The Low Country Boil and other good stuff

Saturday already!!  These weeks are just flying by.  And as much as I want summer to last forever, I guess it will officially be Fall next week.  Actually, I don't hate Fall.  I just don't like that it means Winter is next. Like I've mentioned before, the leaves seem to be turning earlier than usual this year. 

Last Saturday was Destiny's 19th birthday!  I did not get to be with her this year, but we were in touch many times throughout the day.  I told her I was going to say Happy Birthday to her as many different ways as possible, and I did.  EXCEPT for a traditional phone call.  How pathetic is that?  I messaged her a video of myself and the boys singing Happy Birthday, I emailed her a JibJab video I made, I sent her a funny greeting on SnapChat, I did a FB post, I texted her.  And probably more.  I hope to see her soon.  Here is a picture Lauren posted last Friday when Destiny was at their house.  The five girls and the girl dog too, haha!

Saturday

Saturday was a BIG day around here!  Low Country Boil day!  In the morning I got the boys out of the way for a few hours and took them to Discovery Space.  We had a fun time, as always.

Then we came here for a quick pizza lunch and some playtime with the cats, going over to their place around 2:00 so Hunter could get a nap.  It was a very foggy, drizzly day, but we had faith that the forecast was correct about it clearing later!  And it did!  Anthony said it reminded him of their wedding day when the weather was exactly like that, then cleared just in time for their outdoor reception!  We were so delighted to see the sunshine!

Dick was busy getting a good fire started.  Anthony was getting the patio set up.  Lori was cleaning.  I had cut many pounds of smoked sausages into smaller pieces the evening before.  Tiffany had bought and husked many ears of corn, which Nana and Mike picked up and brought to Stauffer Acres.  Mike then cut each ear of corn into three pieces.  Nana and I worked on the lemons, onions and garlic.  Emil arrived to help Dick with the fire.  They were the official cooks, adding each thing to the pots at just the right times.  Tiffany came and carefully thawed the shrimp.  Mike went to pick up the crabs.  We got the tables covered, the tables set up in the lower porch for the sides and desserts that people would be bringing, the ice and drinks put into the coolers, the butter into little dishes.  It was a TEAM EFFORT!!  Emil and Tiffany, Mike and Nana are in Anthony and Lori's small group from Calvary.  TRUE friends, I'm telling you!   

Here's a picture of the different foods waiting to be added (except for the little potatoes, onions, lemons, garlic, and seasoning - those were first.)  And the lower right picture is the finished product.

Our amazing cooks!!  They were a perfect team!

Then the contents of the pots were divided up into the foil pans which were set on the tables for people to grab from and enjoy!  And of course the crabs too!

I'm not sure if anybody counted how many people came, but including the kids, I think it was probably at least 70!  What a GREAT time!  And such a perfect space for it!  

Some children played in the basement playroom, which is right there next to the patio, some went down to the pond,  Anthony took people on a tour of his barn studio, we had great conversations with so many wonderful people, we loved on Les and Holly's new baby girl - also in Anthony and Lori's small group. 

Austin found his soul mate (lower right picture.)  She is the daughter of Eric Steele, a good high school and college friend of  Anthony's.  These two kids have seen each other maybe once a year since they were little, and they always seem to totally "get" each other. 

Anthony's friend Sam took a lot of really great pictures, and a some of these are his. 

A lovely sunset - long before the fun was over. 

Lots of clean up afterward, but plenty of good help.  Needless to say, our beds felt REALLY good that night!  But our hearts were happy and full.

Sunday

On Sunday morning we went to our service at GBRV, but not to Calvary.  Dick and I caught quick naps after church before Sam and the kids arrived around 12:45.  I made BLT's for lunch.  The kids and I played Life while Dick and Sam watched football.  Later we got creative with Play Doh. 

At one point there was a whole lot of excitement over a big praying mantis out front.  We had so much fun watching it.  And that led to a hilarious discussion about the strange behaviors of the female praying mantis - that they sometimes bite the head off the male after they mate, hahahaha!  Sammy had way too much fun with that!

Later we went over to Anthony and Lori's for just a while.  It was a good, low key day.

The rest of the week

This was a pretty regular week around here.  My schedule is getting busier now with the return of choir practice and prep as well as women's Bible study at Calvary on Thursday mornings.  I took Hunter to his swim lesson on Monday and Wednesday.  He's finally liking it a bit better.  

I usually try to go to the local Boalsburg Farmer's Market on Tuesdays to buy the meat I use for Anthony and Lori's meals.  I discovered this week that I've been unaware that there has been someone there that I knew from way long ago - at the Clover Creek Cheese Cellar stand. 

