COMPUTER IS GETTING UPDATED

We are taking my computer in for some work
this evening, but to a different place this time.

I don't know if I will be able to post from Alan's computer
or not, but If I am not posting, you will know why.

I will be back soon!

SUNDAY SUMMARY

(Under the largest flag I have ever seen)

I haven't been in an adult class on Sunday for many weeks
because Alan and I greet at the front doors. However,
I went to a class on Sunday where our friend, Fred Mackey,
was teaching. He always has us riveted to our seats.
He is a great story teller and has a very humorous style.
He makes the Word of God very interesting and practical.
I LOVED it!

Then in Worship service, we were presented with a sampling
of the music for the concert at 4 PM and 7 PM.

Our wonderful pastor spoke on
"The Lord's Sovereign Control."

Here are a few thoughts I jotted down.

Point #1 - All of life's activities and events are under God's control.

God birthed America!
Ben Franklin said,
"I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?

Point #2 - God has a timetable.
God has blessed America!
~We have been an economic leader.
~We have been a global super power.
~ We have had freedoms.......
~We have had a democratic republic.

Point #3 - We have a responsibility to seek God's wisdom.
We are at the place of a perfect cultural storm.
~Righteousness exalts a nation.
~A call to repentance.
~Seek the Lord.

He gave a perfect sermon for Patriotic Sunday.

Patriotic Concert:
We attended the 4 PM Presentation.

We sat in the very back pew because Alan was coughing and
I wanted to take pictures. I turned around and to my
surprise was someone who reads my blog from Lititz!
They came and sat with us. It was so good to see them again!

The concert was a typical Sight and Sound Presentation.
You are NEVER sorry that you went!

It was a very inspiring program with the
costuming, dramatization, choreography,
music and talent!
IT WAS JUST THE BEST!

After it was over I turned to our friends and said,
"Now, all we need is some Apple Pie!"
It was so American and Inspiring!

PATRIOTIC CONCERT

(Grace Baptist of Lancaster, photo by Dan Jerchau)

TONIGHT,
Sunday, June 28
at 4 PM and 7 PM,
Ric Zimmerman will be directing
this exciting free concert,
“God Bless America Again.”
A group of performers and producers who
have worked at Sight and Sound Theaters will be
joining our large ensemble for an unforgettable night!

They told us to come to the 4 PM concert
because we will want to see it again at 7 PM!

SEE YOU THERE!

MISSIONARY VISITORS

A wonderful young couple, Jim and Heidi Mohney,
from our church have felt the call of God
on their lives to be missionaries for Wycliffe. Wycliffe is a
mission that translates the Bible into other languages.
They will be working for JAARS,
which provides technical support for Wycliffe.
Jim is a machinist, and he will be making
special parts for an airplane called the Helio Courier,
which transport missionaries and supplies into remote areas.
It has the capability of landing on a short air strip.

Jim and Heidi came over tonight for Alan to help them put together
a power point presentation. They will be going to churches to
present their work so they will need some visuals.

We ordered pizza for supper and had a brainstorming
session, then we put together what they wanted to say
about their work. Jim brought along his lap top in order
to transfer some pictures to Alan's computer for the presentation.

Jim and Heidi have a little boy who is 2 years old,
and they are expecting another child July 10.
The doctors say that they will induce the baby if it
hasn't come by next Friday because it is getting really big.
They do not know whether it will be a boy or a girl.
Whatever, Heidi is READY to be delivered!

I DREAMED A DREAM

I so love the melody of the song Susan Boyle sang
and rocked the world. I was so enthralled by her voice
that I missed hearing the words.
So, I searched for the words and even though they are not so great,
I had to smile at the last line. It read:
"Now life has killed the dream I dreamed."
Now, isn't that just the truth?

A note in my Blackaby Bible says,
"This life in a sinful world brings heartache and pain.
Yet a day is coming when God will bring our suffering to an end.
He will eliminate any reason for tears.
He will care for us and give us everlasting joy in His presence."

Isaiah 25:9 says:
"And it will be said in that day:
Behold, this is our God;
We have waited for Him, and he will save us.
This is the Lord;
We have waited for Him;
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."

