Dusty Penguin

Rendezvous in Akron

2008-11-10T14:39:00.006-05:00

This weekend Duane and I decided to meet halfway instead of one or the other of us driving all the way to see each other. Akron was pretty close to halfway. So I did some research and found a cool place to stay. It was the old Quaker Oats mill/factory and they made the grain silos into hotel rooms. So every hotel room is round. Around the hotel they displayed old Quaker oats advertising posters and gears and machinery from the mill. It's a pretty neat place and is a national historic site. I was disappointed in several things, though. We found out when we got there that the majority of the floors of the hotel are now being used by the University of Akron as dorm rooms and by this time next year the entire hotel will be a dorm. I guess because of this, or because of the season, it seemed that everything was shut down. The hotel restaurant was never open, and the adjoining advertised shopping area was mostly closed down as well. The one eatery that was open provided very poor service. The area of town that the hotel was in had no other eating places. I was also disappointed that they didn't have a hot tub. Then we also wanted to go the the National Inventors Hall of Fame museum, and it was closed! But in spite of all that we had a nice time, since the main point was to see each other and relax and rest.

Here is a picture of a room (we had a king bed) but you can't tell too well that it is round.

On Sunday we left and went to Bucyrus/Galion area (about 1 1/2 hours away) to a church where my second cousin's husband is the pastor (for family that would by Tim and Kelly). It is a very small but friendly church and their kids were being baptized that day. There was also a potluck dinner afterward. We then had some time to burn before meeting up with Jeremiah and Heather, so we went to Lowe's and purchased bathroom fixtures for the master bathroom at our house (in NY).

I am continuing to stay with my cousins, Ken and Jeanne, in Ohio, and wishing that Duane and I were together. Please pray that he will have strength, energy, health, and time to finish this house remodel project up quickly. Pray that he will then be able to find a job in Ohio. Pray also that the house will sell quickly once it is put on the market.

Update--October 17

2008-10-17T15:19:00.001-04:00

Well, most of that is still the same, except that Aunt Jeanette went home to be with the Lord on September 14. That was the day the hurricane hit Ohio (unbelievably) and much of this area was without power for an entire week. That same week I went to a different house (in Cedarville) to housesit for a month for a missionary family. It turned out to be a real blessing, because it's a very large house and I was able to put up quite a few family members who came for the funeral. My month there was up this Wednesday, and I am now back at my cousin's house in Xenia.
I've gotten faster at my jobs, not as exhausted except on shower scrubbing day, and not as hot as the weather is much cooler now! I've also been trained on some cool equipment. Cleaning toilets will never be a fun job, but there are other blessings of being here. Our supervisors are very kind, we get to go to chapel on Wednesdays, we start each day with prayer together, and my co-worker Joan has been a good friend to me.
I've been visiting different churches each Sunday--it's hard to find a new church family when there are so many churches in the area, and when your spouse isn't here to visit the churches. My mom and dad headed back to Florida last Sunday. Lets see, what else has happened? I was the victim of debit card fraud (to the tune of over $800.00) and that took weeks to get straightened out. My kids loans got messed up and that took weeks to get straightened out. The engineering students have a "Cardboard Canoe" race followed by a demolition derby of whatever boats are still afloat. Jeremiah and his teammate placed 5th in the race, and placed 5th in the demo! We were very proud of him. It was a great deal of fun. Duane came out that weekend to watch the race, and Jeremiah played his tuba in the Symphonic Band in a concert that weekend as well.
I also volunteer twice a week to help a student who is a quadraplegic (paralyzed from the neck down). I do range of motion exercises on his arms and legs to keep them from freezing up. He's a great kid and it's just incredible that he can be here. You can learn more about him at checkinondan.blogspot.com.
Well, I can't think of anything else. I usually go to bed by 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. because I get up early.

Relocation--Stage One

2008-08-25T15:03:00.002-04:00

Well, if anyone reads this, this is a long overdue update. So much has happened in the last 3-4 weeks, it's unbelieveable. I have no way to post pictures at the moment.

For several months I have been submitting applications to LeTourneau and Cedarville Universities. The reason for this is to gain employment at a Christian university so the kids would get a tuition reduction. The kids wanted to go to Cedarville, but with Alesha in Texas, LeTourneau would have been o.k., too. I eventually got interviews at Cedarville for 3 jobs, but the only one offered to me was custodial. I didn't really want to do that, but for the tuition benefit we decided I should take the job. So, I turned in my 2-week notice, which was hard to do, because I really loved my job at the physical therapy office.

Those 2 weeks were extremely busy as the kids rushed to finalize application materials for Cedarville, apply for financial aid and loans, do college shopping, and continue working full-time. I was trying to pack up various thing in the house (mainly books) to make the remodeling job easier for Duane and my dad, work full-time, help the kids with all the above mentioned items, and pack all my own belongings. Without my mom there, we would have fallen apart. She did all the laundry and ironing and cooking. I'm so thankful for the help mom and dad are giving.

So, on Aug. 15, we drove 3 vehicles out to Cedarville (which is in southern Ohio)--my car, Jeremiah's car, and Duane's truck (which he would return home in). Jeremiah's girlfriend Heather made the trip with us and returned with Duane. Friday afternoon we unloaded Erika's stuff which was mostly in my car and made good progress on her unpacking. Then we went through most of the registration process with Jeremiah. Then we moved his stuff in and unpacked his room. I don't even remember all the details of the weekend, but Friday night we unloaded my stuff at my cousin's house where I am staying in Xenia, Ohio. On Saturday we helped both kids finish unpacking and settling in, attended some meetings, went to WalMart, and ate lunch in the cafeteria. We went to a buffet type restaurant for supper, then to Young's Dairy for icecream afterwards (it's a favorite local spot). On Sunday we went to service at the chapel on campus, then had lunch in the cafeteria. Then Duane and Heather left, and I went to my cousins and tried to organize my belongings and be ready for work on Monday.

My alarm rings at 4:00 a.m., and I hit the snooze once. At 4:10 I get up and get ready for work. I leave for work at 4:30 and drive from Xenia to Cedarville. From 5:00 to 9:00 I work in the Athletic Center and the University Medical Center. From 5-6 I clean a huge bathroom in the Fitness Center area, and help with the men's bathroom if I am finished before Steve is. Then he mops my bathroom (thankfully) and I go over to the medical center and start cleaning the waiting room. (Windows, ledges, dusting, vacuuming as necessary). By that time Steve is there, and he takes one hall while I go down the other hall. It involves cleaning exam rooms, bathrooms, and offices. That is from 6-8, but usually we're done well before 8:00. Then we go to the Athletic Training area and I take one set of offices while Steve takes another and we meet in the training area and finish up there. If we are done before 9:00 the supervisor usually finds something for us to do.

At 9:00 we go to lunch. At 10:00 I head over to a girl's dorm (Printy) where I work with Becky, who is also the supervisor for that area. We clean umpteen thousand toilets, showers, sinks, mirrors, empty trash, and sweep/mop. We also have to clean the laundry room and lounge/kitchen areas. At 12:00 we go over to a different dorm (Murphy) and repeat the scenario. In that building I work with Joan. At 2:00 we are done and done in. It is exhausting work, and I am also not used to the heat.

When I am done work I go to a computer lab in the student center and check my emails/blogs. Then I either go home and shower and relax, or I go over to my great-aunt's house. She is 94 and is dying of cancer. I usually go there every other day.

Meanwhile, Duane is back in NY, working madly to finish the remodeling job on our house (plus working full-time). The upstairs is nearly completed. My mom and dad came up from Florida to help with the work on the house and to make sure Duane is taken care of and not there by himself.

So, there you have the details.

Mosaic Puzzle

2008-07-15T20:34:00.002-04:00

This is a puzzle that Erika and I just finished. It is a photo mosaic puzzle. We've had it out for quite a few weeks, putting in a piece every now and then as we walk by. It was very difficult! In the first picture, you can see it turned out to be a cute kitten.

But, if you look closer (sorry the photo is dark--with flash on it just reflected off the puzzle) you can see that each piece contains sections of tiny photographs. When you look closely at this picture, you can see polar bears (top left), airplanes (middle left), a bird (lower left), and so on.

It was very challenging and a lot of fun.

Update on family: Alesha's car died and right now they are trying to get to 2 different jobs with 1 car that doesn't start well.

Erika is working full time at the Salamanca physical therapy office location for the same company I work for in Ellicottville. She is working as a physical therapy aide and likes it very much (I think!). She also works at Burger King usually for 5 hours on Wednesday night, and 5 or more hours on Friday night, and several hours on Saturday. That doesn't leave her much free time.

Jeremiah is working for a Christian man in our church who does construction/remodeling kind of work. He works on an "as needed" basis, and so far has been getting a good amount of work. He hasn't worked much at McDonalds. He spends every spare moment doing various sorts of entertainment.

Drywalling Erika's room

2008-07-15T19:36:00.001-04:00

For those who are interested, here is the progress upstairs on what will be Erika's room. These little cubbies are over the stairwell going downstairs. Picture a couple of shelves in them for plastic bins to slide into for storage. The little triangle spaces at the bottom can hold a rolled up blanket or something. Duane says it's almost impossible to do the mudding in there. They are deeper than they appear, because that's the whole width of the stairwell. To the right (behind the ladder) is the closet, which is the old landing that led into the big room (previously the girls' room, now Jeremiah's room). Are you confused yet? This room that will be Erika's room used to be the bathroom. We gained a few extra feet of space from the hallway/walkway.

Here is Duane doing some mudding, and you can see the closet door behind him. He wears tennis elbow braces on both arms because he has tennis elbow in both arms and all this work on the house keeps it flared up all the time.

This is the opposite side of the room. The room has one window and some cute ceiling angles that will give it character. By the way, several of you will probably think that's me in the photo, but it's Erika. If I didn't know it was her shirt, I probably couldn't tell! So, first coat of mudding is done, 2 to go, then paint, trim, and carpet. It all moves along slowly, and Duane puts in a few hours every night. He is trying to do some work outside on the days it's not raining.

Meanwhile, I am packing up books, getting rid of books, and sorting through files and throwing away stuff in the "office" because that has to emptied out to become the master bathroom. I'll help paint when the drywall work is done, but for now I can do this job. I'm also working a little at a time on my ABWE application which has lots and lots of parts and is very long. I just finished the theological exam part last night.

Graduation Pictures

2008-06-27T23:13:00.001-04:00

The graduates present roses to their loved ones. Here is Jeremiah giving me mine and Alesha's. He gave one to his grandmother (Duane's mom), the one for his other grandmother who wasn't able to be there he gave to Heather, and he gave one to Erika. He's a sweet boy.

The graduation video I posted separately, so here we are after graduation--the family.

After wondering up to the last minute whether or not Jeremiah would graduate, you can imagine our surprise when he received 2 awards!! He has them right now, so I can't tell you the full names of them, but one was given to the 3 seniors with the most community service hours, and that one was a $100 gift. The other was for the student who had made a significant contribution to the music program of the school, and that was a $25.00 gift. So we were very proud of him, and thankful that there are some non-academic awards being given.

Jeremiah is crouched down in this picture, so he would be closer to Heather's height. She just got her hair cut and layered, and it really makes her look different. After graduation they went with a bunch of other senior friends to supper at a Chinese restaurant. (She is not a senior and goes to a different school).

Jeremiah's Graduation

2008-06-27T22:49:00.002-04:00

June 27, 2008. Jeremiah graduating from Cattaraugus-Little Valley Central School. He was 3rd from the end (out of 76 graduates.

Bethie's party, Part 2

2008-06-24T21:54:00.002-04:00

I tried in these two posts to get a picture of each family member.

Here is Johnny 5 heating up the sloppy joe sauce.

And this is the graduate herself.

And this is David.

And this is the youngest, Timmy.

Bethie's Grad Party, Part 1

2008-06-24T21:42:00.001-04:00

The Coulters are very special best friends of ours--we met when I was pregnant with Erika and Arlene was pregnant with David. This year their daughter, Laura Beth, graduated from high school (a year early). She's fun, cute, smart, talented.. I went over to their house Friday night and stayed over, then Saturday helped with the graduation party. Actually, I mostly just took pictures for them, but I did some work in the kitchen, too.

This is my best friend, Arlene.

This is the whole Coulter family, plus Mellie, Peter's girlfriend on the far right.

From left to right: David (Oxman), Laura Beth (Bethie), John (Johnny 5), Timmy, Arlene (Leney), Peter, and Mellie. A mutual friend, Patty, did several beautiful bulletin boards with pictures of Bethie.

Here's the four kids acting normal.

This is Peter and Mellie. They got in about 2 or 2:30 a.m. on the party day! Mellie's a sweetheart and I really enjoyed visiting with her.

