Celebrating 70 Years: More from our Virginia Trip

Situated somewhere in the South Pacific on a naval ship serving his country during World War II, John lay in his room listening to his bunkmate talk about his pen pals back in the states.  Intrigued, and probably a little jealous of his fellow sailor's connection to the outside world, he asked, "Do you think I could write one of them?"  And so it began.  John, a boy from Virginia, began writing Carolyn, a girl from Indiana.  When his naval duties were complete he made his way to meet the girl behind the pen... and asked for her hand in marriage...

 

WEDNESDAY 

This September they celebrate 70 years of marriage.  Since several of our extended family were together, we decided to celebrate a little early...

 Sweet Caroline came with her mama (my cousin) all the way from Chicago...

 This cutie being sung to by her grandma (my aunt who was up from Florida)...

My bro-n-law David, Uncle Rich and Uncle Bob enjoying the view.

 My grandparents along with my great aunt (pictured far left who was down from Ohio)...

 Gathering to pray...

 a sweet time...

 Time to eat!

 Sweet times...

 Dad (and my mom who is pictured above with her sister, Cindy) = the host and hostess with the most-est! :-)

 My cousin, Vivian (a.k.a. Cedarville's finest!), modeling grandma's (which would be her great aunt) wedding dress...

THURSDAY

Our family along with my sister, Jessica's family headed to Busch Gardens (a 20 minute drive from my parents' new home)...

 Meanwhile, my sister, Priscilla, took two of her three children to Virginia Beach.  They are a beach loving family currently stationed in Upstate New York.  This was a MUST for them to get to enjoy and rightly so! :-)

 Following a delicious (and expensive - ha!) German meal at Oktoberfest at BG, it was time for a little bumper cars...

 We had a rainy day at the Gardens which didn't hinder our fun.  It definitely made for no lines on rides (when the rides were actually running).  Ashe, who was celebrating his 8th birthday, was the kid of the day.  It was so sweet watching his cousins and big sister serve him by sharing prizes and buying treats (James bought him ice cream and a giant lollipop with his own money)... precious time together...

 The aviary = loved it!

 Especially this friendly little guy...

 James - bird whisperer...

 Victoria admiring the rescued bald eagles... what amazing creatures!  

 Isabel, playing the part, ha ha...

 James, Angela, Jana and my favorite ride - the Griffon!  Front row of course!

 Tony met a friend while waiting on us to ride the Log Flume.  HiLARious.  The little guy just wanted a piece of his ice cream cone.

We had a wonderful day out at the park topped off with a birthday party celebration back at mom and dad's...  All of this translated to = exhaustion! 

FRIDAY

A day of rest and returning.  Ann stopped back by to visit before catching her flight back to Chicago.

 It was also Ann's birthday!  Happy birthday cuz!

 Mom, while up in Michigan with her sister earlier this year, had found "Charles McCarthy" at a yard sale for two dollars (hence the name "Two-Buck Chuck").  Caroline was not sure what to think about Two-Buck Chuck...

 Jude-buddy and his cousin, James...

 Caroline taking Two-Buck Chuck down, ha ha...

 Isabella and Payton back in the pool...

 Dad overlooking things...

 James enjoyed so many things about mom and dad's new place.... fishing, kayaking and scaring off snakes with PopPop's bb gun...

 Jessica putting their dog, Koa (Hawaiian word for "warrior"), in the kayak with James...

 He was not so sure about his mama's actions...

 Soli was not happy about his friend, Koa, being forced out to 'sea'... ha.

 Snapping a few shots with grandma... I'm not sure we're related (*insert sarcasm*:-)

 Angela, child whisperer... 

Jude was passed out.

 Such a peaceful place... love watching the egrets...

 Cousins...

 Time to say farewell... :-(

 WHAT a blessing SISTERS are!  

 Our last few hours together was topped off with a visit from a dear family friend AND former babysitter of ours, Lety.  We shared a few places of station with the dear Pena family including Virginia and Hawaii.  

 Representing North Carolina, New York and Virginia... maybe one day we'll all live closer.  Blessed nonetheless.

 By God's grace, we all made it home safely (us late Friday night and my two New Yorker sisters on Saturday).  We made it home to a box of pre-release first set of books Tony, Daniel Akin and David Platt are editors for: Christ-Centered Exposition commentaries.  So exciting!  The first book has 1&2 Timothy and Titus.  These hit bookshelves soon!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17

We praise God for his gracious gift of family, of friends and most importantly, of his Son our Savior, Jesus Christ.  May you rest in His grace and provision today!