SIX PLUS TWO DINNER

I don't know if you remember a few months ago about my
telling you about the Six Plus Two Dinners our church
had organized, but I posted about the first one at my house.
Then, I had two surgeries and that put a halt on the dinners
until I got better. We three couples were to meet and eat together
again, and last Tuesday night was the night. This time Lynette
had the meal, and she invited Chad, Dave and Amy.
That made a total of 9 people.

Our dear friends, the Littles, are on the left and Lynette, our hostess, is in the blue.
I am so sorry that I cut off her husband. He was the life of
the party. There is never a dull moment when Dan is around.
HE IS SO FUN!

Alan is on the left, then our son, Chad, and Dave.
Amy came and went so she wasn't at the table at this
particular time. She was getting ready to go to
Creation the next day.

I wanted to show you a few pictures of Lynette's beautiful home.
She is a very talented decorator and she loves the Williamsburg
style of decorating. Everything was lovely!

And those pictures were JUST from her dining room!
Now for a couple from her living room.

Not only does Lynette has exquisite taste in decorating,
she is an excellent cook! Everything she served was so
YUMMY and beautifully presented.

We all had a wonderful time!
Dan and Lynette were a wonderful host and hostess.
After our evening with them, we felt exhilarated!

FRAMING OF THE FAMILY

This is the Family Photo Frame I have been working on
for the past few days. It is approximately 3' long and 2 1/2 ' wide.
We bought it at Kirklands on our Fortieth Wedding Anniversary.

I gathered the photos, changed them to black and white photos,
lightened them, cropped them, resized them, and cut them to fit the frames.
I can change them up whenever I want, and will need to
make way for the new little grandson who is due next month.
It would be good if Grandma and Grandpa would have a new
picture made soon. This picture is ten years old if not older.

A WILLIAMSBURG GARDEN

Last night we were at our friends' house for dinner.
I will show you the pictures of that dinner tomorrow, but
first I want to show you pictures of their gardens.
They have a little pond with very large fish in it.
You can see the HUGE white pump circulating the water.
I am not sure that the picture does it justice.
It was such a cool relaxing place.
It gave the feeling of serenity.

Beside the fish pond was a garden swing.
I missed getting the top that had a grape vine
beautifully draped across the tree limb.
There was also a rope on which children could swing.

Lynette is a very gifted gardener.
She had many vignettes and so much to look at.

The garden shed took my eye.
The rocking chair is so cute!
Everywhere I looked said "relax."

The pergola is a serene place to sit and watch the animals
or read a book. On top of it was a nest of baby robins.

Her picket fence is definitely a Williamsburg trademark.
Lynette was telling me that one time she made a sunflower house
for her grandchildren. She said that she planted sunflowers
on three sides of a square. After they grew tall, she took all
the heads and tied them together. This made a shelter with
an opening on one side. It was great!

Lynette grew up on a farm here in Lancaster.
I am sure there is some history here about the plow.

When I saw this arrangement, I knew that I had found the
answer to my boxes and boxes of bud vases!
Isn't this the cutest thing you have ever seen?

MYSTERY SOLVED:
Dan pulled the bushes away from this birdhouse so we
could see what a crazy Woodpecker had done.
He said that the bird had enlarged the hole.
Then he looked a little closer.
LO AND BEHOLD,
there was a baby 'possum in the hole!!!!!
We all were so surprised!
How did he get in there?
Dan and Lynette were shocked!
We had a great laugh together.

We all had such a wonderful evening with these
people who attend our church. Our next
dinner will be in July at the home of the Littles.

THE GRAPE ARBOR

Alan has always dreamed of having a grape arbor.
When we found this house, I think he was convinced that this
was to be our house because of the grape arbor under the white pines.

Because of the abundance of rain this year, these grapes have done
wonderfully well. Not only is the foliage bigger, but there
are large amount of grapes hanging in clusters.

We must keep our eyes on the vines because of the beetles.
They can destroy them in one night.

This picture was taken earlier but from this shot,
you can see the length of the arbor.

It is a beautiful sunny day today.
This is a first for a long time.

BACK TO ANNIVERSARY PICTURES

I wanted to tell you where we spent our actual anniversary.
Willow Valley is a conference center where people come from other
states to spend the weekend.
They have two restaurants; the family restaurant and
Palm Court. We ate at Palm Court.
They have a Sunday Brunch that is fantastic!