Father's Day, cont.

2008-06-24T21:26:00.001-04:00

This is Heather's twin, Christina, and the back of Erika's head.

Duane, playing with the kids.

Heather, Jeremiah's girlfriend.

Erika, Kelli, and Crystal (Heather's younger sister).

Father's Day

2008-06-24T21:08:00.001-04:00

On Father's Day Duane, his dad, and Jeremiah went out for several hours. They went to a place about 40 minutes away where a bridge is being constructed over a pretty deep gorge. They went to see the gigantic crane that is being used, but when they got there it had been dismantled to be moved to the other side of the construction site. But they looked at what had been done so far on the bridge, then went to Tim Hortons for some lunch. Then they went to our house so Duane's dad could catch up on the work we've done on our house. Then they took him home.

Meanwhile, the girls and I went to a little lake. Girls you may say? Only Erika is home. Well, usually every Sunday we have a house full of girls. Kelli, a 22 year-old from church, Heather (Jeremiah's girlfriend), Crystal (Heather's sister), and Christina (Heather's twin sister), plus Erika and myself. So, we packed up swimsuits, beachtowels, lawn chairs, coolers with picnic and pop, and about everything else we could think of. We had a wonderful afternoon and eventually Jeremiah and Duane joined us.

The dog loved swimming in the lake. We'd throw the frisbee out into the lake and she'd go after it and bring it back--again and again. The kids all had fun swimming, playing, eating, relaxing. It was a great day.

My Family is SO Normal...Not

2008-06-07T16:30:00.001-04:00

Otherwise titled: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous, or The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Enjoy our crazy family.

New Back Deck

2008-06-07T14:40:00.005-04:00

A couple of Saturdays ago, Duane decided to use wood that was on the burn pile to build a little deck by our back door. These wide boards were on the floor in the attic, so were probably original to the house. That would make them 150+ years old, and if the tree were already that big in 1846, that makes those boards really, really old. We like putting things from the house/property back into the house. We've used a lot of lumber from the big tree we had taken down in front several years ago. So, a lot of sweat equity from Duane, and a little "here, hold this" for my share, voila, back deck. Nice. We've enjoyed it already. First meal, charred chicken. Just ask Ethan about it. And thanks, mom and dad, for the blue chairs. Now we've got to get our house trim painted to match!

Last high school concert for us!

2008-06-07T14:16:00.003-04:00

Sweet sorrow--we'll miss the school concerts, but on to bigger and better things. Jeremiah started on the trombone in 7th grade, then they asked him to switch to the tuba, as they were losing their highschool tuba players. So, up until this year, he has been the best and the worst--the only tuba player in our school. This year we were so pleased that he was chosen to go to All-State (he's gone to All-County every year I think), and he got first chair. He also had the opportunity to go to a Music Showcase event for highschoolers from all over the U.S. which was held at Cedarville College. He also got first chair there, and the Cedarville orchestra/band director was trying to recruit Jeremiah. He hopes to continue to play tuba in some kind of a music group at college, but he doesn't own a tuba, so will have to borrow/rent from the college. We are proud of his musical achievements, just as we were with Erika's flute and Alesha with voice. Praise God for the gifts and talents He has given to the children. In the photos you'll see cousin Ethan on saxophone, and Jeremiah with band director, Mr. Wilder. We wanted to get a picture of him with the other band director, Mr. Maguda, but he was nowhere to be found. Both men have been great mentors for Jeremiah, and he has spent most of his high school free time in the band room. There is also, of course, another photo with Heather.

Jeremiah's 18th birthday

2008-06-07T13:39:00.002-04:00

Jeremiah and his cousin Ethan's birthdays are only a few days apart, so they usually celebrate their birthdays together. We went over to Ethan's house this time for the party. Their friend Wes is in a couple of pictures, and Jeremiah's girlfriend, Heather, is in a picture as well. You'll see from the pictures that they both have McJobs (McDonald's jobs), Jeremiah loves Monster and Mountain Dew. Ethan got mostly money to make payments on the used Beemer (BMW) he just bought--great deal!

Wedding Slideshow

2008-06-07T13:06:00.002-04:00

The wedding began at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 18, 2008. First, Daphne and I went up front and lit the mother's candles by the unity candle while the song "Find Your Wings" was playing. When that song was over, Pachebel's Canon began, and the bridesmaids entered. Then, Duane and Alesha appeared at the top of the steps, and I must admit, that was the moment that brought tears to my eyes--my beloved and our precious daughter, coming to meet her beloved and pledge herself to him. After Duane gave Alesha to Nathan, the pastor had some very, very good words to say. He then said some things to which they said, I do. Then they said their vows to each other which they had written, then they exchanged rings. I don't remember at which point they lit the unity candle, but that was to Steve Green's "'Til the End of Time". Then my dad, Alesha's grandpa did a blessing (not a prayer) for the bride and groom. It was excellent. First, he explained the bibical history and use of blessings and the importance/meaning of them. Then he pronounced 8 blessings on Nathan and Alesha. He had wanted them to kneel to be blessed with his hands on their heads, but there wasn't space and we didn't have a kneeler. Then Duane did a communion for Nathan and Alesha. First, he explained to everyone present what the communion service meant, then he said he was going to talk just to Nathan and Alesha. It was special just for them. During communion the song "How Beautiful" by Twila Paris was playing. I don't remember what else was after that. They marched out to the electric guitar version of Pachabel's Canon.
After taking pictures, everyone gathered in the reception hall. Alesha told about how they met, and Nathan told the story of their engagement. I'll let Alesha catch up her own blog and tell you that! Oh, the reception began with a powerpoint of Alesha and Nathan's pictures set to music, put together by Erika, myself, and our friends Laura Beth and Arlene. Then were the bride and groom dance, the father-daughter dance, good food, cutting the cake, and karaoke to end the evening.
Beautiful wedding, great weather, wonderful reception. Wish you could have been there. Enjoy the photos!

Reception Area, A&M Gardens

2008-06-07T12:13:00.000-04:00

2008-06-07T11:47:00.000-04:00

The rest of the morning was spent running around doing last minute errands. At about 3:00 p.m., we headed over to the gardens to begin getting ready for the wedding. Alesha had a girl come to do everyone's hair, and in between taking pictures of that, I was taking pictures around the empty reception hall, knowing that I probably wouldn't have time to take many pictures later!

Pics from the Wedding Photographer

2008-06-07T11:22:00.002-04:00

Just before the wedding, Duane and I gave Alesha her wedding present--a white gold and diamond necklace--and I read a poem "Perfect Daughter, Perfect Bride."

No peeking before the wedding!

Both families and the wedding party.

April 18, Wedding morning events

2008-06-01T15:20:00.005-04:00

I should have said on the first post that I have hundreds of photos, so it is hard to choose just a few to post here.

On the morning of the wedding, we females got up bright and early--well probably not too bright after a late night! We managed to get the 4 of us through showers and dressed (myself, Erika, Alesha, and Leah). We left the house about 8:30 and went to Azle (Alesha lives in Haltom City which is in Fort Worth) to pick up Daphne and Andrea (Nathan's mom and sister) and his great-aunt Shirley, who did a lot of the stuff with us. We headed out to some mall, where Alesha had arranged for us to have our makeup done at Macy's.

This is Andrea, Nathan's sister, one of the bridesmaids.

This is myself and Nathan's Aunt Shirley.

Nathan's mom, Daphne.

Leah, another bridesmaid.

Erika, maid of honor.

And of course, the beautiful bride, Alesha.

April 17, Rehearsal Dinner

2008-06-01T14:31:00.004-04:00

After the rehearsal, we went to a nice Mexican restaurant in Azle (in the middle of a huge Texas thunderstorm). Here are the boys being boys.

Duane and I enjoying the evening.

Alesha gave her bridesmaids matching necklaces and earrings to wear with their bridesmaid dresses. This bridesmaid is Leah, the M.K. from Gambia who traveled down to TX with us.

Erika opening her gift from Alesha. The lady to Erika's left is Nathan's mom, Daphne, and the guy to Erika's right is Nathan's sister's boyfriend.

And, I wanted everyone to see how good my meal was--chimichanga, rice, refried beans.

At the end, I presented Alesha with the Bible that was carried by my mother, Betty, in her wedding over 50 years ago, and was carried by myself in my wedding 24 years ago. Alesha was the third generation to carry this Bible down the aisle. I read to her an inscription I had written in front of the Bible. Nathan was given his grandfather's pocket watch (maybe it was his great-grandfather's) to carry in the wedding and begin as a tradition for the boys of their family.

Alesha and Nathan looking forward to the following day!

April 17--Day before Alesha's wedding

2008-05-31T21:32:00.006-04:00

We left NY on Tuesday, April 15, in early afternoon. We picked up Erika at Jamestown Community College and headed on our way. (Jeremiah had made the trip to Texas earlier with his grandparents, because he was off school that whole week). We stopped in Fort Wayne, IN, to pick up Leah, one of the bridesmaids. Leah was one of our Gambia M.K.s, and we were all so excited she was able to be in the wedding. She goes to college in IN. We stopped for the night in Terre Haute, IN. The next day we drove to Fort Worth, TX, where we stayed with Alesha in the house that she and Nathan were renting. We got in late that night but stayed up even longer visiting. The next day we went to meet Nathan's family and spent some time at their house, then we all went to the A&M Gardens in Azle, TX, for the rehearsal.

This is the reception hall at the gardens, and the smaller building to the right were the rooms for the bridal party and the groom's party to get ready in.

This is Nathan and Alesha's pastor discussing the communion service portion with Duane. We really liked him a lot.

This is Nathan's mom and dad, Daphne and Brian, and they are a really great family. Nathan's sister, Andrea, was one of the bridesmaids.

The bride-to-be at the entrance to the sunken garden where the wedding would be held.

Rehearsing the wedding in the early evening--the rain eventually drove us under the pavilion to the left.

Fall in New York

2007-10-19T19:59:00.000-04:00

This post is for the family members and friends who live in California, Colorado, Florida, Africa, and other places that don't have the fall colors of New York. No narrative is needed, just enjoy the photos. Most of them are better if you click on them and view them full size. These were all taken on our road and around our house.

One Teen Left

2007-10-19T19:41:00.001-04:00

Wednesday was Erika's 20th birthday. We have gone from the years of having 3 teens to now only having one teen left. Because of everyone's crazy schedules, we didn't end up having her party till about 10 p.m.! Her friend from church, Kelly, came over.

This is Erika's gift from Alesha. Inside was fingernail polish and perfume.

Here is Erika opening another gift. She got an alarm clock, CD/DVD set of Third Day (a Christian music group), a ring, earrings, and a pennywhistle.

And no birthday blog would be complete without a picture of the birthday cake.

Happy 20th birthday, Erika!

Shopping Spreeeee!

2007-10-01T22:11:00.001-04:00

Where can you buy an entire winter wardrobe in one afternoon and not break the bank? Well, at my favorite boutique of course! Salvation Army! Last week Erika and I did some serious shopping. Now one can't hurry through Salvation Army if you expect to find any treasures. I think we were there at least 3 hours. And treasures we did find!

Erika found a dress that she thought was very pretty. I looked at it and said, "That's a vintage dress!" She decided to buy it as it fit her perfectly and looked very nice on her. When we got home I did quite a bit of internet research but didn't have much success finding other items by the same manufacturer. The one I did find that was very similar in style but not nearly as elegant was dated in the 1940s and was selling for about $70.00. You can be sure Erika didn't pay that for her dress! We were shopping half price tags, too! She also got a pretty "Joseph's" corduroy coat (multi-colored) for fall, a pair of dress boots, and a beautiful leather pair of high heels.

I was just shopping for outfits to wear to work. This is my haul. I guess the picture is too dark to see much. On the end is a wool maroon skirt. The white blouse with it was brand new-still had the tag on it. Next in is a brown wool pleated skirt, and a tannish colored light-weight sweater. Above that is a blue/green plaid pants and suit jacket (wool) with a navy blue turtle neck. And to the far right is a red/black plaid skirt with a white blouse and red knit vest.

Here is the other half of my haul. You can see the rest of the red and black outfit. Next to that is blue cordoroy pants and a lighter blue sweater. Above it is light grey wool pants and a multicolored sweater. And to the right is a pair of maroonish/tan/plaidish pants and a sweater to match, and a pair of faux suede turquoise pants and a turquoise sweater. Not bad huh?

And finally, this fall jumper (the print is apples and green leaves), which I wore to work today.

Anyone out there need a personal shopper?

P.S. This post is mainly for my sister who wanted to see what I wear to work since I wore uniforms to my last 2 jobs!

Garage Roof and end of the roofing job!

