Made it to MONTANA

We finally made it to Montana and worked at Beartooth Mountain Christian Ranch this June. It is such beautiful country, and we truly enjoyed the chance to work at a busy summer camp. Scott did painting and various repairs. Cynthia, Sadie and Emma worked in the kitchen.

Fun in North Carolina

We stayed with friends Darlene and David Bone, from Murphy, North Carolina. They have a lovely mountain home and took us sight-seeing to the Nantahala National Forest, and Fields of the Wood. Darlene set up 2 concerts for us at nearby churches. We had a great time there.

Sweet Home Alabama

Calera, Alabama, just 30 miles south of Birmingham was where we spent February, 2010. We made several trips to the city for fun and sightseeing. Below is the world's largest cast iron statue: The Vulcan. Created for the 1904 World's Fair. From the observation deck, we got a great panoramic view of the city.

On another day, we took a homeschool field trip with the Gober family and went to American Village. One of the buildings featured an exact replica of the Oval Office. Here's Emma on the Eagle rug.

....and Sadie at the executive desk!!
We had a great time rollerskating twice while in Alabama.

Christmas 2009

While at New Start Church, Cynthia sang with the choir in the Christmas program.

At the church Christmas party, here are Ernest and Dale, and Rose and Jerry Davidson. Walking behind them is Emma and Sadie's friend Caitlin. This is the church fellowship hall, where we enjoyed many lunches during work weeks, and a bluegrass music jam one Friday night.

Chris, Crystal and Tara at the Christmas party.Emma participated in the children's Christmas program and played the part of Mary. She sang a solo in "Isn't He?"

One evening we went to Karen and Bobby's house for food, fellowship and music. Here are sisters Karen and Donna showing us some hot licks.

Washington D.C.

Here we are standing between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Monument.

We visited our nation's capitol in late October, 2009. We were in awe of the magnificent buildings and monuments - and didn't have nearly enough time to see all that we wanted.We toured 4 of the Smithsonian museums - entrance is free, but parking is not - and that was a hassle. The museums are great - and we can't wait to get a chance to go back.

We took a guided tour of the Library of Congress. A truly magnificent building - and I hardly saw any actual books inside! We couldn't go in the reading rooms!

GOD BLESS AMERICA - the LAND OF THE FREE!

New York City ! ! ! !

Our first trip turned out to be a cloudy day - but we enjoyed the train ride down from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central Station. Then we rode a city bus down to Battery Park. After 2 security checks, we were allowed aboard the ferry that took us to Liberty Island. There she is...We walked around the base, then inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. It was quite a view of Manhattan from just the pedestal balcony.On our second visit to "the city". We met up with our friends from Kansas, the Hanson family. We toured Central Park, and the Natural History Museum. There are a lot of bones in that place!! Then a subway ride over to the Astor Theater for a matinee performance of the Blue Man Group. It exceeded our expectations - we were thoroughly entertained!!

After that - a trip to Times Square and then to a famous Pizza place.

If I weren't such a country girl, I'd move here. :-)

We made it to the BIG APPLE!

Made it to Maine

One Saturday we headed out in the car from Windsor, New Hampshire and drove all the way to the Atlantic coast in the state of Maine. Sounds far - but it was just over an hour's drive.
Below is the Nubble Lighthouse.

A little too chilly to swim - but warm enough to enjoy a walk along the beach in Maine.

As we drove through Ogunquit, Maine, we saw this beautiful stone library. Just had to take a picture.

Niagara Falls

The Prowell family had a fantastic time exploring the Niagara Falls area. We are so glad we could make it up there for a few days of R&R before heading to the next work project.

Exploring around Pittsburgh

From Mt. Chestnut outside of Butler, we drove 30 miles to downtown Pittsburgh, PA. There we spent time on the campus of University of Pittsburgh. Here is the Carnegie Library. It's just part of a massive structure also housing a history museum and art gallery.Here is the impressive Cathedral of Learning. Tallest schoolroom in the world. It looks like a medieval castle inside and around the perimeter are rooms depicting education in other countries around the world. This was awesome.