We arrived at 10:00 AM and ate through till 12:30.
It was so relaxing and the atmosphere so soothing.
We ate in this corner.

The serving tables were around palm trees.

This is a picture of Alan's first plate.

This is my first plate!
Salad and corn on the cob! WooHoo!

Not many people were there until about 11:30.
We almost had the place to ourselves.

A man played classical guitar the entire time.
The one song that I really liked was
"I Dreamed a Dream."

The fruit table was my favorite.

This is the dessert table. I could not partake of this table.

If I could have eaten anything from the dessert table,
it would have been the carrot cake.

I ate crab legs for the first time in my life.
They were good but only when dipped in hot butter.

This meal was a little above budget for us, but
one time in forty years is not exactly splurging!
If I were rich, I would eat here every Sunday.
We certainly did enjoy our meal and being with each other.
We had a wonderful day!

After our meal Alan wanted to buy me something.
I have been wanting a large picture frame in
which to put family pictures. We went to
Kirklands and got a pretty one that will hold
twelve pictures. I am working on finding pictures,
editing them, printing them out and cutting them to fit.
I will show it to you when I get it finished.

FATHER'S DAY

We have had an extremely busy weekend.
Alan had a Men's Breakfast to attend yesterday.
He said that the comedian who was their entertainment
was the best he had ever seen. He said that the food was good too!

We greeted at the main doors again today at church.
We met a lot of new people, and we enjoyed that.
The pastor's Father's Day message was
"How to be Manly."
It was very encouraging to men, and I heard a lot of good
feed back about it after church.

This evening we had two couples over for supper.
I served ham loaf, meat loaf, scalloped potatoes,
green beans, melon, potato salad, layer salad,
rolls, and coconut cake.
Just as I opened the lid of the layer salad, I gasped!
It just then hit me! I put the wrong layer on top.
Why didn't I realize it before? I had the peas on top!
YIKES!
I didn't say anything, and it tasted fine so I guess it didn't matter.

Because it was Father's Day, I bought the three fathers
a gift. I gave it to them after the meal.
It really made their day!
It was a book, and the title was
"Dad's Book of Answers."
On every page was one sentence that your dad would have said.
For example on one page it said,
"Call your mother more often; she worries."

I had already bought Alan a bunch of shirts and ties earlier
in the week, and he wore a new one to church. Chad gave
his dad a gift card.
I think that Alan had a very good day.

WRAPPING UP CAPE MAY TOUR

In order to see Cape May we could either take the trolley
or ride in a horse drawn carriages. By the looks on the faces
of the people in this carriage,
I think they were loving their tour.

Many carriages were waiting to take people through the town.

Our tour bus drove us near the mall and parked a couple of blocks away.
We walked to Washington Mall.

Washington Street was closed to traffic so we could walk
from one side of the street to the other.
We were on our own for supper so Alan and I stopped at
this place for something to eat.
Here I am sitting and jubilantly waiting for the only thing I could eat
that was on their menu - fries!

On our way out of town I took these pictures from the tour bus.
I like the stone wall. There is a house in our town with a wall
just like this one. Someone did a lot of hard work.

This is another window shot.

We took a different route on our way home.
We did not go back across the bay
on the ferry on our way home.
We went the northern route across the
DELAWARE MEMORIAL BRIDGE!
What a site!
I have never seen such a beautiful bridge!
It was dark so I did not get pictures.
There were lights on the bridge and a sign with a message.
It said that if you feared driving across the bridge,
there was a number to call, and they would come
and drive you across. How thoughtful of them!
It was the most beautiful crossing I have ever seen!

We stopped at an ice cream shop on our way home.
The ice cream was good, but it was a little pricey!

I don't think that the price bothered these people.
They came out of there with banana splits
a mile long!

This is the last post about Cape May.
We had a very enjoyable time.
We are thinking of taking another Bob Neff Tour soon!

TOURING CAPE MAY

Our bus rolled off the ferry and onto Cape May.
The driver drove just a few blocks to the
Emlen Physick Museum pictured below.
Half of us boarded the trolley for the
trip around town to look at the
Victorian homes.

I took pictures of many of the homes but I will only post a few.

