An Anniversary, VBS, and A Few Family Members Come to Town

Oh, and we were in the newspaper last week too. 

I started to type, first things first, but that's not going to happen in this post because, well I feel like showing you our sweet family that came to town instead of chronological order. Maybe six weeks ago Fallon told me that she and Bill would be going on a "babymoon" which confused me mightily, having never heard the term before then. Clever readers will most likely immediately get what it means, but I never once said that I am clever, so I was stymied. In case you are like me in the camp that says, what the heck?, let me explain. Really it is so simple when you see it written, nevertheless, all it means is a trip for the couple before they have a baby. Got it? 

Fallon told me that they were visiting Ellijay and when I suggested they come to see us she thought it might be too far. Fortunately, once we explained that it really was not far at all, especially when you factor in that there is so little traffic, they agreed. Meanwhile, when they were driving our way, it came to me that it might be neat if we took Fallon out to the "four lane" and pose her amidst the flower mass. When I mentioned the idea to Bruce, little did I know that she would arrive wearing a very dramatic dress that would most certainly make for an even better photograph!  Posing the question if she would want to do it, and being the sweet girl that she is, she agreed, really not knowing what I meant by either the four lane or the flowers. In other words, she's a good sport! We enjoyed lunch at Murphy Chop House which is but a block away.

From there we drove to the flowers. One batch is golden yellows, and one batch is more multi colored. I adored it last year and took countless photographs and I don't remember any red amongst them, but holy cow, here they are! 

She's handing off her mobile phone for Bruce to use, whereas her mother-in-law was using the big guns!

It could not have been any more perfect and to think it was all unplanned makes it all the more special. Although in the photos it doesn't show, she was slightly freaked out at the number of bees dining on the Zinnias and can you blame her?

Fallon loves being in the mountains, so it just makes my heart sing to think she will always have this memento of before the baby, who they plan to name Christian, is born.

So that was super exciting, as was the ending of VBS. Oh my goodness I had no idea how it would all work, but others knew what they were doing! First there was a program on Thursday evening,

followed by an outdoor party that included snow cones,

and hot dogs.

The kids enjoyed that, but what they really liked were the water slides set up in the parking lot.

Throughout the week the children were in a contest by grades as to who could bring in the most offering for a mission that benefits children in Africa. It was fun watching the tubs fill up as the week progressed. 

The prize for the winning class was something that took me by surprise because even though our pastor Wil is a good sport, well watching this happen was something else! This is after having taken a shaving cream pie to the face! Is it any wonder the kids love him?

As the "official photographer" I was privileged to see all of the grades doing fun stuff from playing with worms, to doing science experiments, to outdoor play. I will admit that after five days I was tired, but honored to have been lucky enough to take a part. 

Did I tell you that they fed the children first? 

It was a scuba diving theme, which forgive me, I believe I already mentioned. Anyway, those little cups of Cheetos etc were meant to represent underwater coral. Very cute. Plus, that watermelon was delicious which is certainly not a given. Fruit is very finicky!

On my walk home one evening, I saw this guy outside his burrow across from the house.

Eventually he scampered back underground.

In my last post I mentioned the Spider lilies but I neglected to show you how they came to be.

Just popped up out of the ground alongside the old stone wall! I cut some before they declined and am glad I did because they are almost finished showing off.

VBS happened in the evening ,so our regular bi-weekly free lunch went on as usual Thursday. Bette asked if I could bring a dessert to which I replied in the affirmative. Perhaps you recall that I bought a Bundt cake pan at the sale two weeks ago? Did I mention it? I was happy to use it and made a Chocolate Sour Cream cake. All went well until it was time to take it out of the pan after a long cooling period. Holy cow, not again!!

The sad thing is that the cake is delicious, however, it stayed home with us and I had to bring whatever I had in the cupboard which was Vanilla Wafers! Not a popular choice, but it was something.  The cake pan, btw, went into the garbage can. I did not throw out the cake because it was so tasty and we had it with ice cream for breakfast. I served Bruce and said happy birthday for good measure.

One of the folks that volunteers brought in the best homegrown tomatoes that I was lucky enough to take home.

Actually I ate most of the cherry tomatoes while we were there! Nothing like homegrown, that's for sure. 

It is going to seem as if all we do is volunteer for church related activities and to tell you the truth, it has been super busy, but seemingly activities just happened to bottle up. So while I was doing VBS stuff, Bruce was asked to help mow the grass at Harshaw Chapel, the oldest building in Murphy. Before the current church was built in 1922, the First Methodist met in the building pictured below.

As you can see it is in very rough shape with efforts in place to raise money for restoration. Bruce is chatting with Tony, the first guy to begin the mowing. It took multiple people many hours, but finally it has been completed. Apparently the city used to mow it and for whatever reason, no longer does. 

Saturday, Bruce along with six other men, laid out the 70 foot ramp Bruce designed for Tom. What a project. Bushes were removed, post holes dug and string line was placed. As I type, Bruce is out there with the building inspector, hoping what they have done so far will pass. I sure hope so. He has been struggling with a back ache which hasn't made it any easier. As such, we are taking the week off and not playing pickleball so we both can be at our best when Nancy drives Matt and Tom here on Saturday! Today the weather could not be any more spectacular with low humidity, a light breeze, a Carolina blue sky and 82 degrees. 

Speaking of Matt and Tom, yesterday morning Bruce and I were on a recognizance mission when my phone rang. It was the local florist saying she was delivering something to the house and should she leave it? For some reason I thought she said it was a plant, so I agreed. Well, when we returned about four in the afternoon, it was not a plant at all, but a gorgeous arrangement from those two for our 51st anniversary which was Sunday.

Rambling Rose here in Murphy does an excellent job for sure. 

Have you ever seen a bit coin mine before? Now you have. It is loud! (near Tom's house)

I realized the Super Moon was happening so went out front to find it. That's the big house at the end of our street and the street lamp. 

Around the corner from that house, one day I took a walk, and the vibrancy of the Crepe Myrtles is really something. They are all over our community in Orlando but folks, they do not look nearly as good, perhaps because of the heat?

Lastly, here's something funny. Hank called Bruce last Thursday to tell him that they had made the newspaper.

That would be Bruce's back at the end of the picnic table and Hank standing up. What I don't think he noticed was me in my red dress taking a picture, that amusingly, was in last week's Camera Crazy. I am standing in front of Nancy. Too funny was my reaction! 

We are counting the days until our family arrives! We do so love it here but there's nothing quite like family is there?

your friend,

Gail