A "Wow, am I behind" post!

For some reason, blogging gets at the bottom of the to-do list.  Most of the time, I have Mondays and Saturdays off work, but there are so many of the routine things to do that must be done, and the day is gone before the list is completed.  So here is what happened in November:
On November 5, we had Tim and Pam Wilson and their six beautiful and delightful children for Sunday dinner, along with our GBS girls, Lily and Danette.

 The parents and the younger Wilsons ate at the big table,

 while the big girls had the small table.

 We enjoyed having the Wilsons over.  We love to fellowship with them.  They are homeschooling their children and raising them to love the Lord.  Tim works for Answers in Genesis at the Creation Museum.  He is our go-to person when we have friends or relatives coming who want to go to the Creation Museum or the Ark Encounter.

That evening, our family, Lily, and Danette went to a nearby town in Ohio to hear the Collingsworth Family sing.  We were up in the balcony of a large, packed out church.  This was the second time for Rowen and Janet to see/hear them in person, and our girls' first opportunity.

The next day, Rowen happened to be in our neighborhood for a job and surprised us by coming home for lunch!  This is the van that he drives when he is on the job.

 This was one of my Monday tasks that week.  We had two large pumpkins on our front porch this Fall, which I cooked and smashed and made pumpkin bread to give to all of our immediate neighbors.  Some pumpkin was frozen for future pumpkin bread and pies.

November 19, Dr. Stephen and Jessica Smith and their three fine boys: Isaac, Joshua, and Seth joined us and Lily and Danette for Sunday dinner.  We had such a lovely time with them.  They are carefully training their boys and they are a delight to have around.

 Danette was the photographer for this family picture.  This is in front of the hedge in our back yard.  Most of the leaves from the big trees were down already, but the hedge is the last to lose its leaves.

 Rowen reconfigured our bird feeding station this fall so that is is now squirrel proof and raccoon proof!!  It is so much less messy and we are enjoying watching the birds.

 A picture of our girls that afternoon.

Since buying the supplies on our anniversary trip to Amish country, I made this Christmas wall hanging.  The center section was a panel.  The squares around the sides were part of a panel of fabric.  I fussy-cut them and added the strips in between everything from some coordinating fabric.  It was not a hard project, but it did make use of my math skills.  (I always told my kids they would be glad they had learned math and algebra, because it is so useful in adult life!)  I hand quilted this completely, which is not my favorite thing to do, but it is something you can take along and do in odd moments.  Our friend Retha gave us the quilt rack.  We enjoyed having this wall hanging up from November until January 8.

We were privileged to have Rose Woodard stay with us over GBS Thanksgiving Break.  She is a student at God's Bible School and College with Elizabeth.  She couldn't go home over the break, so we had an extra daughter for almost a week!

Rowen carved the turkey on Thanksgiving morning.

 We played games while we waited for the other guests to arrive.

 We played Mancala, while the girls played Blokus

Besides Rose, Jason and Karen, Ron and Becky Profitt, and Adam and Val Profitt and their family were our Thanksgiving Day guests.

 We had plenty of food and lots of conversation and fellowship.

 The big girls ate with Aubrey and Annie.

 Adley and Clay ate with the married folk. 

 Clay was born in late June.  He has grown a lot since we saw him at Jason and Karen's wedding.  He looks so much like his daddy Adam did when he was that size.  That was back in 1983 and Adam's birth played a role in Rowen and Janet getting together!

 Elizabeth, Emily, and Rose kept the girls entertained with lots of games and coloring.

 I got to put Clay to sleep!

 We had such a blessed day.  It was good to have Jason and Karen over.

Rose went shopping with me; she helped a whole day at Retha's house, putting up Christmas decorations, and she helped at our church work day getting ready for the Christmas Drive-Thru program.  She also helped me put up our Christmas decorations.  I think she had a good time hanging out and helping me with whatever I was doing.  Emily was working a lot, and Elizabeth spent most of the break studying.  Rose was caught up on her homework, so she was free to be my sidekick!

The crocheted ornaments my mother, Wanda Scoles made for me years ago.

On November 26, while Rose was still with us, we had Marvin and Joyce Cooper and Frank and Sherry Martinoli over for Sunday dinner.  These two couples are in our Care-n-Connect Group this quarter at church.  We had a wonderful visit and learned a lot from these interesting, well-informed people!

 November 30, Rowen and Janet drove to Joplin.  We went to Tim and Brenda's newly purchased home.  Janet's mother and daddy came over to Tim and Brenda's for supper.  

Wanda Scoles

Rex and Wanda Scoles

 Charissa and Felix 

 Charissa

 Brenda had prepared a very nice meal for us.

 Brenda has a nice kitchen with lots of cabinets.  They are loving owning their own home.

They moved in on Tim's 30th birthday, November 4.

 We had a nice visit and stayed the night with Tim and Brenda.

 Felix is learning to do dishes.  He was helping his daddy and grandpa do the dishes!

The next day, we took Mother and Daddy with us up to Columbia for a Scoles Family gathering.  But that was December 1, so it will be covered in the next belated blogpost! :)