Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Some Pickleball and Lunch and Study Time with Our Life Group!

Tuesday was another cloudy, cool day - Really????  Ken and I went for a nice walk, but we got wet!  Not a heavy rain, but a "spritzer"!  We made breakfast and then left at 10:15 for the Hempfield Rec Center.  I really wanted to try pickleball again and see how my back "handled it"!  Ken went too and we had such a good time and my back behaved!  John, my brother-in-law, played too and Cindy stopped by to watch.  We left around 2:00 and stopped at Root's Country Market to get some fruits and veggies.

Ken left to take the CRV to Hurst Tire since we appeared to have a slow leak. They found a staple in the tire and repaired it while Ken waited.  I stayed home and spent time studying the lesson I would be teaching at Life Group tomorrow. I also had a nice chat with Melissa.  They currently have their motorhome in storage and are renting a cottage in The Villages in Florida for about 3 months. They are having a good time there.

Ken and I discussed our camping plans for this fall and especially from Thanksgiving until Christmas.  We think we will stay home until Thanksgiving and then spend about 3 or 4 weeks in Florida being home in time for Christmas. We will take about a 10 day camping trip in both September and October but not far from home.  Of course you know about "the best laid plans"!  We shall see!

After dinner, Jamie, from the downstairs apartment in our building, came to buy some gifts for her friends.  I appreciated her purchases and really enjoyed that she stayed for several hours so we could visit.  She is a definite asset to our building.

Wednesday was finally a gorgeous warm sunny day!  After breakfast, I took Ken to his volunteer job at MCC.  I came back home, ate breakfast, cleaned up, and made a call to Harbor Lakes, the campground where we stay in Florida from January to March.  I also did some "craft work"!  Back to pick up Ken at noon and then we took Jane Good with us to the Viva Castle Pub in the Exeter area to have lunch with our Life Group.  What a great place to eat outdoors and the food was exceptional.

The 8 of us left there and went to Rick and Joyce's to have our study time.  It went well and we had some great discussion.  We left there at 5:30 and Ken and I took a long walk when we got home.  We spent some time trying to get our printer working - so frustrating, but we accomplished the task!!!

Monday, May 29, 2017

A Fun Memorial Day with the Family!

Ken wanted to do some studying and reading for his Next Steps class, so I made breakfast for us while he was working in his office.  I cleaned up the kitchen and then cut-up all the condiments needed for hamburgs and hot dogs in preparation for our family picnic at Jamie's.  Her family only came back from a long weekend at the beach around 11 this morning, so they were busy getting ready for our arrival!

At 10:30, Ken and I left home to walk to downtown Lititz so I could get in my miles for today.  We forgot that they had a small Memorial Day Parade that went through the downtown area.  We stopped about 2/3 of the way through our walk to watch the parade.  We were amazed at how many people were there to watch it! 




We were back home by 11:30, showered and ate a light lunch before heading to Jamie's for our 1:00 picnic.  Lanie's family arrived at about the same time!

Unfortunately it was another cool, cloudy, damp day, but it did not rain so we were able to spend most of our time outside.  (Sweatshirts needed!).  The 4 gals decided they wanted to kayak on the creek that borders the back of Jamie and Dane's property in the 4 small kayaks they had bought last fall.  Samantha and Katelyn had never paddled on their own before today and it was rather frustrating to Katelyn at the beginning.  But, it didn't take her very long to conquer the technique of paddling.  The 4 of them had so much fun!


What a cute sight!


Samantha did a great job for her 1st time of paddling all
by herself.  Cali is a little pro!


Katelyn's 1st time too, and she did a great job! 
Hard to imagine that this is what you see from Jamie and
Dane's backyard and they live in town on 1 block from the
high school!


Cali looks relaxed on the water!

Bria wanted to test her balance!

Samantha looks pretty intense as she paddled!

I believe Katelyn is starting to really enjoy but she also needed
to rest after all that "learning" at the beginning!

Looks like Samantha and Cali are having a fun time playing
Kayak tag!  

We enjoyed watching!
Love these special young ladies!

Then it was time for some of the outdoor game competition to begin.  We started with some Kan Jam and then numerous games of Kubb.  The granddaughters enjoyed playing Kubb and did a good job. 

This is Jamie and Dane's backyard!  Not bad, huh?  Kubb
was a total family activity today!

Bob and his special team!




Our Team really struggled today!