Back in the late 80's, when Grace Community Fellowship was brand new, we had a young couple, Dave and Terri Rice, as our youth leaders.  They also sang and played guitar with our worship team.  In the summer of 1989 they left for a mission term in Honduras, and we lost track of them after that.  Well guess what?  They own a small farm about an hour from here, which they have turned into a cheese-making business!  A very successful one, I might add.  They have five young adult kids in varying stages of life.  Anyway,  Terri and I had the most fun catching up on Tuesday at her stand.  And of course, I bought some yummy Guda cheese too!

On Thursday morning when I got to the Bible study at Calvary I walked into the ladies room and discovered that I had gone a little overboard on my black and white theme.  Check my earrings, haha!  

Lisa is super busy with her new job, so she doesn't have time for our crazy Snapchat communications more than about once a week.  But I had some fun all by myself one evening! I especially love the one where I'm looking over my own shoulder!

Yesterday was Anthony's birthday.  I remember how the idea of a baby boy seemed so foreign to me.  I had had all younger sisters, and of course, Lisa was my first baby.  But of course, I found it to be wonderful to have a boy, and I've had lots of experience with little boys since then, partly thanks to him!

I picked up the boys yesterday and had them here for dinner while Anthony and Lori went out for dinner.  Then after we took the boys home we did sparklers, birthday cake, and gifts. 

Lori got him a record player at Cracker Barrel!  She told him ahead of time that if he thought it was a ridiculous gift she would not be at all insulted, since it was so "out there."  He took one look at it and said, "Would you believe I was just in a music store today and saw one and thought, 'I think I might like to have one of those.'"  We laughed that the only record any of us has is of The Witmer Trio!  I'm sure Anthony will be checking out some flea markets in search of some good old blues classics.  

And that is it for this week!  I'm ready for a Saturday afternoon nap!

Little bit of everything this week

Here we are at the end of another week!  And we have a big day tomorrow.  Somehow I just couldn't find a chance to blog this week until now, so this post is going to be a lot of pictures and just a few words.  

First, a picture of those mini-sunflowers!  We wish we had saved the seed packet to see what they were called.  

Last Saturday morning I drove down to Duncannon to watch Sammy's and Bianca's soccer games.  What a beautiful place for soccer fields!  I had a great time sitting with Jenn and some of her family to watch them. 

Sammy's game.  He was purple #6.

Bianca's game.  She was silver #3. 

After Sam got off work we met at the Duncannon Sheetz for a late lunch.   They have a nice dining room.  We had so much fun!

On Sunday morning at GBRV I went out to the car to get my water bottle during the children's story.  I was so amused by the parking lot that I went back inside for my phone to take pictures.  Apparently the good "backers" park on one side of the lot and the "non-backers" park on the other side, hahahah!

After the service at Calvary Austin and Hunter came home with us.   Austin brought his crocheting along.  He made a pouch and some coasters.  

We also went to airport park for a while.  They were still in their church clothes!

Lori was away on a work trip from Monday to Wednesday.  This time Hunter stayed at our place overnight.  

He has started swim lessons at the YMCA, so I took him to that on Monday and Wednesday after I picked him up from daycare.  

On Wednesday I made ketchup!  Austin does not like tomatoes, but he is so fascinated with the great big tomatoes at the farmers market.  He begs Lori to get them!  On Tuesday he asked me if I could make them into ketchup before they spoil.  So I looked up a recipe and the next day I made ketchup!  It's really delicious!

I was so sad when I arrived home one day to find the most beautiful tree next door cut down!!!  I have always enjoyed it from my sink window in the fall for the one week that it is a brilliant orange.  I walked out to the guy that was cutting up the wood and told him how sad I was to see it gone.  He said he hated to cut it down, but the new house going in would have been too close to the tree.  I understand that, but I'm still really sad. 

Speaking of orange leaves, we are having a lot of them already!  And it's not even officially Fall!!  Not sure what to think about that!  I hope it doesn't mean an early winter!  I took this picture through my car window one day, so it's not great, but you get the idea. 

Things really are happening next door.  Yesterday a big dump truck brought many loads of dirt. 

It's been a while since I posted a picture of the house I've been watching.  They had not done anything for a long time since the siding was put on and the windows put it.  But in the last week they started adding a porch.  Here's a picture from June 2018 compared to this week. 

And one more picture for a good laugh.  It really is a sweet picture except for that little girl picking her nose!  And that was me!  I was sitting beside my sister Mary Ellen.  Behind me was my brother Dick and my sister Janet holding my little sister Doris.  She was such a cutie! I totally remember when this was taken!

Well, that is all for this time.  I gotta get some sleep.  Tomorrow Anthony and Lori are having their annual Low Country Boil, and there are a lot of people coming and there's a lot of work to do.  I did a lot of shopping at Sam's Club today and cut up a whole bunch of sausages this evening.  You get the idea!  A lot of everything, haha!

