Weekly recap

 Starting here with last Sunday, March 26.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  Still cold and a bit windy.

After church I took a picture of these sweet crocuses in front of the house.

 

My secret sister at church was really on the ball - gave me this Easter basket two weeks early! Anonymously, of course. 

Dick and I drove to Duncannon and got to Sammy's flag football practice just before it ended.  He came over to me afterward and said, "Hi Mahna" as he looked down on me with great enjoyment, hahaha!  I'm short, but he is really tall for an eleven-year-old.  

Sam needed to go pick up Bianca to take her to softball practice.  Meanwhile we took Sammy to browse at two of our favorite antique shops nearby.  We found a few good things, but I guess I didn't take pictures.  Browsing is half the fun anyway.  We saw this picture and cracked up!

Then we went to watch Bianca's practice.  It was held at an indoor facility.  Here she is practicing with the coach in a batting cage.  

Then we said our goodbyes and went to meet Alex at the Duncannon Sheetz.  This was our cool passenger on the way home, haha!  He loves his sunglasses.

Here are some pictures from the week.  

"What's this, Grandma?"

And some cute pictures from daycare. 

Dick took him out to the shed after he got home from work one evening and he got to try using a real hammer.  

 

It seems to be taking forever, but Spring is on its way.  I'm happy to see red on the trees!

On Friday evening Dick and I drove to my sister Mary Ellen's house.  Our Uncle Lloyd Myers had passed away and his funeral was Saturday morning.  Mary Ellen and I realized that this was the fourth time since November that we have stayed at her house because of a family funeral/memorial service!!  In November it was our cousin Jeff Myers. In December it was our brother-in-law Elvin Peifer.  In February it was our Uncle David Shenk.  And now the beginning of April another uncle.  I remember Grandma Mary saying one time that they go to so many funerals.  I'm afraid we're getting to that stage, which is really sad.  

Uncle Lloyd was my mom's brother - youngest of ten children!   He was just two years old when their mother died.  My mom was 16 and took a lot of the responsibility of mothering and keeping house until her dad married again.  Lloyd was just nine years old when their step mother died.  The younger boys went to live with older married sisters.  Lloyd lived with my parents.  I was just five years old when he got married at age 19 and moved out, so I don't have a lot of memories of him in our home.  

Lloyd and Shirley had four sons.  In 2014 Shirley died after a very short battle with cancer.  She was an absolutely lovely woman and her loss was devastating.  I was glad for the chance on Saturday to become better acquainted with these cousins and their children.  But I did not take one picture of them, which really upsets me.  I don't know when I will ever see them again.  

Below is a collage of pictures I took over the past few years.  On the bottom right Lloyd is sitting with Uncle Earl.  Earl is now the only sibling remaining on this earth.  All the spouses have passed away too.   Just unbelievable.  Earl's wife Irene passed away very unexpectedly in October, and I missed her funeral because it was held on a Wednesday and I couldn't go.  I'm really sad about that.  She was always the life of the party.

After the meal at the funeral we went back to Mary Ellen's house and relaxed for a few hours.  I took a few pictures of her lovely home from my recliner, and then a selfie as we said goodby.  

After church yesterday we went out to eat with some friends.  It's always a good time.  

When I got home I tried on this gift.  Wait till you hear about this!  A few weeks ago my friend Linda wore this lovely poncho to church.  I exclaimed how beautiful it was and how much I like the color combination and blocking.  Yesterday she handed me a gift bag that was stapled shut and told me I may not open it till I get home.  Look what was inside that bag!!  I LOVE it!!!  It even looked good with the clothes I had worn to church!  Linda is one of those people whose love language is gift giving, and she does it so well 

It was another gorgeous sunny Sunday, although only in the forties.  This time we went over to Anthony's place to hike in the woods with them.  At the edge of their property line is state game lands and we kept walking for a long time.  I have no idea how far we walked.  We certainly did not hurry and just enjoyed ourselves. 

Those were evergreens growing way up there!

We came upon this log that had water flowing through it!  On our way back we talked to other hikers who said that it was someone's COVID project in 2020.  

We enjoyed this view of State College.  When we zoomed in we could see Beaver Stadium and the Bryce Jordan Center.  

I took a screen shot of Google Maps.  The red shows our hike.  It starts at Anthony's place, which you can see is at the end of their private road.  The little town at the top of the photo is Pine Grove Mills and the road to the right of the photo is the one that goes up over the mountain.

Over in Sweden Miki is having fun making cards again.  Below is one we got in the mail a few weeks ago.

On Saturday we got another one.  On the top two photos you can see the front of the card.  When you pull up on the arrow the rabbit pops up!  The bottom right photo is one she posted of other cards she has made recently.  

Sophie was at another big track meet this past weekend.  EXTREMELY tough competition!!  It was not broadcast live, but I was able to watch videos afterward and also to view pictures.  Here are some I saved.  I think she and her team came in 8th in most events. 

