It's Thursday morning and we're looking back over the last 2 days before we any more to
add. . .
Tuesday:
Abby and Serena had lots of fun, but little sleep at their sleepover. After we packed up the vans and said said good-bye to Don and Joanne's family (who were heading out on their own summer adventure), we headed over to Glenn and Gail's for breakfast (and to pick up the girls). Homemade sausage, plain,
blueberry, and chocolate chip pancakes served with REAL maple syrup was on the menu and we took full advantage of Gail's hospitality!
The day before Dad and Donny figured out how our families are related. Dad's grandmother Ada (Stoltzfus) Mast, and Don, Glen Duane and Dwight;s grandfather, Naaman Stoltzfus, were brother and sister. That makes our parents 2nd cousins and us children 3rd cousins. Anyone's mind spinning yet?
While the "adults" were visiting, the children (now including Duane and Andrea's crew) saw the chance to get in the hot tub and get wet once again! I don't know why but I chose to tell them that we were all 3rd cousins while they were IN the tub. They all started yelling "Wet HUG!!" and coming to the side were I was standing. What can ya do? So I got the wet hugs at least from all of them! By the time they were done I was almost as wet as they were; it felt pretty good though. We had such fun with our new-found cousins. The little ones kept asking for me to teach them some of the songs we did on Sunday and then we added a few others to keep things exciting. "All God's creatures got a place in the choir. Some sing low and some sing higher, some sing out loud in the telephone wire, and some just clap their hands or paws or anything they got now." During all of this Meredith, Bethany and Tommy were playing Monopole Deal with Madi, Glenn and Gail's second oldest. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. There were many bouts of laughter coming from that table.
With another good visit and a bountiful breakfast under our belts, we headed out for our next destination: Elwood City, PA, the home of Joe and Debbie Lahr. The last time we had visited at their farm I was Abby's age; Abby and Serena weren't even born. Dad and Mom had been looking around at farms for sale in the area and almost bought one; that was before we had checked out VA.
After a delicious supper, Joe took us out to set up at their church: Cornerstone Community Church in New Castle, PA (www.cccnewcastle.com). They had scheduled us to share our program during their weekly Bible study. We had a few glitches, but the Lord was faithful to answer many prayers, and we and others were blessed in spite of ourselves! "Just as long as You're the Captain when my ship is lost at sea, well I know I'll reach the harbor when You calm the storm for me!"
A late night snack of ICE CREAM rounded out (no pun intended) the evening before we headed off t o bed for a very restful night's sleep.
Wednesday morning Debbie served a delicious spread of eggs, bacon, toast and bagels. Not long after breakfast was over, the girls were in their swimming suits and heading out to explore the pond. Serena had been a little nervous about the pond at first because she thought there might be snakes but she was soon jumping off the dock with Abby and having a great time catching goldfish with Tommy.
The rest of us visited in the house, catching up on journaling, took showers, or watched the pond antics from the comfort and shade of the patio. For lunch we were served one of our favorites: PIZZA!
I made the mistake of tossing bits of the crust to the chickens that were grazing in the yard. When I stopped that hen just wouldn't have it and hopped up on my chair arm to insist I continue to share my lunch with her! She finally did get the idea and went back to scratching in the yard. We practiced some of our acappella pieces after lunch, especially for Debbie's father who lives there as well. Thank you so much Joe and Debbie for your invitation and gracious hospitality! God bless you!!
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