  Dick had a great time.

From there we drove to Lititz.  Our friends, Elvin and Lorraine Brandt, who bought our Lititz house from us in 2010, would be moving the next day, and we wanted to see the house one last time.  We had a wonderful time reminiscing together for an hour or so.  How we had loved that house!  Never imagining that we would live there just a few years before our big move to State College.

As I said above, Sammy and Bianca are here for a few days, but I will save the stories and pictures of our adventures for another post.  

Meanwhile, some GREAT pictures of other grandchildren.  I was sent these beautiful pictures of Frank and some of his kids (J'von, Alaya, V'anni, and RaeLynn) at a festival in Reading last weekend.

Destiny sent me these incredibly adorable pictures of Ketsi.  She was 6 months old on Wednesday.

And of course, what is a post in the summertime without a few pictures of my flowers??

Have a great weekend!

Middle of July

Last week was festival week in this area.  The annual Arts Fest was held in downtown State College.  Simultaneously was the People's Choice Festival in the nearby town of Boalsburg.  I'm not sure how they came to be held at the same time, but they always are.  We have always loved People's Choice - the music, the food, the tents of displays and things for sale. 

On Saturday they had a tent for children to sell their hand-crafted items.  So Hunter had a table to sell the spinners they had hand-painted.  Because of Dick's evening work schedule we were not able to go any evening as we used to do.  So we went on Saturday morning.  

This handsome vendor was so afraid he wouldn't make any money.  But surprise!!  He made over $200!

I bought these two beauties!

On Saturday afternoon we went to church for a wedding vowel renewal.  I played piano as they walked in and later when they walked out.   Vicki and Nate and their children have become a beloved part of our church family in the past year.  Their little Mila is the cutest!  I caught her making eye contact with someone in the congregation, probably her grandma. 

And speaking of a little girl who is the cutest, here's another one!  Jane!  Pastor Jim had a really interesting and fun object lesson for the children on Sunday morning, but I'm afraid Miss Jane stole the show!  

Later I found out that her grandma had told her that since she's wearing a dress she had to keep it pulled down.  I noticed that she kept standing up and pulling on her dress, hahaha!  Her girl cousins were her audience, as you can see on the bottom right picture.  

Another picture of my flowers.  I don't think I've ever had such a nice combination of blue salvia, lilies, zinnias, and even a volunteer yellow marigold in the middle  

When I picked Hunter up from camp on Monday he wanted to come here to play Smart Ass again.  We had a lot of fun, and again we learned a lot of things.  It really is an educational game, in spite of its crass name.  

On Sunday evening Anthony and Lori had taken Austin to Penn College in Williamsport (about an hour-and-a-half away) for a three-day graphic design camp.  It was his first time ever being away overnight and responsible for himself.  Of course he used to sleep here sometimes when he was younger, but that's it. (For anyone reading who does not know Austin's journey, he's on the autism spectrum and although he is extremely intelligent, he has had a lot of issues with behavior, handling pressure, etc.)  Lori was nervous as to how he would do, but he really wanted to go. 

On Tuesday evening my phone was ringing and I saw it was him.  My first thoughts were, "Oh no!  Maybe he's having a melt down and wants to be picked up and can't get hold of his mom or dad."  

But no such thing!!  He had just found a piano and he wanted to show it to me and play for me.  What a delightful surprise!!

Last evening they picked him up, and he said he rates his experience 10 out of 10!!  Each camper had to create a logo for an amusement park.  This was Austin's.  Now he has a mug and a few canvas bags bearing his logo.  

Look at this little lady in Indianapolis!!  Sitting up by herself now!  

Family and flowers

As we try to work around Dick's new schedule of 4 - 8 pm, we decided that since Dick had off on Tuesday it was a good day to drive to Lancaster County to see some very important people that we miss. 

 Actually, I did not mention that while I was in Idaho the Stauffer family had their annual Sunday gathering, and Dick went to that.  Here are a few pictures.  I was really sad to miss it. 

Now, getting back to our Tuesday trip.  We first of all went to Pleasant View Communities to visit Dick's stepmother Arlene.  