Samson wanted to get in on the action!

Dane grilled hamburgs and hot dogs for dinner and we were able to eat outside. Following clean-up, it was time for some competitive games of Kan Jam.  It really is a fun game.  The picnic ended around 7 because the little ladies have school tomorrow and the parents did not want it to be a late night.

Dane grills onion slices under the cheese and it is so good!


I really enjoy playing Kan Jam!



Bria and Dane played together and Bria's shot went in the
front slot - an automatic win!

PawPaw saw so excited for her!

Dane and Bria were pretty excited too!
Relaxing between games!

Samson appreciated when Bob was watching instead of playing!


Ken and I watched the Stanley Cup game while doing some reading and I downloaded photos and worked on the blog.  

We are so blessed to share this weekend with such good friends and our special family.

Sunday, May 28, 2017

A Fun-fFilled Weekend!

Saturday was a milder, mostly sunny day with temperatures near 70.  Ken left by 7:30 to have breakfast with a gentleman who will be his accountability partner for his Next Step class.  After cooking and eating my breakfast I spent time downloading photos and working on our blog.  

Ken was home by 10:30 after having a long chat with a friend, Mike Kapp, about RVing.  Mike and Bonnie recently bought a Class C and are looking for some info on the Albuquerque Balloon Festival.  Mike suggested we get together for breakfast sometime to "pick our brains" for information on RVing and Ken said that might not be a good idea.  He said if I started talking to them I would get so excited that they should probably be packed and ready to be on the road later that day!  I guess I do get rather animated and excited when talking about RV adventures, but we will get together in the near future.

Ken worked at his desk while I got ready to go for a walk.  I am trying to be faithful about walking at least 40 minutes everyday with my SAS.  After our walk, we were able to eat lunch on the deck which was a nice change. Fortunately it was warm enough to be outside!  Ken showered and took a nap while I made salads for dinner and got some snacks ready for tonight when Fred and Doloris are here.

Ken left at 2:30 for his step study.  I spent time preparing to lead our Life Group on our study of the book, Boundaries.  I find it harder to lead the discussion on this book versus The Purpose Driven Life that we completed recently.  

Ken was home by 5 and read on the deck while I did the same inside.  We were able to eat our dinner on the deck too.  Fred and Doloris were here from 6:30 to 10:45 and we had so much fun.  We played Haus (M), Skip-Bo (Women won big time!), and UNO which the women also won.  It was so nice to spend the evening with them.

Sunday was another mild day with on and off sunshine, but probably more clouds than sun.  We went to Church and were very inspired by Jason Mitchell's sermon.  He said the question we always need to ask ourselves before taking action is "What would love lead me to do"?  Wow, that is a thought provoking question and one I need to keep reminding myself.  Neither our Life Group or Jamie and her family were at the Ephrata Church today, so Ken and I went to Olde Hickory Grill for breakfast and then to AC Moore and Michael's for some frames for my seaglass pictures.

We were back home by 1 and stopped to chat with Ginny and Bob who live in our building.  Bob is struggling with some health issues and Ginny is such a wonderful caregiver.  Ken and I both read the newspaper and I did some prep work for doing some more seaglass pictures.  We left at 1:30 to take a long walk to the park.  Today there was a musical presentation by Servant Stage, a group of phenomenal singers who do wonderful performances for "donation only".  Their goal when they started this venture was to perform at places that were accessible to anyone with physical handicaps or financial ones.  What a great service and goal.  They do numerous "shows" throughout the year.  This was the 1st one we have attended and we have become fans.  Many of the singers perform at "Sight and Sound" a musical venue here in Lancaster County that has been compared to shows on Broadway, so you know the singers have to be excellent.  This show was called "The Civil War" and all the songs and the story portrayed through the music was from letters, stories, books, etc. that were actually written by soldiers or their families that were involved with the Civil War.  It was excellent!  During the show, it started to rain and they were going to "cut it short", but they asked the crowd if they wanted to brave the rain and continue with the show.  It was a resounding "yes"!  Fortunately, the showers stopped and the show went on.  Lamar Dourte and his wife sat with us for the show.  Ken and I graduated with Lamar and it was the 1st time we met his wife.  It was nice to chat with them.

All of the singers had phenomenal voices.


This was the finale and the whole cast was part of it!


