Trip out east - Day 3

On Monday we spent the day exploring Colonial Williamsburg. It was a very educational day - lots of history lessons mixed in with entertainment. The kids really enjoyed themselves! I was impressed with what good troopers they were even in the heat - 87! I am NOT a fan of the heat, so I had to work hard not to be whiny! :/

Here are a few photos from the day...

I went to a "conversation with Martha Washington." It was somewhat interesting and in an air conditioned venue!!! :)

Kirsten & I ended up in the stocks!

Leah wasn't tall enough to fit in the regular stocks, so we stuck her in these! She loved it!

Marcus & Simon did a little time as well.

We went to a performance at the Play Booth - it was fun and entertaining!

Trip out east - day 2

Sunday, June 23rd we drove from the Bornman's place near Lancaster, PA to our Wyndham resort in Williamsburg, VA.

Marcus & Simon were quite engrossed in the Wii at the Bornman's...playing until the last possible second before we left!

Since our route to Williamsburg had us traveling near Washington DC we decided that it would be cool to drive into the city and see some of the sights. Traffic was a mess in the city and finding parking ended up being a majorly stressful part of the trip. We did find parking and had a fun time walking around looking at the "best" things in DC...the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the White House!

I'm pretty sure that my camera, NOT the Washington Monument, was leaning for this photo!

Self portrait in front of the Washington Monument.

I've been spending hours in the gym this summer getting ready to lift this! So worth all the hard work and sweat! :)

I think the White House is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

I liked this photo.

Me & the Housholder kiddos in front of Honest Abe!

A cool photo of the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Trip out east - day 1

A view from my car of the Pennsylvania Turnpike!

On Saturday, June 20th I left at 8:45 AM to embark on a 2 1/2 to 3 week trip out East to see old friends and new sights! I traveled the first leg with my friends Paul & Kirsten Housholder and their children(Marcus, Simon, & Leah.) We drove from Goshen to Lancaster, PA. When we arrived in Lancaster we stayed with some friends that used to go to church with us - Jonathan and Carol Bornman who recently returned from the mission field in Senegal. It was SO good to reconnect with them. My only complaint about our visit with them was that it was too short! :)

Marcus in the tree at one of the rest stops on the Ohio Turnpike.

Skipping ahead

So, I am behind on my blog...about 5 weeks behind actually. I am on a 2 1/2 to 3 week trip currently and decided I don't want to wait until I return to get caught up completely, so.... I will pick up with the start of my current trip. I will post the missing weeks when I return to Goshen (I can't do them now because those photos are on my computer at home) in a few weeks. Look for a new post soon! :)

Haly's bridal shower

The blushing bride-to-be!

Haly is getting married in July! Her roommate from college is her maid of honor and wanted to throw a shower during May. Since I've planned several showers I gladly lent a hand by helping her brainstorm ideas and contributing some food (brownie bites and mini cheesecakes) for the refreshments. It was lots of fun!

We started by playing a silly game called the "Farmer's Love Letter." It was a fill in the blank sheet that consisted of a love letter from a farmer to his love. All blanks were to be filled in with the names of various fruits & vegetables. This was particularly funny because David (Haly's fiance) grew up on a family farm.

After that we played "How well do you know the bride?" There were 20 questions about Haly and/or her relationship with David. This was my favorite game - partly because I won the game, and partly because it was where we learned some funny new things about Haly & David. One tidbit that I found particularly funny was that their first kiss actually happened in MY apartment! I was on vacation in England and had left my key with Haly so that she and David could cook dinner and hang out in my place...little did I know that their first kiss would happen there! I was shocked that no one had ever told me about that...it was over 2 years ago! I about fell off the chair from laughter when I found this out! :)

Then we played the game where teams make wedding dresses out of newspaper. Here are some photos of that...

Amy's mom Mary making Jill into a fashionable newspaper bride.

The newspaper veil was a creative idea of Ashley's.

I've seen Haly's actual dress...it's much lovelier than this one that Amy & Kat created!

The newspaper brides - Anne, Haly, Anna, and Jill

And then we ate some tasty refreshments while Haly opened her gifts.

Haly with the fun cake that Amy's mom had made for the shower.

