to the Weavertown Youth Group

    At girls' cabin we talked about going to Longwood Gardens over Christmas vacation.  I am working on getting a group together and need to know which day works best for most people.  The days to choose from are Thursday, December 30, or New Year's Day.  We would leave at 4:00p.m. and be back around 10.  If we have a group of 15 or more cost of admission is $12 for adults and $3 for students ages 5-18 (or any age with a valid student ID).  Depending on the amount of people going we would consider using a school bus.  This is for guys and girls - the more the merrier!  Please let me know if you would like to go and if so which day would work best for you!  The fountain shows are fantastic!

Fireworks in the Park

We joined the crowd in Intercourse Park to watch the fireworks. I won't be here over the 4th so I was happy to see this display of noise and sound pollution tonight. :) I really do enjoy fireworks - they are so fascinating!

Hanging out with "Tia" at Rosene's house

Malinda and her boyfriend, George, came around for a wedding and were staying at Rosene's house so I went down to hang out with them! It's hard to explain the next-to-kin ties we share! So much fun to drink terere and get caught up on all the news again.

Amish Social

Verlin and Bradley Mast

Bethany & Curt & Donna's little Megan

We had an Amish church dinner.

Rosina wore her mom's wedding garb!

I borrowed clothes from one of my Spring Garden friends.

Mandie & Leanne Fisher

Some of the King cousins came in a buggy with a guy that works at Impressions.

Jethro Fisher & Kendall Lapp

Our youth group had an Amish social tonight. It was fun to see everyone in different clothes! :P

Our first tomato!

Imagine my excitement when I found a ripe tomato when I was working in my garden! We carefully divided it up and added the slices to our sandwiches along with the egg salad and herbs of choice. I never know which to choose so I just take some of each! I especially like dill and basil in my sandwiches but cilantro and parsley add their own unique flavors too. There is only a little lettuce left in my garden - enough for sandwiches but not for the huge salads we were consuming. The zucchini is also doing very well and I'm trying hard not to let them get too big. The Peter Pan squash and yellow summer squash are just starting to yield fruit and then beans will be ready to pick by Thursday. Gardens are so much fun! My mom was very generous and gave the bottom part of her garden to me so that I can have fun and arrange it how I like it. :)

Paraguay Friends

I was so excited Wednesday night when I got a text from Arlis saying that she'll be around this weekend! She came up on Saturday and spent the day with Rosalyn and then Sunday met me at my house and we went to church together. After church Rosene and Katrina came over and we had a typical Paraguayan meal; asado, mandioca, sopa, cabbage salad, and passion fruit slushies for dessert. Of course, everything took a while to get ready but we filled the time with lots of terere, working together to prepare the food, and a walk around my garden so I could show off. :) Alverda actually ended up doing the grilling for us and did an excellent job of it! The food was delicious and we enjoyed the meal under our grape arbor.We were planning to go to the park after lunch but never got there because it started raining before we were finished eating. Some of the youth had gone to play sand volley ball but then came over to drink tea once it was raining too much to play anymore.

I went to church in the evening and Arlis went down to Rosene's house and then came and spent the night with me at work. It was so nice not to be alone on a Sunday night! I sometimes struggle with feeling sorry for myself if I have to be at work and everyone else is at the party - but not last night! We tried not to make too much noise even though Ivan said we could make as much as we wanted.

Arlis and I went out for breakfast at Panera Bread and then after setting her GPS and a good-bye hug she was headed back to Virginia. I will miss her but it was lovely to be with her!

what am I doing?!

I never thought I would do this but facebook's format just isn't quite what I like so I'll link this to facebook and see if that pleases me. :)