The one architectural feature I liked was the

Gingerbread and white picket fences.

The hotel pictured below was once a very dark Victorian color.
Someone bought it and painted the whole structure white
and added the brightly colored awnings.
The back of this building goes around the corner. It is
probably the biggest building in town.

The typical Victorian house is normally painted with dark
foreboding colors. But for the sake of business, they
have painted some in bright colors. I especially liked
this yellow one with the blue shutters.

The guides said that the houses that are built there now
are required to be built higher in case of a flood.
They mentioned that so many times that it was as though
they are expecting a tsunami or something.

After the trolley tour we were taken back to the
Emlen Physick Museum. No photography was allowed
inside the building. I wanted to say,
"DON'T YOU KNOW I AM A BLOGGER!"

THE REST OF THE STORY

My computer is fixed so now I am back to Bloggyville.
The good thing about being gone is that I got a lot of cleaning done.

Here is a picture of the Bob Neff Tour Bus that we took to
Cape May for our Fortieth Anniversary celebration.

We rode the bus to Lewes, Delaware to the Delaware Bay.
We had a forty-five minute wait for the Ferry to arrive.


Then the bus driver drove the big bus right onto the ferry.
After he parked the bus on the ferry, we got out of the bus
and went up on the deck for ice cream.

Our bus followed the cars onto the ferry.

This is the ferry coming in to be unloaded and to pick us up.

The ferry had three decks. The cars and buses and
moving vans parked on the bottom deck.

We stood on the second deck and looked down on the
cars and our bus.

This was our view as we sat eating ice cream.

After eating ice cream we walked upstairs to the top deck and
visited with friends. Walking on the ferry was fun. We felt
like we were drunk so we didn't walk too much.

Using the restroom was a fiasco!

It was a seventy-five minute ride on the ferry across the bay.
The captain told us that we picked the right day.
It was a beautiful day and the weather was sunny.
It had been stormy the day before.

I hope to post more pictures tomorrow of Cape May.

A GOD APPOINTMENT

This morning I was to walk with my friend.

She is back from her vacation.

She called to tell me that she is not feeling well

and instead of walking today, she is on her way to the doctors.

I walked alone and it was a wonderfully cool walk.

I was stopped by a neighbor boy who is such a nice guy.

He is out of work but is doing jobs for the neighbors.

We were discussing the fact that it is hard to find a job

in today's economy. I told him that the whole country

is on a downward spiral and our hope has to be in God,

not in our jobs. About that time a car stopped and a man

asked this boy if he could put up his spouting for him.

This boy said that he would. As the man was pulling

his car off to the side in order to get out some money

for the screws, I said, "I think that God is giving you

more work!" The boy raised his eyebrows in surprise.

He said, "Could I come over to talk to you? I have some

green tea. I will bring it over and we will talk."

Pray for me that when he comes,

I will speak what God wants him to hear.

TAKING CARE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD

I try to walk every day in our neighborhood in order to

build myself back up. I haven't been able to keep up with

my neighbors in walking because they walk too fast,

so Iwas out there hoofing it this morning. I was able to

walk around twice so I am getting there.

I stopped to talk to the people whose house caught

fire a year or so ago. They were telling me how hard

it was to rebuild, but also how they changed some

things that they didn't like about the old house.

I told them that I just thank God that they make it

out of that burning house in time and that they are

still our neighbors. He thanked me.

One of my neighbors is gone for a few days so I am

keeping an eye on her house and getting her mail.

My next door neighbor was planting flowers.

As I passed by I saw little Jack busying himself at

a sand table. I didn't say anything because I know

his mommy was trying to get a little work done

while he was occupied. Little Jack knocked at the

door last night and came in for a race car.

Every time he comes he gets one. I have to keep

well stocked in race cars.

Another neighbor is having some remodeling done.

I must sneak over there to see what is going on.

These neighbors keep me busy!

(I am sorry that this computer posts my writings in

one big paragraph. I never post it that way. It has

a mind of its own.)

TAKEN FROM MY MORNING STUDY

I have not been doing anything blog worthy lately.

I have been cleaning so rather than list all the

things I have been cleaning which can get

pretty boring to read after a while,

I thought I would blog what I

have been reading.

Here are some

thoughts.