Shower guests
front - Jill, Danae, and Kat
middle - Anna, Liz, Amy, Haly, and Ashley
back - Anne, Amanda, Rachel, me, and Annalisa

They strung up photos of Haly & David above the fireplace for a personalized garland. I really liked how that turned out!

Farewell to Alex

For 4 years I worked on a Residence Life team with Chad and Alex. Alex left after the 07-08 school year to lead our SST program in Peru for the 08-09 school year. He will not return to his position in Residence Life after leading that program, instead he will further his education by working on his MBA. He returned at the end of April to finish things at Goshen before heading off to grad school. Our department hosted a farewell for him one afternoon during May. I catered the event and thought it turned out very nicely!

Alex & me at Buffalo Wild Wings one afternoon during May term.

The "spread" for Alex's farewell - chips & salsa, guacamole, fresh fruit, tuxedo brownie bites, and my raspberry punch.

A closer view of the fruit tray and the brownie bites...yummmm!

Mother's Day 2009

Mom and Jake

For Mother's Day I took my mom out for lunch at Cracker Barrel - one of her favorite places to eat! I also invited my nephew Jake and my niece Megan & her kids to join us. We had a delicious meal and enjoyed being together. Mom loves to take photos on the rockers out in front of the store, so we made sure to do that!

Gavin, Megan, Mom, Jake, and Lily

Megan, Jake, & Lily

me and the kids
Gavin, Megan, me, Jake and Lily

Lily & Gavin crack me up!

Lily and Gavin are my niece Megan's kids. So, they are my great niece and nephew, right? Anyway, however they are related isn't really the topic of this post. It's more about how these kids take the cutest/funniest photos! We took Mom out to Cracker Barrel on Mother's Day and these are some of the shots of Lily and Gavin that I love!

Lily poking Jake's nose...how cute!

Gavin "reading" his menu.

Lily is constantly in motion...here I think her face resembles Picasso's "Scream"

Here she is scared or grossed out or something!

Silly girl thinking.

Gavin & Lily "reading" their Mother's Day cards to Megan.

Lily rocking on the IU kiddie rocker.

Stamp Out Hunger

On Saturday, May 9th there were several service opportunities in the Goshen Community. I decided that I wanted to help with the "Stamp Out Hunger" project which was a joint venture between the US Postal Service and the United Way. I spent the morning driving around Goshen with two teenage girls picking up bags of groceries that residents had left sitting under their mailboxes. We did that for about 3 hours. After that I had some pizza for lunch and then spent the afternoon helping to sort the food and organize it in the stockroom. I was amazed with the sheer volume of food that was collected, but then was a bit discouraged by the fact that all that food would only last a month or so in the food pantry. The need in our community is so high right now given the loss of jobs in the RV industry.

A bag of food under a mailbox waiting for us to collect it!

The back of my car was packed out...several times!

Cinco de Mayo 2009

May 5th we celebrated Cinco de Mayo in my residence halls. I normally do a smaller scale celebration in my apartment for 20-25 students and do the cooking myself. This year, due to some generous grant money, I was able to do the event on a much broader scale and invite the entire building! We bought food from locally owned authentic Mexican restaurants. The turn out was excellent and people had a really fun time!

Mary, Ashley and Ashley by the colorful drink table.

Wasn't the table pretty?
The pinata was our decoration during the meal and entertainment afterwards!

Residents of Kratz/Miller enjoying the spread!

Kids dive for candy...no matter what their age!

Julie and Ashley can't seem to behave themselves! :)

Special guests from the west!

My friends Jeron & Leah moved to Kansas last summer. He took a coaching job at Hesston College (where they and I attended...about 15 years apart!) They were in town on May 3rd and dropped by for a visit. Here they are in my living room with Jenna (Leah's cousin and my RA.)

Jenna, Jeron, & Leah

Sonic Good!

Daisy and I concluded our evening with a meal that we both LOVE....corn dogs and tator tots at Sonic. We also took some silly photos of ourselves while there!

Gotta love a good corn dog!

And a cherry limeade...though I think she got the green apple slush.

Silly cross-eyed gals!

Our true form comes out!

My special Daisy & me (and the air freshener she picked out for my car!)