Catching up on my pictures

As I look over my pictures I see quite a few that I posted on Facebook but never on this blog.  So here goes - from most recent and on back a few weeks.

First off, last evening's sunset was crazy amazing!  I thought it looked like God had spilled the paint!

One evening this week Austin ate dinner with us.  I noticed a guitar on his shirt and asked if he ever plays it.  He proceeded to demonstrate!


This is a very common sight this summer.  Rain, rain, and more rain!!

So of course everything is green and beautiful - especially when the sun decides to make an appearance.

I remembered that I intended to make a four seasons collage, so here it is - the view outside the back door of the church office where I work.

Last week there was a big convention of the Mennonite church in Phoenix, AZ.  My long-time Nebraska penpal, whom I met through a Mennonite children's magazine over forty years ago, posted on Facebook that she was a greeter at the convention.  My Illinois cousin also posted that she was there.  I told her that if she sees a greeter named Glenda Maury, she should tell her she's my cousin.  Of course, I didn't expect that to happen at a convention with so many people in attendance.  But it did happen!!  On Friday my cousin Sharon sat down randomly at a lunch table and discovered that she was sitting with - you guessed it!  Glenda!  And here's the proof!  Sharon (Witmer) Yoder on the left, Glenda (Roth) Maury on the right.  They even matched!  Gotta love Facebook!

My lilies this year have been profuse and tall!

Somehow I missed posting the pics of the week Destiny spent here  -
Watching a movie with the neighbor girls....

An evening at the pool with Anthony, Lori, and Austin....

A picture craft - she made a belt and a purse with pictures from her album....

Her friend Cassie spent and day and a night here....

And I'll finish with this collage I made of Lisa and Michelle (whom I wrote about a few posts ago).  Some people just get more beautiful with age, and these girls most certainly have.  

Okay, now I'm caught up!  I'll have lots more cute pictures by Monday.

Independence Day and fun with the Sammys

Time to catch up on the rest of our Independence Day celebrations.  On Thursday (July 4th) Dick had off work, and we finally had time to catch up on some things around here, both inside and out.  In the afternoon we went to watch the parade in State College.  I was feeling like I was too hot to go, but we found the best spot to sit in the shade.  There was even a breeze, so it was totally relaxing and enjoyable.

When Lori saw this she said, "Here comes Uncle Sam!"  Austin said, "Where?"  Haha!  He expected to see Uncle Sam!

That evening we had a "cook-out" here with our friends Ralph and Sharon from Houserville.  Except it was a cook-in.  Dick discovered that the gas tank for the grill was empty right after he started up the grill.  And besides, it was way too hot to eat outside.   We ate and talked for hours, and I never once thought of taking a picture.

On Friday afternoon I drove to Lancaster County to spend time with Sam and Sammy.  I'm not sure who was happier - me or Sammy?

We had fun watching Sam mow the rolling hills of their big lawn.  Sammy thought it was fun to watch him through my camera viewer - it was like watching him on TV!

In the morning I had fun with Sammy on the deck again.  We compared our shoes....

He showed off his high energy....



He sent a message to Jenn...



She loved it, of course.  Only nine more days till she gets to come home and kiss his sweet face!  I'm so proud of the way Sam is handling being a single parent these five weeks.

We all took good naps in the afternoon.  Being indoors in the AC felt so much better than outside in the heat.  I'm sure it hit the high 90's and was extremely humid as well.   I cooked some rice and beans and Sazon chicken for dinner, then we took a trip to the Ephrata Goodwill store.   I found a pair of MBT's for $6.97!  I'm quite sure they cost over $200 on the MBT website.

We stopped at Wendy's for frosties on the way back to their place - a perfect dessert for a hot day.

I love his curls!  The more I'm with him the more I miss him when I'm not!  I'm hoping that one of these times we can try a weekend at Grandma's.  We shall see.

Then it was time for me to hit the road for home.  The weather was fine and the sky was beautiful as I took 322 West toward State College.

This morning at Houserville there were lots of hugs and tears.  For weeks two of our women, Dawn and Amy,  have been experiencing the long, hard good-by of dads who are dying from cancer.  Another couple is living with the husband's terminal cancer.  And before any of those three men passed away, another older gentleman, a lifelong member of Houserville, died of a heart attack on July 4th.  Then yesterday Dawn was with her dad as he passed away.  Amy continues to help care for her dad, who lives an hour-and-a-half away, but she took a break to come to church this morning.  How appropriate that we sang 10,000 Reasons....

"And on that day when my strength is failing,
The end draws near and my time has come.
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending,
Ten thousand years and then forevermore!"

Austin joined us for lunch today.  What a handsome guy.  And full of energy and tricks.  Wish you could see the plaid shorts he had on with that shirt.  

He just couldn't manage to fall asleep for his nap today.  It didn't help that we had loud thunder and heavy rain.  He said he didn't want to sleep because "sleeping bothers me", hahahaha!

