Not the most interesting title, but then I’m trying to talk myself into actually writing this post. I’ll post some pictures, and make a few comments, because a picture is worth a thousand words, anyway, right? I guess the reason for this trip was family togetherness, though not the way you might think. Ted was taking a business trip and didn’t want to be there alone. He persuaded Beth to go along, and Serena wasn’t about to stay home while Mom and Dad were gallivanting around in California! As it turns out, she wouldn’t have been alone, for Lydia was there during her month off between SPEAC school and the start of freshman year at OSU. Lydia most conveniently house-sat and tended all the various life forms in our absence.
Continue reading “California, Sep 6-13”
They’re both photogenic, don’t you think?
What a great picture… I wonder if that’s Port-au-Prince in the background? I had to cut this one down some; go to her blog for the real thing, plus a peek at our daughter’s “inner child”, who comes out when it rains suddenly at the end of a hot summer day and … 🙂
Haitian weather on the beach… wow!
Your daughter goes on a mission trip, and sends back this:
Oh boy. Notice the 2nd spout starting just below the clouds on the right… very rare. What happens when it starts heading toward the beach? Fortunately, Sarah and friends merely took pictures.
Now– see what you’re missing at Sarah’s blog? 🙂
Sarah: Back from Haiti and …
Boy are we glad to hear she is! 🙂 Here’s a note she sent the other day:
Dear everyone,
Last night I got back from my two week trip to see Haiti, it’s people and culture, and my boyfriend Daniel. It was an amazing trip, to say the least. I learned so much, and I’m still processing a lot of it. Haiti is such Continue reading “Sarah: Back from Haiti and …”
Update from the Chinese Front
Dear Family and Friends,
Whew, what a week! I am definitely glad that I am more than halfway done. I have loved it and hated it. I really love learning, I really really do. But I also love doing other things: reading, karate, hiking, playing games. I hate the fact that while I’m doing this Chinese, I can do nothing else. Learning has its price. So, I am glad I’m learning, and I’m glad I’ll be done in four weeks. Then I’ll have four weeks to catch up on all the other things I love, and then back to studying my rear off. And it will go on like that for four years (yikes!). Anyway, I really don’t even mind studying for hours and hours, its just I can’t do anything else, and I really miss all the anything-elses.
We are getting Continue reading “Update from the Chinese Front”
The License Plate Game
O.K., you’ve all played it, right? On a long trip, you have your kids keep track of all the different state license plates you can find. I forgot to write about it related to our trip to VA, but Serena and I did this in June. On an 11- day trip, driving through only 4 states, we found 44 states — all but Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Of course, we did drive slowly through the whole parking area at Monticello, and we did the same each day we left a symposium at the conference hotel in Williamsburg. There were people there from all over the U.S.! It brought back memories of many other trips. Hey, Sarah and Lydia, we even found a North Dakota license. See? North Dakota DOES exist! (Inside family joke).
Haiti Trip- Saturday 7/14
Sarah has sent in her first report:
dear everyone,
hi. So, I’ve been in Haiti since Thursday at noon, and so far it’s really cool. It reminds me of Mexico in a lot of ways, but not as hot. Yes, I just said “not as hot”. Maybe working outside every day has helped more than I thought. Anyway, here’s the basic overview. On Thursday we Continue reading “Haiti Trip- Saturday 7/14”
Sarah’s Trip to Haiti, plus Dani’s work there…
For those of you following Sarah’s interest in missions, you may know that she will leave this Tuesday (actually, Thursday- Ed.) for the Caribbean island of Haiti for a fact-finding mission trip, ending with a visit to her boyfriend (who is doing his own mission work there all summer) and his family. You can start by reading her recent support letter, and continue Continue reading “Sarah’s Trip to Haiti, plus Dani’s work there…”
Trip post addendum
O.K., I can hear you saying, “That post was so long, how can she possibly have more to say?” Never fear, just one addendum and a correction.
First, I did find my mystery perennial when I got to Williamsburg. I typed it, but that part was lost during one of my computer’s obstinate snits. I talked to the gardener, who informed me that what I described wasn’t a true lavender, but a plant called “gray santolina.”  Anybody ever heard of that?  I think the foliage is the same, so I bought 3. We’ll be absolutely sure when they bloom! The blooms are yellow globes about the size of marbles, and contrast nicely with the gray-green foliage.
Second, my brother, Bobby, does not have diabetes, Joyce informs me, only herself.
Now, wasn’t that short and sweet?
Trip to Jamestown Quadricentennial – June 9-20
Warning! This is a long post, prepare yourself!
This being the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, I decided to take Serena to a once-in-a-lifetime event and fill in some gaps in her history education. She was only in kindergarten when we studied early American history as a family. Oh yes, the government had their official, politically correct, Indians are the good guys, settlers were murderers and rapists of the land event in May, attended by Queen Elizabeth, and including Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Al Sharpton on the panel that discussed the settlement. That was NOT the event we attended. Instead, we went to a week-long celebration (that word had been forbidden by the establishment) of the providential history of the Jamestown settlement. The point was to examine the source documents, and determine what was the real impetus for the colony, and what the participants, themselves, had to say about it. It was put on by Vision Forum, a Christian ministry that you can read more about here.
We began our trip driving as far as Staunton, VA, and staying in a motel. Since we were to be staying with friends the rest of the time, we wanted to store up a little private time. The friends in Williamsburg, the Owen family, put us up for a week, making our attendance at the conference possible by saving us hundreds in hotel bills. I realized that we would be passing close to Monticello the next day, so I asked Serena if she wanted to see it. “What’s Monticello?” she asked. To a born and bred Virginian, that settled it — we had to stop there! I, gardener that I am, braved the bright sun to stroll through the very long garden on the grounds. I actually found a perennial that I had never seen before, labeled globe lavender on the stick by the plants. Monticello sells some of their heirloom plants and seeds, but alas, not this one. The house was fascinating, with all of Jefferson’s ingenious additions and inventions contained therein. Here’s a picture of the front, which I really took for the huge and ancient tulip poplar tree to the left. We had 2 of these in our front yard growing up — typical tall straight trunks with branches high up. If I hadn’t seen the leaves, I would have thought this one was an oak!
Continuing on our way, we arrived in Charles City County in plenty of time to attend the wedding of Olivia Potter, daughter of old and dear friends who live in Williamsburg. Sarah and Lydia, you will recognize most of the Potters, but here are the rest: Continue reading “Trip to Jamestown Quadricentennial – June 9-20”