We had a fun, but short visit.  Arlene had a previously scheduled visit from a "Pleasant View at Home" worker, and we left when she arrived.  

We were hungry after that visit, so we went to the restaurant that is on the campus, Hearth and Harrow.  We had a delicious lunch.

 

From there we went to Bjorn and Jess's place.  He was still at work, but we had the greatest time with Jess and the kids.  We had not seen that baby girl since the day after she was born on April 25!  What a CUTIE!!!

She looks so much like Bjorn!!  She's so alert and expressive.  I had so much fun "chatting" with her.  I could have just eaten her up, she was so yummy!!

Charlie is so gentle with her.

He and Great grandpa were having fun together.  Grandpa even sat on his lap, haha!

I still have it!!  She went to sleep in my arms.

Bjorn came home from work, and we stayed a bit longer to have time with him.  

Louie was very much there!  But I didn't get one picture of him!  He is a little cyclone!  So that you can see a picture of him, here's one that Jess posted in June.

After we left their place we stopped in at Mary Ellen's place for a very short visit, then we went to see Elizer at his daddy and grandpa's house.  I was SO happy to see him.  He was a comedian, as usual!!

We were trying to figure out when it would work for him to come to our place for a few days, but it's not as easy to meet because of Dick's new work schedule.  I wish I were more confident with long distance, possibly after-dark driving like I used to be.  

On the way back home we contacted Sammy and Bianca.  They were at Sam and Steph's house and said we should stop in.  So we did and had a really fun visit as we always do.  I didn't think of taking any pictures except when Bianca modeled her flag football jersey.  Her team is sponsored by the Cowboys!!  

Of course I need to share some more flower pictures before I go.  Here's a picture of the back of our house.  Dick did such a good job power washing it earlier this summer.  

Have a good weekend!

Filling my soul with grandchildren and flowers!

I returned from my Idaho trip just in time for some HEAT!!  Highs in the 90's.  Of course, I was not complaining one tiny bit!  I can easily have our thermostat set at 78.  But when Dick's in the house I usually turn it down a degree or two.

On Friday afternoon and evening Hunter came  for a game night.

We were recently introduced to a new game called (I'M SORRY about its name!) Smart Ass. It's actually a very educational game, and I knew Hunter would love it, so I got it.  There are three piles of cards - What Am I?  Who Am I? and Where Am I?  There are hints on each card, and when a group is playing, whoever gets the answer first goes next.  Hunter knew a lot of them, which I knew he would.  

We also played LIFE.  Hunter was very happy to end up the richest!

Our last game was Grounded for Life.  By then it had cooled off a little bit, and we went out to the porch to play.  After a while Grandpa came home from work and we took him to meet Lori half way.

Here are a couple of pictures from Destiny.  Ketsi with pink barretts in her hair!  

How precious are they???

And these pictures from Portland. Last week Brennan went to horse camp!! What a handsome rider!!  And a sweet horse.

There he goes!

And now the flower show!  This has been a good summer for my flowers so far.   They just give me so much joy!!

We had horrendous storms and storm damage in Pennsylvania over the weekend.  Thankfully right here we were spared.  Many, many big trees came down in various places and caused enormous damage.  If those kinds of winds came through here, I'm afraid our house and those around us would be blown apart.  Such a scary thought!

We did not go to see the big fireworks in State College on Saturday evening because of that, but as I was getting ready for bed I could hear them, so I guess the storms stopped long enough for them to have the show.  I felt sad to have missed them. 

Anthony and Lori bought a huge carton of sparklers and fireworks at Sam's Club and invited us to come over Sunday evening.  However it rained hard and stormed for hours on Sunday.  When it looked like there might be a break in the storms they said they were going to go ahead a try to set some off because Hunter and Austin really were looking forward to it.  When we left our house at 8:45 pm it was POURING!!!  We had to drive slowly through rising water a few places.  I couldn't believe we were actually doing this.

But when we got over to their place (other side of State College) it had really slowed down, and then actually stopped raining altogether!!  We sat on our lawn chairs in front of the garage and the boys put on a wonderful show!!!  It was fantastic!  

That's it for this time!