Family Visit

A few weeks, I was absolutely delighted, over-the-moon, (etc) that my sister, her children, sister-in-law and her daughter came to visit us!  Since we've lived in New York (almost 5 years now) and even in Baltimore (2 years before that), not many family members from my side have visited us.  

On Dan's side of the family, his mom has come to see us both in Baltimore AND here at least 4 times.  His dad came once in Baltimore and twice since we've been in NY.  His brother and sister-in-law have come once in MD and once here, his Sister and brother-in-law have come once in MD and once in NY...

But on my side of the family, my sister Sarah and her family came once in MD and NY, my parents came once to MD and NY, and Martha came once (though it was a very short trip, only one quick day) to MD and NY. 

I'm not complaining because I understand it isn't easy to make trips with little kids.  

That's why we feel so honored and privileged each time any family makes the long trek up here.  

6 1/2 hours is no ball game with 6 children in the car! 

  

We had pretty nice weather while Lydia and Elisabeth and the kids visited us, so we tried to get outdoors! 

Took them to the Fort William Henry Fort in Lake George.  I'd never been there, but it was the only fort in the area that was open (most of them are seasonal for tourism).  There were lots of aspects that were closed and unavailable (like the cannon and musket demonstrations and the living history portion of it), and it was raining the whole time we were there....PLUS the water pipes had burst, so there were no bathrooms, save the one jiffy John.  But besides all those strikes, it was still nice!  I will probably go back again in future.  

My nieces and Nephews love history, and I think that is so cool, because of course...I do too.  :-) 

There were some wax figures behind glass windows inside the fort, depicting soldier life, etc.  One place had a man having his fake leg being amputated.  My poor niece was quite frightened.  I didn't know it at the time, but Gwen thought it was scary too.  Later that night and for subsequent nights, she prayed that God would heal the man's leg.  :-) 

They stayed for 2 nights.  One day, we showed them the farm, and then came back to the house and made sandwiches and took our picnic down to the waterfall.  The water was super high and roaring. 

After our meal, Dan took my three oldest nephews and niece (and Gwen, who loves to tag along and won't take naps anymore) back to the farm to explore/work. 

Then they went to the tire place to get the truck inspected.  Annnnd from the looks of the photo, they got some orange cream bars :-)

Earlier that day, we went to Whitehall quickly to see the birthplace of the US Navy, the hull of the USS Ticonderoga, and the Skene Manor up on the hill. 

The next day, we drove them to see the house we finished and sold last year and then hiked up the slate mound in Pawlet. Each of the kids were gathering hunks of slate to take home for their treasures.  Gwen and Lucie tried to also collect some, but I made them throw it back because slate is everywhere here and we can get it anytime. 

We saw the cave on our little hike/walk.  The hill was too steep to climb down though, with little children. 

That afternoon, Lydia and Elisabeth treated us to lunch at Ambrosia Diner in Queensbury, and then they loaded up and headed home.  

It was a refreshing time for me.  I love to be with family, and I miss family, being so far away from them.  Anytime we get to spend with family is a treat.  This was one of the first times that family came and visited when the weather wasn't absolutely freezing/icy and snowy.  So being able to go places was also really fun.  

We were grateful that they made the long trip up here and already look forward to there hopefully being another one in future!

Visiting Pennsylvania and Family

 It's been awhile since I've had a visit with my family.  We went back in January of 2021 and any other trips we took were because of a quick stop-over on our way to TN, or because of the passing of my Grandma last year.  

I've been intending to visit PA for a couple days- like, not a rushed trip, but one where we could take time to see folks.  It worked out perfectly that we left on Sunday after church and got to my parents' home by 9:45pm.  

On Monday morning, Dan went with my dad to run a few errands and the girls and I went and visited Oliver's pigs up the road.  Man, were they massive!!!  

I dropped in on my sister Katie too.  The girls had fun playing outside with their cousins while we chatted.

When we got home, the girls had their naps (which I photographed because...well, because they look hilarious).

Then we helped outside in the greenhouse for a bit.

