We're Back Home Again

We arrived home Friday evening from our wonderful trip to Tennessee. After prayer meeting on Sept. 24, we decided to leave and drive until our eyelids wouldn't stay open any longer. (Not safe driving, I know!) But we were too excited to sleep and I, for one, don't look forward to 14 hours of straight-through driving. So..... we drove about 4 hours and slept in Harrisonburg, VA. Left there around 8:00 AM Thursday morning and arrived at Joy's around 5:30 PM (their time). Our days were FILLED with great times together and we accomplished some work while we were there. Unfortunately, I left my camera at home --- (I know, I know -- grandmas should NEVER forget their cameras when going to see the family!) But grandmas have a way of forgetting things, no matter how important they are! Just wait -- you'll see!!!!!

While we were there they had a baby shower. This is Joy holding up the cake.

Sunday evening just before we left for church.

John did Samuel's baby dedication Sunday evening. Afterward, we took family pictures. This is Wes's mother and her parents with Wes, Joy, Darren, Missy, Ethan, Samuel and John and me.

Grandpa loving on Samuel

Ethan loves his baby brother and stays close by.

One of the jobs we accomplished was to paint Melissa's bedroom. What a transformation. It is so cute with the pink bottom and yellow top divided by a girlish border. She was really pleased with the end result.

We also painted the kitchen and put extra shelving up for Joy's teapot collection. However, that wasn't totally finished until the last day we were there, and with our packing up, etc., I forgot to take pictures of it. Hopefully, Joy will post that part of our project. Check her blog's link on my sidebar or go to http://wesjoymcdonald.blogspot.com/

One day we went shopping. (A day of shopping is always a must when we are there.) SpringHill is close to Nashville and has a WONDERFUL Goodwill store. I got all kinds of goodies for our cabin, and Joy found this dress for Missy's dress-up collection. At another Goodwill Missy found this cute porcelain doll, so I HAD to buy it for her. She is obviously pleased with our purchases.

I had the privilege of giving Samuel his bath.

We had a great time and miss them already!!! Tennessee is JUST TOO FAR from Pennsylvania. We're already counting the years until retirement so we can spend more time with them.

Cabin Progress

I thought it's time to show you what we've accomplished at the cabin. Several weekends we've spent at camp working on it, and I think it's coming along nicely. I have curtains only in the living room so far, but we did get mini-blinds hung at all the windows. Most of the furniture is in place, with a few pieces to be added yet. Wall decorations are still to be hung, but I may wait to finish up on that until spring. Every time I go, I fight the urge to put a lot of things in the drawers, cupboards, etc., yet I know it won't be long until I'll want to put them away for the winter. My mind just can't accept the fact that summer is GONE!!! and that winter is just around the corner. SIGH!! Where did the warm weather go????? I miss it already.

Anyway, here are the before and after pictures. Some of them are not the exact angle, but I think you'll get the idea.

BEFORE

After (We painted it Transvaal Beige, with Earl Gray and Burgandy Wine trim.)

Took the door out of the bedroom & replaced it with a window.

In the living room we put a window to the back looking toward the creek. I think one of my previous posts showed a view of our "back yard."

The back view before the window.

The back view after the window.

NOW WE'LL GO INSIDE!!

The kitchen.....before

The kitchen.....after

(I liked the curtains they left in the cabin, so I used them as my color inspiration, and painted the kitchen Salmon White.)

Another view of the kitchen before

And....After

The living room....before

After...what a transformation!!! We just painted the paneling, put in a new window, and covered the OLD linoleum with nice carpet.

Another view of the living room looking toward the kitchen.

The same view...after

The bedroom...before

The bedroom....after

We took the door out and replaced it with a window, painted over the paneling, and put nice carpet down. It is really nice.

Well, that's about it. It will really put the finishing touches on when I get curtains up and things on the walls. I really enjoy doing this kind of thing, and don't know what I'll do when this is done!! HA

Grandma Again

Just a quick post to let you know our BIG baby arrived. Samuel Luke arrived yesterday (9/8) at 1:04 PM, and weighed in at 9 lbs. 8 oz. and was 21 1/2" long. Joy had a quick and easy delivery, for which we thank the Lord. For more information and to see pictures, Joy has posted several on her blog -- (wesjoymcdonald.blogspot.com) . You can access it also from my main page. We are looking forward to going to Tennessee for a week the end of this month. With the head start he has, I'm sure he'll be walking and eating solid food by the time we get there!! SMILE
Now we have 5 grandsons (plus 1 in heaven) and 4 granddaughters.

