Beautiful Fall!

We haven't really done anything that interesting since the other Sunday when we had the memorial gathering.  But I've taken pictures, so I'll share them.  First of all, beautiful Fall shots.

I'm always curious why this tree has such sparse foliage.  From Spring through Fall you can easily see right through the tree's branches. 

I took this one as I was walking and approaching our house.  I felt overwhelmed with the beauty and the fact that we are so blessed to live here.  

The next few were taken at Stauffer Acres.

I found this mum variety at Weis Markets last evening for $5.97!  I was so excited!

I almost forgot that I have these Fall porch pillows.  I remembered that they kept blowing off the past two years, so I got out a big needle and some yarn and sewed them to the chairs, hahaha!!  We'll see how long that works!

Saturday was a gloriously warm day.  I sat on the side porch for at least an hour or more, no sweater or jacket.  Not every October 10th that you get to do that!

We are so blessed at GBRV with Pastor Lynn.  Her messages are full of "meat."   On Sunday she preached from the story of Jesus in the boat during a very bad storm.  "Why Are You So Afraid?"  I vividly remember when that verse became very real to me, especially the next thing Jesus said to his disciples - "Do you still have no faith?"  I remembered the times before when I was so afraid because I could not imagine how situations would work out.  But after seeing how God heard and answered my cries I felt silly for having been so afraid.  I knew that Jesus wanted me to trust Him IN the situation, not just after I had seen how He had worked.  That is STILL a challenge for me over and over again!

We also are so blessed and very challenged by Pastor Dan's messages from Calvary.   He has such a hungry heart for God and for revival.

Look at this picture Anthony posted last week!!  He said, "I don't even know what's going on anymore."  Hahahaha!!  Austin's origami has definitely gone to the next level!  I just love that pineapple!

And you know I can't finish a post without at least one adorable Elizer picture!  Here are three!

Again, I just want to kiss my screen when I look at this one!

And now I'm finally caught up for the first time in a while!

The Memorial Gathering for Grandpa Stauffer

 I'm finally getting back here to tell about our Sunday - a whole week ago!  But again, I will start with a picture I took this afternoon.  Did I ever say I love red?

Now, back to last Sunday.  Right after church we came home to pack up all of the things Destiny had brought along for her and baby Elizer.  We traveled, without stopping, all the way to Middle Creek Church of the Brethren near Lititz, a two-and-a-half hour drive.   Elizer is such a good traveler!

The memorial gathering for Dad Stauffer was held in the spacious pavilion at the church.  Dick's brother Bob and his wife Doris were there from Minnesota.  You can see them right at the front of this picture, seated at the table.  He was the moderator that kept things flowing.  

It was a WONDERFUL, informal time of sharing stories, laughing, shedding some tears, and singing some of his favorite songs. 

In addition to our immediate family, there were cousins, an aunt, and Grandma Arlene's siblings. 

 

There may have been a silly song or two by the Stauffer boys!  "How Does a Cow Make Milk?" and "There Was a Man Who Had a Goat."

It lasted for two hours and we did not get bored!  I managed to corral the five brothers afterward for a picture.  It was not easy, since there were so many relatives there they had not seen in years.  Here they are, youngest to oldest - Fred, Jim, Steve, Bob, and Dick.  Dick was seven years old when Fred was born!  That was a whole lot of little boys!

Dick took a video of the entire afternoon.  The stories were so great, some of them really funny.  And the four-part acapella singing was so good!

After making the slide show of Grandma Mary last week, I decided I would like to also make one of Grandpa Stauffer.  I did not take the time to go through all my photo albums, so there are gaps, but it gives a pretty good overview.  I love the ones where he has a twinkle in his eye.

When we finally had talked with as many people as we could, and many had a chance to meet little Elizer for the first time, we took him and Destiny home.  First of all though, we stopped at the Turkey Hill Minit Market where Alex works.  It was so cute seeing him walk around the store with Elizer in his arms.  

I think we were home by 8:30, very tired.  But a good tired. 

First thing Monday morning Destiny sent me a video of Elizer that just MELTED MY HEART!!  I took these screen shots from the video and have been looking at them all week long!

I have some good Fall pictures from this past week, but I'll do another post with those in a day or so.  

Special house guests!

I'm starting this post with a picture I took yesterday.  My marigolds are loving the fall weather!  They are just showing off with all their might!

Yesterday I wrote about Grandma Mary's funeral day.  I'll start this post with with what we did after the funeral and picnic lunch.  First of all we stopped at Lititz Springs Park, a most favorite spot that holds so many memories for us.  But our purpose for stopping was so Dick could take a nap!  Besides, we were dressed up and didn't really have time to stroll through the lovely park.  

