Great Sunday from start to finish

Yesterday was such a great day from start to finish.  

At Fillmore my choir sang a most beautiful arrangement of Wonderful, Merciful Savior, and they did such a great job.

At Houserville the praise team was awesome, like always.  The icing on the cake was the 15-year-old girl who sang the offertory.  She's the voice student of Carol, our violinist, and she was just terrific.  The way her song fit in with the message without her even knowing it was cool too.

After we left Houserville we stopped at Sheetz to grab lunch (they have a great fruit and nut chicken salad) and we hit the road for Lancaster.  

The family gathering at Doris's home came about because of these three, Michael, Chelsea, and Ashlyn.

Michael is my sister Barb's youngest son.  He was just four or five when the family moved to Idaho.  The last time he visited PA was eight years ago when he joined us for our annual retreat weekend.  He was a GREAT hit with the little girls in the family, especially Ellen and Destiny!

We, of course, had not yet met Chelsea and Ashlyn, so it was a big deal that they were coming East this weekend!  We totally fell in love with all three of them!

It worked out perfectly that Miki's trip to the States as tour guide for her friend Kicki, was over this very same time!  Here they are with Bjorn.  Kicki fit right in with our crazy gang.  I wish I had freedom in my schedule to travel around with them this week, especially since they're going to DC.

This was the group that was together last evening, the majority of them Doris's family.  Also there were my brother Dick and his wife Nancy in the middle, my sister Mary Ellen just in front of me, and of course Dick and I and the special guests from Idaho and Sweden.  Another first timer was Doris's grandson Carson, sitting so cute on his mama's lap in the front row.  Unfortunately, Doris's son Corey and his family, who also live in this lovely home, were away.  I wished I could have had Destiny there, but I couldn't figure out a way to do it in the short time frame we had yesterday.

Twenty-four people and we were not a bit crowded in that spacious home.  We hung out in the family room, kitchen, and screened-in porch.  No one was in the dining room, living room, or the sitting room in the basement!  I think they could host 100 people there!  

Here are random pictures taken throughout the evening, some of them by me, some by Mary Ellen, Doris, and Nancy.

Things were winding down when it was time for us to leave around 7:30.  Here I am with Miki and Bjorn.  It occurred to me that each generation is taller.  What will Bjorn's child look like someday??  Haha!

Have a great week!

Exciting game; Miki's here; Witmer gathering

Just a quick post before I hit the sack tonight.  

Last evening Dick and I did not go to Bjorn's football game because it was at another school much further away, and we could not have gotten there on time.  However, it was supposed to be a real match this time.  Lampeter Strasburg, the team they were playing, had won almost all their games so far this year too.  Dick and I followed the online blogger who was giving play by play updates.  What an exciting game it was!  At first they were keeping even with touchdowns.  But in the second half the Barons had worn them out and pulled ahead.  The final score was 56-28.  That puts their team at the top of their section.

But guess who WAS at his game??  His MOM!!  On Wednesday Miki and a friend of hers flew from Sweden!  Her friend wanted to visit the US and Miki is her tour guide, her way paid!  Doesn't get much better than that!  

Tomorrow we'll finally get to see her.  We will leave right after church for a Witmer family gathering at my sister Doris's lovely new home.  My nephew Michael from Idaho (Barb's son) will be there with his wife and baby girl.  It's probably 8 years since Michael was in PA.  We've never met his wife and baby - except on Facebook.  It will be such a fun time.  And very hard for Dick and me to leave earlier than everyone else to go home.  )-:  

Today I snapped a few pictures when I went for groceries.  Our leaves still have a good bit of green, but the reds and yellows are starting to make more of an appearance.  

Bears and other great pictures

I had a new experience yesterday.  I had just left Anthony and Lori's place around 6 pm and was just a few blocks away when an approaching car stopped and flashed its lights at me.  I soon saw why.  There was a mama bear and her two cubs standing by the road!  I pulled out my phone to get a picture.  Before long they crossed the street and walked right up to a house!  I called Anthony to let him know and he immediately decided that Austin and the neighbor kids needed to be brought inside.  

I have heard so many bear stories since then.  Apparently seeing bears at this time of the year is quite common around here as they search for food to fill their bellies before winter.  But wow!  This is a neighborhood with a park and an elementary school nearby!  

Yesterday was also picture day for Austin at school.  Look at these CUTE pictures of him before he left for school!!