Family Reunion & Labor Day

This was a busy weekend, beginning with the Slagenweit reunion on Saturday. There was a good turnout, and we had wonderful weather this year. A year ago we weren't able to be there since we were in Tennessee for our grandson's birth, and subsequent funeral. Two years ago the weather was so cold we sat huddled together at one end of the pavilion away from the direction of the breeze. Good weather makes for a great time outdoors.

Part of the family watching the auction.

More of the auction.

This is the photo I bought at the auction -- my Pap-Pap and Grandma Slagenweit with their 8 children; my dad is the one to the far left. None of the pictured is living any longer, but 3 of the sibling's spouses are. Isn't life's cycle amazing??? I'm now in the older generation of our family. As I reflect back over the past post (Deja vu) I am reminded of the brevity of life, how quickly time flies and we're gone. Life is but a vapor --- how am I living this life; it is the preparatory arena for our eternal life. I want my life to be a reflection of Christ and pass on the torch to my children and grandchildren, as those who have gone before me have done, so that those who follow after me will become part of the household of faith.



NEXT.....
Sunday afternoon we went to our cabin at Roxbury, unloaded the truck, then went to visit friends who are retiring and moving to Chambersburg. Bill and Elaine Baublitz finished their term of service pastoring at Roseglen BIC Church in Duncannon that morning, and we thought they'd need someone to cheer them. We met them at their retirement house, a lovely ranch-style house with beautiful landscaping. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures!


Monday was Labor Day, and we planned to labor...at our cabin. Following are some updated photos. The colors don't show up exactly as they really are, but the main color is an off-white, with the windows and some of the trim painted a darker tan. The trim around the windows and a few other places is called Burgundy wine. I really like the color combination and feel like they dress it up nicely.

The front door goes into the kitchen.

The kitchen is to the front; the bathroom and bedroom are in the extension to the right side. Although it looks green, the roof is actually white metal.

The living room is to the left and the kitchen to the right. (In the spring we want to figure out a way to close in the bottom. We're glad it's designed off the ground like this--some of the neighboring cabins get water inside when the creek rises.)

Our lovely kitchen. We hung some cabinets on the walls this trip and put up a few decorations. It's all finished except to lay the vinyl, and I'm waiting until the living room and bedroom are painted. We still have some sanding to do, then they're ready to paint. Hopefully, our next trip down we'll be able to complete the painting, then the following trip the flooring. When will that be??? I suppose it all depends on Samuel -- the grandbaby we're "patiently" waiting for :) If he doesn't arrive before this coming weekend, we'll go back Friday evening, stay overnight and work again on Saturday.

Deja Vu

Where have the years gone? I'm feeling this sense of sadness all over again....my baby is off to school. After babysitting Jayna nearly every day (Mon-Fri) for the past 5 years, it's hard to see her go. I wasn't sure how she would respond when it came time to step up onto the big yellow bus for the very first time. Jayna is one spunky little tyke...she isn't afraid of anything...until she comes face to face with it. At the roller coaster, she was so excited...until time to get on. Daddy talked her through it and she LOVED it (wanted to go again and again). She could hardly wait until she could take that first airplane ride...until time to get on. Again, Daddy and Mommy coaxed, coached, and urged. She enjoyed the ride. But this time would be different ---- no one would be accompanying her into the unknown. My grandma heart was breaking for her....knowing that she would soon be changed forever.... no longer that small, sheltered innocent little girl. I've been here before. just yesterday it was --- with 3 of my own. SIGH!!!

Anyway, we walked to the bus stop, where about 12-15 other children and their mothers were waiting. While waiting for the bus to arrive, she complained from time to time about her belly hurting, and cried several times, saying she didn't want to go to school. April reassured her that it was because she was scared, that it was okay to be scared, but tried to tell her that everything would be okay, going over and over again that she would have fun, etc. etc. etc. Blah, blah, blah!! It would work for awhile, she'd smile, let us take a picture. Then we'd start all over again. The bus was about 20 minutes late, and when it did she really panicked. She began to cry and said she wasn't going on the bus. All the others had boarded and it was her turn. She chickened out big-time, so April decided perhaps it would go better if she took her to school, then she could ride the bus home.

That worked! April said she was fine. When they got to school, someone dressed as a penguin greeted them and someone else came and offered to walk Jayna to her room. She cheerfully gave Mommy goodbye, and walked away smiling. April had a hard time with all of this. She said she cried all the way from the bus stop to the school, then again as she left the school. I'm not sure if these first days of school are hardest on the kids or on the mommies (and grandmas). But we all made it!! When we met her at the bus stop after school, she hopped off the bus smiling and said she had a good day --- and would ride the bus tomorrow. I guess that remains to be seen. But she makes friends easily and enjoys playing with them, so I'm sure it won't be as hard now that she's already been on the bus.

