Day at River Valley Ranch

I have been trying hard to be a good mother and give my darling daughter by love, Tiffany, a chance to brag first but I have decided that five days is enough time to wait!


Last Saturday, August 23 started early for us. We were out the door and heading towards I-95 by 6:30 a.m. Why would we do this after a full work week? Because we wouldn't miss seeing our granddaughter Caitlin and her dad (our son, Brent, or course!) in her first 5K race at River Valley Race. Caitlin had been with her mom and Dad to a "Do Hard Things" conference earlier in the summer and Cait had decided that running in this race and stepping out of her comfort zone to ask people to sponsor her would be her hard thing to attempt. When we arrived she was all smiles, excited to be doing this with her dad.

It was a delight to us to see the excitement and bonding in their family getting ready for this event. Cait was faithful in preparing, running daily with her dad and sending out letters to let people know what she was doing and why. It gives me such joy to see my boys taking their parenting one giant leap beyond ours. Which is why we have 14 fabulous grandchildren!


Grant and Jacob were taking part in the one mile Fun Run (along with Ethan Canfield, whose brother Zach and Amanda Schmidt were also running in the 5K). Although he didn't attend the conference, Jacob was also doing his "hard thing" emulating his sister. He was a little nervous about running without mom or dad along but he did great and they all had a great time.


And finished the race with determination! Way to go, Jake!


We were waiting on the other side of the covered bridge in excitement, watching for Cait and Brent to come into view. It was neat to see him running backwards and encouraging Caitlin on as they came to the finish! We could imagine him saying--You're almost there, keep going! Come on, come on! And she made it. She came in 6th place in her category (under 16 girls)!

Is she a happy girl or what?

The boys enjoyed playing at the stream while we waited for all the runners to finish and the award ceremony to begin. (Water draws boys like a magnet--but amazingly no one got wet!)


Cait's goal had been to raise $500.00 She reached this goal a week before the race and ended up exceeding it, raising a total of $790.00. She was excited about receiving an Ipod for raising $500.00 but then the surprise came. In her category she raised the most money! Although she was more excited about getting the Ipod, it was a thrill to have her name announced and have Tracy Tiernan (WRBS Morning Team and who also ran in the 5K) present her with a bike!

It is hard for me to express the blessing it is to see my children and grandchildren making so much more of their lives than I could have dreamed of. I have so many regrets of the way I wasted my youth. I was a "good" kid in the eyes of the world and even at church, I guess. But I was so wrapped up in "me" and pleasing myself, never pushing myself to be more or to do a "hard thing". Watching my kids and grans feels like God giving me a second chance--to at least encourage them to walk farther than I did and be more than I am. What an awesome and grace-giving God we serve!

Open Bible Jubilee

What a glorious day! Our first Country Fair Jubilee was wonderful. The weather couldn't have been nicer--low 80's and a clear sky. I thought later how the day was a taste of what heaven will be like. Everyone worked together, laughed, spread the hospitality of Christ--and worshipped all day.

The brand new pavilion on the hill poured forth praise music all day thanks to the efforts of our very own Praise Team and OBCA past and present students.


The food booth seemed to be the favorite place to work--they all had so much fun no one wanted to take a break! Even Saige got to be a part of the action!


The only sad part of the day was when Dawn Hauf, cut her finger badly trying to dislodge some ice in the snowball machine and leaned forward with her hand inside and accidentally turned on the machine. Eric and Shawn were on duty at the First Aid Station and got her cleaned up and bandaged and sent her off to the hospital. She received many stitches at Upper Chesapeake and has had to have further follow up at Union Memorial's Hand Unit. We were all happy that her finger could be saved, although it may have some deformity and lack of feeling. However, this event was one of the few incidents (Sofie gave them a little excitement and someone got a bee sting) that kept them distracted from the real work of being silly.


The cotton candy machine was a favorite attraction. It was amazing how well everyone figured out how to use all these unfamiliar appliances. Julie Ford became the expert at cotton candy.


We also had a popcorn machine (here being used by Andi--her newly decorated finger sparkling--but protected by latex gloves!), funnel cake (manned by CrossCurrent), hot dogs, and some fabulous chili made by Bill Hayes.


There was a moon bounce, dunking booth (a favorite activity was "dunk the principal") where even the kids volunteered to be dunked, enjoying the cool water. There was a water slide, games, puppet show, face painting and crafts--the whole works!


Caitlin, Abby Bynion and Gwenyth helped Marcella and me with the crafts. It was not a busy booth--we were in the back of the tent with the face painting and rubber ducky game so I'm not sure everyone knew were were there. After a while the girls went off to have some fun at the fair but they were a big help in setting up the crafts and helping little ones.


It was a very relaxing day even though we were working. The crowd was moderate (about 200 people outside Open Bible--we probably had about that many again of Open Bible members) so there was lots of time to relax and visit with one another.


At the end of the day we enjoyed a lively praise time. The Christian band, Sum of One, led us in worship and lots of fun. We went home very tired but invigorated at the same time. The next day in our worship service (one of our largest turn-out for Sunday morning) you could feel the new excitement, almost electric. It was like a revival had taken place among us. God was good and was glorified on that day. Makes me look forward to the Kingdom in a new way.

