50th Anniversary

Last weekend we attended a wedding and watched as a new home and marriage were established. This weekend we were on the other end of the scale and attended a 50th anniversary celebration for my sister and her husband.

 

1965

 

2015

 

The scary part of all this is that was that I was maid of honor at their wedding and, like it or not, I have to admit my memories stretch back more than 50 years. I seems that should be my grandmother, not me. How swiftly time flies!

Someone once asked, "What is more beautiful than a young couple on their wedding day?" The answer was, "An old couple who have stuck together through thick and thin all their lives."
Congratulations on 50 years of sticking together and still being able to say, "You're the one."

Flying Trip

We made a (low) flying trip to South Carolina to attend a wedding on Saturday, June 20. The groom has worked with Leroy for years (which is how we got an invitation) and he wanted to go.

We left on Friday morning and drove all the way to Piedmont, South Carolina, where we had reserved a motel. Traffic around Charlotte was terrible and it took us an extra 1.5 hours to get around the city. Tip of the day: Don't try to go through Charlotte on a Friday afternoon! We finally reached our motel a little after 8 p.m. More than twelve hours of driving is too much for people our age. By the time we got there Leroy was saying we'll never do this again (go so far for a wedding).

We had 45 miles to drive to the wedding at Abbeville Saturday morning and got there in good time. The couple met on a mission trip to Mexico and the reception had a tropical theme. The bridal party sat at these tables.

 

 We had made arrangements to stay with friends near Yanceyville, North Carolina, on Saturday night and go to their church Sunday morning. We had a long haul from Abbeville to Yanceyville so we left as soon as the reception was over and headed north.
On the way, we passed through an area of South Carolina where a lot of peaches are grown. Even the town's water tank is shaped like a peach. We stopped at a fruit stand at Cowpens to buy a dozen fresh peaches and a pint of peach cider. That was something new to us.

 We spent the night with the Kelvin Good family and went to church with them Sunday morning. Their church is a new outreach of South Boston, Virginia, and the small group meets in a rented building. They always have a fellowship meal afterward, which was appreciated. We ate and were ready to be on our way by 1 p.m.
We had another long haul home and were pushing it in order to get in on the tail end of a viewing. We made it with ten minutes to spare. We drove 1379 miles in three days, which was kind of crazy. We just have too much on the calendar this spring and summer. Every time I think things will slow down another curve ball gets thrown at me. Maybe NOW I can catch my breath.

Family Weekend

The second weekend in June is our Family Weekend. We used to alternate between going to our cabin in Union County one year and doing a day trip the next. But the family outgrew the cabin and it was getting too hard for me to keep everything organized on a day trip. I resigned from being coordinator and let our children take over. They decided to just go to a cabin every year, which is fine with me.

We have the second weekend of June reserved at the same cabin every year and I like it there. It's big enough for all of us to be under one roof and is not far from home so we don't have to drive two hours yet after we leave. Even though it's not far from home, it is in a secluded spot of the mountain where there isn't even a signal for a cell phone.

There was 31 of us this year but I thought I could tell the grandchildren are getting older. It wasn't as noisy as it used to be. Everyone could choose their own activities and all sorts of things happened. I was satisfied just to watch but I did get caught up in putting together a 1000-piece puzzle. I haven't done a jigsaw puzzle for years but once I got started I couldn't let it alone. We started this one Saturday afternoon and someone finished it after I went to bed at 10:30. It was a tough one.

 

 

On Saturday evening one of the oldest grandsons showed us his pictures from a recent mission trip to Turkey.

 

The youngest in attendance was a one-week-old foster baby who basically slept through the weekend.

 

 

It's always good to get the entire family together and reconnect, but I sure am glad they all are capable of having their own homes. I'm too old to have a family this size on a daily basis but I can enjoy one weekend. I came home suffering from too much rich food and too little sleep and went to bed at 8 p.m. I feel much better this morning and am ready to do it again next year.

Here are a few more choice shots from the weekend.

 





Gifted Ladies

God has put into the heart of women the desire to be creative. That desire finds expression in various ways. Some women make beautiful quilts, some are fabulous cooks, some know how to take ordinary things and put them together in a beautiful display. I don't piece quilts, my cooking is nothing to crow about, and I'm not much of a decorator. But this weekend I watched women exercising their talents at a ladies retreat at my daughter's church.

My daughter and granddaughter made all the food on this dessert bar Friday evening.

 

 

 Another lady did the decorating.

 

 

Notice the cupcake bouquet on the corner. The cupcake were nothing special but the way they were put together was artistic.

 

 Coffee, tea, and other hot drinks rounded out the menu.

 

One more gifted lady was the speaker who dished out the spiritual food in three sessions Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon. It's beautiful to see how everyone can blend their talents to make something special. I was privileged to be part of it as a mere listener. There was much rich spiritual and natural food crammed into this weekend.

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us. . . " (Romans 12:6)