Waiting for the bus

Goodbye, Kaylee.

Now it's her turn. (She's crying, saying she doesn't want to get on.)

THE DAY'S OVER --- SHE'S HOME!!

One happy little girl -- she made it through her first day!

All smiles!

We went to the cabin to work on Tuesday. Since school was starting Wednesday, we decided to take Jayna with us for one last day at camp. We took her bicycle along, and she enjoyed the day playing at the playground, riding her bike and playing at the stream just behind the cabin.

Jayna enjoys the stream!

View of the back side of the cabin, looking up from the stream. There was no window on the back wall of the living room, so we put one in. What a view it has!

The view from our living room window. Gorgeous!!

The back "yard" -- a nice place for a picnic table, and relaxation!

I finished painting the kitchen (salmon white), but decided to wait to lay the vinyl until we finish the living room and bedroom. There's a lot of drywall compound needed on the ceilings, so that means a lot of dust and dirt yet! UGH! I have mini-blinds and curtains to put up, but will wait until the dust has settled. (Perhaps until spring, since our warm days this year are limited, and they'd just get dirty over the winter anyway.)

Our Busy Weekend

This has been a busy week. Friday evening I attended a bridal shower for one of our church girls who is getting married in November. It was a fun evening of games, food and fellowship.

Alisha was SURPRISED!

The attractive food table.

One of the games

We were given a minute or so to look at this apron, then had to see how many items we could remember after she left the room. Then the apron and the items were given to Alisha.

Saturday we had a pancake breakfast at our local airport. JAARS (Jungle Aviation And Radio Service) had a "Missions at the Airport" this weekend and asked our church if we would like to sponsor a pancake breakfast. Our missionaries in Zimbabwe have been telling us of the overwhelming situation there and the dire need for funds to help their people. So we decided to do it and send the profits to Zimbabwe. It fell my lot to organize the event, and I was deeply blessed by the generosity of our people. Donations of food and money came in to allow ALL the money given at the breakfast to go directly to Zimbabwe. Lots of good help made it go smoothly. I regret that I didn't take pictures of that part of the day, but JAARS gave airplane and helicopter rides. Joel's family and John and I went on an airplane ride and buzzed Burnham. That was fun to see our houses from a birds-eye view.

Our house and Joel's

Our house is on the left side of the street

On the top left is a big tree in the middle of two horizontal lines.

Our big garage is just in front of that. Our house is to the right of the garage.

Joel's is on the right side of the street, 2nd house from the bottom.

The full shot from which I cropped the one above.

April and Jayna enjoying the ride.

Joel and Jayna beside our plane -- after the ride.

We arrived home about 1:00 and I had to clean up the pots, pans, etc. from the breakfast. Then we left around 5:00 to go to a retirement dinner for Bill and Elaine Baublitz, pastor of the Roseglen BIC Church. They are moving to Chambersburg, so when we spend time at our cabin, we plan to visit them since they'll be nearby.

Sunday afternoon our church had a picnic at Greenwood Furnace Park at 4:00. Then our evening service was held in the chapel on the park grounds. It was a good time of fellowship in singing and praising the Lord. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

The Byler family sang a special song.

After the service was over, we took our time going home and went home the "back way" through the valley. We were going through Reedsville when we saw ambulance lights blinking and the traffic was stopped. When they let us go through, we saw Sheri (Ritchey) Byler standing at the side of the road ready to cross over. John motioned her to go across, and when we got closer, realized it was her car that was in an accident. We stopped to make sure everyone was okay, and they seemed to be. The 3 young people in the picture above (who sang a special in our evening service) were the 3 in the accident. Alisha is the one getting married in November, Jaron is her brother, and Sheri is his new bride. Cousins who were in from Michigan for the bridal shower and to come for school at Penns Creek were all on their way to Jaron and Sheri's house for a time of fellowship. They were waiting to turn left onto their street when a truck hit them from behind. Never saw them. The trunk literally was pushed into the back seat. Alisha had some pain in her neck, so they took her to the hospital to make sure she is okay. She had played her violin at the evening service, and had put it in the Michigan van with her cousins. Otherwise, it would have been in the trunk of the car. Thank the Lord for that decision.

We were glad to get home and RELAX after our hectic weekend. Now we'll see what this week holds. Will we be making a trip to Tennessee???? We'll wait and see.