Labor Day weekend fun, a birthday celebration, September flowers

Just couldn't find the time to blog this week so far.  Life is getting busier with the return of the Fall schedule.  We're so happy that we have not been having an overabundance of rain like we had last summer and fall.  My impatiens out front are happier too.

Remember when Austin begged me to buy a pack of sunflower seeds back in May?  The rabbits ate most of them as soon as they came up.  But now a few are trying to bloom.  They are dark red.  I think they're deformed or something.  And they certainly didn't grow tall!

Last Friday Lori and Hunter left by bus for a weekend with her parents in New York.  I got busy cooking and cleaning.  Sam and the kids were coming for the Labor Day weekend.  Dick put in a long hard Saturday working on his hunting shack over at Anthony's place.  

When Sam and the kids got here late afternoon on Saturday I had sloppy joes ready for them.  They had fun here at the house, then we decided to take their energy to airport park before darkness would arrive at 8:00.  I'm so sad that it's getting dark earlier each day.

We came home, the kids got showers, and then we settled in for a good movie.  

On Sunday morning we went to our service at GBRV.  The kids always enjoy going to children's church after the pastor's story, but on the first Sunday of the month we don't have children's church because of communion.  They did quite well.  Then we went to Calvary, where they LOVE the children's classes, but they decided they didn't want to go to their classes because they wanted to stay with Sam.  So they sat through two services that morning!  And I didn't even have anything along for them to do at Calvary's service.  Thankfully I had several Post-It note pads in my purse and some pens.  They made use of every little piece of paper!

Dick grilled chicken breasts and hot dogs when we got home.

There had been rain in the forecast for Sunday, which had really disappointed me, but after we finished eating we checked the forecast again and decided it looked like the chance of rain was actually quite slim.  Dick and I have been wanting to hike the nearby Spring Creek Canyon Trail ever since they put a nice parking lot at the beginning of the trail along Rock Road.   This was finally the day!  What a nice trail!

It was a little over a mile long one way with a pretty steep downhill, which would of course be uphill going back!  Dick's knee was giving him trouble, and Bianca was complaining of being tired.  So the three of us sat on the nice bench at the end of the trail while Sam and Sammy RAN that 1.1 mile back to get the van!  I couldn't believe it when he texted that they were already back at the van.

However, he got a bit lost while driving around to pick us up at the other end of the trail, so that part took longer, haha!!  

We came home to get a few things, then went over to Anthony's.  First off, we stopped to check out the hunting shack!  I stayed on the ground!

I had made cream of tomato soup on Saturday and brought that along over to Anthony's.  There I made grilled cheese on rye sandwiches to eat with the soup.  

We had a good time relaxing and hanging out with Anthony and Austin. 

It was a lovely evening for being on the porch too.  

Bianca and I stayed out till dark, just enjoying the sights and sounds of nature.  

On Monday morning, Labor Day, I made bacon, eggs, and English muffins for breakfast.   The kids pulled out the marble roller and Legos.  I caught a cute picture or two of Bianca with her Cookie.   

Around noon we all packed up, said our goodbyes,  and left, they for home in Duncannon and we for Manheim.  

Dick's dad had a riding mower to give us.  Dick will probably have to work on it to get it to run, but that's what Dick does best!  So we went in the truck to Grandpa Stauffer's where they loaded that mower up.  Dick had taken wooden planks to use for a ramp and then needed to bring them along home to use for a ramp to get the mower off the truck.  So it took some Stauffer ingenuity to get everything tied down securely, but he did it.  

We looked like real rednecks all the way back to State College, hahaha!

I took this picture at Anthony and Lori's place on Wednesday.  Yikes!  I see some red leaves.  Do you?

It's starting to look like we might get neighbors next door.  There's been a huge pile of dirt sitting there for months, weeds growing out of it.  I've been getting so tired of looking at it every time I stand at my sink, which is often.  But lately there's been some activity, especially today.

This evening we went over the mountain behind Anthony and Lori's and had a belated birthday celebration for Lori at our favorite place, Doan's BBQ.  For the first time I tried something other than my regular Dam Fish Sandwich.  I got brisket, mac and cheese and coleslaw, all of it absolutely yummy!!  We finished off with ice cream.  I got a peanut butter cookie dough cone.   Small.  But it was huge!

We saw this amazing sunset on our way home this evening!

Imagine my surprise when we got home and our kitchen light was on and the curtains wide open!  Yikes!!!  I guess I had left in a hurry earlier!  The whole world could see right into our kitchen!

I admit I love when I can see into houses when we drive by.  But I don't want to be one of those houses, hahaha!

Well, that's all for this week!