The past week has been a total bust! We had planned to take off Monday and rest up from our meeting (and cleaning and trip to Arkansas). Both of us woke up feeling poorly with colds. We did what little had to be done around the house but little else. Ricky came home from work Monday sick and went to the doctor on Tuesday with strep throat. He missed two days of work. I started feeling sick during the night on Wednesday and woke up throwing up my toenails Thursday morning. I was sick as a dog all day, not able to keep anything down long. I finally quit throwing up that evening, but I still felt pretty rough all weekend...developing a pretty bad case of vertigo (which also causes nausea). I wasn't up to riding for 15 minutes on curvy roads yesterday, so I went to services at Eastside yesterday morning. Dennis went on to Highway. He said a LOT of people had been sick all week with colds. I hope we didn't send all of this home with everyone last weekend!
Ricky started feeling sick at his stomach yesterday and threw up a time or two. He is still puny today and had to take off work again. I'm TRYING to feel better. The vertigo is somewhat improved, but my stomach is still pretty unsettled. My cold symptoms never really got that bad...mostly stuffiness and thick drainage...and FATIGUE. If I can just get my stomach back to normal and my head to quit spinning, I'll be fine! Dennis' cold is finally easing up. He hopes to head down to East Texas to the deer woods in the morning. I'm hoping we all are back to normal in the next couple of days!
I had sliced and marinated jerky the night before I got my stomach bug. Since I couldn't stand food smells, Dennis dried it outside in his smoker. It turned out really good! It has a slightly different texture and took longer, but I really like the added smoky flavor.
Since I spent so much time in my recliner, I managed to crochet a new dish drainer. I decided to try making one with my leftover cotton yarn. All of the ones I've made before were using acrylic. I'm interested in seeing how cottons work out...should be much more absorbent. If I like it, I plan to make another one that is color coordinated with my new kitchen.
Well, that is about ALL that has gone on around here! I have CASA visits lined up for almost every day for the remainder of this week. I'm hoping my vertigo eases up enough that I feel like driving to them. Dennis and I did get out and walk this morning...first time since we returned from our trip to Arkansas. I had to take it slower than normal, because I'm still pretty weak. Other than that it went just fine. Maybe we are all finally on the mend!
Monday, October 31, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
Our Annual October Meeting
Whew! I hardly know where to start! The past couple of weeks have been very intense: first, the trip to the Ole Time Camp Meeting at Buffalo Point; then working feverishly cleaning and getting ready for our meeting; finally, our meeting. I don't know when I've been more exhausted, but it is a good exhaustion! (But today is definitely going to be a low-keyed day of REST!)
Thanks to Owen Campbell, Keith Avaritt, Roy McCartney and Craig Hays for their edifying and inspiring messages! Thanks to all of our wonderful visitors for making the meeting such a success! And thanks to all of our fellow Highway brothers and sisters for all of their hard work! What makes these meetings so great is the fellowship and support that we get from one another. I love the special time that we have to visit with the people who stay in our home. This weekend, we kept Keith and Lesa...with an added bonus of Layla and Macy! We don't have granddaughters (yet), so we really enjoyed having a couple of young girls around. Both were super sweet and polite little ladies! Layla was such a good helper. And Macy kept us entertained all weekend. Thanks to Jeremy and Kylie for letting them come, and to Keith and Lesa for bringing them!
All of the lessons we heard on "Loving the Brotherhood" were upbeat and positive! Owen discussed apostasy, but did it in such a way that you still felt encouraged. Keith gave a very passionate lesson on our Christian relationships. Roy taught us about strengthening those things that remain, and Craig topped it all off with exhorting us to recruit and replenish the body.
We spent all day Saturday enjoying the fellowship. We started off with a hamburger cookout at the Millsap Community Center. Unfortunately, several people were very delayed in arriving due to the closure of I20 between Willow Park and Weatherford! We still managed to enjoy some yummy burgers and a lot of visiting. After our 3:00 assembly, we went back to the community center for Subway sandwiches...and a ton of desserts. We stayed around visiting and enjoying watching the kiddos playing together until after dark. Afterwards we came home, got food ready for the next day, visited a little and hit the sack by 10:00. Keith made the comment that he used to think sleep and rest were an option...now he saw them as a necessity! I totally agree!