From there we went to pick up some very special passengers.  Destiny and Elizer were coming home with us for a few days!  It worked out great that we were in the Lebanon/Lancaster County area that day (Thursday) for Grandma Mary's funeral and would be returning on Sunday for Grandpa Stauffer's memorial gathering.  Alex had to work, and they would be staying in touch via FaceTime.  Elizer already knows his daddy's voice and face on the phone! 

Elizer slept the whole way to State College!  We had so much fun getting better acquainted with him when we got home that evening.   

Destiny couldn't wait to pick out a movie from our old, familiar stash.  Her pick that night was The Book Thief, one we have watched together before.  I was sure I would not be staying up to watch the whole thing, since my day had begun extremely early, but guess what?  I watched the whole thing.  It is such a profoundly beautiful and tragic story from the Holocaust.  

Friday was our 49th anniversary!  But for this year it was a regular work day for him and a regular cooking day for me, surrounded by enough other special events and COVID restrictions that we did not do any special celebrating.  Just remembering!  Top right:  our parents who were each celebrating their wedding anniversaries on our wedding day!  Bottom left:  the Witmer family.  Bottom right: our bridal party, most of whom were family. 

How fun having a baby in the house!   For a long time he sat in his bouncer as I made a beef stirfry for Anthony and Lori, but after a while he got bored and fell asleep.  

Destiny is a really good mommy.  She is breastfeeding him and he's really growing.  He's already three pounds over his birth weight.  I must admit, I had forgotten how much babies spit up, pass gas, poop, and how quickly a baby boy can pee during a diaper change, lol!!  Never a dull moment!  

GBRV was having a take-out only spaghetti supper on Friday.  I went to pick ours up and took Destiny and Elizer along.  We went inside so I could show off Elizer to the spaghetti crew.  Then we went to Walmart for a few things before coming home to eat our spaghetti and meatballs.   Destiny watched Little Mermaid that evening.  I love how she reverts to her childhood pleasures when she's here. 

Saturday was the first day of archery season, and Dick was out of the house and over at Stauffer Acres long before dawn.  He already had success at 7:10 am!  He was a happy guy!  I'm sorry if this picture is offensive to any reader.  It's hard for me too, but we really do eat and like venison.  

I went to the bank that morning and got these gorgeous pictures of the bright orange foliage.  My absolutely favorite color.  (Take a look at the dresses in my bridal party above!)

We had a lazy afternoon at home.  After Dick took the deer to the butcher, he had time for a nap and some baby holding.  Destiny and I (and Elizer in the carrier) took a walk around the neighborhood in the early evening.   Elizer got a "sink bath" and was not impressed!  She said he loves being in his little tub at home, but we hadn't brought it along.  

That evening Destiny found a case of her childhood CDs in our guest room. I didn't even know they were still there!  One of them is especially meaningful to us.  It's called Nature Sounds, and is beautiful instrumental music with nature sounds in the background.  When she was with us I would put that CD on in her bedroom for her to fall asleep to.  Often I lay beside her till she was sleeping, so I listened to it countless times too.  We both LOVE it and feel so sentimental about it.  I was thrilled to discover that we could get it on iTunes!!  I used one of the songs as the background music on the slideshow of Grandma Mary.  

Sunday morning was our first indoor service at GBRV.  We had fifteen Sundays in a row outdoors.  Just one time we had a little bit of rain.  Another Sunday it was really cold (in the 40's), but sunny.  But this Sunday it was in the 40's and raining!  We were so thankful that we were already planning to be indoors!   

Many precautions were in place, and people who did not feel comfortable being indoors were able to join via Google Hangouts.  Of course Dick, as always,  videoed the service.  I was so happy to play a real piano!!!  

When the service was over we hurried home to help pack everything and everybody up.   We were heading back to Lancaster County for a memorial gathering.  Again, Elizer was such a good little traveler!  

I'll write about the memorial gathering in my next post.  

Grandma Mary's funeral day

Last Thursday Dick and I left home by 6:30 am, headed to Fairview Reception Center in Lebanon County.  Grandma Mary's viewing was scheduled to begin at 9:00, and I wanted to be among the first ones there before it would get too crowded.  I knew my stepbrothers were making a lot of effort to keep things COVID-safe, but we really did not feel comfortable being among so many people.  

In the room where her casket was, there was a rope separating the seated family from the viewers.  I took this picture of the flower arrangement we Witmers gave.  My sister Barb in Idaho picked it out.  So gorgeous!!

Dick and I and my sister Mary Ellen were the only Witmers who came to this part of the service.  Dick and Nancy and Doris and Dale came to the graveside service later.  We and Mary Ellen were sitting at first at the end of that line.  However, Mary's beloved sister Nora was seated behind us, and so many people who came to the viewing had not seen Nora in a long time, so they just couldn't help themselves from coming back to talk to her.  