2007-10-01T21:23:00.000-04:00

Before the garage could be re-roofed, the cupola had to come down. Jeremiah wanted to be the one to pull it down with the tractor.

The inside of the cupola was full of wasp's nests. We've had quite a problem with wasps behind the shutters and siding, and in the roofing process getting into the house (mostly the living room and Jeremiah's room).

Here is the faithful crew working on the final roof! Duane, Jeremiah, and Den have worked so hard on this job. I even helped Duane on the first several runs of shingles on the garage roof--the ones we could do from the scaffolding without getting up on the roof.

Sunday afternoon another man from church came over to help us finish the job. Billy has his own contracting business and came fully equipped with tools and a lot of experience. Boy could he move fast on a roofing job! He and Jeremiah started on the back side of the roof while Den and Duane finished up the front side.

Here are Billy and Jeremiah on the back side of the garage roof.

Putting the cap on the very last roof. On the last day of September the roofing job was done. A big thanks to each person who helped! There's still a lot more to be done to finish the roof and the house, but having the roof done is a huge project out of the way! Hallelujah! A cool thing is that our best friends have also been building a porch and roofing there house, and they were hoping to finish their roof on Sunday as well. Not only that, turns out we both picked the same color of shingles.

The grand finale was having the pesticide company come and take care of the wasps/spiders/ladybugs/cluster flies and whatever other creatures have taken up habitation in our house! In a few days we should be rid of the wasps, he says. You can see several wasps around his head in this photo.

Porch and Roof--Other wing

2007-10-01T19:55:00.000-04:00

The porch roof has some very difficult angles and Duane has done a wonderful job figuring it all out.

Here is Duane in the corner again. No, he wasn't a bad boy! Is Den holding the ladder or shaking the ladder?

And another view of the center porch and a bit of the bedroom wing section.

Our pastor came over one of the afternoons and helped on the roof. We're thankful for him taking time out of his very busy schedule. Here he is with Den. I don't know how we could have done this job without Den. He has come over nearly every single afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday, leaving at 6 p.m. to work a night shift. This job would not be done any time soon without his help. We really appreciate him.

The roof is finally done on the bedroom wing.

Resting? Thinking? Planning? Sliding off the roof?

This is our pastor. He is a wonderful shepherd, and a man of many talents and abilities. He really loves the Lord and loves to help the members of his flock.

Here are the porch roofs all finished.

All the roofs are done here except for the garage, and in the bottom left corner of the photo, you can see the guys half way up the front of the garage.

More porch and roof

2007-09-19T20:28:00.000-04:00

Duane and his brother Den have done most of the work on the roof. Den has been a huge help. Jeremiah has also done a lot of work. Erika and myself mostly help clean up, feed and water the workers, hold this or that, and so on.

Here are shingles coming off the other wing of the house where our bedroom is. This is taken from the back yard.

This is the bedroom wing of the house. The shingles are off and tar paper on. You can get a bit of idea of what the porch will look like.

This is what our yard looks like! Piles of aluminum siding and gutters, wood, flashing, empty Gatorade bottles, and all the other signs of hard work!

Duane (and whoever is available to help) is usually out working until dark every night. Duane usually gets up at 4:00 to get to work by 5 or 5:30 so he can get home early to work on the house. We usually end up eating supper about 8 p.m.

Porch and Roof, Part 3

2007-09-18T21:34:00.000-04:00

This shows the difficult section of the porch roof going from the side wing around the corner of the front middle section of the house. Those who have seen the house will better understand.

Every job this big needs a dumpster!

Here is the high middle section all done except for the cap.

View from the roof top!

Our dear friends, the Coulters, came over one day and helped with the roofing job, even though they are doing their front porch and roof as well. After supper we enjoyed a very special treat--a chocolate fountain. We had various fruits, pound cake, wafers, and oreos to dip in the chocolate.

One of our deacons from church also came over to help. He is a dentist. He brought a couple of boys along with him. He is also our Sunday School teacher.

Erika and Pete were loading shingles and hauling them to the dumpster.

Porch and Roof, Part 2

2007-09-18T20:11:00.000-04:00

This picture is from the roof looking down at the porch decking (actually just some plywood laying there temporarily so you can stand on it). But for those of us who don't like heights, it helps us appreciate the work they're doing up there! (By the way, if you click on a picture, I think you can see it in a larger format).

These pictures are not in order! This one is of the roof that you saw plywood on in the following post. Oh well. Here the roof is stripped down to its original old boards. The men cut a whole in the roof to put insulation in the attic area. This attic is not accessible from the house.

They put this pink styrofoam stuff that has a corrugated shape to it under the boards for airflow, then replaced the boards.

This picture is taken from the highest peak looking down over the side wing (dining room end).

Here you can see all the layers of shingles at the peak. There were 4 layers, I believe (it looks like more because of the cap).

I think we should have bought stock in Gatorade! The guys on the roof go through a lot of water, pop, and Gatorade!

In this picture the side wing has been done as far as the tar paper. Then work on the roof stopped so the porch roof could be built. Here you can see the one side porch and the middle porch framework.

Porch and Roof

2007-09-18T19:05:00.000-04:00

Our summer jobs always seem to end up being fall jobs. This year's project is re-roofing the house. But one job always means another job has to be done first. In this case, the roof can't be done until the front porches are put on. The house, which was built before 1850, has a center 2-story section and 2 side wings that are 1 story. Originally each side wing had a small porch. We are putting a porch the full length of the front of the house. It will be beautiful, but certainly involves some tricky angles.

The new plywood has been put on this side of the middle section. Duane is on the ladder/scaffold and his brother, Den, and nephew, Ethan, are on the top of the roof scraping shingles off the other side.

This shows the same side with new plywood, but from the back of the house. The back of this side wing was shingled when we built the addition on .

Here is Jeremiah scraping shingles off the roof.

Here is another view of the 3 guys scraping shingles off this side of the main section of the house.

This is Duane's brother, Den.

This is Duane's nephew, Ethan.

Skunk De-odorizer

2007-09-18T19:02:00.000-04:00

Ever had a dog get to close to a skunk? Mine has! And the whole tomato sauce thing is really a waste of time and money. But a patient at the clinic where I work gave me this remedy, and she says it really works! I haven't needed to try it yet, but thought I'd pass it along:
Mix together
1 cup peroxide
1 cup baking soda
1 cup water
2 drops detergent
Use like you would shampoo, I guess, and work through the dog's hair.

Misc. leftover photos of Colorado Vacation

2007-09-12T21:07:00.000-04:00

First of all, I'd like to say many, many thanks to my mom and dad for inviting Nancy and I to take this trip west with them. We had a great many hours of conversation as the miles rolled
by.

Alesha and I on our day shopping in Westcliffe.

Ain't she sweet!

Or not!

Horseback Riding

2007-09-11T21:38:00.000-04:00

Except for the first day when I had a killer high altitude headache, Alesha and I went riding every day. These pictures are from my last day when we packed a picnic lunch (every thing tastes better in the mountain air) and went for a very loooooong ride. It was so incredibly awesome. First let me introduce you to the horses. The mostly white horse is Baby, and only Dave and Alesha are allowed to ride her. The mostly brown horse is Sugar and I rode her each time. They are Spotted Saddlehorses and they are gaited horses. I did a little reading and they were bred from Spanish American ponies and Tennessee Walking horses. I can't begin to explain what a gaited horse is, but let me tell you, it is one very comfortable ride!

Here is Alesha getting the horses ready to ride. It is such a joy to watch her work with the horses. She is so comfortable with them, and so obviously enjoys being with them. And since I know nothing about horses, I like watching her take care of everything:)

After a big boost from Alesha, I landed in the saddle and was ready to ride. Too bad I didn't get a close-up of my cowboy boots! I found them on the outing Hope and I took to Canon City--$350 boots for $10.00. Yeah! I love them. They are so pretty and so comfy.

Help me, Alesha! I can't find reverse on this thing!

Words cannot begin to describe the overwhelming beauty that surrounded us on our ride. And the smell of the ponderosa pine is indescribable. This is the view behind me as we rode, and ....

this was the view in front of me. It would take far to long to post all the beautiful photos I took. Sometimes we would go off the road and up a hill side. We stopped and rode off into an aspen grove at one place.

After a while we decided on a nice spot to stop for lunch. Alesha tied the horses up and we went over a ways to a rocky area that allowed us a nice seat as well as a perfect view.

Here is Alesha staking out our lunch spot...

Oops! The sandwiches got a little squished in the saddle bag!

After lunch I went up behind the rocks to use a tree, and got quite a kick out of this view. I felt like I was in an old western show, and just needed my gun to shoot off her hat!

On our ride home, we digressed from the road and went through some pastures. We were past the prime of the wild flowers, but there were still some, and I like this old windmill. This was the first picnic horseback ride Alesha has taken since she's been in CO, so it was very special that I got to share it.

Ranch of Hope

2007-09-11T20:30:00.000-04:00

Here is more of the beautiful Ranch of Hope where Alesha is on staff. This is the living room part of the lower level of the house. This is standing in my bedroom door looking across at Alesha's bedroom door on the other end.

This is the upstairs level showing the dining area and looking out to the side deck.

This is the kitchen. It is probably difficult to see in this picture, but all of the cabinets are bordered with cut stone. Hope has done a beautiful job with her stone work various places in the house.

I love this mural that an artist painted on the living room wall of the Ranch. It shows the hands of God at the top left pouring out the water that is coming down the falls.

I loved just walking around the house, looking at every nook and cranny. What a knack for decorating!

Here is Alesha doing her office work at the dining room table while I was mending some clothes for her. She has an office in the sitting room area of her bedroom suite downstairs, but was keeping me company.

Arriving in Westcliffe

2007-09-06T21:17:00.000-04:00

After lunch at Casa Bonita, we headed southwest toward Westcliffe.

This is Castle Rock. I didn't take a lot of scenery pictures because we took a lot last year when we went to Westcliffe. But it is a really beautiful trip!

And here we finally arrive in Westcliffe. We drove around and I showed mom, dad, and Nancy the points of interest from our previous visit there, since they would be leaving early the next morning to continue their trip to CA (leaving me behind to visit Alesha). After Westcliffe we still had a bit of a drive out to the Ranch of Hope.

This is the Ranch of Hope. It is so beautiful, refreshing, restful, peaceful. I wish you could all go there! Actually, I'd never seen the house from this view, because you drive in from behind. One day Alesha was driving me somewhere and I said, "Wow, that is the most beautiful house in the valley!" Alesha burst out laughing and I said, "What's so funny?" "That's OUR house," she said! God really blessed beyond measure in giving Ranch of Hope such a wonderful place to be used in restoring people's lives.

Now imagine yourself standing on the deck of the house, and this is the view. This was actually early the next morning (about 6:15) when the rising sun hits the mountain tops turning them red. We missed the time when they are really really red. They were just a little pink. But that is why they are called the Sangre de Christos (Blood of Christ), and what better place for a counseling center to be located, with a constant visual reminder that the blood of Christ covers our sins and gives us forgiveness.

This is the view a little more to the viewer's left, away from the mountain range. You can also see down into the yard. The walled in area of yard is fairly small, but very attractive. I won't post all the pictures, but there is a little fountain/pool area, a couple of flower garden areas, and a cactus garden. There is also a hot tub, which we enjoyed under the stars, singing hymns and choruses. What better place to sing, "This is my Father's World..."

This was my bedroom during my visit. It had just been redecorated, and like most of the house had a western/cowboy theme. Hope is a great decorator and made the bedspreads/pillows herself. This is actually a family/guest suite, with a smaller bedroom off to the side and a bathroom.

Well, it is bedtime, so more to follow.

Day 5-Lunch at Casa Bonita

2007-09-03T11:53:00.001-04:00

Casa Bonita ranks up near the top of the coolest, most fun restaurants I've ever been to (and most of them near the top were all in Denver)! This used to be a department store, which you have a hard time imagining once you're inside. But first, some views of the outside...

My mom, dad, and sister outside of Casa Bonita--reliving the past!

Looking over the menus to order our meal...

Here is one of many life-like scenes in the restaurant.

Although probably not the best Mexican food, it is still really good, and the atmosphere more than makes up for it.

These are the best part of the whole meal. They are called sopapillas. You can drizzle them with honey and they are so delicious. You can have all you can eat. Jeremiah liked these so much that this year he made some and took in to his Spanish class. They turned out really well.

While you eat, there are little performances going on. They are geared for children, but we always really enjoy them too (guess some of us never grow up). Our favorite are the divers, and they had a really good one this time. We couldn't get any pictures of the dives. There are also singers that walk around and will sing to you, but they weren't there at lunch time.