We enjoyed a generous potluck dinner yesterday between services. Our ladies put their best foot forward, with help from some of our visitors, by laying out a large variety of scrumptious dishes. I think we could have just opened the doors to the whole Millsap Community and not have run out of food. People started leaving after lunch, so our crowd was quite a bit smaller at our afternoon assembly. Then after the service, we had to say our reluctant "good-byes" and return to the community center to finish cleaning up. It is always sad to see everyone go, but hopefully we won't lose the spark that we gained from our time together. As always, one of my favorite parts of the weekend was watching all of the young people gain and strengthen their ties with one another.
This old body of mine is reluctant to do much of anything today, but my mind is still busy with what it soaked up over the past three days. I hope that everyone else who attended enjoyed the meeting as much as I did! (Sorry for not having any pictures. I remembered to take my camera yesterday, but I never took it out of my purse!)
Thanks to Owen Campbell, Keith Avaritt, Roy McCartney and Craig Hays for their edifying and inspiring messages! Thanks to all of our wonderful visitors for making the meeting such a success! And thanks to all of our fellow Highway brothers and sisters for all of their hard work! What makes these meetings so great is the fellowship and support that we get from one another. I love the special time that we have to visit with the people who stay in our home. This weekend, we kept Keith and Lesa...with an added bonus of Layla and Macy! We don't have granddaughters (yet), so we really enjoyed having a couple of young girls around. Both were super sweet and polite little ladies! Layla was such a good helper. And Macy kept us entertained all weekend. Thanks to Jeremy and Kylie for letting them come, and to Keith and Lesa for bringing them!
All of the lessons we heard on "Loving the Brotherhood" were upbeat and positive! Owen discussed apostasy, but did it in such a way that you still felt encouraged. Keith gave a very passionate lesson on our Christian relationships. Roy taught us about strengthening those things that remain, and Craig topped it all off with exhorting us to recruit and replenish the body.
We spent all day Saturday enjoying the fellowship. We started off with a hamburger cookout at the Millsap Community Center. Unfortunately, several people were very delayed in arriving due to the closure of I20 between Willow Park and Weatherford! We still managed to enjoy some yummy burgers and a lot of visiting. After our 3:00 assembly, we went back to the community center for Subway sandwiches...and a ton of desserts. We stayed around visiting and enjoying watching the kiddos playing together until after dark. Afterwards we came home, got food ready for the next day, visited a little and hit the sack by 10:00. Keith made the comment that he used to think sleep and rest were an option...now he saw them as a necessity! I totally agree!
We enjoyed a generous potluck dinner yesterday between services. Our ladies put their best foot forward, with help from some of our visitors, by laying out a large variety of scrumptious dishes. I think we could have just opened the doors to the whole Millsap Community and not have run out of food. People started leaving after lunch, so our crowd was quite a bit smaller at our afternoon assembly. Then after the service, we had to say our reluctant "good-byes" and return to the community center to finish cleaning up. It is always sad to see everyone go, but hopefully we won't lose the spark that we gained from our time together. As always, one of my favorite parts of the weekend was watching all of the young people gain and strengthen their ties with one another.
This old body of mine is reluctant to do much of anything today, but my mind is still busy with what it soaked up over the past three days. I hope that everyone else who attended enjoyed the meeting as much as I did! (Sorry for not having any pictures. I remembered to take my camera yesterday, but I never took it out of my purse!)
Monday, October 17, 2016
The Ole Time Camp Meeting
Although we've been hearing great reports for years about this gathering, this was our first year to be able to attend. We left home on Wednesday and drove about half way, stopping in Texarkana for the night. That allowed us to have a leisurely drive on Thursday and still arrive by about 3:30. We got settled into our cabin and then drove down to the tent campsites. There was only a handful of people who had arrived by then. We visited with Charles and Belinda while their kiddos got their tent set up. Kenneth was also there, as were Debbie and James. The setting was absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately, they had had a 2" rain the night before, so the normally beautifully clear Buffalo River looked more like the Red River! It did "settle down" as the weekend progressed, so the canoers were able to enjoy their float trip on Saturday.