Here's a pic I took yesterday morning.  As I walked out to my kitchen I noticed that it was all lit up.  No wonder!  The sun was blasting through one of the windows on its way up the sky.

I got a good laugh over a phone message yesterday.  I don't know if I've ever mentioned or not that my first name is Thelma.  I haven't gone by my first name since early elementary school days.  I often use T. Jean Stauffer on official documents.  However, I was never able to get rid of the Thelma from my driver's license.  So more and more I have to use Thelma for ID purposes, like when I get an airline ticket.  So when I fly I'm Thelma.  Ugh.  I hate it so bad.  Sorry, if there are any Thelmas out there reading this!!  Anyway, yesterday I got one of those automated phone calls from CVS informing me that the prescription for T Point Jean is available for pick up.  Hahahahaha!!  Lisa said it sounds like a good name for a female rapper!

I have some pictures I took last Tuesday.  I was at the church office and we got a really heavy storm, complete with hail.  Suddenly the sun came out, but it still kept raining and hailing!  And of course, a rainbow joined the circus!

I love these bushes showing off their fiery red leaves right now.   I would rather have a deck there, but these free bushes that Dick dug up a couple of years ago (a Craigslist ad!) are less expensive, ha!

And that's all for tonight.

Football, family, and FUN!

On Friday afternoon we left Dick's shop soon after 4:30 and headed for Manheim.  SO EAGER to see Lisa and Sophie and Jeremy.  He had picked them up at BWI around 2:00 and they got to Manheim before we ever left State College.  How I wished we could have gone earlier and spent more time with them.  Of all times, traffic out of State College was just horrible.  It felt like a long trip this time.  At one point I saw a picture Lisa had posted on Facebook of Sophie watching Bjorn (72) and the team warming up.  Awwwwww.  I wanted to BE there.

The football game had already started when we arrived, and we had to park so far away.  Lisa, Sophie, and Jeremy were sitting with Sam and Sammy in the bleachers behind the goal post, so we sat there with them instead of in our reserved seats.  The wind was blowing in our faces all evening, it drizzled a bit, and it was much harder to see the game action from there, but I was just so happy to have them all there, I didn't even care.  

My sister Mary Ellen came to the game too (first time ever!) and had a great time with Sammy and Sophie. 

They won AGAIN - 24-3.  Go, Barons!  Is this cute, or what??  My sister said someday Bjorn will go to the Olympics to watch Sophie!

After the game we all (except Bjorn, who had a practice the following morning) went to Sam and Jenn's for the night.   Everyone was hungry, so I warmed up the cream of tomato soup I had made that afternoon and made a bunch of grilled rye and cheese sandwiches.  

When I went to find Sophie and Sammy to see if they wanted anything to eat, this is what I found on Sammy's bed.

After Sammy went to bed, Sophie got her chance to hold Bianca - till after midnight!!

We were watching Football Friday on the local NBC channel from 11:30 - 12:00.   One of the reporters was live at Manheim Central, where he was interviewing the team and cheer leaders.  So we kept seeing Bjorn over and over again.  It was so funny.  We couldn't believe they kept those kids there so late for a live show. 

Morning came way too soon!  Anthony and Austin had spent the evening and night at a hotel with a pool near Harrisburg.  (Lori was on a work trip.)  They got to Sam and Jenn's before some were even awake!  I made two kinds of sausage links (regular and vegetarian) and three kinds of pancakes, regular chocolate chip and blueberry,  and gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip.  

It was a damp, cool morning, but the children played outside anyway.  Sam always has such fun things for kids to do.  First it was the rocket launcher.  

Then it was the Tonka truck!  Sophie would sit in it and roll down the driveway hill as the boys ran - over and over and over!  Such simple pleasures!

And, of course, no gathering is complete without the wagon ride!

Later, when it was too cold and rainy, they rode around in the basement.

And what were the adults doing?

We took turns getting showers, etc.  Dick went to Manheim Central to pick up Bjorn after his practice.  When he arrived I made more pancakes and sausage.

Bjorn and Grandpa discussed the game.

At some point I heated up the Curried Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew and Naan bread I had brought along, as well as the leftover cream of tomato soup, and I made more grilled rye and cheese sandwiches.  

There was no end of fun conversations, reminiscing, and laughter.

Anthony took over Jenn's comfy recliner for a while. 