God does not ask us to form a deeper resolve to put away

our sin. He wants us to seek Him with our whole heart so

we will not sin. Our efforts are not primarily toward

holiness, but toward Him. He will sanctify us.

Do you continue to strive after holiness to no avail,

or has your relationship with holy God transformed

your sinful life?

THIS HAS TAKEN ME A WHOLE LIFETIME TO

UNDERSTAND.

A SUNDAY WITHOUT PICTURES

My computer is still at the shop so all I have are stories.

This was missions Sunday so some missionaries spoke.

We were expecially intrigued by a young girl who spent

six months in Haiti. Her name is
Brittany, and I had gotten to know her because
she had been in my Bible study group last fall.

She felt that the Lord was leading her into missions

and the door opened for her to go to Haiti.

She was there to help with the
babies who were in the orphanage.

She said that the first few days she

was there, she cried and was scared to death. The night

noises frightened her.

She claimed a Bible verse that the Lord had given her,

and she said it to herself every day.

The Lord helped her adjust and she loved her work

with the babies.

She is home now and is planning to get her nursing degree

and go back to Haiti or wherever the Lord wants to use her.

I had to stay after church for a womens ministry meeting that

lasted till nearly three o'clock. Then we returned to church

for the six o'clock missions meeting where we listened to

more missionaries tell their story.

Our youth group is going to go on a missions trip to Quebec.

Quebec is a very dark country. It is considered an

unevangelized field. Because of the language barrier

our teens are learning mimes to perform.

They performed a mime for us tonight, and it was

one of the best I have ever seen. The gospel was clear.

Matt Donaldson, our youth pastor, is doing a terrific

job with the youth.

Afterwards, the youth served us ice cream.

It was a wonderful Sunday.

Two more high points of the weekend were

phone calls from Ben and from Heather.

Ben had been to Memphis doing some consulting work,

and Heather just finished a free-lance project.

It always completes our weekend when we have heard

from Ben, Ainsley, Wyatt, Dylan and Heather.

JUST ANOTHER SATURDAY

I am still here without email,

without my computer,

without all your URLs,

without my friend who is on vacation,

without one of our cars,

but not without Handsome

which reminds me of a funny story while I was in the hospital.

One day Dr. Scott was making his morning rounds and

happened to be in my room checking on me when my phone rang.

I told him that I would tell the caller to call back.

He said, "No, go ahead and talk to the caller. I will wait."

Dr. Scott turned around and talked to the nurse.

Whenever Alan calls me on the phone he always says,

"Hello, Beautiful!"

I always say, "Hi, Handsome!"

I told Alan that the doctor was there.

He asked if I wanted anything from home that he could bring in.

I told him that I didn't need anything, and he said he would be

coming right in to see me.

After I hung up the phone

Dr. Scott said, "Now when Handsome gets in here,

I want him to take you for a walk in the hallway."

I laughed because I didn't think he was listening to my phone

conversation because he was talking to the nurse.

Seeing how awful, awful I looked and how sick I was,

that phone conversation must have made an impression

on him. I bet he laughed to himself and probably related

the whole story to his wife that night.

The next day when Dr. Scott came for a visit
he walked in and by all the flowers that were on the stand.
He said, "My, did Handsome send you all these flowers?"

I laughed and said, "NOooooooo!"

THANKFUL FRIDAY

The garage mechanic called this morning.

They are working on our car and should have it done

by Monday.

The computer repairman called.

He just got to my computer today.

Who knows when it will be done?

I have most of my dishes and utensils

stored in tubs in the garage.

I went through all of the tubs this morning.

They are now all organized and labeled.

I walked with my neighbor this morning.

Now that I have worked in the garage all morning,

I think it is time for a nap!

Roses

Our roses are about to drown in all of this rain.

It rains at some point every day.

I had to stay inside again today because of the wet weather.

I like these kind of days.

They make me clean house because there is nothing else to do.

I totally cleaned our bedroom.

I washed the walls,

the windows,

the curtains

the blinds,

the furniture,

the mirrors,

the woodwork,

the doors,

the wall decorations,

the ceiling fan,

and when Alan came home,

he took the bed down so I could vacuum under it.

The color of these roses are so bright that I almost

have to wear sun glasses to look at them.