We had some pretty terrific neighbors while there. The Siemens bunch were in the cabin right next to us, so we were able to get a little extra visiting in with them that first evening. Friday morning, Dennis and I went on a hike with the group. The weather was great...cool and overcast! We hiked down to the river, where most of the young'uns tried their hand at skipping rocks (which there were plenty to choose from!). Dennis realized he had lost his phone as we were leaving the river, so he headed back down the trail that we had just come on, while the rest of us began the uphill trek back to the pavilion. Thankfully, April had found his phone on the trail and returned it when we got back! Then I had to hunt down Dennis so he wouldn't keep looking for it. Thanks for the help, Charles!
We had our first assembly on Friday afternoon in the pavilion. There was a nice crowd assembled to hear Brandon H. talk about the spiritual tools we need in our battle against Satan. Afterwards, the Buck men grilled hamburgers for everyone. Folks sat or stood around visiting, kids ran and played, while others gathered in groups around their campfires. We turned in early that night, so we'd be ready to go again on Saturday. I woke up with stomach issues on Saturday, so Dennis went exploring on his own. After I got to feeling better, we headed back to the pavilion to visit some more. A large group had gone canoeing, while another group had taken a hike down a "moderately vigorous" trail. James P. sure took exception to that description when they returned! Folks were pretty tired and sweaty!
We assembled in the amphitheater that afternoon and Joe H. gave us a good study on strategies in our battle against Satan. It was a beautiful place to worship! After that assembly, we headed back to the pavilion for a yummy hot dog cookout. We were heading out early the next morning, so we had to say our good-byes. It was a great meeting, and we hated to leave. It was so pleasant to visit with old friends, make new friends, and most of all to watch all of the young folks enjoying each other so much!
We left out yesterday morning about 7:30 and drove to Maumelle to assemble with the church there. We enjoyed visiting with the folks there and were very pleased to see all of the young children they have in their congregation! After the assembly, we drove a little ways down the highway to eat at TaMolly's in Bryant and "bumped into" Jeff and Linda as they were leaving. It is always fun to unexpectedly meet up with someone like that!
The road home was long and hard, but we made it home a little before 9. I sure felt for others who still had hours left to drive...especially Joe and Leanne's family! I'm thankful that everyone seems to have arrived home safely. It was tragic that Logan suffered injury in his trip to the meeting! Praying that his surgery goes well today and that he will quickly and completely recover! I know he has a LOT of people praying for him!
We are heading over to FW this afternoon to buy meat for our hamburger cookout on Saturday. While we're in the neighborhood, we will have to run by Hobby Lobby for their big yarn sale today. I gave out all of my dishrags that I had made up, so I need a new stash of yarn to make more! Today is mainly doing laundry and playing "catch up" from the trip. Dennis is also starting to store away his tools and materials, so I can get things tidied up and cleaned before company arrives on Friday. We are looking forward to our weekend meeting and hope to have a full house!
We had some pretty terrific neighbors while there. The Siemens bunch were in the cabin right next to us, so we were able to get a little extra visiting in with them that first evening. Friday morning, Dennis and I went on a hike with the group. The weather was great...cool and overcast! We hiked down to the river, where most of the young'uns tried their hand at skipping rocks (which there were plenty to choose from!). Dennis realized he had lost his phone as we were leaving the river, so he headed back down the trail that we had just come on, while the rest of us began the uphill trek back to the pavilion. Thankfully, April had found his phone on the trail and returned it when we got back! Then I had to hunt down Dennis so he wouldn't keep looking for it. Thanks for the help, Charles!
We had our first assembly on Friday afternoon in the pavilion. There was a nice crowd assembled to hear Brandon H. talk about the spiritual tools we need in our battle against Satan. Afterwards, the Buck men grilled hamburgers for everyone. Folks sat or stood around visiting, kids ran and played, while others gathered in groups around their campfires. We turned in early that night, so we'd be ready to go again on Saturday. I woke up with stomach issues on Saturday, so Dennis went exploring on his own. After I got to feeling better, we headed back to the pavilion to visit some more. A large group had gone canoeing, while another group had taken a hike down a "moderately vigorous" trail. James P. sure took exception to that description when they returned! Folks were pretty tired and sweaty!