And now I think that's it!  Have a good week! 

Holy week.  

Good times

And another week has gone by!  

I'm going to start by sharing the song my choir did last Sunday morning, just a simple medley of "We Will Glorify the King of Kings" and "We Exalt Thee."  But it was the addition of the flutes and the acapella ending that made it so very special.  I joked afterward that it was my Mennonite dream come true - my Methodist choir singing acapella, haha!!

After church Dick and I drove the 2 1/2 hour trip to Manheim, eating our packed lunch as we drove.  We went to Manheim Central to see their production of Hunchback of Notre Dame.  I have several friends who had been directing and/or working with the kids and sharing on Facebook how amazing it was going to be.  It WAS!!  It was beyond amazing.  I have been to a lot of high school musicals, but this was the best ever.  The set, the costumes, the acting, but especially the singing!!!  Honestly, I don't know how that many amazing, professional quality voices can all come from one high school!!!  

After the show was over we went to nearby Pleasant View Communities to visit Grandma Arlene.  I regret that I forgot to take a picture of her.  

Then we stopped in at Bjórn and Jess's house to see them.  Charlie had just woken from a nap, so he was  not too lively at first.  But the longer we were there the more he warmed up.  He's nine months old already!

He has the bluest eyes and the longest eye lashes!

Then we went to meet Alex to get Elizer from him.  He's such a good traveler.  

On Monday I went with Destiny to Elizer's doctor checkup, then we got some KFC, and then she hung out at our house till she had to start work at 2:30.  I made dinner for Anthony and Lori and took it over to their place after Elizer's nap.  He got to see Anthony and Austin.  That made him happy.

I took these pictures while he was having a snack.  

He likes when Grandpa gets down on the floor with him to play.

On Wednesday I made sweet and sour chicken and fried rice for Anthony and Lori.  I took it over to their place before I picked Elizer up from daycare.   

We always have a bread and soup meal before our Lenten service and Elizer loves going along because he knows that after he eats there will be time to play with the toys.  Destiny came there after she got off work at 6:00 and ate with us. 

Before we left for church I went to my closet to get an outfit to change into.  Elizer went into the closet and came out with his kangaroo outfit from halloween.  He was so thrilled!   Thankfully he got too hot in it and was glad to take it off, or I'm afraid we would have been taking a kangaroo to church!

And look what he got to do on a school field trip this week!  He LOVES seeing the Nittany Lion emblem on top of Beaver Stadium, which we pass every day.  But we had never yet taken him to sit on the actual statue on campus.   Daycare beat us to it!

And this is how they got there - probably a 15-minute walk across campus.  What a cute sight that must have been!!

This boy loves to be outside!  We're so lucky to have a little playground below our house.  We were there several days after school.  One day I took him and then when Dick got home from work he took him too!  

We didn't have any snow this week, and some of the afternoons may have reached into the high 50's.  So I do have a few daffodils.  The crocuses did not survive the extreme cold we had last weekend.

This was quite a week for Sophie.  Last weekend's times at her track meet put her first in the state and nation in the girls 100 meter dash!  

This weekend her school team was at the FSU Relays in Tallahassee.  Much tougher competition, because Montverde Academy was there.  Sophie had run against them during indoor season, but not since the outdoor meets started.  So in the four races she ran this weekend she came in second each time.  

There she goes!

It's Saturday night and I need to hit the sack now!  Happy Sunday!

 

Another happening week

 After I posted last Saturday Dick and I went on some errands.  As we drove we saw this beautiful sight as we were passing our church.

We went to Lowes to buy a new microwave.  Ours has been having some major issues, and at Thanksgiving Ray gave us money to get another one, and we finally did!  

Then we went to our favorite hoagie shop and used coupons we had gotten from our church's fundraiser a few weeks ago.  Each coupon got us a large (very large) hoagie, and we had four coupons.  From there we went to Anthony and Lori's place to eat hoagies and watch Sophie's track meet in NYC on their big screen TV.   Lori had just gotten back from a work trip, and we had some fun too!

Watching Sophie's 4x200 relay race was SO MUCH FUN!!  We had watched heat after heat till they got to hers.  Lori said she was sure she sees Lisa, so I texted Lisa to ask what she was wearing,  Sure enough it was pink, so every time the camera got to that side of the track we would look for her and Carlos, Sophie's boyfriend who was standing beside her.  When it was Sophie's heat we were screaming!!  The girls were SO GOOD, their running form, their speed, their handoffs.  Anthony said, "We gotta find out who their coach is!!"  Hahahaha!  They are Team B.L.U.E. and came in third.  Austin and Hunter loved watching her.  The next day Sophie told me that she had gotten text messages from each of the boys and it made her day!

Sunday morning came soon enough with that time change!  Here are pictures I took during the service.  Pastor Jim has a conversation with the kids the second Sunday of the month.  We all love it.  This time he used an egg to help them understand the Trinity.  