(The only reason there are pictures up tonight is

because they were already posted on a draft.)

I am amazed at the energy I have had this week.

I am also so thankful to be able to function

almost normally in doing my housework.

WAITING WITH NO PICTURES

This is a week for waiting.

• For my computer to come home
• For Alan's car to come home
• For a car for me to drive
• For a way to get paint for my outside bench
• For a day without rain
• For a post with anniversary pictures
• For my printer so I can print pictures to put in my new wall frame.

While I am waiting:

• I finished reading Johanna's Book.
• I shampooed the patio carpet.
• I washed clothes.
• I visited and walked with a neighbor.
• I made Three Bean Salad.
• I mended some clothes.
• I put Miracle Grow on all my flowers.
• I threw four dead gold fish out of the pond.
• I weeded the ground cover around the pond that is taking over.
• I put stain on the outside bench. (didn't work so will paint it.)
• I started reading a new book, the Release of the Spirit.
• I vacuumed the family room sofas.
• I vacuumed the stairs and carpets.
• I washed down the master bathroom walls.
• Put inserts in flyers for Alan's mens' ministry.

I have made another list for today. I know, this is boring!

Please be patient. Things will return to normal soon!

DOWN TIME

Alan's last gift to me on our anniversary week-end was going to be fixing my computer. It has been extremely sluggish for quite some time now. He downloaded a registry cleaner from a "safe website" and tried to get rid of errors in the registry. He ended up destroying the registry.

Now, Alan's last gift to me on our anniversary week-end is that he is going to take my computer to the repair shop during his lunchtime today.

I'm doing this post on Alan's computer, but all of my photos are on my own computer, so I will post the Cape May pictures when my computer comes back from the shop. I will not be visiting your blogs because your URL's are on my computer. (Just so you will know where I went!)

OUR WEEKEND OF CELEBRATION

We had a fabulous weekend!

Months ago and before my surgeries, we booked a bus trip.
Alan had asked me where I wanted to go to celebrate
our fortieth wedding anniversary.
Cape May was the place I chose.

Then after my serious surgeries, we were not sure I
would be able to go, but we kept our reservation to see
how I would feel closer to the time.
Praise God! I have been feeling so well.
We had booked the trip with Bob Neff Tours and
we were so pleased with their service.

We boarded the bus very early on Saturday morning.
We were standing in line waiting to get on the bus
when Alan pulled me back. He said,
"I don't think they are going to let you get on the bus!"
With a puzzled look on my face I questioned, "WHY?"
He said, "Because you do not have a prayer covering on!"

Alan is so fun!
I looked at all the ladies who were boarding the bus
and sure enough, most of them were wearing a prayer covering.

Not only that, of the 52 people on the bus,
14 of them had the last name of Martin and one
had a maiden name of Martin.

They spoke in Pennsylvania Dutch when they talked to
each other, but when they spoke to us, they spoke English.
Most of them were "Team Mennonite," meaning they
do not drive cars but teams of horses or bicycles.

One of the girls from the Team Mennonite group
had played a trick on the others. She did not tell the
others that she was going on the trip with them.
She got up very early that morning,
rode her bicycle to Walmart,

(Walmart was the bus stop in Ephrata)
hid behind a big truck until the bus arrived,
boarded the bus before the others,
and hid under the back seat.

Midway in our trip, we heard all this laughing.
They were speaking Pennsylvania Dutch so
we did not know what was going on.
They were turning around in their seats and
waving to the back of the bus.
Later the tour guide informed us about what had transpired.
It was funny! They do have a good time together.

I didn't think it appropriate to take their picture
but here is one from a distance at the Delaware Bay.

When we walked by them, they were often heard
trying to figure out who was related to who.
There are a lot of Martins in Lancaster County,
and they are not always related.

Some in the group were River Brethren.
The men wore very long beards
and the women wore a cotton prayer covering instead of
the ones made of netting.

(There is probably a name for it.)

Someone once said, "When the horse and buggy Mennonites

get to heaven, they are going to be upset when they find out that

they did not have to ride bicycles or horses all their lives!"

I will have to say that they were a lovely bunch of people

to be with on a tour. They were kind and friendly.

They made our trip interesting and fun.

We were so surprised to see some friends we knew when our

children were growing up. Their daughter was a good friend

of our daughter, Heather.