Shawn & Andi

Well, the day we have been waiting for finally came! Shawn presented Andi with an engagement ring on Friday, August 15, the 4th anniversary of their courtship. We celebrated this occasion with a family dinner at TGIFridays on Sunday after church.

The beautiful ring--"He went to Jared!" They chose it because it has an antique look about it. Like me, Andi prefers white gold rings.

Andi, are you ready for this? Well, if she isn't by now...... The real question is: are Chip and Kim ready?

I think all the kids already think of her as Aunt Andi (or as Reid says, Dee-Dee). Sorry Andi that I caught you with your eyes closed, but it was just too cute a picture.


No reason to add this picture other than that Saige is so cute even when she is crying. Doesn't this just break your heart?

Williamsburg Trip

We spent a delightful five days in Williamsburg, arriving in the evening of August 10. The next morning we drove to the Visitor Center to purchase our tickets. We opted to purchase the Independence Pass which gives us full access to colonial Williamsburg for a year, including evening programs. We were so glad we did this as the evening programs were a favorite part of the trip. The first morning and many other times that week we decided to walk from the Visitor Center to the colonial city. The weather was beautiful all week and it was a pleasant 10 minute walk. The first morning we stopped to visit Hope Farm which is along the path from the Visitor Center and is in the process of being recreated. This is a picture of men sawing logs into planks for a building. Looks like hard, time consuming work. No need for a gym work out in colonial America.

Every day from 10:30 - 12:30 there were performances in the Revolutionary City. These were wonderful and we saw at least part of them almost every day. Sometimes there were speeches about what was happening on whatever day of colonial history they were portraying. We enjoyed the country dancing demonstration on Monday. Other days we "eavesdropped" on a conversation between a woman and her husband as they "discussed" his joining the continental army and listened in on an informal discussion of men on the need to declare independence from Great Britain.


One day we were outside the Capitol building awaiting a visit from Martha Washington who was coming to the city to accept a presentation for her husband. While there we heard from a man who had served in General Washington's army and complained to the crowd about being injured in the battle and was now unable to work and had not been able to receive compensation from the army. Mrs. Washington "overhead" this conversation and called the man to her where she listened compassionately to his story, assured him that his grievance would be heard and then took coins from her purse to give him, thanking him profusely for his service to his country. It was a very touching scene. I found myself really getting caught up in all the little dramas, forgetting that I was viewing actors and actresses and not the characters they were portraying. I found myself often getting teary eyed. It really brought the history of this time to life for me.
Another day we heard a black preacher who had just been granted his freedom. What a powerful speaker this man was and showed a love for the Lord and compassion for his people. I wasn't alone in that crowd to be wiping my eyes as he spoke of the plight of the slaves in trying to gain their freedom. I thought it was a bit sad, though, when I looked around and saw how few blacks there were in the audience. It was a large crowd, but mostly white. It seems that this would be something very interesting and valuable history for black people to be a part of. The preacher spoke as though he were addressing his congregation, which I assume would have been entirely black. So it really made me put myself in the place of a slave during the colonial period.

We chose three evening programs. On the first evening we attended "Dance, Our Dearest Diversion" which was an audience participation program. Anyone who desired it could volunteer to be a part of the dances. This was interspersed with demonstrations of dance by actors in colonial costume. Of course, Bill and I both took part. We were chosen for different dances so that we could observe each other from the sidelines. It was a lot of fun. There were many families we saw during the week who came dressed in colonial costume--I suspect many of them were homeschooling families! Especially at the dance programs there were many little girls in long dresses and we were actually surprised at how many girls and women were in skirts or dresses even during the day, strolling the streets. I wished I had packed more skirts as it seemed more appropriate to the culture than wearing shorts or capris. Below is a picture of me with my colonial dance partner of the evening.

Another evening we attended a colonial ball at the Capitol. That was Bill's favorite program. We first saw a puppet show, then were escorted upstairs to meet some colonial men partaking of punch and singing drinking songs and we were all taught some of the lines and encouraged to sing along. Then we proceeded to the ballroom where we witnessed more colonial dancing. During one of the dances the dancers went through the crowd asking some of the children to join them for a simple dance. It was cute to see, one young lady in particular, who had some dressed in a sweet "twirly" dress, as she took the floor and just beamed through the whole dance. We also went one evening to witness a witch trial which was very interesting and also interactive. After we had heard evidence we were asked to vote on her guilt or innocence. She was found guilty by a slight margin. The woman charged was a real person from history but the records were destroyed in a fire during the Civil War and they don't know whether she was found guilty or innocent but from records from her home county they know that she was still alive twenty years later. She could have been found guilty but given a lesser sentence than death or been pardoned or found not guilty.

We also attended some daytime programs. One was on the theatre (one of the actresses is pictured above). Although it was staged outside, in colonial times it would have been at one of three indoor theatres. Later, we went to a program at Raleigh Tavern or song, theatre and dance. We really enjoyed learning a little more about the entertainment (diversions) of that time.