Instead of one big dining room with a lot of tables, there are little alcoves tucked here and there, all at different levels, with only one or two tables. Every little area is decorated uniquely. I love walking around the whole restaurant looking at each area--there is a bat cave, a gold mine, and so many other areas. See the red flag on the table? When you need more of anything, you raise the red flag on the pole and your waitress comes right over to see what you need!

Day 4 (end)/Day 5

2007-09-03T11:01:00.000-04:00

On Day 4 we arrived in Denver in time for supper with long-time family friends. Jim was my high school principal and my sister and I used to babysit for his children back in the high school days. They are such a wonderful, kind, godly family, and every minute spent with them is a special moment.

We had our supper in their beautiful back yard.

My photo doesn't do the landscaping justice.

Jim grows grapes all along one side of the property and they are beautiful.

Kay made a really delicious supper--something I'd never had before. I think my mom wrote down the recipe.

We stayed in a really nice hotel that night. It was one of the nicest places I've ever stayed. We were supposed to sleep in the next morning, but the digital clock was missing some of the lines, and my mom thought it was 8:00 until I asked her why she was up showering at 6:00!

This pretty fountain was in the lobby/breakfast area. We enjoyed using the exercise room, and I was going to enjoy the pool, but we decided it was time to leave. After leaving the hotel, we drove by our old house in Arvada.

The house has been trashed since the days we lived there. All of the hedges/trees/flowers have all been torn out. It is currently deserted and a notice of some sort is posted on the door.

Kind of sad...We did a lot of work on that house.

From there we went to a favorite restaurant that opened the year we moved to CO (1973). It hasn't changed one bit, and remarkably, hasn't been allowed to run down. That will need a post of its own!

Day 4 (I guess!)

2007-08-31T21:18:00.000-04:00

Well, it's kind of hard to keep track of days. I guess I'll call NY to Ohio day 1, then we spent a full day in OH, which was day 2, then we spent a half day in OH and drove across IL and MS, which was day 3.

I already mentioned the loud crowd at the hotel. The next morning we were leaving the hotel (we were on the second floor), and I was carrying purse, camera bag, sweater, suitcase, and who knows what else. As I reached for the stair railing and stepped down for the first step down, I slipped, my suitcase pulled me down, and I bumped down about 3 stairs. I scared both my mom and myself to death. They were exterior cement steps, so I had a very hard landing. I had a few minor bruises, and one very, very huge, very black/purple/blue bruise on my buttock. I hurt so badly that I sat for a few minutes before attempting to get up. Thankfully nothing was seriously hurt or broken! On the scale of 1-10, that bruise was a 10. Well, we got the car loaded and began a long day's journey through Kansas. Most of my trips have been through northern Kansas, and I was surprised at how pretty southern Kansas was.

It seemed that every time Nancy drove, it poured! Here is a storm coming across the fields.

We saw several fixer-uppers--the kind of places we could afford. They give the countryside a lot of character.

Nancy and I took our turns driving (and punching each other every time we saw a "punch buggy--no return" or a "cruiser bruiser"). I have to admit that she was a much better spotter than I, and ended the trip at least 3 punches ahead of me. I definitely owe her. Anyway, it was planned that Dad would drive when we got into Denver! Traffic wasn't terribly heavy, but it certainly helps to know where you're going.

This is downtown Denver. Can you believe I went to college in that mess? And took the city bus back and forth! I used to have lots of great stories to tell. Wish I had written them down.

This is the high school/church that I attended when we lived in Denver area.

I will continue this day in the next posting.

Vacation Time

2007-08-21T21:07:00.000-04:00

This year my mom and dad, pictured to the left, asked my sister and I to join them on a trip out west, for "old times" sake. Nancy was home from Africa for a short time to get her son, Daniel, settled in college. We all convened at my house, and the trip began from there.

We left Thursday after I finished work, getting started on our way to Ohio about 6 p.m. We arrived at my Aunt Jeanette's about 1:30 a.m. It was a longer trip than usual, due to road construction.
We all went immediately to bed. Aunt Jeanette

had a full house, because her brother, Uncle Carl,

was visiting as well. The beds and couches were

full, I slept on an air mattress, and Daniel took the floor. Aunt Jeanette, pictured to the right, is such a wonderful, sweet, godly lady. She is 94, and is absolutely amazing. She's a wonderful hostess, and it is so much fun to visit her. She had a breakfast casserole prepared ahead of time, so we all enjoyed a nice breakfast in the morning.

Pictured to the left is Uncle Carl, who is 96. He is in good health, and his mind is so sharp. We sang around the piano, and he could sing most of the verses to any hymn from memory. He could even remember a few hymns in German from his first pastorate. Both he and Aunt Jeanette have wonderful stories to share, and great wisdom to impart.

That day Nancy and Daniel went to Cedarville University and got Daniel registered and moved in to his dorm room. Uncle Carl, Dad, and I went over later to help him unpack.

My cousin, Jeanne, and her husband, Ken, joined us for supper. It was great to visit them as well. Nancy didn't get home till late that evening.

The next day, our family went over and had lunch at the college cafeteria with Daniel, did a little more unpacking for him in his room, and he and Nancy attended another meeting.

This is Daniel in his dorm room. He was pretty much settled in, but his roommate hadn't even arrived yet.

Nancy was trying to enjoy her lunch in the cafeteria, and Dad kept asking her if it was time for her to go to her meeting yet. Dad ended up attending the meeting with Nancy and Daniel, while Mom and I went to his dorm room to hang up the rest of his shirts.

We left that day about 1:30 on the next leg of our journey. This is the bridge over the Mississippi River, and the construction on the bridge delayed us about 2 hours. We traveled that day as far as St. Louis, MO (actually Blue Springs). We arrived very late at our hotel. Our sleep was interrupted several times by partying neighbors at the hotel.

More to follow in the next blog.

Front Porch

2007-08-21T20:53:00.000-04:00

Nothing is quite as nice as a front porch. Picture an old-fashioned white porch with rockers or wicker furniture. Since we purchased our 1840s farmhouse, we have not been able to enjoy relaxing on a front porch. The porches on the house were collapsing and too dangerous to use. They were torn off in order to build a new foundation under the house. We have finally come to the time to build a new front porch because we need a new roof and Duane wants to do them at the same time.

So, he rented a post-hole digger, and he, Jeremiah, and his brother, Den, began digging the holes for the porch posts. However, alot of the old foundation had been buried in the front yard, and they began to hit chunks of cement and old sandstone. So, inbetween digging a few inches with the post-hole digger, they had to use a jackhammer to break up the cement and stone. It was a huge job, but the holes are now dug and the wood has been ordered from the Amish. A visitor decided to cool off in one of the holes.

Flying

2007-07-31T19:49:00.001-04:00

There's nothing I'd rather do on a beautiful summer evening than fly. We have a patient at the office where I work who is a pilot (his wife is also), and they own three (yep, count 'em, 3) airplanes. Upon hearing that he is a pilot, my boss and myself expressed how much we like to fly. So, Monday afternoon he asked us if we wanted to go up after work. We did a little rearranging of schedules, and said yes, we would love to go! They had a friend who is also a pilot that needed to fly his plane to Dunkirk and leave it there, so they were going to fly over and give him a ride back. That left plenty of seat space, so I called Jeremiah and told him to meet me at work (but I didn't tell him why). He was pretty surprised when he found out we were flying. (Erika and Duane weren't available). The pilot "friend" turned out to be a neighbor of ours from 5 houses down the road! He owns a Cessna Skyhawk, and he took Jeremiah with him to Dunkirk. I rode in the Beechcraft with the lady pilot (wife of the patient). And the patient (pilot) took my boss for a ride in the Scout. In my airplane, when we got to Dunkirk, we flew out over Lake Erie and up towards Buffalo, then turned back south and flew down past Westfield and Barcelona, then back to Dunkirk. The sky was clear and the flying absolutely smooth. It was a beautiful, beautiful afternoon/evening. Because there was no wind, the water along the edges of Lake Erie was so still that you could see the rock layer on the bottom. Jeremiah took a little turn at the controls of his airplane. When we landed in Dunkirk, we picked up Jeremiah and his pilot and the 4 of us flew back to Great Valley. Each direction we flew over our house, and on the return trip Duane was outside, so we waved our wings at him.
It was really fantastic fun, and I'm so thankful that we were invited to go along.

Westpoint Sunday

2007-07-04T15:37:00.001-04:00

The wedding was Saturday morning, followed by the dinner, and ending with sending off the bride and groom in a white Jaguar with a cloud of bubbles being blown at them! After saying goodbye to everyone, we spent the late afternoon and evening relaxing in our room, reading, watching TV, and sleeping (again)! (I forgot to mention that after the Cadet for a Day on Friday we thought about taking the pay-for tour of Westpoint, but decided we'd already seen most of it. So we went to the museum instead and were there until it closed). Late Saturday evening when we started getting hungry after the delicious and filling wedding dinner, we discovered that the eating places on base had all closed, so it was back to the Highland McDs.

Sunday a.m. the father of the bride, Harry, invited everyone who had stayed overnight to get together for an informal worship service at the Thayer Hotel. Far more guests attended than he had expected, and the hotel staff kept bringing in more chairs. I have to admit that I spend the entire service with tears flowing down my face. The moment the service began, I was transported back to our first days, weeks, and years in The Gambia, when Sunday church was held in his living room, and we were seated then on wooden benches and living room furniture. This service was informal, as were those, with prayer, scripture, singing, and close fellowship. He told me after the service, that wave after wave of memories from The Gambia were washing over him as well. It was a very special time, and we were reminded from the word of verse after verse that mentions His steadfast love and faithfulness. Harry did a bit of a word study on steadfast love.

After the service we decided to drive/walk back around the Military Academy to take pictures, since we hadn't taken any on the other days. We had a good time remembering several of the events of the Cadet for a day. We also discovered a nice trail that runs along the Hudson and hiked it. After that we drove back home, unpacked, and went to bed! I'm not going to post too many pictures, because we have over 100, and I won't try to label them all, as I can't remember what all the places are. But this will give you an idea of how beautiful all the old stone buildings are.

This is the sign for the engineering building.

Finding myself at the wrong end of the cannon....

This is called Roman Battery and is a Revolutionary War battery located on Constitution Island just across from Westpoint. This island was the home of the sisters who wrote Jesus Loves Me. They were taken over by boat to the military academy to teach Bible classes to the cadets.

Called the "Million Dollar View", this photo is taken from Trophy Point. All around the point are plaques narrating the history of the Revolutionary War and other wars.

These strange green objects surrounded the memorial for the Civil War. They are cannons placed with the muzzle in the ground to remind all who see them that Americans should never again fire upon American. Very poignant.

This is a portion of the chain that was forged during the Revolutionary War to go from Westpoint to Constitution Island to keep ships from passing up the Hudson.

Jeremiah tells us that this statue of MacArthur is of him looking for the library (he learned that on his previous visit to Westpoint). Apparently it took MacArthur 5 years to get through Westpoint because he couldn't find the library. It serves as a reminder to cadets to never give up.

Westpoint Chapel seen above the buildings and courtyard where we did much of our Cadet for a Day practice.

The well-known Cadet Oath is engraved into marble here and is surrounded by a large number of engraved plaques with famous quotes about honor and integrity. This was one of our favorite spots.

Amazing architecture is everywhere to

be seen. We felt a bit like we were at the

Tower of London, especially when we saw

the view to the left.

Westpoint Wedding

2007-07-04T13:51:00.000-04:00

The wedding of one of our Gambia M.K.s was the real reason we went to Westpoint. This beautiful girl was the oldest MK on our station, and a real example to all the younger children. While she must have been lonely, she never ignored the kids who were younger. She is beautiful, intelligent, talented, and in love with the Lord. She married an army major who graduated from Westpoint; hence, their wedding was at the Westpoint Chapel. Her mother told me she'd always dreamed of a cathedral wedding.

We did not get any photos of the wedding because flash photography was not allowed inside the Chapel, and we couldn't get any pictures to turn out. The wedding was Christ-honoring, and beautiful in every way. Here is everyone waiting for Anna to come out of the Chapel after the ceremony.

The Saber Arch was probably everyone's favorite part of the wedding! Although I think my favorite part was when asked, "Who gives this woman...?", the father of the bride answered: "With great joy and contentment, her mother and I do." I thought that was a really special way to do it.

Most of the pictures are from the reception, which was held in the beautiful Thayer Hotel at Westpoint. There were hor d'oeurves in the garden while the wedding party was off doing their photos, followed by a several course dinner in one of the dining rooms with a view of the Hudson River. The pictures are all of old friends from the Gambia, many of whom we haven't seen in quite a few years. At the right is our matriarch, Aunt Ruth. Next to her is Elise, MK. Next to her is her sister Shawna, MK. Next to Shawna is her husband, Greg. Jeremiah is next to Greg, Duane's chair is empty (taking the picture), then me, and Erika. In the empty seats were Aunt Jayne (short-term to the Gambia) and her daughter, Sarah.