Jeremy had to conduct some business.  He's a pretty indispensable guy, it seems!

And then there was Bianca.  Everyone got their turn with her.  

We got to see her in her happy place.  She LOVES to be on her changing table and look up at the indirect light.  She talks and smiles.  SOOOOOO cute!!!  I turned these pictures around so you can see her adorable face better. 

Here she is in a shirt Sophie picked out for her and a Gators cuddle toy.

All too soon it was time for some goodbye pictures. 

Lisa told Bjorn he is really special.  She doesn't ever come to PA in the fall, because she so despises cool weather.  But she did it for him!

I told Sophie I wanted a picture of her giving Bianca a goodbye kiss, but she declined.  She was very near tears.  Ugh.  That tugs on my heart so bad. 

When we walked out to Jeremy's car, Sammy crawled right in with Sophie. 

MELT MY HEART!!!

And then they were gone.  Anthony and Austin had already headed for home.  We packed up all our stuff, said our goodbyes, and took Bjorn back to Fred and Deb's house where he lives.  

We knew that Dick's brother Bob and his wife Doris from Minnesota were in the area and would be at Dick's parents' place that evening, so we decided to stop in and maybe take naps till they would arrive.  But they were already there!  So we had the greatest time visiting, recalling funny stories from the good old days, catching up on each others' lives, and eating Arlene's delicious supper together.  No pictures.  I just never thought of my camera the whole time we were there. 

We headed for home around 6:00.  Bed felt very, very good last night.  In fact, when I got up this morning I realized I had completely forgotten to take my pills before I went to bed.  Dick said I had also let the dining room light on.  I think maybe I fell asleep at the computer and walked back to bed in my sleep, hahahaha!!

We had good worship at both of our churches this morning and lunch at Houserville House of Hope while we did a three-hour Safe Sanctuaries training session.  When that was over we were GLAD to come home for an evening of down time.

Have a great week!

T.G.I.F.

It's Friday again!  And I'm excited again!!  But first, a few things in honor of our 43rd anniversary yesterday.

This picture of our bridal party.  I LOVED getting married in the fall.  There simply are not more amazing colors than those of colored leaves.  I tried to incorporate them all - orange and brown for the bridesmaids, harvest gold for the gift receivers, red for my guest registrars, dark green for our mothers, various shades of green for my waitresses.  

Here are some fun facts I shared on Facebook yesterday.

Wedding trivia fact #1: I had only 3 1/2 hours of sleep the night before my wedding, because apparently it was so important for the next sister in line to inherit my space in the "big girls' bedroom" that I had to go through and clean out all my stuff in all the drawers and closet before I could leave on my honeymoon. 

Wedding trivia fact #2: Musical instruments were not allowed in most Mennonite churches or in the chapel at Lancaster Mennonite High School where our wedding took place. But, by golly, I wanted piano music by my friend Teresa Clemmer somehow. So we enlisted the aid of our dads and brothers and loaded my parents' piano onto Dick's dad's "bread truck" and hauled it to the school cafeteria where our reception was held. I wonder if we paid them anything for their services?

Wedding trivia fact # 3: It rained like crazy the day of our wedding. In order to get from the girls' dormitory (where my girls and I got ready) to the chapel, just across the driveway, my brother-in-law, Elvin Peifer, took me in his car. When I got out of his car at the chapel door, there stood Dick, grinning from ear to ear. He wasn't supposed to see me yet!! What was he doing there at that moment anyway??

Wedding trivia fact #4: My dad made me giggle during his meditation. He always had trouble pronouncing the letter v. It would come out sounding like a w. But during his meditation he talked about something being a "very valuable virtue to develop" and he said that slowly, with each v pronounced correctly. In my mind I pictured him sitting in his study practicing that phrase, and I could hardly hold in my giggles.

And now for the excitement of this weekend!  We'll be leaving from Dick's shop at 4:30 today and heading to Bjorn's football game at Manheim Central.  Meanwhile, Lisa and Sophie have been flying from Tampa to BWI this morning and are being picked up by Jeremy, and they will be then driving to Manheim Central for the game as well!  

Dick is taking off work tomorrow morning so we can stay down overnight, and we'll be hanging out at Sam and Jenn's part of tomorrow.  Anthony and Austin will be joining us too (Lori is on a work trip), as well as Bjorn.  I'm packing some goodies, and I gotta get busy now.  Lots of pictures next time!