We assembled in the amphitheater that afternoon and Joe H. gave us a good study on strategies in our battle against Satan. It was a beautiful place to worship! After that assembly, we headed back to the pavilion for a yummy hot dog cookout. We were heading out early the next morning, so we had to say our good-byes. It was a great meeting, and we hated to leave. It was so pleasant to visit with old friends, make new friends, and most of all to watch all of the young folks enjoying each other so much!
We left out yesterday morning about 7:30 and drove to Maumelle to assemble with the church there. We enjoyed visiting with the folks there and were very pleased to see all of the young children they have in their congregation! After the assembly, we drove a little ways down the highway to eat at TaMolly's in Bryant and "bumped into" Jeff and Linda as they were leaving. It is always fun to unexpectedly meet up with someone like that!
The road home was long and hard, but we made it home a little before 9. I sure felt for others who still had hours left to drive...especially Joe and Leanne's family! I'm thankful that everyone seems to have arrived home safely. It was tragic that Logan suffered injury in his trip to the meeting! Praying that his surgery goes well today and that he will quickly and completely recover! I know he has a LOT of people praying for him!
We are heading over to FW this afternoon to buy meat for our hamburger cookout on Saturday. While we're in the neighborhood, we will have to run by Hobby Lobby for their big yarn sale today. I gave out all of my dishrags that I had made up, so I need a new stash of yarn to make more! Today is mainly doing laundry and playing "catch up" from the trip. Dennis is also starting to store away his tools and materials, so I can get things tidied up and cleaned before company arrives on Friday. We are looking forward to our weekend meeting and hope to have a full house!
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Rushing through October
Last week was pretty busy with CASA stuff. The rest of the month is going to be hectic, so I tried to get in as much as I could early on. As far as renovations, we did get the backsplash finished in the kitchen...YAY! I love it! It is so nice to see some "finishing work" be completed.
Sheila was over most of the weekend. Things are moving along well with the adoption. She got her "ok" from the US Dept. of Immigration and Nationalization, and her dossier is on its way to Vietnam (although it will have to make several stops in the US first). We are HOPING that she will get her official match letter in December or January. We are also waiting on a new update and picture. She hasn't gotten one since about June. Her agency has sent a request for one to the orphanage, so we are hoping for something soon. A lot of people missed her first t-shirt fundraiser and commented that they wanted a shirt, so she has reopened it for another 2 weeks. So if you are interested in ordering a shirt, you can use this link to place your order: https://www.bonfirefunds.com/waiting-for-josiah. I love my shirt! It is SO soft! I've ordered a long sleeved one for this fall/winter.
We had a great day Sunday! James did an excellent job on his lesson on how society tries to "personalize God" to their liking. After the morning assembly, Roy and Dora invited us all over to their restaurant/junktique store for a catfish dinner. YUM! It was really nice to look at all of Dora's "junk" and enjoy the fellowship with one another. It was also a great opportunity to get all of the details worked out for our upcoming meeting (in just 10 days!) and meals. The details are listed on our Facebook event page: October Meeting.
Dennis has started working on the drawer facings this week. He won't have time to get much done, because we are leaving tomorrow for Arkansas. We plan to drive about half-way tomorrow and then finish the journey to Buffalo Point on Thursday. Those 8-9 hour drives are getting harder and harder on these old bones! Looking forward to seeing everyone up there and enjoying the scenery and fellowship!
As soon as we get home from this meeting, we'll have to hit the ground running to get ready for our meeting the following weekend. I've got my baking done and in the freezer, so mostly I'll just have to clean house. Since we are constantly under construction, the house isn't very "company ready". Tools and building materials will need to be taken out to the shop, and EVERYTHING will need a good cleaning.
