Our Spring Break week

Happy Saturday!!  It's a COLD one here, with more cold and snow in the forecast.  Many times our worst snowstorms have been in March.  I was thinking about that a few weeks ago when we were having almost summer-like temperatures.  And here we are with a possible Nor'easter coming to the East at the beginning of next week.  We shall see.  The nice part is that snow at this time of year does not hang around for weeks and weeks like it does in the midst of winter.  

Thank you to any of you who have prayed for Destiny.  We had a wonderful visit with her on Sunday.  She was happy and content.  Frank was there too, and only two were allowed at a time, so Dick spent about ten minutes with her first, then he went to the car for a nap while I was with her for the rest of the hour.   It was a beautiful day for driving too.   We felt like we had a front row seat to the gorgeous sunrise as we drove the last stretch toward State College.

Destiny went home to her mom's on Thursday, and today, on this bitterly cold day, they are moving to a suburban area of Lancaster.  I hope and pray this will be a positive change.  Yesterday Destiny Face-timed me and took me on a tour of their new house.  That was really fun!

This week was Spring Break for Penn State, so a number of things on my regular schedule were changed because of that.  I did not teach piano lessons Monday evening because my students were on a trip with their family.  I didn't have Bible study on Thursday morning because they follow the State College School District schedule, which also was on Spring Break since so many students in the district are children of Penn State employees.  

On Wednesday evening I took off from Houserville's service because it was Hunter's first birthday!!!!  How hard to believe that a year has passed since he entered our lives!  Like Anthony said, it's hard to remember life without him!

I made lasagna, garlic bread, and Caesar salad for our dinner and Lori made cupcakes.   She made a Baby Einstein logo on each one with little candies.  Austin counted the candies on each one and discovered one of them had more than any of the others, so you know which one he claimed, haha!

No one makes Hunter giggle more than his big brother!

He's crazy over blueberries.

He wasn't sure what to think of his cupcake.

But he loved when we sang Happy Birthday, even clapped with us!

But just like Austin on his first birthday, he was absolutely disgusted by the cake and icing, hahaha!  He kept picking the icing off and trying to put it on the floor!

But he loved getting his new toys.

Waving goodbye to us!

Hunter's daycare, which is on campus, was also closed this week for Spring Break, so on Thursday I babysat him here at my house.  What an easy job!  He is so easy and content.  

This was the cutest thing.  He fell in love with the teddy bear that was sitting on Bianca's car seat.  (We have three car seats - one for Hunter, one for Bianca, one for Sammy.  This one usually resides in our living room until we are making a trip down to Sam and Jenn's.)  

Over and over again Hunter would look into the teddy bear's eyes and then nuzzle his head against its head.  It was so SWEET!

This toy, which Sam and Jenn gave us after Bianca had outgrown it, is a huge favorite of his. 

Look, Ma!  Only one hand!

He took a 3 1/2 hour nap on the love seat!  Occasionally he would stir, then would settle back in.  I decided he has joined the list of people who have discovered how wonderfully comfortable our couches are for sleeping.  

On Friday morning we woke up to a most beautiful sight - snow clinging to the trees, but thankfully, melting on the street.  These pics were taken from my windows.

It was even more beautiful after the sun came out.  The sun made fleeting appearances throughout the day, with more slow flurries and wind in between.  

Speaking of wind, we had WIND this week.  There were days when I was driving over to Anthony and Lori's that I had pictures in my head of huge trucks being blown over and wondering if my van was going to do the same thing.  I've also wondered how much wind this house can take, but thankfully the only thing affected were the chairs on the porches.  Yes, we should put them away over winter, but that didn't happen this year.  

Dick is so afraid this extreme cold is going to ruin our Spring flowers.  He has been covering our flower beds.  It looks trashy, but hopefully it will work.  

Today we'll be heading to Lebanon County for our Zimwit gathering - the combined families of my dad and Grandma Mary.  Always a fun time.  We're taking Austin with us this time.  Speaking of Grandma Mary - she's feeling so much better and driving again too.  She's looking forward to our gathering today. 

And now for another flashback of Witmer Trio music for those of you who enjoyed hearing the other songs I posted.  These weeks as the cry of my heart is for healing for those so dear to me, I have enjoyed the message in this song we used to do, Rise and Be Healed.

Tuesday update on Saturday

I missed my Tuesday update this week.  I don't work at the church office on Tuesdays anymore, but it seems to be becoming my appointment day.   A few Tuesdays ago I had the hospital followup visit with my regular doctor, the next Tuesday I had both a dentist appointment and a bone scan test, and the next Tuesday a hair appointment.  It's nice to have a day to fit things like that in.

Speaking of the dentist appointment.  I got a tooth pulled in preparation for some bridge work that I'm going to have done.  The tooth had broken.  Unfortunately I ended up getting an infection a couple of days after it was pulled - painful and swollen.  The first antibiotic she prescribed did not have any affect, but the second, stronger one did.  About a week after it was pulled I finally did not need to take ibuprofen for pain.

Last Saturday Dick and I drove to Lancaster County in the afternoon.  We had been experiencing extreme, almost summer-like weather, but as the colder air collided with the warm on Saturday it was CRAZY!!  We missed the worst of it, experiencing only wind and rain.  Many places had bad storms, even tornadoes.  We were always at the right place at the right time, thankfully, and missed those.

