2023 January through May highlights

 Jeffrey, Lesa, and Preston came to see us in January, then they went over to Bedford, Indiana and painted at the new Evangelistic Faith Mission headquarters.  Emily went with them and painted for several weeks.  We saw Jeff and Lesa a couple times in January when they came for weekends.
We were given a Taste of Belgium gift card and used it near Rowen's birthday for a date night.
Elizabeth came for a visit for Rowen's 65th birthday.
Emily finished all of her college classes in December, so she wanted to do some interesting things in the Spring semester.  She paid for us to have tickets to go to Sea Breeze camp at Hobe Sound, Florida.  We enjoyed the balmy weather in February and all of the services.  Our pastors, Darrell and Regina Stetler were there also, as Darrell was one of the evangelists.  
We went out for ice cream one afternoon with Regina!
We got to visit our cousin Helen Reiff on campus and in her home.  It was so good to be with her!
We walked to the beach several times and these pictures were on the way.


We ate at a Lighthouse restaurant on one of our exploring days,
after we went to the Blowing Holes beach.
Emily loves being at the beach.  She was so sweet to make this vacation possible for us!
February visitors.  We had Rebecca Bennett and Clarissa Burton over for Sunday dinner. 
The girls did some crocheting afterwards.  
Elizabeth came for a short visit in late February.  She and Emily took some girls to the Speak Truth in Your Heart (Bright Lights) Girls Conference, hosted at the Ark Encounter.
In March, we had Kyle and Ariana, Chandler, Lori and Audrey Yoder as Sunday guests.
 A random picture with Emily and Jason at the GBS Phone Desk in March.
Always good to grab a picture when we're together!
In March I started doing this with my hair.  It has become so thin with the medicines I am on for Bone Metastasis.  This is fast and uses very few pins.

Emily went on the SWSE Tour for the last time!  (Even though she was not technically a student at the time, she knew all the gospel songs from Fall semester.)  She is pictured with Jenny DeLeon, seat partner, and Rebecca Bennett, behind them.

In April, we took Mary Matias with us to the Easter drama.
An Easter picture of Rowen and Janet
Emily and Janet at Interchurch Holiness Convention in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

We got to spend some time with Rebekah Owens and others.

We loved being with Rebekah, Marlene, Sherry, and Joanna!

We even let Richard Owens eat with us.
This was a special day when I finally got to see my oncology nurse, Jamie's face when the mask mandate was lifted.  She is on the left, and is a very caring nurse!

Rowen had rotator cuff surgery on April 26, 2023.  

We bought this ice machine, which was very helpful for pain control.  It was a painful recovery with "Painful PT" for 3 months.

Emily helped us with changing the church sign when Rowen was recuperating.

We went to Bedford in May to visit Elizabeth and hear Emily play for the last time with SWSE.  I don't know why we didn't get a picture of Elizabeth, but this is in her apartment.

Our climatis bloomed almost all summer.

Emily graduated from God's Bible School and College with a BA in Integrative Studies (cognates in ASL and children's ministry) in May.  This is the Graduate Breakfast with some of her friends:  Julianna Rowe, Jennifer DeLeon, Melanie Hilling, Deborah McGill.

At her table set up for a party after graduation.  Elizabeth and Joanna got to be with us for it.

Emily receiving her diploma from Dr. Loper.  She also received Salutatorian honor and the Oscar Johnson Award for Christian character.  We are very proud of her!

Pastor Andy and Sherilyn Stroud with Emily with her awards

Pastor Darrell and Regina Stetler with Emily.  These people are all so precious in her life!

Emily with the Stroud kids:  Ellisyn, Karilee, Marshall, Wilson

Sonja Vernon and Emily.  Sonja is a blessing to all the students.  She's VP of Student Affairs.

One of Emily's best church friends, Brittany Stamper

Joanna Johnston, best friends with Emily since 2006; she's part of our family!

Two good GBS friends:  Mary Matias and Clarissa Burton

Special Uncle and Aunt: Ron and Becky Profitt

Best and Only Sister, Elizabeth, who prayed for a baby sister so long ago!

Rebecca Bennett, who has been our "adopted GBS girl" for over 4 years.

Kristy Bennett, who has been our "adopted GBS girl" for over 2 years.

Proud and thankful parents!

Family photo with Joanna in it.  Photo credit:  Lori Yoder

Family photo.  Photo credit:  Lori Yoder

Emily and Janet went to a wedding of some GBSC friends the end of May in Muncie, Indiana.

Daniel Brandon and Kendra Peck's wedding.  They are now assistant pastors in Alabama.

I tore my meniscus toward the end of May.  Rowen got me a nice blue cane to use.
Emily and I enjoyed wearing our matching blouses together.

Quilting projects in 2022

These are a set of memory quilts made from the shirts of a precious man of God who has gone on to heaven.

I actually made this one in January 2023, but it goes with the set of memory quilts. It is for a baby due in March.

 

I made more winter time placemats so there were enough when Randy's family was here for Christmas.

Stack of winter placemats 

I made my mother strawberry placemats and a baking potato bag for Christmas.

I made two neutral nativity table runners for Christmas. This short one for Jason and Karen, and a long one for Randy and Joy.

These two baby blankets were for 2 GBS staff families. They both turned out to be girls, though one was known beforehand and the other was a surprise. I got the heart flannel on our vacation trip to Shipshewana, Indiana.

These are doll blankets I made for my two youngest granddaughters.

I made this baby blanket for a dear friend who had a baby boy in November.

These are dresser scarves for our purple loving daughter in law, Lesa.

These were the table runners I made before Christmas. The red nativity one went to Brenda and Tim.  One fall one went to Joy and Randy.  I think I still have the short fall one.

My favorite project in 2022 was this bookshelf quilt made for a dear friend who loves books.

It was a lot of fun to make.

I quilted this table runner for a friend whose mother in the nursing home planned the pieces. She sewed it for her mom and asked me to quilt it. Planning out the rows was a special time for this lady who had memory loss, but somehow knew she used to make quilts. She has since gone on to heaven.

I made this quilt with leftover blocks from other years' quilts as a practice run on the pattern "Scattered" that I used for 3 of the memory quilts above. I gave it to our friend Natalie, who graduated from nursing school last May.

I only quilted this one. Our friend Retha made it. 

I'm thankful for the opportunity to do my own quilting. I really enjoy it!