I hope things are going well in your lives, and I look forward to seeing some of you either this weekend or next (or both!). Happy Fall, Y'all! (Yeah, I know it has been fall for a few weeks, it is just finally starting to FEEL like it!)
Sheila was over most of the weekend. Things are moving along well with the adoption. She got her "ok" from the US Dept. of Immigration and Nationalization, and her dossier is on its way to Vietnam (although it will have to make several stops in the US first). We are HOPING that she will get her official match letter in December or January. We are also waiting on a new update and picture. She hasn't gotten one since about June. Her agency has sent a request for one to the orphanage, so we are hoping for something soon. A lot of people missed her first t-shirt fundraiser and commented that they wanted a shirt, so she has reopened it for another 2 weeks. So if you are interested in ordering a shirt, you can use this link to place your order: https://www.bonfirefunds.com/waiting-for-josiah. I love my shirt! It is SO soft! I've ordered a long sleeved one for this fall/winter.
We had a great day Sunday! James did an excellent job on his lesson on how society tries to "personalize God" to their liking. After the morning assembly, Roy and Dora invited us all over to their restaurant/junktique store for a catfish dinner. YUM! It was really nice to look at all of Dora's "junk" and enjoy the fellowship with one another. It was also a great opportunity to get all of the details worked out for our upcoming meeting (in just 10 days!) and meals. The details are listed on our Facebook event page: October Meeting.
Dennis has started working on the drawer facings this week. He won't have time to get much done, because we are leaving tomorrow for Arkansas. We plan to drive about half-way tomorrow and then finish the journey to Buffalo Point on Thursday. Those 8-9 hour drives are getting harder and harder on these old bones! Looking forward to seeing everyone up there and enjoying the scenery and fellowship!
As soon as we get home from this meeting, we'll have to hit the ground running to get ready for our meeting the following weekend. I've got my baking done and in the freezer, so mostly I'll just have to clean house. Since we are constantly under construction, the house isn't very "company ready". Tools and building materials will need to be taken out to the shop, and EVERYTHING will need a good cleaning.
I hope things are going well in your lives, and I look forward to seeing some of you either this weekend or next (or both!). Happy Fall, Y'all! (Yeah, I know it has been fall for a few weeks, it is just finally starting to FEEL like it!)
Monday, October 3, 2016
Busy and joyous weekend!
We started out Friday morning attending an adoption consummation for one of my CASA kiddos. I always love these! Normally, court isn't a happy place...not many smiles. However, at adoptions, EVERYONE is smiling! All of the ladies from the county office hover in the doorway to watch, the atmosphere is relaxed and lighthearted, and even Judge Moore can't stop smiling. Of course there are always some happy tears, too! All my cases are special, but there are a few that touch my heart a bit more than the others. This was one of those. This baby started out his life addicted to meth, spending his first month in the NICU at Cook Children's Hospital. To see him now, a healthy, happy toddler in his forever family, is such a blessing! (Dennis also got some great butterfly pictures while we were at the courthouse.)
After visiting for awhile with the happy family (and taking a lot of pictures), we came back home and packed up for the weekend. We were celebrating Shepherd's 2nd birthday on Saturday. We met up with the kids for supper and then went and checked into our room. We normally stay in a little motel that we really like (we like having our privacy and room to relax in the evenings!), but Stephen wanted us to try out a B&B that he knew the owners of. It was a beautiful Victorian home! We were the only guests that evening, so it was also very quiet, which we really like. The lady who checked us in was very gracious and friendly. After getting settled, we went over to Stephen and Mandy's to spend some time with the boys. I love that special time together. Jesse always wants me to read to him, which I absolutely love doing! Shepherd is starting to enjoy being read to now, too. Then it was bath time, and Jesse wanted me to stay in there while his Dad bathed them. I love being involved in their everyday lives! After his bath, I dressed him for bed, while Stephen did Shepherd. (Shepherd has warmed up to us, but he is still a little reticent...he much prefers Momma or Daddy!)
After the boys went to bed, we visited awhile with Stephen and Mandy until Sheila arrived. Then we headed back to our room to rest up for the next day.