For fun one weekend, we attended the Butler Farm Show with Dr. Steve and Glenda Dillman. We looked at all the farm animals, tractors, and rode some rides.

Visiting Cade & Vicki in Ohio

After we left Indiana, we drove through Columbus, OH and to Cade & Vicki's house on the East side of town. We had a great weekend together. One day we drove downtown to visit the sights. First we visited a huge book store called The Book Loft. Room after room on several floors - we got lost for hours.
Then down by the river to see a replica of The Santa Maria. Legend has it that Christopher Columbus got this far inland - so they named the city after him. I'm skeptical about thatBack home, Cade gave Emma some archery pointers in the back yard. You should have seen their awesome garden, too!

Trip to Downtown Indianapolis

One Friday in July, Emma and I drove to downtown Indianapolis and had some fun. Here is the war memorial that is the centerpiece. It is a masterpiece.

On the circle around the monument sits one of the oldest churches in the city. We went inside and heard the noontime pipe organ recital.

There is an amazing glass structure called Artsgarden that connects the shopping mall to an office building and hotel.We went to the food court and ordered sandwiches at Chick Fil A - then went to the Artsgarden to eat -with traffic driving right beneath on the city street.While we ate, a jazz ensemble entertained us - isn't this a cool stage?

Camper Registration

On Monday another week of children's camp started here at Camp Camby. My job was to collect the money campers brought to spend at Snack Shack. I love that job. The table next to mine was the camp nurse. Kids brought in medications for her safekeeping, and also got their heads examined. . . . For lice. During slow spells at the snack sales table, I would watch the nurse at work.
We'd only been at our stations for 30 minutes when an adult rushed through the doors carrying a young boy on his back. The boys legs stuck out straight on either side of the counselor. One foot had a flip flop on it, the other had a bloody napkin. Following close behind were 8 nervous-looking boys. They swarmed the nurse's table and the boy was placed in a chair. After initial examination, the nurse assured everyone that the boy wouldn't require stitches OR amputation (big sigh from the patient's friends). He just needed the wound cleaned and bandaged. I motioned to one of the witnesses to come over to my table to tell me what had happened. With great
animation, he explained that their group had gone out front to pose for a picture, and then on the way back, just happened to find a parked trailer and decided to high jump over the hitch. All had passed this feat - except for the boy now crying at the nurse's station.

At this point, children waiting for their lice inspection were piling up. I scratched my head wondering what to do (just the mention of head lice makes me itch). I had observed the nurse doing this job and felt I could help out. I moved over to that end of the table and announced to the first camper in line - I'll check you for lice. This went well for several heads - I was feeling confident. I would look at the child's nametag, and chat with them casually as I ran my fingers through their hair looking for unwanted guests. As I was checking Tommy's head, I mentioned to him I was just looking around for "bugs". He replied, "Oh, I haven't had any bugs for a LONG
time." Thanks, Tommy. Define "LONG". I passed Tommy anyway and let the next child sit down. He had a buzz haircut. That's the best kind for lice checks, in my opinion. I went over his whole head and didn't find lice, just some crumbs leftover from the cookie eaten on the way here. I noticed he wasn't wearing his nametag, so I said, "Hey, kid - you'll want to stop by the front table and find your nametag.". . . . "Oh, I'm not going to camp, we're just here to bring my brother." "Oh really", I replied- "well consider this your complimentary scalp massage. Have a nice day."

4th of July in Louisville

We spent 4th of July weekend in Louisville, KY visiting friends Steve and Lisa. They live right by the Ohio river, and keep their sailboat docked just a short walk from their home. It was a cloudy day, but the rain held off and we went for a nice ride.

This is Sadie and Emma with Amelia, Steve & Lisa's granddaughter.Captain Steve at the helm.Back at the house for a music jam. Here is Lisa, Amelia, and Sarah. Joel was playing blues guitar, and Steve was playing harmonica. Scott was playing mandolin. I'm putting the video on facebook.

If we got thirsty or hungry for pretzels, Emma and grandson Caleb were ready at the Tiki Bar.

Scott and Steve playing music outside beside the pool and Tiki Bar.