Before long Dick decided to go to the van.  Mary Ellen and I went to the big room where the service would later be held.  There was a slideshow running over there that we enjoyed watching.  We also got to see and talk with some of our cousins who came.   

When the service was ready to begin at 10:30 I went out to the van, and Dick and I used the phone number that was given.  We were able to listen to the service.  It was so loud and clear!  I think we were able to hear better than the people inside!   I had fun texting with some of my sisters who were also listening from out of state.  The best part of the service was when two of the Zimmerman granddaughters and two of my stepbrothers shared their memories and stories.  EVERYONE talked about her cookies!  Both sons mentioned how she would pull a straight pin out of her head covering and poke them in the behind when they were too rowdy.  Cracked me up!!  No wonder she was such a feisty lady - raising six equally feisty boys!!  

Afterward we drove to Myerstown Mennonite Church for the burial service.  Her first husband Paul was buried there.  Yes, she married two Pauls!  It was a sunny day, a bit windy at times.  

Mary's sons are seated across the front.  Roy, standing in the blue shirt, gave his chair to his Aunt Nora. Carl, Marvin, Jay, and Lester (also his wife Erma) can be seen on the front row.  Missing is youngest brother Gary.  I know he was there, but I'm not sure where he was when I snapped this picture.  I wish I had gotten a picture of all six of them together.  They are such wonderful guys, and so fun to be with.  No wonder - they are Mary's sons.  

After the service, each of Mary's children and stepchildren was given a rose from this bouquet.  Grandchildren were given the carnations. 

This was my rose, along with a spray of baby's breath and a fern leaf.  

The Zimmermans invited us to join them at a nearby restaurant afterward.  How we would have enjoyed that!  However, we again did not feel comfortable being indoors with a big group of people.  UGH!!   So instead we got takeout and ate in a park.  We were thankful it was such a nice day.  

Here's a slideshow I made of the years that Mary was part of the Witmer family, 1983 - 2020.  How BLESSED we have been to have her loving presence in our family all these years.  Thank you, Lord!  

Sammy's birthday

We've been living life at a rather intense pace the past week, packing a lot of activities and emotions into our days.  I really should blog every day in order to catch up here.  For this time I'm going way back to Sammy's birthday on Saturday, September 26.  Really, that was just a week-and-a-half ago, but it feels like a long time.   

Here's the picture I posted on Facebook that morning.  I wrote, "Today this handsome boy is NINE years old!!  When you look into the face of a newborn it's impossible to imagine how quickly they will grow up!  Happy Birthday, Sammy!!"

We left here in time to go to Sammy's soccer game at 11:00.   I forgot to get a picture of his game, but got one of him afterward.  Bianca's game was already in progress when his ended, and we watched that too.  I just love seeing the kids in action, and it was great sitting with Jenn and catching up with her.   It was a rather cool and overcast morning, but at least it wasn't raining most of the time.  

After the games we went to Jenn's place and the kids showed us all their favorite things in their bedrooms.   We got to see Cookie and Cocoa, the grandcats who lived here for a while last year. I almost think Cookie remembered me the way he was rubbing his head on my leg and looking up at me.  

By that time, Sam had gotten off work, so we went to his place to decide what we were going to do for the rest of the day.  Since it was Sammy's birthday we told him we would do whatever he wanted to do.  Being the old soul that he is, he wanted to go to nearby places to see antiques, etc.  There was a place just TWO DOORS from Sam's place that he wanted to go to.   There was a small sign about antiques, but Sam was not at all sure it really was a place open to the public.  Sammy was sure it was, so we drove into the parking lot and saw a rather inconspicuous door that said "OPEN."  We could not believe it when we walked inside!  It was GREAT!!!  We had so much fun there!  I took this picture from the loft. 

On the bottom right picture you can see Sam holding a coat that he thought would be perfect for me, lol!  It was HEAVY!!  Definitely wool and real fur.  

There was so much to see, and I did not get pictures of most of it.  Below are some old military uniforms and a few signs that made me laugh.

I did try that coat on!  Sam thought this should be my new profile pic, haha!  What I bought was a new apron that I really, really like.  I also bought a history book of Duncannon (LOTS of old pictures in it) for Sam and Sammy.  

Then we went up the road to a place that has LOTS of cement statues and figurines out front.   We spent a long time looking at all the interesting things.  

Inside was a furniture store, good quality Amish-made furniture.  

Then we were hungry, and Sammy's request was to go to Arooga's.   The food and service were good, and we had such a great time together.  

Most of the time Sammy and I were working on this word find on the kids' menu.  Right at the end we found Cheerleaders!  Can you find it?

It was a GOOD day!

One of the things I saw at the statue place was this stone.  I was thinking of Grandma Mary when I saw it.

  

The next morning I woke up to the text message that she had peacefully passed away during the night.  If you missed my previous post, I wrote about that there.