It was nice to enjoy the trip with them as we
were able to eat together and chat during the

various stops. Carol and Gene are so much fun to be with!
They connected with many of the people on the bus because
they have lived here all their lives. Carol's family
have an auction business so they know just about everyone.
Gene has delivered feed for all their chickens and cattle
over the years so they have connected with many people.

This was our bus driver.
He has driven for Bob Neff Tours for 27 years.
He was a very kind and gracious man and
a very good driver!

That big bus rode so smoothly!
It was like riding on a cloud!

Not only that,
our tour guide did a great job.
She welcomed us and told us ahead of time
what we could expect.
Before the bus left on our trip,
she led us in prayer.
Then, she gave a little devotional
and led us in singing
"Amazing Grace."

We had no idea when we signed up for this trip,
that we were going to have a worship service too!
Only in Lancaster Country!

She did an outstanding job!

She helped us
enjoy every minute of the trip.

This is a picture of our tour guide.
She is holding someone's baby.

Doesn't the baby look real?
It is a doll that someone bought at Cape May!

OUR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY DAY

Alan sent me this card today with the attached note.

Precious,
I'm more in love with you that I have ever been.
You are my friend, my companion, my helpmate, my soulmate, and my lover.
Happy Anniversary!

Alan is the best man I could have ever married.
I love him and I am thankful that he loves me.

Where has the time gone?
It has been forty years since we said our vows to one another
in the garden wedding.

Today as we celebrate those years together,
we look back and see how the hand of God was at work in our lives.
It is wonderful to be able to stand here today and say
that God has brought us to a greater love for each other
and for Him. We are better people today than we have
ever been, and it is because we have allowed the Lord
to change us, mold us and to use us.

We have no greater joy than to say today
that we stand together, united and committed
to the One who brought us together.

We both know the Lord as our Savior,
our Redeemer and our Guide.
We are not ashamed of Him.
We are not ashamed to proclaim our faith in Him.
We trust Him.

"We've come this far by faith
Leaning on the Lord
Trusting in His Holy Word
He's never failed me yet
Oh, Oh, Oh, we can't turn back
We've come this far by faith."

ODE TO AN URN

I LOVE URNS!
If I had my way, there would be an urn
in every corner, but urns are too expensive!
Why are urns popping up all over our gardens then?
THE RABBITS!
They will not leave the flowers alone
so we must find a way to keep them out of reach.

When I thanked Alan for buying the urns for me,
he said, "Well, you 'urned' them!"

BIG WEEKEND PLANNED

I will tell you about it later.

BOOK GIVE-A-WAY WINS

Because of my recent surgeries
I have gotten behind on a lot of things.
Acknowledging these books that I received was one of them.

Cliff at Musings of a Minister
had a book give-a-way and I won
Free Yourself to Love.

I started reading it before I got sick
and haven't finished it yet.
What I did read was so revealing.
I especially liked the story of a player
not forgiving a coach and how it
affected his life. Then when he forgave
the coach, how things worked out.

When we do not forgive people,
we may tend to have tunnel vision
and not be able to see the important
things that are at hand.

This is a good book and well worth your read
because there is always someone in our lives
we need to forgive.

Also, I won a book from Charlotte

At Home in Scottsdale.

If you saw how I looked while I was in
the hospital, you understand how much
I need this book,
How Not to Look Old.

I have looked through it and have
already tried some of the tips on
applying make up. I can tell that
this is going to be a good book and
one that is really helpful.

Thank you Cliff and Charlotte for the books.
Thank you also for your kind patience while I get my act together.
You two are some of my favorite bloggers!

PATIENTLY WAITING.

Yes, it is raining and I get sleepy on rainy days.

(The rains have turned these roses inside out.)

We must be in the rainy season here in
Lancaster, PA.
The Pennsylvania Dutch say that it is
SPRITZING!

We have not been able to finish mulching
the flower beds,
clean out the bird baths,
shampoo the patio carpet,
plant more flowers,
clean the flowers,
pick up the rose petals that have fallen,
or
take pictures of the baby birds.