I was most surprised to see this lady! Aunt Diane also came short-term to The Gambia to teach our children. I had completely lost track of her. What a joy to see her again. She did a reading during the wedding ceremony. She is as vivacious, energetic, and bubbly as ever! I don't think she's changed one bit.

Since the bride, Anna, has several sisters, it was quite a large wedding party. ( She also had one cousin in the wedding who is not pictured here). Here are her sisters, all of whom I taught in school in The Gambia. These are not in order of age. This is the second youngest, Clara, who was a freshman at Cedarville this year, just a couple of doors down from Erika. She is so outgoing and loving.

This is the youngest (Jeremiah's age), Emma (Ems). She has certainly changed the most, as she was the littlest when we last saw them. I probably had her the most years in school.

This is Grace, second oldest (Gracie). In our family the famous saying always was "Because Gracie said so." (Usually in answer to how you knew something to be true). Smart, fun, and a very strong leader. She was married last summer to a great guy named Lamar. We regret that we missed their wedding.

This is Julia, 3rd from top or bottom. She and Alesha were in the same grade, and those 2 with Grace were usually in the same classroom. The 3 girls were fast friends and did so many creative things together. I still think of her as "Julsie Bug." She just graduated from Cedarville as a nurse and is starting her first job this week. She was incredibly focused while in the nursing program, but now has a boy friend who is a friend of Grace's husband.

And, finally, we come to Anna and Erik, the beautiful bride and groom. The whole day resounded with their testimonies and their love. They have a wonderful story of how they met.

Here are the parents of the bride, Harry and Jan. Both are medical doctors. During the years we shared overseas, they were outstanding leaders, encouragers, and passionate for the Lord. I have really missed them, and it was a blessing to share this special day with them.

The wedding was elegant and yet there was a simplicity to it which melded so beautifully with the military formality. Every moment was Christ-honoring. If there was a single hitch anywhere, it wasn't noticed by anyone attending! The table decoration was lovely--the card on top read "For our Guests... Every good and perfect gift is from above... Our relationship has been a gift from God and you are too! Lovingly, Anna and Erik." The oldest woman at each table received the centerpiece to take home. An older lady that was flying gave me hers to enjoy. This was the first wedding for my children to attend (other than an African wedding!), and it certainly set the bar high! They enjoyed it as much as we did.

Westpoint Weekend

2007-07-04T10:31:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we had an incredibly amazing weekend at the United States Military Academy at Westpoint. We left our home at 3:00 a.m. on Friday and arrived at Westpoint at 9:30, just in time for the Cadet for a Day program. We were 4 of 270 volunteers who went through the new cadet induction process as a sort of dress rehearsal for the upper classmen who would be inducting the real new cadets on Monday (R-Day/Reception Day). They want it to go flawlessly, so they go through the entire routine on Friday with volunteers. If you ever have the opportunity to do it, it is an unforgettable experience. For one thing, you see parts of Westpoint where tourists are not allowed to go. For another thing, if you know anyone who has ever gone to a military academy or into the service, it gives you a glimpse into what they go through on their first day. It really helped me to identify just a little bit with what Alesha went through at USAFA, although I'm sure we didn't get yelled at nearly as much. (One cadet told us at the end that it was very difficult to yell at people his parents/grandparent's ages!). But we did get yelled at! "If you can't keep up at a walk, what are you going to do when we run?" "I said ON MY LINE, new cadet!" And so on. It was fun. It was hard. I thought more than once that I'd have to drop out, and I pushed myself to my limits to keep up. But I made it! I can't imagine how far we walked during the day. They had several water stations set up which was good. We didn't bother to take a camera with us for this event, so all Westpoint pictures were taken later. I can't even begin here to tell you all the details. At the end of the event, we all gathered in our companies and were given certificates of appreciation.
That was over about 1:30 or 2:00 p.m. We were starving, so we went into the town of Highland (?) and ate some late lunch at McDs. Then we went to our housing on base (thanks to hubby's status in NYGuard) and slept/watched TV/read. In the evening we went to the base bowling alley and bowled and had some pizza. Normally I don't sleep too well in a hotel room, but that night I certainly slept soundly!

More About Work

2007-06-04T21:03:00.001-04:00

I forgot to show you the view from our windows at work! I told you it is a ski resort town. Well, from the window behind Jeanette's desk area we can see the slopes.

Jeanette is a skiier (I am not!!), so it is agony for her to sit inside and work on a beautiful ski day!

The view from our kitchen window afforded us regular deer and turkey sightings all winter and now that it is spring, we have Canadian geese and a variety of birds. The dentist keeps multiple bird feeders. This spring I have seen my first Oriole.

The ski resort is what provided me with my second job this winter! Because of the high number of ski injuries, Northtown Orthopedics has open "trauma hours" during the winter months. They have their regular daytime office hours, then several docs take turns coming in for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Northtowns Orthopedics is the office right next to us.

This winter their office manager asked me to work some evening and weekend hours for them. So, Thursday and Friday nights after a full day of work at my office, I would go next door and work another 3-5 hours. Then I would go in Saturday afternoon and work from 2:00 till closing (10:00 or later, depending on injuries). I really enjoyed working there as well, and it was great experience. Sometimes I got confused which office I was working in and did things the wrong way! By the end of ski season, though, I was exhausted. In this picture is the doc who spends most of the time in this clinic.

So now you know all about my work!

Where I Work

2007-06-04T20:18:00.000-04:00

When I first started my new job I intended to write about it--that was on Sept. 11, 2006. And now I'm finally getting around to it! I work as the Office Manager at Western New York Physical and Occupational Therapy Group. The office I work in is in Ellicottville, NY, which is a ski resort town. It is a small office and up until this month we had two employees--the therapist, who is the director of the clinic, and myself. We just hired a second therapist for part time. Let me say right off that it is a wonderful job and I love working there. In a small town most of the patient's know each other, and on some days you'd think it was a social center not a clinic! We are known as a very warm friendly clinic and our patients really like us (and we like them). We are located in a brand new (1 year old) medical building, which is also very nice to have everything new! It's also great to have other medical offices in the same building, as we get alot of patient referrals right from them. There is the Olean Medical Group, the chiropractor we go to who is really great, a pharmacy (very handy), a dentist, and Northtowns Orthopedics (more about them in a minute). This is the front of the building:

The Olean Medical Group and pharmacy are on the front. The rest of the offices are around back. So, let's go around back to our office...

Our office is a pretty much open area. There are really only 3 separate rooms--the kitchen/lunch room, the exam room, and the laundry room. The rest is the gym, with our office areas

partially divided off.

Along one wall we have a stationary bike, an "upper body cycle", a treadmill, a Total Gym, and 3 plinths (fancy name for the tables). At the end you see some pulleys and weights. Looking back the opposite direction you see balls of various weights and sizes, an incline board, and various types of tubing.

Below you see another plinth, an ultrasound machine, and a Reebok step. Behind the half wall is Jeanette's office area (she's the PT).

And below is my office area. I greet patients when they come in, put new patient data in the computer, contact insurance companies for authorizations, take copays, type dictations, answer the phone, keep patient charts up to date, wash and fold laundry, disinfect tables, put away heat and cold packs, etc. There's alot of variety, which I like.

This is my photo wall by my desk. I have pictures of all my family members. See if your eyes are good enough to find the picture of me with Richard Simmons. Sometimes young patients make me personalized artwork.

This is me with a very special patient. She is so sweet. She is always bringing us in little gifts of love. She has "graduated" from physical therapy and is in our Fitness program. She helped me plan and put together a surprise party for Jeanette when she received her doctorate in May. The lady in the red sweater is Jeanette.

Military Ball continued

2007-06-03T19:18:00.000-04:00

After we all received our corsages we took photos, then headed up to Buffalo to the Connecticut Street Armory where the ball was being held. It was difficult to take good photos inside with the dimmed lighting, but their website has very good photos. If you think of an armory as a glorified garage, think again! This armory has beautful woodwork everywhere, and the entire building is truly a work of art. http://ah.phpwebhosting.com/a/conn/184/tc.html. The grand hall was beautifully decorated and this was no paper plate affair! The dishes and glasses were beautiful and the food was delicious. Duane took us on a full 3-floor guided tour, as that is the building the New York Guard has their office in. The program was very nice as well, with the highlight of course being when Duane received the award for "Soldier of the Year" for the western NY Guard.

Well, there are lots more pictures, but I don't have time to post them all, nor do you probably want to see them all! But for more pictures go up to the top where my blogging friends are and click on Bean's Blog. She posted some great slide shows with lots of pictures.

Military Ball

2007-05-29T21:47:00.000-04:00

On May 12, as part of Armed Forces week celebrations, there was a Military Ball. This event can be attended by members of all branches of the armed forces who are in western New York. In past years, Duane has helped with parking cars and other duties, as part of the New York Guard. This year, however, we attended, because Duane was being awarded the "Soldier of the Year" for the New York Guard in western New York. This was a huge honor! We were so excited about it. Because we have not allowed our children to attend school dances and the proms, we told Jeremiah he could invite a date to the Ball. He chose to invite a good family friend who is in Civil Air Patrol with him. It was a first date for both of them, even though they aren't "dating" and are just friends. We found out that Erika would be home for it just in time to get her a ticket, but regrettably, didn't know that Alesha would be home.

We decided it would be a lot of fun for all the girls to get ready together, so we all headed over to our friend's house on Saturday morning. Alesha was our personal cosmetician and did everyone's makeup and helped the girls do their nails. Arlene did the hair for Laura Beth and myself.

Alesha kept us well entertained during the process with her imitations, accents, and antics.

The dresses were hung by the chimney with care...well, actually they were hung from the roof in Bethie's room so they wouldn't wrinkle.

We all keep our fingernails cut short, so we indulged in long fake fingernails. Erika's had to come off the next day for work at Burger King, and I kept mine for a couple of days. I couldn't type very well with them, though, so they had to go.

We were getting ready with one eye on the clock...we had just finished dressing when the men arrived, looking splendid and handsome in their uniforms. They had wrist corsages for each of us to match our dresses.

Well, to bed I must go...the saga will be continued.

Out of Hibernation

2007-05-29T21:28:00.000-04:00

Well, probably the first thing I should do is an update on Erika, since the last blog was about her. I believe I mentioned she had an MRI done of her brain. Well, they found one. Ha, ha. There were no problems there. The first EEG showed some abnormal activity, so they ordered a 24-hour EEG. As a result they decided she had a "seizure disorder", otherwise known as epilepsy, although they like to avoid using that term. At any rate, the neurologist started her on anti-seizure medication immediately in his office before any of the test results were in, just based on what she/we told him. Two days later she was sleeping through the night without any seizures and daytime seizures were reduced in number. Based on this, the neurologist cleared her to return to college, which she wanted to do, even though we weren't sure it was wise. At any rate, she continued to have seizures and in late January the neurologist added a second medication. This resulted in some improvement, but she still wasn't seizure free and was experiencing some pretty bothersome side effects. During this time, we discussed with her regular doctor the possibility of her weaning off some medication she'd been on for a couple of years. As she began to reduce that medication, the side effects lessened and the seizures lessened. Apparently the meds didn't get along too well. So, finally, by March 1 she was seizure-free and has remained seizure free since! Praise God! She also isn't too bothered by side effects now. If she goes a few hours past time for her meds, however, she notices some slight trembling of her arm, which is the sign of a seizure beginning. So, she has to be careful to space her meds 12 hours apart. So, that updates everyone on Erika's battle with epilepsy. By the way, my nephew (my sister's son) also has epilepsy that was teenage onset. He had grand mal seizures, though. As a result of her seizures, she was not allowed to continue in the nursing program, so she will have to make some decisions about a new major. Right now she is undeclared.

For your prayers

2006-12-26T20:30:00.000-05:00

In mid November, actually the week of Thanksgiving, I guess, Erika began experiencing arm tremors and some other symptoms. She was taken to the emergency room by the college health service, where they did blood work. In the month since then, she has continued to have these problems. The college did blood work a second time, she has seen our family physician, and she has had an MRI (we are waiting for the results). She is scheduled to have an EEG on Friday, and she will see a neurologist on Tuesday. Please pray that the doctors will be able to get to the bottom of what is causing these problems. They are of course distressing to her (and to us), and usually she is unable to get a good night's sleep. It caused a great deal of stress during her final month of classes, and caused her to miss a final exam in one course. We would appreciate your prayers for her in this situation. Thank you.