The next day I was able to see my brother Oliver and his daughter.  That was nice, albeit short.

Tuesday evening we went over to my sister, Lydia's house for dinner.  The girls loved hanging out with their cousins and playing.  They even got to have a picnic dinner on the deck!

Here are Lydia and I.  I'm getting too old to take photos of my meals, but Lydia's dinner was chill, filling and super fun.  We had chicken tenders, fresh-cut vegetables, fruit, and even donuts and cookies.  YUM.  Especially the cream-filled donuts.  :)  I confess to eating two of them- very large ones!

And all the nieces and nephews with me and the girls.

Wednesday morning we went over to my sister Sarah's house for breakfast.  And what a breakfast!  I certainly didn't leave that table hungry.  

The girls had fun playing with more cousins and watching Max and Ruby too!

Sarah and I 

When we went back to my parents', I helped in the high tunnel for a bit.  

Mostly just weeding this area so that my parents could plant radishes later when the weather warmed back up.

Came back inside to see this.  :-) 

The girls and their grandma- my mother.

Wednesday evening we went to my sister Katie's house.  We ate dinner with Ryan and Katie, and I ate altogether too many of the amazing peanut butter cookies Katie made....and then we drove to their church in Dover, where we attended the evening Bible study.  It was very nice!  The girls went to a separate class, which Gwen definitely enjoyed.  Lucie is still getting used to strangers.  

Thursday morning, we packed up our stuff and said our goodbyes to my parents by 7:30.  Then we drove over to my sister, Martha's house.  She had made a lovely casserole for us for breakfast, and a peach pudding, which I loved!!  

Daniel was supposed to be at work, but he stayed back and spent time with us, which was so nice of him.  He ended up getting to work late because of it, but I know Dan appreciated spending time with him.  

Gwen and Lucie had fun playing with the twins.  

It was so nice to see most everyone.  I didn't get a chance to see my oldest brother and his family.  I usually only see them when there is a family gathering or if I attend a church service at my parent's church.  

But I was thankful to be able to see everyone else!  

Such a nice time and some lovely memories made.  

Life in January 2020

Greetings, readers!

 

We are now 31 days into this new year, 2020.  Time slipped by so fast that it is already February!
I'm delighted to say that we had a very nice new year with family down in Pennsylvania.  It's a tradition to have a gift exchange each year.  This year's theme was "Something Edible", which I very much enjoyed, since food is one of my favorite things. 
Each child age 1 and up gets a stocking which we all contribute to filling up.  Gwendolyn got one for the first time.

 

 

 She loved the "candle canes" and bouncy ball and book especially! 
After those things, she spent time playing with her cousins. 

We headed home the day after New Years so that we could be home for church that evening. 
Unfortunately, Gwen came down with the flu, bronchitis, and RSV, which she then passed to Lucie.  After two weeks with it, not knowing what it was, I finally took Lucie to a clinic to be diagnosed.  They said that because it was viral, they couldn't give us an antibiotic.  So it finally went away on its own. 

Last week, Dan went with three men from our church down to Virginia.  The girls and I kept ourselves busy and out of trouble by planning something fun to do each day.  Dan very much enjoyed his time.  On Friday we went to the Nursing home and sang and talked with the residents.  Then we drove to New Hampshire to spend a little time with some friends.  Dan came home Saturday evening late.

I mentioned in a post awhile back that we had been having some troubles with Dan's truck.  The troubles were caused by a mechanic we'd taken it to, so they said that they would fix the problem at no cost to us.  Because it was at no cost though, they didn't make it a priority to finish.  They had it in their shop for over two months.  In that time frame, Dan needed a plow truck and to have a truck to haul his trailer with work tools for a job.  So when we flew down to Georgia in November on a very quick trip, we bought a truck from Dan's brother.  It's a Ford, and bigger than the Dodge.  Anyway, the mechanic finally finished the truck here in January and we just sold it this week. 

It's been a good January!  I'm looking forward to what February has in store!  Stay tuned for my exciting update in the next post!