(Dirty birdbaths)


(Fallen rose petals)

RESERVED SEATING FOR RED BIRD

Alan and I were sitting at the breakfast table early
this morning as several red birds swooped in.
They flew from chair to chair, from pergola to
cherry tree, then back to the chairs.
There were four of them.

They are hard to photograph because I think
they have Attention Deficit Disorder.
Before I could get my point and shoot
ready, only one was left.

These birds are the first ones I hear around
5:30 every morning and boy, are they loud!
Even though we do not feed them, they
have made our backyard their home.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BLOGGING

PORCH PARTY

June 1 was Porch Party Day and I missed it!
Even though I am a little late, you are welcome to come by.

Instead of coming in the front door, just walk around
to the back of the house past the Arborvitae.
But be on the alert for comicazi Robins who have
babies in one of the arborvitae.
Duck your head as you go by!

Come up onto the patio into the sun porch.

When you walk into the sun porch
walk around the Jacuzzi
to the place where we will sit
and chat a while.

This is the little place where I like to drink my
coffee and read. It is quiet out here except for the birds.
You will notice that Alan has lots of books in the bookcase.
They are all on gardening and leadership so if they
do not interest you, just turn on the TV.

You will notice a little TV on the table.
I love sitting out here when it rains.

Turn around and look at the little doggie pillows I made.
I like these dogs.
I do not have to feed them nor let them out at night.
These are the kind of dogs to have.

I see that Alan has put the umbrella up on the
patio table so we can sit out there. I am sorry
that I didn't know about the Porch Party
sooner or I would have baked a cake.

You can walk around in the rose garden
if you care to,
OR
look at all the oriental grasses.

Please take a bunny with you as you leave.
Our neighbors would be eternally grateful!

Thank you to Rhondi at Rose Colored Glasses
for the Porch Party!

THE SIMPLE WOMAN'S DAYBOOK

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW
As I was making plans to work outside today, a morning shower came softly……so softly, I hardly noticed.

I AM THINKING
Now, what can I do inside today?

I AM THANKFUL FOR
Believe it or not I am so thankful that a certain car bit the dust the other day. You know, the one that was held together with Duck Tape!

FROM THE KITCHEN
Slowly, slowly, I am getting control of the kitchen. The refrigerators are cleaned out, now on to the freezer!

I AM WEARING
I already had on garden clothes because I thought I would be outside. I started to change into street clothes because I thought I would go shopping. Then I realized when the phone rings, Chad will probably need my car to take care of business. So, I have put on my wash the dishes, do the ironing and vacuum the floor clothes.

I AM CREATING
Making flower arrangements has never been one of my talents, but I am working on it. Yesterday I learned that when combining Baby’s Breath and Roses, you put the roses in first because the thorns on the stems of the roses will not go down through the baby’s breath.

I AM GOING
My dentist sent me a gift card at Darrenkamps Market. $10. WooHoo! I want to go there today.

I AM READING
A good friend from church, Joanna, wrote about her life. I am reading it. I read last night that in 1943 she was sitting in a dentist office in Germany when the air raid alarm when off. She started to run home as fast as she could. A low flying plane swooped down and started shooting at her and others. She ran under a bridge till it passed then she ran on. I cannot imagine!

I AM HOPING
Did you hear about the plane that is missing? I hope they find the reason it went down. They have found some floating depris.

I AM HEARING
I know that many of you like crows, but I really do not like them. Last week they were across the street and got into my neighbor’s trash and really made a mess. Well, they are back. They have a memory like an elephant. You should hear them or rather it! He is loud and obnoxious! I yelled out the window, “KNOCK IT OFF!”

AROUND THE HOUSE
There is still much work and cleaning to be done around the house. Gradually, I am getting to it.

ONE OF MY FAVOITE THINGS
Alan bought me a new Bible this week. Of all the Bibles I have had, this one is my favorite.

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK.
Our fortieth wedding anniversary is this coming Sunday. We have a few plans.

Idea from Simple Woman's Daybook.

JUNE IS BUSTING OUT ALL OVER

June is the month of roses and
Alan's roses are profuse this year.
The fences are covered,
the pergola is covered,
and
the Knock-Out-Roses
are a knock out!
I spent some time in the early morning sunlight
dead heading the roses so they will continue
to bloom.

Alan's favorite flower is the rose, so
I cut a few and arranged some in vases
for the table.