Christmas Day, December 25

2006-12-26T19:42:00.000-05:00

Well, the one who used to get up at 5 a.m. on Christmas morning to do the cinnamon rolls, was definitely not the first one up this Christmas! We got to bed about 12:30 a.m., after wishing each other a Merry Christmas:) Erika was the first one up, and with the crutches her stealth mode is definitely not stealthy. So we were soon all gathered in the living room, and began with opening our stockings. I enjoy the challenge of finding little items at Dollar Tree for the stockings.

After opening the stocking stuffers, I began the tedious task of opening two cans of Pillsbury Grande Cinnabon rolls and popping them into the oven. With working full time and numerous Christmas events and parties, I just did not have the time to make homemade rolls. They really were good, and a whole lot easier for me!

After enjoying the rolls with coffee/tea, we turned our hearts to the real meaning of Christmas. Jeremiah read aloud the nativity account from Luke 2, then Duane led the Advent devotions. The white Christ candle was lit by Erika this year (the kids take turns). Advent is one of our favorite Christmas traditions, and it begins the Sunday following Thanksgiving. This season with our crazy schedules, we missed more often than not, but each time we were able to sit down together was special.

We then began to open our gifts. We do this slowly, from youngest to oldest, each opening one gift while the others all watch, and each expressing appreciation to the giver, then go around the circle again and again till the gifts are all opened.

I'm not sure I can remember/identify what each one got. Jeremiah received a dart board, a hoodie, and movie Annapolis from Mom and Dad, and a snowboard leash/stomp pad/boarding magazines from Erika. He also got an army book from Duane, and a calendar with car pictures from me. He got some special ink pens for architecture from Duane as well. He got a card with some money from Grandma and Grandpa, and the rest are stocking stuffers.

Let's see. Erika received a pair of pajamas, a wind breaker, and a shirt from mom and dad. She got an army laundry bag from dad, and music for Phantom of the Opera from mom. She also got a Strong's Concordance from us and the book Eragon. From Jeremiah she got a two-blade knife. I think the rest are stocking stuffers.

Duane got a t-shirt from me that says in upside down print, "If you can read this, please put me back in my tree stand." He also got slippers, jeans, and quite a few socks. From Jeremiah he got a laser pointer, and from Erika a sink wrench (getting that at Sears was a narrative in itself)!

And finally, myself. I got a pair of beautiful black boots from Duane, and a flashlight for my car glovebox (with batteries). From Jeremiah I got a pretty shirt. And from Erika, a couple sets of earrings. One of the sets are shaped like paper clips:) I also got from the family a cute musical decoration with singing snowman and penguins.

After opening our gifts, we relaxed and watched Jeremiah's movie Annapolis while dinner was baking. For dinner we had ham and goose. I was given the goose by a patient at our physical therapy office who loves to hunt. He shot two Canadian geese and gave me one. For those of you who have never eaten goose, it is red meat and tastes like roast beef. Mine was a little tough, so next time I get one I'll use the crockpot instead of the oven. Christmas dinner was quiet and simple, with just the four of us. We had planned on having Duane's mom and step-dad, but his mom was not feeling well. After relaxing the rest of the afternoon, we visited with his brother's family in the evening to finish off the day.

Christmas Eve Party, Dec. 24

2006-12-26T17:59:00.000-05:00

On Christmas Eve, Sunday, we went to church, then rushed home to prepare the goodies for our traditional Christmas Eve party. We invite whoever we can find that doesn't have other plans for the evening, and this year we enjoyed the company of church friends, the Rineharts, and our pastor dropped by for a bit.

We tremendously missed Alesha's presence during our Christmas festivities this year, and Erika's being on crutches hampered her ability to help somewhat, although she was a real trooper. However, Jeremiah and I ended up doing most of the work! The kids always get to pick which recipes they want to make. Jeremiah chose to make the curried cheese ball. He is a good chef and likes to experiment with variations. He doubled the curry powder and it was perfect!

Erika made the ham ball, and then she was pretty much done in. By the way, this tradition started Christmas of 1990. It was the first time we had all been together for Christmas in quite a few years, and we had Christmas at mom and dad's Burbank house in Binghamton. In order to lighten the cooking load on mom, we assigned everyone to make a party/snack favorite food. Mom and Dad provided a fantastic array of chips and pop for those who were home from Africa after a term of being derived from junk food! And we have continued this tradition every year since then with some variations.

Another very special part of our evening is a tradition that was introduced to us Christmas of 1994, when we once again were all together as a family, this time in Nigeria, at Dean and Peggy's home. We watched a video of Handel's Young Messiah, and enjoyed it so much we watch it every Christmas Eve. It is an interesting experience for our guests, because it is quite unique. Other than that we just eat and talk and listen to Christmas music.

Christmas Tree, Dec. 23

2006-12-26T17:42:00.000-05:00

We weren't any too early putting up a tree this year! Duane and Jeremiah got the tree set up Friday afternoon. They both were working on a house on Saturday, so Erika (on crutches) and I decided to tackle the decorating job. Duane and Jeremiah have alway done the lights and garland, then we usually take over from there. Well, no sooner did I start with the lights than the tree fell over. Erika and I made a valiant attempt to stand it up, then ended up leaving it till the men got home! It turns out those screw thingys were stripped. So, Erika and I used the time to get our gifts wrapped.

We also put together our menu for our traditional Christmas eve party and went grocery shopping--I pushed her around in a special handicapped cart. It was an event in itself! But, by the end of the day, the tree was decorated, the gifts were wrapped and under the tree, the groceries were put away, and we were ready to collapse!

Erika's surgery, Dec. 18

2006-12-26T17:16:00.000-05:00

Erika came home from college on Dec. 16. We had family parties on Dec. 16 and 17. Then on Dec. 18 she had surgery on her ankle (that picture is her right foot). She has had a problem with her ankles most of her life, but we didn't know what was wrong with them until this summer. She saw an orthopedic doctor who told us the ligaments in her ankles are too long, therefore her ankles are loose and she twists them alot. She has been having alot of trouble this semester at Cedarville with sprains. Her right ankle seems to be the major problem, so that is the one they fixed first. Everything went fine with the surgery. He shortened two ligaments which should really stabilize the ankle. He also cleaned up some cartilage and scar tissue in there. She had to keep her foot well elevated for 5 days. Since then she's been hopping around on crutches. Tomorrow she goes back to have the temporary splint/cast removed and the stitches removed, then she'll get a new cast and be 3 more weeks on crutches. Two days after her surgery she had an appointment with our family doctor to see if we can get to the bottom of what is causing her arm tremors and related symptoms. He has referred her to a neurologist. And on Friday, Dec. 22, she had an MRI of the brain. We don't have any results from that yet. Dec. 22 was also our 22nd anniversary, and we went out to the Olive Garden for a nice supper (plus did a little last minute Christmas shopping).

Christmas Family Party, Dec. 17

2006-12-26T16:56:00.001-05:00

Well, that last post has been sitting in draft mode since October! Shame on me! Jump ahead to December. For the second year now we have hosted the Christmas party for Duane's side of the family. We have everyone bring an inexpensive gift for an exchange. The gifts get traded around, and this big chocolate chip cookie traded hands several times. Ethan didn't end up with it, but I think it stayed in his family!

Aunt Betty, the godmother of Duane and all his brothers and sisters, is always invited. We often say she must not have known what she was getting into!

Duane's sister, Bonnie, showing the gift she ended up with.

There are lots more pictures of family members, but this is enough to give you the idea. After the gift exchange we had a lasagna dinner. Then we did a cookie exchange. It was a fun night. The night before we had a Christmas party with Duane's step family, and they are a large crowd, too. It was at his dad's house, and they did a turkey/ham dinner with all the fixings. So, it was a really busy weekend. I spent Saturday morning making the lasagna, then Saturday afternoon at the party. Saturday night we did some last minute decorating and cleaning the house.

Sunday we rushed home from church to get ready for our Christmas party here. It was all fun, but a very tiring weekend.

Erika's Room, continued

2006-10-09T07:22:00.000-04:00

Here is the nightstand with Eeyore standing watch over a good friend.

In this room we are actually turning counter clockwise around the room.

Next is the bookcase. By the way, she collects wind instruments, thimbles, rocks, and shoes.

On the top of the dresser are her souvenirs from Switzerland. On the top shelf is the flute angel which she got from her Aunt Peggy for graduation. Behind the angel, which you really can't see well, is a figurine on snowshoes from her Aunt Alesia, because she loves to snowshoe.

The other shelves contain a mini cedar chest, which is a promise from dad to make one when she marries, a leather chest which Alesha brought her from Niger, a snow globe from Aunt Jeanette, and more rocks!

Jeremiah said when we were setting up her room, "There's no point in collecting something if you're not going to display it." Point well taken...so we displayed all of her beautiful rocks.

Erika's room

2006-10-08T18:06:00.000-04:00

Erika's is now in Jeremiah's old room, which although small will give her a space of her very own.

First, Jeremiah hung her name sign on the door. Alesha made this for her one year in Africa. It represents some of the things she likes to do (reading and sewing/crafts).

Of course, the disadvantage of this room is that is doesn't have a closet, so dad mounted a pole in the hallway for the clothes. We put a dresser there as well that holds the towels/washclothes for upstairs, and the rest of the drawers hold some of both of the girls' extra stuff. The games/puzzles are stacked on top.

On the wall to the right, above the side of the bed is Erika's thimble collection. Duane made the "E" thimble holder for her one year for Christmas.

At the head of the bed is her flute collection. She has her regular flute and her fife at college, however. The drawstring bag holds her double Navajo flute. For more pictures of her flutes, you can go to her blog spot, Nepo's Mulling.

This shows the head of the bed. Everything is white eyelet/embroidery.

Jeremiah's Room, continued

2006-10-08T17:00:00.000-04:00

Here is the next wall over, which has two windows.

Inbetween the windows is his Civil Air Patrol section. The empty spot is for his Mitchell, which he hope to have by the end of December.

You can't see the models and key chains too well, but there are alot of them! He has curtains, but they're down to be hemmed because we turned the heat on and they dragged on the heater.

And here we have the model airplanes and a few more energy drink cans.

Above his bed he has yet more models and keychains, plus the quarter collection his grandparents got him started on.

And the last picture in this sequence is his bed. He put both twin beds together. So hope you all enjoy knowing what his room looks like while it's neat!

Switching rooms

2006-10-08T16:39:00.000-04:00

After both girls left, it didn't seem right to have the biggest room sitting empty most of the year, so we decided to let Jeremiah move in to that room. It was a huge job switching things around from room to room, but resulted in alot of cleaning and sorting! Here are some pictures of how Jeremiah has used his space.

As you step into the door, this is a large empty wall to your left, which he has decorated with vinyls and CDs. He carefully picked old records that he thought were interesting and of music he had heard of. What started this idea is the Ray Charles record he brought home from his missions trip to Louisiana to help clean up after Katrina.

Moving clockwise around the room, you have a wall with two closets. On the outside of both closets, he has hung his caps. In this closet he has his clothes. Between the two closets is a shelf that contains part of his collections: he collects model cars, energy drink cans, and keychains.

Other interesting items he has collected shown here are a WWII helmet, and an old state forest sign, plus a snow globe from Aunt Jeanette.

In the next closet over is housed his dresser, and all of Alesha's belongs neatly boxed up awaiting her use. Whenever she is home she'll have the new downstairs bedroom for her use. At least that's the current plan.

Well, my next picture didn't post, so it must be time to start a new post. I know most of you don't care about this (not that I have many readers anyway), but this is mostly for the girls to know what's up at the old homestead.

Darien Lake Continued

2006-09-06T20:43:00.000-04:00

My three handsome escorts spent quite abit of time just fooling around.

Only Ethan and I would ride this crazy one (to the left). He's the blond skinny kid next to the fat lady with black hair.

This simple swing ride is one of my very favorites. It's so relaxing.

Most of the time was spent on the water rides, but we didn't take the camera for that part.

Last Fling Before School

2006-09-06T20:21:00.000-04:00

We made our annual pilgrimage to Six Flags Darien Lake the week before school started. It was a drizzly cool day, but that just meant the lines were really short! You can see in this picture how nasty the weather was. By the way, I won the two tickets at a summer employee party where I work for answering questions correctly about American history!

And here we are at Darien Lake after a rather long circuitous trip due to our lack of a decent map and a detour. We told Ethan we were just waiting for the weather to improve!

We took Jeremiah's cousin, Ethan, with us because it's so much more fun at an amusement park to have someone to do things with. I did ride quite a few rides with them, but Duane isn't into rides!

I'm on here with the kids. I can't remember if this is the Twister or the Mind Eraser, or what. Must has erased my mind whichever it was!
It's not really that bad. There are a few of the coasters that I won't ride.

