It Was Warm Today....

...but not warm enough to go swimming.....but a girl can wish can't she!!!

Fun at the Neighberhood Playground

Hangin Out on the Couch

........part of our time is spent on the coach watching videos of the Zoe and Addy Show or clips of little Eloise from France. Last night we watched a Disney movie called Holes.

We were joined for supper last night by our friend Casey. The kids love Casey and his dog, Rex, who is extremely well behaved.

Meanwhile....Back Home.....Zoe is featured in the Advocate...

........as a member of the 5th grade band featured in the Advocate article here.

We've Arrived At Virginia Beach ...

My first job as Grandpa in Residence.......was to get up at 4 AM and take Meg and friend Chritin to the Norfolk airport.......Off they went to Rino Nevada to visit friend Cindy.....new with child......

....later I enjoyed being read to by Alyssa.....

......and having "shoe tie" services rendered.....

Today We Took The Girls To An Indian Pow Wow at Red Wing Park

Living near Flint Ridge as we do I have visited these gatherings in Ohio......

.....but never saw costumes as beautiful as these. I paused for a moment to reflect on the fact that these people are who the first settlers down the Bay at Jamestown encountered when they arrived here in America.......

Fierce.....yet stunning......

.....as Indians danced and displayed their costumes....

....an osprey flew over head with its freshly caught meal which seemed so in keeping with the "native...feathered".. theme of the day....

....HOWEVER....NOT so in keeping with the native theme of the day....the Indian Taco stand or even the purple Italian Sausage Stand with French Fries.....

.........I didn't think the American Natives and the French got along so well.......wasn't there a war between them or something???...someone please shed some light on this.....

Hailey to Soccer.....

One of the purposes of this blog is to communicate to Meg in Reno that we are getting Haiely to her appointed rounds. SSSSoooo here Meg is proof that we got her to her soccer game as listed on page four of your written directives.....

.........and proof also that a good part of her time "on the bench" was spent playing in the sand and.......

......yep....you guessed it......... but ......"the other girl did it first!"

A Wonderful Thing Happened To Us On Our Way To Virginia Beach.....

It happened at the County Seat retaurant in Powhatten,Virginia. For well over a year Pat and I have developed an online friendship with an amazing gal, fellow Christ Follower and single Mother of 5 children named Beth Brawley. I discovered her blog while visiting another blog of Nature writer Julie Zickefoose. Beth was working her way through some heavy life trauma and her authenticity and way of expressing herself gave me a lot of help and insight which I applied to the work I was doing with others going through some overwhelming life issues themselves. Before long we were emailing and I was hooking her up by email with a couple of them directly. Pat and I would both read and enjoy her writings........then the opportunity came..... to meet her and her family......... live and in person....... on our way to Virginia Beach. This was something new for us....we who have met and made friends....and family...... with numbers of people......were about to meet with someone we knew so well ....but whom we'd never met!!!

.........and then.....THERE THEY WERE....all 6 of them.....live and in person.......and we never stopped talking.....and we stayed up late....enjoying the JOY afforded to those of kindred Spirit...........

.....and laughed.....and learned.....and grew. You can read Beth's account of it all here.

Beth is One Extraordinary Person....

..............we found out even more so when we accompanied her to Wednesday evening worship team practice. She asked a simple question about how God communicates with us.........

....a young man named Christian spoke up as did many others of ways they connect with God......

......and one of those ways is through music........as was heard and felt by those in the room as Beth lead in song and prayer....

......while an admirer watched from the back!

While Beth Belts It Out......

....the boys play a game of silent ping pong on the side to "occupy themselves"......

Ian.....Remind me to show you this when we get back....you and Ben will love it!

Daniel and David share stories with me in the living room..

....talk about neat kids.....We just fell in love with these two guys.......

....they reminded us so much of our own boys when they were this age.......

...........guitars and scateboards.....it's all that simple at this stage of their lives!

the girls enjoyed the dresses sent to them by Roy and Patty VanAtta...

.....Sarah, Shannon and Sidney were thrilled to get dresses from friends they had made in Ohio and who we know.

....and finally...the modified style show!