This and That from Here and There: January 2013

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Two more Gospel Meetings before Special Meeting rounds

Thursday, January 31 @ 7:30 pm - Decatur Public Library

Sunday, February 3 @ 7:00 pm - Tolono Village Hall

If you're able to come, you're invited!

Three of us

Lynae Dykstra was with Ardith and me for three months while her co-worker, Kim Swanson, was in South America for conventions. We finally got a picture of the three of us on our last weekend together.

One of our homes when Karmen visited me last weekend was the Vail residence in Monticello. We knew Rob and Andrea when they were first married and lived in the Peoria area. Over the years, four children have been added to the family. It's a great place to go for entertainment and encouragement. I only took a few pictures on my phone, so that's all I can post for now. I'm hoping to get a few more from Karmen when she gets around to it. :-) (Hint, hint)

All these pics were taken during our rousing game of dominoes on Monday morning with the two younger Vail kidlets.

Paxton waits patiently for his turn.

Anya loves to draw from the boneyard whether she needs to or not!

Stack 'em up!

Getting a little exercise in during the game

Cheese!

Anya takes her turn.

Famous last words

"I'm not gonna do anything fun while you have that camera out," proclaims Karmen

Peek-a-boo!

She tries to be serious

but fails.

Somehow, it just never works!

Awww...

That's my Karmy!

Fleece and I reconnect with friends

Fleece and Grover

F, G and their human counterparts

Laura and Val

In honor of my father...

I snapped a picture while passing by the exit of Eldon, Missouri on my way back to Illinois.

"This is how we do things in Spokane,"

says Lacie.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Heading back to Missouri

I spent Monday in the car. I left Savoy, IL at 9:20 am, stopped for lunch with my LiaBraaten grandparents in Mt. Vernon, IL and arrived at the Elliott LiaBraaten residence in Spokane, MO at 6:30 pm. It was a beautiful day for driving. I decided to snap a picture as I drove into the setting sun.

Can you say YUMMY???

We tried to tell our host that we REALLY were too full for dessert, and it was the truth. However, we managed to completely devour this delicious fried ice cream between all of us.

Another wee one

Isn't she precious?! (The baby) :-)

FRESH BREAD

Is there anything more delicious???

Reaching the finish line

We ended last week by attending two funerals. One was for a 100-year-old lady that I had known all my life. The other was for a 61-year-old man I had never met. We sang hymn #102, "Life at Best is Very Brief," at one of our recent Gospel Meetings, and that thought was really driven home as we witnessed the finish of two lives. I'm sure that even Kathryn, with nearly 101 years "under her belt", would have told us that it was a very brief span of time. With that in mind, it makes one realize how worthwhile it is to spend the brief life we are given for something that will endure beyond the span of time.

We've got youth on our side

And this is definitely a good crew to have as your friends!

Engrossed in a good book

Checking out the action beside her

Lynae gets a little help with the alphabet puzzle she is diligently working on.

Meanwhile, another puzzle is getting a few pieces added to it by the "older" crowd.

Traffic jam!

Laura plays a few hymns for our listening enjoyment.

A wonderful evening! We'll have to do it again sometime. :-)

The Greatest Generation

On Tuesday, Jan. 15, Ardith, Lynae and I visited with two couples of the Greatest Generation. Floyd was in Germany after WWII was over as part of the occupying force. Bob, on the other hand, was a gunner during the war. He and the rest of his crew flew from England over Germany, dropping bombs. On one mission, the plane was hit. Fortunately, Bob had time to put his parachute on. Unfortunately, he was captured and became a POW for a couple of months before the war was over. In a few years, we will no longer have the opportunity to hear these stories firsthand, but let us never forget their sacrifice.

Post #500 is dedicated to...

the piano fixers.

As I was playing the piano the other day, I heard something "pop", and the sustain pedal ceased to function. Lynae and I decided that we could handle that. (Well, I actually had no clue, but Lynae seemed to know what she was doing.) We popped off the bottom wall underneath the keyboard and lifted the lid on top. Sure enough, we saw the long stick (the technical name, of course) that had popped out of place. With a little stretching and reaching (and holding our tongues just right), we had it back where it should be. And what do you know... the sustain worked!

Lynae shows off her piano fixing muscles.

Is the problem down here???

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Thought for the day

Laughter helps. It's like jogging on the inside.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Could it get any better?!

January 10, 2013 was just a good day. Here's a little outline summary.

Specially prepared "coffee beverage" to sip while I read my Bible
A lovely breakfast of blueberry pancakes and bacon with one of our friends, her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend
Good spiritual conversations at the breakfast table and afterwards We stood at the door with our backpacks on our backs and just couldn't leave. It was that good!
Stopped by the Decatur Public Library to see about changing our meeting dates for January Mission accomplished. New midweek Gospel Meeting dates in Decatur: Wed., Jan. 16, Thurs., Jan. 24 and Thurs., Jan. 31
Helped my little friend, Gwendolyn, put together her Thomas the Train puzzle Said a quick hello to the grown-ups in the house as well
Ate lunch with one of our ninety-something-year-old friends at her assisted living facility in addition to enjoying some profitable conversation with her
Picked up mail on our way west and enjoyed reading nice letters from farther-away friends as we journeyed along in the car
Enjoyed a lovely evening with good friends - delicious supper and visit around the table, beautiful music by the blazing fire, laughter and tears
Fell asleep to happy thoughts and the sound of falling rain

To answer the question in the blog title - maybe, but I'm not sure how.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Thought for the day

Sometimes God asks us to give up things that aren't bad or wrong. He just knows that if we hang on to them, they could come between us and Him. How much do we value that relationship? Could we trust Him enough to just do what He asks?