Bumper cars are of course fun for everyone, and an event that Duane enjoys. The fun of this one is hampered slightly due to the fact that they only let you go in one direction.

Alesha's New Job

2006-09-06T18:55:00.000-04:00

No sooner did we get home from taking Erika to college, then it was time for Alesha to leave for her new job. She got home from Circle C Ranch on Saturday night, and left for her job on Tuesday or Wed. morning. She works for an extremely wealthy family that owns show horses that do dressage events. She is a groom. Right now she is in southeast PA and in October they move the horses down to the West Palm Beach area of FL. I don't have any pictures to show. It was very hard to see her go, especially not really being able to picture what her situation is, and it was so nice being able to see her every couple of weeks this summer.
Here are some excerpts from her letter home: "This job is pretty boring and long hours but it's decent money so its okay." "I feel like I stepped into a Victorian novel...I feel like the hapless groom from a Victoria Holt book. It really amuses me that they look down on the people who get their hands dirty taking care of the horses, then they just show up and ride." "We get to the barn at 8. We take off all the night wraps and hand walk each horse for 40 minutes. We give them an hour back in their stall, then hand-graze them 30 minutes each. We clean all the buckets, grain dishes, water the indoor ring, roll the wraps, stuff like that. After lunch we graze again, do various chores, and wait for .....to show up. Whenever a horse gets worked he gets a 15 minute warmup and a 15 minute cooldown. We pick out their hooves and wrap their legs every time they leave the stall....we even have to polish her boots and spurs." "I stopped at a church one night after work and I guess they do a night service, so I'll try to get to that."
So, that's the latest news from our poor Victorian groom who works as a servant for rich folk. The worst part is that she works with horses but can't even ride.

Erika at Cedarville (CU) cont.

2006-09-06T18:24:00.000-04:00

This is Erika's desk, which is right at the end of her bed. So, she has one long side of the room, with the closet to her back as she sits at her desk. Her roommate's side is the same. The window is at the heads of their beds, with the computer stand between the beds.

There is only one four drawer dresser for two girls!!! That was a challenge, but with underbed storage we managed quite well. Actually, it's not a problem until you get into winter sweaters.

The rest of the weekend was full of meetings for parents and students, some together and some separately and social activities. It really was an outstanding weekend. The one meeting they had with a skit about college kids and how they change during the four years was the best. At the end of that meeting they had all the freshmen move to the center of the chapel and all the parents circle around them in the aisles. Then he (the President) prayed for the parents and then for the students. I don't think there was a dry eye among the parents. It was a very touching meeting and a wonderful way to leave your child, knowing the love and prayer that they are surrounded with their. Dr. Brown said his door is always open to students, and you could tell that he really meant it. We left after church on Sunday, and Erika had a full day of activities to keep her busy.

Erika has a blogspot of her own, and has been posting regularly there (you can find it under my blogging friends--she is Nepo's Mullings). So, if you want to keep up-to-date with her, bookmark her blogspot.

College begins

2006-08-29T19:26:00.000-04:00

The summer just flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to leave to take Erika to college.
The lists had been checked twice (and we still forgot stuff), the van was loaded, and we were on our way. Wait, did I say the van? Yep. My Alero got hit by a deer late one night while I was driving home from work. She leaped right into my left front fender. So, my car was in the body shop and we had a rental. We paid the difference to get a van so we could transport Erika's stuff to college.
The trip to Cedarville is about 6 hours, which isn't bad. We left after I got off work on Thursday and got in about 1 a.m. We stayed with a lovely older Christian couple who live just 2 blocks from the college. Our orientation weekend started bright and early on Friday and we were busy, busy, busy all the time!
The entire weekend was so exciting, I don't think I can begin to put it all into words. The thing that struck us over and over, though, was what a hugely different experience it was from our experiences with Alfred State College. First, we knew what dorm Erika would be in, so we drove directly there. All the RA's were out in the dorm parking lots, cheering every time a new car arrived. It was so awesome! The boy RA's across the road were in their parking lot blaring Christian music and greeting their arriving freshmen as well. Occasionally the two groups of RA's would have a little contest or game or something fun. We parked the van, and then headed over to the orientation building to get keys and a whole bunch of other details. When we arrived there (just followed the Christian music on the loud speakers), they had someone take a polaroid picture of the family with the school mascot (Yellow Jacket).

The whole registration process was well organized and really went pretty quickly, only slowed down by the many friendly Cedarville students and staff who stopped to chat or help in any way. There were numerous tables to stop at, but this one with hundreds of keys was pretty funny to see.

Once we got through all the registration stations, we went over to Erika's new home and began to unload. Immediately people appeared out of the woodwork and the van was unloaded in minutes! People kept coming to the room offering to help in any way, offering cold water, and just being friendly.

It was a very hot, humid day, and her room is very, very hot, so we were dripping sweat as we worked. Duane and Jeremiah rearranged all the furniture, then they stepped out of the way and Erika and I began to unpack, organize, and get her settled in. Her room is an African safari type theme, and many people remarked that they liked it. At one point her roomate arrived, but it was impossible for two people to unpack at the same time, so they went shopping while we finished, then we got out of the way for them to finish. This is Erika's bed.

Trip to Tennessee

2006-08-29T18:42:00.000-04:00

The next major event of the summer was a trip I took to Tennessee with my best girl friend. It was a very last minute trip and just amazing to see how God brought everything together. My friend's Dad passed away a little over two months ago, and her widowed mother lives in TN. Not too long ago, she found out that the landlady has sold the house she is currently living in and renting. It was a double whammy for her. She was not ready yet emotionally to sort through everything in order to move. My friend was going down to TN to help her mother go through things, but knew it was more than a one person job, so she asked me if I could go down with her. There were numerous obstacles--my vacation time is used up and I couldn't afford time off without pay, would my boss allow me to leave, how was I going to do all that needed to be done to help Erika get ready to leave for college? Well, the Lord overcame every obstacle in a matter of days. The Lord provided the amount of money I would be missing in pay, the boss said I could go, and I was able to get all of Erika's sorting, cleaning, laundry, ironing, shopping, and so on done before I left.
So, we left for TN on a Monday morning after she got her children off to camp (that's why we had to go that week), and we began a 9 hour journey that took 12 (alot of road work and we didn't rush our break stops). We had a great trip both down and back. There is a series of books called Sister Chicks about close girl friends like we are, so we took turns reading one of those aloud as the other drove. We listened to alot of music. We talked alot, laughed alot, and had both serious and silly moments. One of the silly moments was when Arlene said you're supposed to hold your breath going through a tunnel. Well, Miss Asthmatic only held her breath a few seconds. I kept holding my breath and holding my breath. The tunnel went on and on and on, and I was running out of O2 and there was no light at the end of the tunnel! Finally I gave up and gasped for breath, and after a few deep breaths suddenly became extremely dizzy. The bad part? I was the driver!! Arlene laughed so hard she couldn't breathe.
We worked long hard tiring hours in TN sorting through a basement's worth and a lifetime's worth of accumulated boxes. We sorted into piles for give away, throw away, sell, and keep. Doris, Arlene's mom, had to work every day but one, so she would come home weary and have to deal with me holding things in front of her face saying, "Keep? Throw? Sell?" She was a real trooper and God gave her great strength to make hard decisions. There were some emotional moments, but she did really well. Sadly, Arlene was under the weather quite a bit, so she was on photo sorting and copying duty. She's making a scrapbook about her dad's life. God also strengthened my back as I moved 100's of boxes, most of them more than once.
On day 1 it looked like an impossible task. By departure day, she had a neat row of boxes to keep, several neat rows of boxes of items to sell, several truck loads had gone to the dump, and the basement portion of the job was done! Only by the strength from the Lord!
The return trip was probably a whole lot less silliness and alot more serious conversation as we were physically weary.

Cattaraugus County Fair

2006-08-29T17:40:00.000-04:00

The next big event of the summer was the Cattaraugus County Fair. I only remember attending a fair once when I was growing up, but Duane lived at the fair (literally)! He worked on his neighbors farm and when they took cows to the fair, he went with them. The kids slept right there in the cow barn at night. So, I have learned to enjoy the fair more as I have learned to see it through his eyes, and as my children have had opportunity to participate in it. In the past they have entered crafts, but this year they both worked. Duane also worked at the fair a couple of nights. I only went to the fair one night when I was off work. A county fair truly has a culture of its own, and it hard to explain if you are not pretty involved with a local fair. And of course there are certain things that you look forward to doing there every year. For me, my favorite is sausage on a bun covered with fried peppers and onions, and a red candied apple. Other family favorites are fried dough, chocolate milkshakes, and well, just about anything I guess. There are shows that return every year that are favorites, too, such as a Christian family that does puppet shows, a mini circus with ligers (a lion/tiger mix), the demolition derby, the tractor pull, monster trucks, and so on. But mostly it's about the animals, and I really enjoy the craft barns as well.

Jeremiah's job was to sit and watch all the cow judging and if a cow went to the bathroom in the ring he had to run right out with the shovel and clean up the cow pie. One guy told him to put sanitation engineer on his resume. It pays well and is good wholesome work for a kid! He also worked some on picking up trash around the grounds.

Erika's job was to hand out ribbons and trophies at the horse shows.

Well, for some reason I can't post any more pictures on here so will start a new post.

Jeremiah at E-tech

2006-07-21T19:41:00.000-04:00

Last week Jeremiah spent a week at the Engineering Technologies Academy in Dayton, Ohio, at Wright State University. It was a CAP National Cadet Special Activity. Because I have to work weekends, Duane had to drive to OH to drop him off and come back for the week, then drive to OH to pick him up and bring him back.

This is the engineering building where they had their classes.

Cadets in one of their classes. I don't know what all they studied, but J. brought home a huge notebook. They covered stuff in different branches of engineering.

This is at the Bio-Medical Section of WSU. Don't ask me what it is!

They also got to tour parts of the US Air Force Museum that people don't usually get to see. This is a UAV (Unmaned Aerial Vehicle).

This is "The Tower." It is where all top secret projects are done. No camera's were allowed inside. This is at the AFRL (Air Force Reaserch Laboratory).

Jeremiah had a really great time ;)

Alesha at Circle C

2006-07-21T18:43:00.000-04:00

This summer Alesha is working at Circle C Ranch as a wrangler. Anyone who knows her knows how much she loves horses.
This is the stable area. They have over 50 horses, so the wrangler work very hard from early to late feeding, grooming, training, riding, haying, cleaning the stables and the tack, and so on.

If I have the right photo, this is Alesha's assigned/chosen horse for the summer--Joker. He is the biggest horse there.

They lead alot of trail rides every day.

The wranglers are wearing cowboy hats and the teen campers are either hatless or putting on helmets.

Pray for Alesha this summer--for her physical safety and strength, for her sprained back to heal, and for her spiritual growth and nourishment.

Erika's Graduation, Part 8: Party Pics cont.

2006-07-21T17:47:00.000-04:00

So many friends and relatives came. Archie and Colleen, and Arlene and John (photo to the left).

Below, friends of Alesha's (and ours too), from Alfred. Jake on left, then Alesha, Jim sitting in back, and Donna in front of Jim.

Grandpa is rarely seen in a picture without a camera to his eye. We are anxiously awaiting his purchase of a digital camera so he can add to his blog spot.

Erika with Laura Beth (you saw her parents
John and Arlene above, and one of her brothers, Peter, in a previous CAP post).

My sister Nancy and my mom.

There are so many wonderful pictures. We had 89 people visit, as far as I can tell from photo groupings, and I can't show you everyone! We had people from church, from CAP, from school, from our previous church in Jamestown, relatives, and neighbors, but this last photo was the biggest shock of them all. Ruth and Jean are part of our missionary family in The Gambia. I knew Ruth was in the U.S., but wasn't sure if she was in NY at the time, and I had no idea Jean (pictured to the right) was in the U.S. My jaw hit the floor. I was absolutely speechless. It was so wonderful to have Ruth and Jean be able to come. I'm sorry that I didn't have more time to just sit and visit with any one person. In trying to talk to everyone, you end up feeling like you have talked to no one! Thank you to everyone who came and made the party so special.

Erika's Graduation, Part 7: More Party Pics

2006-07-20T20:29:00.000-04:00

(Sorry this is so many posts, but I can only post a few pictures at a time).

We were delighted to have our Nigerian friends, the Abiolas, visit. This is their youngest, and he loved our dog, Cadet.

Duane visiting with our long time friends, Archie and John.

I love this picture of Erika! She looks like a child of the 60s!

Erika with our neighbor, Grace, looking at photo albums of Erika's life.

Erika and myself enjoying the party.

Myself with my sister-in-law Sue and Duane's Aunt Sally.

Erika's Graduation, Part 6: Party!