After an amazing breakfast at The Old Magnolia House B&B (how do you like that little endorsement I threw in?), we went back to Stephen's to help get things ready for the party. Well, we mostly just played with the boys while Stephen and Mandy did all of the work. The other guests started arriving just before 11:00. We ate lunch, had cake and ice cream, and then watched Shepherd open his presents...with a lot of help from his parents. After opening 1 or 2 packages, he was pretty much through with that! I think it was a little overwhelming for him! He got a LOT of nice things, including a whole collection of Nemos. LOL! (Mandy had mentioned in her gift ideas that he liked Nemo themed things.) We had a great time, but it was soon time to leave. We were going from there to Shreveport for their meeting. They were having a 3:00 assembly on Saturday, and we were hard pressed to make it in time. (We ended up getting there about 20 minutes after the service began.)
We really enjoyed visiting with the congregation at Shreveport, as well as the other visitors and Keith and Lesa. They served a potluck supper at Dot's house Saturday evening, so we had plenty of time to catch up with everyone. Then they had another potluck on Sunday between services. Those ladies (and guys) are sure good cooks! It had been many years since Dennis and I had been there together, and we really enjoyed everyone! (The girls and I have been through a couple of times over the years on our girls' trips.)
We made it home last night about 8:00. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, it was SO good to get home and sleep in my bed! Dennis is starting back on our kitchen renovations, now that the birthday project is completed, so we should start making some progress this week. Hopefully, I'll have some picture updates to share next week!
After visiting for awhile with the happy family (and taking a lot of pictures), we came back home and packed up for the weekend. We were celebrating Shepherd's 2nd birthday on Saturday. We met up with the kids for supper and then went and checked into our room. We normally stay in a little motel that we really like (we like having our privacy and room to relax in the evenings!), but Stephen wanted us to try out a B&B that he knew the owners of. It was a beautiful Victorian home! We were the only guests that evening, so it was also very quiet, which we really like. The lady who checked us in was very gracious and friendly. After getting settled, we went over to Stephen and Mandy's to spend some time with the boys. I love that special time together. Jesse always wants me to read to him, which I absolutely love doing! Shepherd is starting to enjoy being read to now, too. Then it was bath time, and Jesse wanted me to stay in there while his Dad bathed them. I love being involved in their everyday lives! After his bath, I dressed him for bed, while Stephen did Shepherd. (Shepherd has warmed up to us, but he is still a little reticent...he much prefers Momma or Daddy!)
After the boys went to bed, we visited awhile with Stephen and Mandy until Sheila arrived. Then we headed back to our room to rest up for the next day.
After an amazing breakfast at The Old Magnolia House B&B (how do you like that little endorsement I threw in?), we went back to Stephen's to help get things ready for the party. Well, we mostly just played with the boys while Stephen and Mandy did all of the work. The other guests started arriving just before 11:00. We ate lunch, had cake and ice cream, and then watched Shepherd open his presents...with a lot of help from his parents. After opening 1 or 2 packages, he was pretty much through with that! I think it was a little overwhelming for him! He got a LOT of nice things, including a whole collection of Nemos. LOL! (Mandy had mentioned in her gift ideas that he liked Nemo themed things.) We had a great time, but it was soon time to leave. We were going from there to Shreveport for their meeting. They were having a 3:00 assembly on Saturday, and we were hard pressed to make it in time. (We ended up getting there about 20 minutes after the service began.)
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| Playing before the party |
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| Shepherd and his new toy box |
We really enjoyed visiting with the congregation at Shreveport, as well as the other visitors and Keith and Lesa. They served a potluck supper at Dot's house Saturday evening, so we had plenty of time to catch up with everyone. Then they had another potluck on Sunday between services. Those ladies (and guys) are sure good cooks! It had been many years since Dennis and I had been there together, and we really enjoyed everyone! (The girls and I have been through a couple of times over the years on our girls' trips.)
We made it home last night about 8:00. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, it was SO good to get home and sleep in my bed! Dennis is starting back on our kitchen renovations, now that the birthday project is completed, so we should start making some progress this week. Hopefully, I'll have some picture updates to share next week!
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