After church we went out to eat with some friends from church.  The restaurant had such nice decorations for St. Patricks Day.

Monday morning we woke up to snow - just enough to be pretty, but not on the roads.  

It was totally melted by the afternoon.  

Miki had sent me an audio file that morning.  She said it was a song from church the day before.  When I listened to it I realized it was the gospel choir she has joined at the church she attends.  The longer I listened I realized that not only was she the soloist in the song, she was the lead singer!  I can't go into details of why this is such a big deal, but it is.  She has been experiencing some real emotional healing since her visit to Pennsylvania last fall, and the fact that she is having the courage to join this choir and throw herself wholeheartedly into it is evidence of God's goodness.  I cannot share an audio file, so I made a video of it, just a picture of horses in a pasture with a fence around it. (The song is titled "Jesus, Be a Fence.")   She gave me her blessing to do this.  Enjoy!!  By the way, I'm really jealous of that piano player!!

I made Jamaican hamburgers (seasoned with curry powder, thyme, and allspice) for Anthony and Lori that day and took them over to their place.  In the evening we left right after Dick got off work to go meet Alex to get Elizer from him.  We hadn't seen him for a whole week!   Alex had gotten him a haircut that day!  

Destiny worked till 11:00 that night, so they stayed here overnight.  

Tuesday morning we woke up to snow again!  This time it had blown up across our porch, so we knew there must have been some wind.  WIND was the big deal that day.  It was SO cold and miserable.  And depressing.  I took Elizer to daycare, went for my hair appointment, went for some groceries, and each place I went I didn't want to even get out of my car.  

And then of all days the heat in my car decided to give out on me.  When I picked Elizer up from daycare I felt frozen by the time I got there.  Thankfully I had a blanket to tuck around him on the way home.  

So I had to use Dick's truck on Wednesday.  We have a car seat for Elizer in the back seat.  He thought it was really cool going in Grandpa's truck.  

An installation guy from Lowes came that morning to put our new microwave in.  I was glad he came early because I needed to use my stove.

I made Jamaican Rice and Beans and Curried Chicken for Anthony and Lori, then took that over to their place before I picked Elizer up.  We had our Lenten service and choir practice at church that evening, with a soup and bread meal before it started.  We took Elizer along and Destiny picked him up after she got off work - just before the service started.  

Thursday morning when I started my van it made a screeching noise and then a loud clunk.  As I backed up I realized I could not steer.  UGH!!  I called Dick and he said he had finished things up so quickly Wednesday before they closed that he had not noticed something he should have put on - or something like that.  He said a belt had come off - that was the loud clunk I heard.  

So I had to quickly call Destiny to tell her I could not take Elizer to daycare, that she would need to HURRY to take him before going to work.  (She did hurry!)  Then I called AAA, which took a LONG time.  Eventually a tow truck came to tow it to Bastian where Dick works.  I went along so I could once again get Dick's truck.  

Dick got my van completely fixed up that day.  We now have a new water pump, a new belt, and HEAT!!  

It was a beautiful, sunny day!!  After I got home with Elizer we went for a walk and then spent a lot of time at the little playground below the house.  It was just what my heart needed. Destiny came here after work and they hung out here for the evening.  

Here are some pictures his teachers posted this week. 

Today I went to Ollie's to get my coffee and I spent some time browsing.  I found a motto that made me laugh. I decided I needed to hang it somewhere in my kitchen just for laughs, even though it's not true! And I found the perfect place.   But I had to find a different place for the one that had been hanging there. 

I decided it would look nice under the candles that are above the water cooler.  

I also found this "welcome friends" banner at Ollie's for just $9.99.  I thought it was huge and would look good hanging on the living room beam.  So Dick hung it there while I was sitting here blogging this evening.  

When I went out to take a picture of it I realized it's not big at all, haha! I don't know if friends will even notice that they are welcome, lol!! 

Today Sophie had another track meet, this time in Bradenton.  Her 100 meter dash was about to happen this morning when I needed to go to church to practice with my flute players.  Thankfully I was watching on my phone and did not lose connection.  My flute players got to see her race, and they are my witnesses that she came in FIRST at 11.41 seconds, which makes her first in Florida in the 100 meter dash!

Then her 200 meter dash happened while I was in Ollie's.  So I hung out in the picture/motto section for a long while waiting for her heat - always the last one.  She came in first again with a personal record of  23.96!  Both races today were wind-aided, which makes her times not wind-legal.  I guess that's a big deal in the grand scheme of times.  

While I was sitting here writing we noticed that it was snowing and blowing again!  But fifteen minutes later there was a beautiful sunset.  March!!!  It takes so long for Spring to arrive in these parts. 

But because February was so unseasonably warm, we do have flowers that have somehow withstood all the sub-freezing temps we've had in March.  God bless those hardy little things!

And that's the scoop for this week!