Fireworks; sweet visit with Jay and Elta

When we left Camp Hebron on Sunday afternoon we did not head for home.  Instead we went to Lancaster County.  We decided to have Dick take a vacation day Monday so we could go to our favorite July 4th event at Longs Park in Lancaster.  Yes, I know it was June 30, not July 4th!  But that event always takes place the Sunday before July 4, which happened to be in June this year.

Our first stop was at Grandma Mary's.  Dick took a short nap, and while he napped my step-brother Gary, his wife Julie, 3 of their children, and a little Yorkie they are dog-sitting arrived.  Destiny was playing a game on my phone, and I was busy talking, so I didn't even think of taking pictures.  We were just cracking up at the little Yorkie (can't remember his name).  He saw Dick napping in the sun room and was sure he was a terrible threat to the rest of us.  He barked and growled, and even after he was ordered to settle down, he kept his eyes on that scary man in the sunroom.  It was so funny!

Then we went to Longs Park.  We always park across the street in the Toys R Us parking lot, because it doesn't take as long to get out afterward.  We trudged across the street and the park to our long-time spot near the cannons, and sure enough, there was my sister Doris and some of her family already set up.  We missed the last two years, so it felt really nice to be there again.  We've been doing this event together ever since our kids were little.  We just like sitting there hours ahead of time, even in the heat, eating picnic food (provided mostly by Doris and her kids this year - thank you, guys!), then listening to the 8 pm concert in the background, which always ends with the 1812 Overture, complete with live cannons, then Stars and Stripes Forever as the fireworks begin.   Frank came too and had Lauren, Jada, and her daughter Nicayla along.  

An Army band and chorus from Washington DC provided the concert.

The Star Spangled Banner.

Adorable sisters!

What a sweetie pie!

The fireworks were amazing and very close to us.  When it was over we said our goodbyes to Destiny, because Frank was taking her to her mom's house in Reading.  We went to my sister Mary Ellen's house for the night.  I was so weary I didn't wake up till after 7 am - very rare for me!  Mary Ellen was already down in the kitchen and I could smell the coffee and hear her rattling pans and dishes.  For a moment I felt like an irresponsible kid!  

She served us some DELICIOUS baked oatmeal.

She has turned her little back yard into a beautiful sanctuary.  Here she was filling her bird feeder. 

After leaving her place we went to visit our dear friends Jay and Elta Nissley.  We had the most PRECIOUS time together.  While treatments no longer seem to be working against the cancer in his brain, steroids have been helping him to feel better and more alert.  He was feeling good yesterday morning.  I will forever treasure our time together and hope there will be more opportunities for us to visit.  Here they are in their lovely livingroom.

They moved to this house since we moved away from Lancaster County, and we had never been there before.   I so enjoyed getting the grand tour.  Yes, Jordan and Alyssa, I DID see your bedrooms! (-:

Then we made the trip back to State College, greeted by our lilies that bloomed while we were away.  

I've been doing LAUNDRY!!  The last load is finally in the washer.  Cleaning up after a camping trip is the worst part.  

Now I must switch gears and get ready to go to work.  

Stauffer Camping 2013

On Friday, after packing the truck to the hilt, Destiny and I went to Bastian Tire at 5:30 to pick up Dick.  We were heading to Camp Hebron for a weekend of camping with the Stauffers - a weekend that promised rain and thunderstorms each day.  Yikes!  With all the severe storms and tornadoes (one very close to here on Thursday), it was rather unsettling to imagine being in a tent.  It wasn't long until we were driving in rain.  But then we saw a rainbow, and in my heart I felt it was God's promise that we would be okay.

And we WERE!  There was not one storm all weekend, rain just one night, and drizzle a few other times.  In fact, Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day, as you can see on these pool pictures.

No, this was not synchronized water dancing.   Any Stauffer gathering is a competition on its way to happen.  This one was to see who could stand on his/her  head the longest!

As you can see, we were well prepared for rain.  This was our tent...

...the Stauffer tarp village

....the dining room

...the kitchen

...the chapel. (this panoramic shot is from our nephew Joe)

There were several hammocks there for some good napping.

Austin and Lori didn't need a hammock for a nap.  They were zonked out in our tent after all the fun in the pool.

The children have so much fun, and I think we adults have even more fun watching them!

This was our official 2013 picture taken Sunday noon.  (Anthony, Lori, and Austin were not able to be there that day, so they are missing from the photo.)

And what good is a "nice" photo if you can't be rewarded with a "silly" one?

This is a perfect representation of the fun we have together.  What a wonderful thing to belong to this family.  I am very, very blessed.

We had more fun after we left camp at the Longs Park concert and fireworks and a precious visit with our dear friends Jay and Elta Nissley this morning.  Watch for my post about that tomorrow.