2006-07-20T18:40:00.000-04:00

Erika's graduation was on Sunday afternoon, and set up began early Sunday morning before church.

We rented a large tent, tables, and chairs.

Duane set up the volleyball net and horseshoes.

Alesha and Suzanne did a beautiful job of decorating the tent.

Dean, Lannie, Jake, and the dog had to leave

Sunday morning to go back to Virginia and the rest of us headed off to church.

Dean's Birthday

2006-07-20T17:23:00.000-04:00

We had a full house and a busy weekend during Erika's graduation. First to arrive was my Mom and Dad from FL. Next to arrive was Nancy and Suzanne from eastern PA. They were all a huge help in getting ready for the graduation party and doing a myriad of household and yard chores. We were expecting Alesha to arrive from the camp where she is a wrangler in time for the graduation on Friday, but we got a call from her on Thursday night. "Mom, I'm at the hospital. Can you come get me?" After my heart started beating again, I found out she'd been thrown from a galloping horse and couldn't get up, so they took her to the hospital on a backboard. They released her with pain meds after x-rays showed nothing was broken. Nancy and Duane drove up to get her in Nancy's van. Nancy brought Alesha back in comfort, and Duane drove Alesha's truck home for her. She was then armchair director for the festivities, and was able to do a few chores.
Dean was not able to arrive until late Friday night after the graduation, but we were very happy that he made the trip anyway to be here. Saturday was his birthday. Someone decided to put all the candles in the box on his cake!

He was able to blow almost all of them out in a single breath!

He had a few gifts and Dad made a delicious curry dinner--always our birthday favorite. The birthday party was a fun, short break in a very busy day. Sadly, he and Lannie and Jake had to go back Sunday a.m., so they missed the party, too. It really meant alot that they would make a trip that far (from Virginia and back) to be with us for Erika's graduation.

Erika's Graduation, Part 5: More Graduation Pictures

2006-07-19T20:46:00.000-04:00

A fun shot of Erika and her Dad. For those of you who knew Erika before her jaw surgery, I cannot stop marveling at her beautiful smile and face.

Erika with her two awards: American Legion and John Philips Sousa.

Erika's Grandma and Grandpa Holtz (Duane's mom and step-dad).

Erika's Grandma and Grandpa Hall (my mom and dad), my sister Nancy, and her daughter Suzanne.

The leaning Wilkins' family from tallest to
shortest.

I think those are the best of the graduation
shots.

Erika's Graduation, Part 4: Outside School after graduation

2006-07-19T15:11:00.000-04:00

There are so many beautiful pictures of
Erika after the graduation that I don't
know which ones to pick!

Erika and her sister Alesha.

Erika and her Grandma Hall.

The ladies from left to right:
My sister Nancy, her daughter/my niece Suzanne, my daughter Erika, my mother Betty, my eldest daughter Alesha, and myself.

Erika with cousin Suzanne.

Duane above with his two beautiful daughter, and Erika with Aunt Nancy.

More pictures to come in a separate blog. I've gotta run to a softball game.

Erika's Graduation, Part 3: Graduation!

2006-07-19T10:28:00.000-04:00

After posting the colours, Erika had to rush around the hallway, throw her cap and gown over her uniform, and get in line to march in. They started at the end of the alphabet, so that didn't give her much time! (Erika is third in line).

Erika is third in, in the back row.
The girls wear light blue, and the boys
wear dark blue. Everyone in front of her was
tall, so we could only see her by going around the side.

The Senior high girls in chorus did special music (Erika is not in chorus).

The Senior gave roses to their parents.

Erika stepping forward to receive her awards. We were so surprised. They'd reached almost the end of the alphabet and there was a long pause, so we thought they were done. Then they called her name! She was surprised, too. She received two awards!! She got the American Legion award from the Legion in our town that selected her for Girl's State last summer. She also received the John Philips Sousa award. I wish I could copy the citations, but that would take too much room! We are so proud of her. Both awards came with small scholarships.

Erika's Graduation, Part 2: Posting the Colours

2006-07-19T09:50:00.000-04:00

Lieutenant Erika Wilkins, CAP, before leaving the house
for graduation.

Alesha started a tradition, it seems, at her graduation. She asked the school for permission for her Civil Air Patrol color guard to present the colours at the graduation. This had never been done before. The school board gave permission, and so the tradition began! Alesha, as the Senior, carried the American flag. This year, Erika asked permission to do the same thing, and once again the school board approved. And, as the Senior, she was the one to carry the American flag. Normally in Civil Air Patrol officers (she is a Lieutenant) are not in colour guard. But this was an exception, since the only reason to do it is to have a senior bring in the flag! Jeremiah is on the left, Erika in the center, and Teila Arnold on the right. They are preparing out in the hall way.

It was difficult to get pictures once the ceremony started. The lights were off in the gym to try to
keep it cooler--it was one of our hottest June days! So the pictures are dark and of course they were moving targets! But it was a very nice ceremony and a beautiful addition to the graduation.

Erika's Graduation, Part 1: Baccalaureate

2006-07-16T01:04:00.000-04:00

Our middle child graduated from high school this June. Some of the local ministers got together to put on a Baccalaureate service, which is no longer being put on by public schools. They mailed invitations to all the seniors' families.

This is the pastors praying together before the service.

Music was provided by a group of Christian kids from the school. They have formed a band that plays at the youth center that is a Christian ministry in the town. The young man to the left with the guitar, however, is not a student. He is a youth pastor intern from England.

We didn't get any other pictures of the service, but one of the pastors gave an excellent devotional using duct tape as the object lesson! They had refreshments at the end. It was definitely a modernized version of the baccalaureate, but appropriately and tastefully done. They are hoping to do it again next year and are hoping for better attendance. I'm glad we took the time to go.

Civil Air Patrol

2006-07-10T16:30:00.000-04:00

Our eldest daughter was the one who got us interested in joining the Civil Air Patrol, which is a volunteer civilian auxiliary of the Air Force, and our whole family ended up joining. My husband and I are now both Captains, our middle daughter is a 1st Lieutenant, and our son is a Chief Master Sergeant. (The oldest daughter isn't currently a member!).

Duane, Erika, and Jeremiah with good friend, Peter Coulter, who got us all involved in CAP.

Jeremiah with his cousin Suzanne.

Jeremiah and me.

This is Erika receiving her Mitchell Award from the
CAP Wing Commander. It is an important achievement in
the Civil Air Patrol and was awarded her at the Military
Ball in January.

Sermon on the Mount

2006-06-12T12:34:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we attended the most incredible event called the Sermon on the Mount. It is a ministry of Miracle Mountain Ranch, which is a little south of us in PA. Jeremiah went there one summer for camp. Anyway, the director, Lew Sterrett, trains a horse in a round pen while you watch, and all the while he is working with the horse, he is giving biblical principles and illustrations. The relationship between the trainer and the horse is like the relationship between us and God. He is incredible with horses, and the analogies and lessons are so powerful. We sat there in the drizzling rain for several hours, and it was worth every minute of it. If anyone ever gets a chance to attend, even if you have to drive aways, it is well worth it. He travels all over the USA. They also have alot of other neat ministries and publications. Check out their website at www.miraclemountainranch.com. I'm so impressed I can't stop telling people about it. I don't have any photos because our camera is in the repair shop.

More Concert Pictures

2006-06-06T08:33:00.000-04:00

Here is Erika with the band director, Mr. Wilder, one of her favorite teachers. We believe he is a Christian, and he has been a wonderful influence and friend to her. Jeremiah has a similar close relationship with Mr. Maguda, who is the junior high band director. He is the one who gives Jeremiah tuba lessons and works with him in that area. The chorus director, Mr. Trenchard, is a strong Christian and is the minister at the Methodist church down the road from us.

Jeremiah started on the trombone in his first year at public school (7th grade). The next year, however, Mr. Maguda asked him to switch to tuba as they would be losing all of the tuba players in the high school band who were seniors. At that point he was given a smaller tuba, but it was still bigger than he was. The kids used to goof around and put Jeremiah in the tuba case and close it up and drag it around the house. He certainly wouldn't fit in it now at 5'9"!
Erika started flute lessons while homeschooling in 8th grade. She joined the band when she started public school in 9th grade with only a few months of lessons. The other kids had been playing since 4th grade. She is now playing at a level 6, which is the highest level in the SoloFest ratings. We are very proud of both of them

We hope that Erika will be able to continue to
use and enjoy her flute in a band or orchestra
at Cedarville College or in a local church.
A few months ago, Mr. Wilder began giving her
saxophone lessons as well. She picked that up very quickly as far as the fingering, and already knew how to read music, so she just had to
master the reed. We don't own a saxophone, however, so she won't get any further with that instrument. By the way, Erika has a wind instrument collection. So far, she has an ocarina, a fife, her regular flute, a Swiss recorder, a regular recorder, and a glass flute. With any graduation money she receives, she plans to buy
a Navajo flute.

Spring Concert

2006-06-05T13:52:00.000-04:00

I love school concerts as much as I love parades! I think maybe it's because I went to schools that didn't have school bands, so I'm really excited about the kids being in band. This week was the Spring Concert, which is the last concert of the schoolyear. Usually they try to have it outside, and usually it starts to rain, so everyone has to move inside. Well, this time it turned out to be the hottest day we've had so far, plus it looked like the possibility of rain, so they just had it inside to begin with! At some point during the day, I realized that this was Erika's last school concert! So, I borrowed a digital camera to get some photos.

This is the high school chorus. This was Jeremiah's second year as a tenor. Can you locate him? I think next year he'll be a baritone.

Here he is--the circled face.
Two to the left (blond hair) is his cousin and best bud, Ethan. I am proud of Jeremiah for giving chorus a try. The chorus has made huge improvements in the past two years.

And here is our upcoming graduate, Erika, who
was in first chair flute position. All of the seniors had flowers to wear.

See the one and only tuba in the background?
That is Jeremiah.

I'm going to post more pictures, but I'm having trouble with the website uploading them, so will
try another post this evening.

Small Town USA

2006-05-30T22:29:00.000-04:00

To girls, the prom is probably the most exciting and looked forward to event of the school year. To my son and his cousin, however, the most exciting event is "Drive Your Tractor to School" Day. This was the first year Jeremiah and Ethan were able to participate in this unusual event, and it required quite a bit of preparation. First, the mowers had to come out of winter storage and be cleaned and serviced. Next, the decks had to be removed. Even more difficult was finding someone to loan us a trailer to haul the tractors to a point nearer the school. Finally, early on Friday morning (6:30), Jeremiah and Ethan were transported to the Cattaraugus Village line to begin their slow journey to school. They made it to school without incident, but I understand the police hassled a few of the kids about riding lawn mowers on the road! Some kids of course have larger farm tractors. The real adventure began when school was out. Duane was not back from work yet, so the boys decided to drive the mowers all the way to Ethan's house! Only a few blocks into the trip, sparks began coming from under Ethan's seat. Investigation revealed that the battery had slipped forward and the terminal was rubbing on something. The boys decided it wasn't safe to drive it any further, which afforded Jeremiah the great pleasure of towing Ethan's mower all the way home. Jeremiah has personalized his mower quite a bit, such as installing airhorns and various extra lights. He enjoyed waving and honking the airhorn at every passing vehicle. It took the boys about 1 1/2 hours to get home, and gave them a lifetime memory!

Memorial Day

2006-05-30T10:31:00.000-04:00

On Monday morning we attended the Memorial Day parade in Jamestown. I have always loved parades, and fail to understand the many Americans I know who have no interest in attending parades. Perhaps because I grew up overseas and attending a parade was a once-every-four-years event, it means much more to me. I love sitting on the curb in the hot sun watching and listening. The patriotic Sousa band pieces are my favorite part, I think, but I also love clapping for all the veterans, and waving at the ambulance and fire truck crews. Our local parades are pretty small, so usually other than one or two school bands, and the fire trucks and ambulances, there are just kids on bikes, the Boy Scout troop, and quite frequently--the Civil Air Patrol!! With all of our family members being in the Civil Air Patrol, we have participated in quite a few parades in the last few years. This year I didn't march, but Duane and Erika and Jeremiah did. Regretfully, we weren't able to stay for the memorial service in the Soldier's Circle at the cemetery. The towns also schedule their parades on different days, so schools and groups can participate in more than one. On Sunday, Erika and Jeremiah participated with the school band in a small parade in Otto. While Erika usually plays her flute in the parades, this year she was selected to carry the American flag. Jeremiah, our tuba player, plays the sousaphone in the parades. I was unable to attend that parade and missed seeing my children perform.

Welcome!

2006-05-27T12:28:00.000-04:00

I have decided to join the rest of my family in blogging. More to come as I learn how to do this!