Dick's brother Bob and his wife were in from Minnesota, so we were having a family gathering Saturday evening.  All five boys and their wives had dinner at Dad Stauffer's, very delicious lasagna and garlic bread - the entire meal provided by Dad and Arlene.  You can only imagine the noise level and fun around that table!  We also had quieter conversation too as we discussed future scenarios for Dad and Arlene.  We all are so thankful for the good health they have and their ability to stay in their wonderful home.

I regret that I did not get a picture this time of Dad and his five boys, but here's an informal one that I took before the meal.  Left to right: Jim, Bob, Fred, Steve, Dick, and Dad.

 The bright sunset reflecting on Dad's woods.  The guys told him that if he ever gets to the place where he can no longer clean up his woods, it could go six years with nothing done to it and then maybe it would look like everyone else's woods, hahaha!  Dead trees and unnecessary growth have no chance here!

After dinner we sang around the table.  Here are two videos.  The first one is The Solid Rock.  We were still sitting for this one.

The second one, commonly known as the Mennonite Anthem, or 606 because of the number it was in the hymnal for many years, is a great favorite.  Actually, it is also called Festival Doxology when done complete with orchestral accompaniment as we used to do at the Jr. High Festival.   We had to stand up to do this one.  It's kind of like the National Anthem.  You just don't do it sitting down.  The view is sideways, so you'll have to tilt your head to watch it, haha!

After dinner a few grandchildren and great grandchildren dropped in.  The men had the living room.  We ladies were trying to talk at the big table, but those guys were so loud we couldn't even hear each other.

So we went to the basement.   More fun for the kids down there anyway.

After leaving there we went to Sam and Jenn's overnight.  We were staying down for Sunday.  I was sad that Bianca was already in bed for the night, but Sammy was still wide awake and full of energy.  Sam and Jenn went out, Dick watched hockey, and Sammy and I  got busy.  First we made some peanut butter rice krispie treats.

Then we got creative.  Their dining room table has gotten completely taken over by his never-ending "work."  He designs things, he draws things, he makes things, he writes things.   We wrote a little book that evening called Sammy Catches an S.  He told me everything to write and draw, but he wanted me to do the work.

He finally ran out of energy and was ready to sit next to me for some books I had brought along.

In the morning we had our chance for some fun with Bianca.  I caught this picture across the breakfast table when she did not know I was taking it.  It works better that way with her.

Here's a link to a video that Jenn posted this week.  I could just watch it over and over!  Her enthusiasm is absolutely contagious.

Enthusiasm personified

We had a slow, lazy morning at their house with a late breakfast of bacon and eggs.  Dick and I packed up and left soon after noon.  Our first destination was Sky Zone near Lancaster to meet up with Frank.  What a great place for an energizer bunny like Jada!

From there we drove to Reading to spend some time with Destiny.  I had a gift card for Olive Garden, so that's where we went.  Their food is so delicious every time.  We had so much fun.

 
Of course, Destiny and I had to get our bathroom selfie!

I'm asking for prayer for Destiny.   This week she experienced a very dark mental/emotional crisis and is now in a facility where she can receive help.  That's all I can say on a public forum such as this.  Pray for me too.  She is so precious to me.  I'm pretty much surrounding myself with deep, powerful worship music as I work around home and in my car.  We're planning to go visit her tomorrow.  

Wow, right after I wrote the above paragraph I got a call from her!!!  She sounded so happy and can hardly wait for our visit.  She had a list of her things she'd like from here, such as crayons, a pair of sweats, her baby picture, that she'd like me to bring.   Thank you, Jesus.  I am sitting here in tears of joy.  

This week we had a return to winter.  The clouds were spectacular at times.  

On Friday we had snow squalls (white outs).  There were terrible pile-ups on several highways around here.  Lori was lucky.  She took Austin and her nephew Will to an indoor trampoline park in Harrisburg, GetAir  - first day of Spring Break.  She got down there before the snow squalls and came home after they were over.   We didn't get much snow at all, but it was ferocious while it was coming down.

I went over to Anthony's later in the afternoon and spent the evening there till Lori got back home.  

I had so much fun with Hunter.  He gets all over the place now.  But he's such a content little guy playing with his toys.  Buy oh my, is he heavy!!  My shoulders felt it afterward and I didn't even carry him that much.  

While I was there I also was keeping an eye on Sophie's track meet on my phone.   Anthony had already taken Hunter upstairs when Sophie's 200 was starting.  There were a number of heats, but I didn't know which one she would be in.  At one point I thought I might see her in the one lane, so I tried to take a screen shot.  But ALAS!!  I mistakenly hit the home button of my phone and turned the whole live feed OFF!!  I was so mad at myself, because it took me forever to get it back up again.  GRRRR.  Lisa said she hadn't done as well this time anyway, because she had been sick this past week and missed some practices.  

This week Jeremy and Mike went to Thailand for a 3-week vacation!  Apparently it is a very inexpensive vacation destination.  Their pictures are SPECTACULAR!!  So much ornate architecture.  

Ok. Now I do have other things to get done.  Have a great rest of the weekend!