October 1, our guests were the Loper family. Rodney was our online pastor for several years when he was senior pastor at Hobe Sound Bible Church. Now he is president of God's Bible School. His wife, Melissa, and children: Scott, Breanna, Brooklyn, and Colton. Lily and Danette were here too.
We are blessed to go to the same church as they do. The kids had fun playing games
while the parents visited.
Later, we had some singing with Danette and Emily playing their strings.
We enjoyed videochatting with Jeffrey and Lesa, who are out of the country.
The girls and Rowen took a walk and Lily posed for a fun picture.
All of our girls we have here.
At GBS Homecoming, Emily got to play with SWSE (Symphonic Wind and String Ensemble) for the prelude music.
Richard and Judy Grout came to see us on October 17. We and the Stetlers ate at Frisches with them. We had a very nice visit. It was good to see them in Kentucky!
They are some of our favorite missionaries. We have had a long relationship with them.
Rowen and Janet both took off work on October 20 and went on a day trip to Holmes County, (Amish Country) Ohio to celebrate the 34th wedding anniversary. On the drive up there, we came upon this basket shaped structure alongside the highway.
As we got closer, we could read Longaberger on the front of it!
Our first stop in Holmes County was Gramma Fannie's Quilt Barn.
In the upstairs, looking down into the lower level.
There were lots of amazing quilts and beautiful fabrics.
(With the fabrics Janet is carrying around in the above picture, she has since then made this wall hanging for Christmas. Next she will be hand quilting it!)
October 21 was Family Fest day at church. There were lots of fun activities for all ages. They played baseball with an oversize soft ball and fat, flat bat. There were about 25 people on each team, so it was funny to watch.
Rock painting was quite a hit for children and adults.
Here Janet is visiting with Kim Staley and Brenda Mayhle.
A sweet picture in honor of our anniversary
The bounce house was popular with the little people.
Elizabeth and Emily were the adult watchers part of the time.
A totally hilarious activity was the Big Foot Races. We got lots of movies of it and only this picture. Unfortunately, movies don't upload to this application.
Rowen, Tim, Jonathan, and Lyle played a game called Bocce ball, or lawn bowling.
You throw or place a target ball, called "pallina." They marked its location with a stick, then took turns throwing the balls shown here in their hands, getting points for the ones closest to the target. It's kind of like horseshoes in some ways.
At supper time, people filled out their menus with choices of hot dog styles and these ladies filled the orders. There were six different types of hot dogs to choose between.
The other goodies to eat were on a different set of tables.
David and Renae Weddle grilled the hot dogs to perfection.
Our family sang an all new Pastor Appreciation song for our pastors and their wives (pastoresses).
Jennifer Scott played her Ukelele and sang In the Sweet By and By.
Our friend Retha watching the proceedings.
Tim and Pam Wilson and five of their six children sang a couple songs.
The following day, our real anniversary date, Family Fest continued with special speaker and pitch in dinner in the church yard,
In the afternoon, the Mike Mayhle family sang many songs in their West Virginian style. It was very enjoyable. Regina accompanied them on every song as if she had always played for them. Sometimes, she didn't even know the song!
Our girls dressed alike, sort of, and took some pictures on our deck beside the lovely mandevilla plant, which so far has withstood freezing temperatures.
We're so glad our girls love each other and enjoy living here together with us!
Sunday evening, there was no church because of the afternoon service, so we went on a walk on a trail nearby.
A bridge picture in honor of Jeffrey and Lesa, who love bridges and being couples on them.
Danette, Emily, and Elizabeth were also with us on the walk. We ended up swinging on very nice, big swings, but nobody got any pictures of them.
It was a nice way to end our anniversary evening.