On our walk back home, the rain started again and by the time we got back, we were very wet!  I don't normally post pictures of myself that are so "unflattering", but you can only appreciate how wet we got by seeing a photo. So, against my better judgement I had included it! 

Oh my golly!  I can't believe I
actually posted this picture!


Ken spent the remainder of the day reading and I did some seaglass pictures. We had salads for dinner and by 9:30 we were in bed.  We must be getting old.

Friday, May 26, 2017

Thursday and Friday! On the Move!

Thursday was another rather miserable weather day - mostly cloudy, very windy, and cool.  Ken left at 8 to have breakfast with Gary and it was raining when he left.  It is Dane's birthday tomorrow and they are leaving for the beach later today, so Ken stopped by their house and dropped off his birthday card.

While Ken was gone, I finished dusting the house and scouring the bathroom.  I did read a wonderful article in the local newspaper regarding the vacant old Wilbur Chocolate Factory.  It was bought and they are planning to build luxury apartments, a hotel, some retail shoppes, and some condos for 55+.  So happy that it will not sit there for years just deteriorating.  Hopefully they will be able to "save" the original part of the factory!

Ken was back by 10:30 after doing several errands.  We ate lunch and drove to Masonic Village to spend the afternoon playing Pinochle with my parents.  It was a terrible day for the women - the men won all four games!  We stopped at BJ's Wholesale on the way home (we have a 90 day free membership to give it a try) and were so disappointed.  We wanted to purchase several items they had on special for the month (the sale only started 2 days ago) and they were out of 3 of the items we wanted to buy!  That never happens at Costco!  Needless to say, we are done with BJ's.  Yes, we are definitely Costco "snobs"!  It is the best!

Ken vacuumed when we got home (hard on my back) and after watching the news, we drove to Costco (love it) to purchase a few items and to enjoy a hot dog for dinner!

We called Sam Frankhouser to sing Happy Birthday and I also talked to Doloris about getting together sometime this weekend.  We were in bed before 9 - wow!

Oh, we did get a call from Ken's brother.  Turns out their parents bought 6 additional cemetery plots where they are buried for family members - who knew??  So, we are supposed to decide if we want to keep/use them or if we want to return them to the cemetery association.  Doesn't seem like something you really want to think about!!!

Friday was another very windy day, but it was partly sunny.  We recently heard on local news that we have only had 3 days of full sun for the whole month of May!  What is that about??  It has also been much cooler than the norm.  No wonder Florida calls our name!!!!

We were both up at 5:30 and by 6:45 I was having breakfast with my Curvette gals.  We celebrated Shirley's 81st Birthday!  Wow, we all want to be just like her when we reach that age.  She is so active and healthy and looks so much younger!

By 8:30 Ken and I were on our way to Sam and Katelyn's elementary school for Grandparents Day.  1st we were treated to a wonderful concert where the students in each grade sang 3 songs.  They did a great job. 

Katelyn loves to sing!



She sees us!!!!!!

Sam saw us too!

Sam loves to sing too!




Then Ken and I split and each of us went to one of the girl's classrooms to visit them and have them show us what they have been doing.  After 15 minutes, we switched classes so we could both spend time with Sam and Katelyn.

Right above the '"n" in Grandparents Samantha wrote us
a message - "I love PawPaw and Grandma"!  How sweet! 




All the Kindergarten students love to sit in this special chair
in their classroom!

Then the 4 of us went to the cafeteria for refreshments before going to the art show in the library where they displayed artwork done by the students throughout the year.  It was such a fun time.  

Katelyn's self portrait!


I guess it is a "blow fish"!


Katelyn made a fish picture too!



Samantha's clay project!

I love Samantha's picture of a cardinal!


Such proud grandparents.  Love our
granddaughters to the moon and back!


Lanie joined us and as per the girls choice, we went to McDonald's for lunch followed by dessert at a local ice cream shoppe.  What a fun time with special ladies!

Ken and I stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home and upon returning, we went for a walk, but it was so windy.  Ken showered and took a nap while I got potatoes ready for dinner, set the table, played some Pop Words, and then showered.

Rick and Joyce, special friends from our Life Group, got here at 5:30.  We had planned to go out to dinner, but Ken and I decided we would make dinner. Worked out very well!  We played 1 game of Skip-Bo, Pinochle, and UNO, and the men won every cgme.  I must be the weak link.  I need to do better!  They left around 10:30 after a fun-filled evening.