On our last day we attended a lecture by Patrick Henry. The actor was excellent and I was spellbound by his words. How relevant to today's politics. All of the things he warned against about this new form of government were so true. He was very much against uniting the states and foresaw that if we did that we would one day have a civil war. He cautioned the audience of that day to be vigilant about controlling the government and saw it as a real danger to have too much government control. At the end, he took questions from the audience. In answering one question about his family he told the sad story of his wife, who had recently died, after having struggled with a mental illness for over four years, after the birth of her sixth child. He told of our he cared for her at home for all that time after having looked into putting her in the public hospital. We had just that morning toured the public hospital which was the first hospital in America to deal solely with mental illness. After touring the hospital, Patrick Henry said that he could not subject his wife to that treatment and instead built an apartment for her in the basement of the family home where he could take care of her. In 1970 my mom and I visited Scotchtown, VA and toured the home of the Henry's and I remembered hearing the story of his wife then. After that, I always teased my mom that when she got old I was going to lock her in the basement.

We also spent a day in Yorktown and enjoyed that day as well, touring the historical town and having lunch in a restaurant (The Tomato Tree) housed in a historic home. In Williamsburg we several times packed a lunch and ate on a bench while enjoying the ambiance of the city. One day we had lunch in the garden of the Kings Arms Tavern and one evening enjoyed dinner inside the same tavern. Before leaving to head home on Friday we had an early dinner at Shields Tavern. It was fun to go in the evening when the candles were lit and always there was a little period entertainment, often participatory (we got to sing along--which would have been true in colonial times). Sometimes we ate in our motel room in the evening, thanks to a microwave and refrigerator in our room. Just about every afternoon we came back to our motel and enjoyed the pool and some relaxation before heading back out in the evening. Almost every morning we enjoyed making our own Belgian waffle at the motel's continental breakfast, although one morning we headed into town early and visited the Raleigh Tavern and chose some baked goods and a couple of ham biscuits to eat in their garden for breakfast.

It was a delightful week and the only rain we encountered was the last day as a storm began while we were dining in the tavern. It was still raining when we headed to the bus to go to our car so we did get a bit wet. But at least we were heading home at that point so it didn't matter that we (well, at least I) looked like a drowned rat!

Ladew Gardens

Kim Bauer and I spent a relaxing day touring Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton. (From 1990 until 2006 we lived just 10 minutes from there and somehow never got around to going!) We toured the house and grounds, spending almost five hours just walking, looking, talking and taking lots of pictures. I took over 100 pictures and I think Kim took even more. Harvey Ladew was a very interesting person and built and maintained these gardens almost by him. He had sold the family business when his mother died. At that time he was in his 20's and decided that he had enough money to live and have fun until he was 50 and then he would get a job. He lived to be in his 90's and never held a job again. He spent his entire life just having fun. And apparently he did. He left these beautiful gardens for the public to enjoy but other than that it seems he spent all his money just making himself happy. I find that very sad. I hope he really enjoyed himself during his stay on earth because I have a feeling he isn't having such a good time now.

There were so many gardens and so many fountains that I couldn't possibly share it all. It is definitely worth a visit. Above Kim is sitting at a little stone table and chairs. They were beautiful and each chair had carved into it a different nature scene. They obviously were not built for comfort!

There was a pink garden. (I took lots of pictures for you, Caitlin!)















A water lily garden.














A Garden of Eden, complete with Adam and Eve (seen through a "Keyhole" from the Keyhole Garden.
















A yellow garden,














white garden,













Tivoli Tea House and garden (the "house" is actually from the ticket booth from the Tivoli Movie Theatre. Inside is a little living room and on the opposite wall is a small window looking out over the grounds. It is framed to look like a picture and is labeled "The Everchanging Landscape".),











and lots of topiary (this was my favorite and is a hunt scene--the fox is in the front with the hounds and mounted rider following.














Our only regret is that we didn't pack a lunch. We had intended to eat in their cafe but found that it was not open on Wednesday. By the time we left at 3:00 p.m. I was ravenously hungry (the gift shop was able to supply a pack of almonds and bottle of lemonade which kept me from eating the flowers from the gardens. Food was allowed in just about every part of the grounds and we passed a couple with a picnic basket as we were leaving (what a romantic date!).

I am so grateful for that chance to be with a friend and do something fun and relaxing! What a wonderful gift is friendship!

Painting Fun

We are finally getting around to doing some projects this summer. I am getting panicked because school is only a few weeks away! While at Lowe's a couple of weeks ago looking at wood flooring for our upstairs hallway (carpeting is coming up--thanks to Shawn!) I found that I could purchase small samples of paint. I chose a color that I thought I would like and painted squares of the color on two walls in the living room. I lived with it for about a week, trying to decide if I liked it or if it was too dark. I finally took the plunge and purchased a similar color at Home Depot (only because that is where had finally decided to purchase the flooring for the hallway). The name of the color is Burnt Almond but it reminds me of cappuccino. I was so nervous about it because it is out of the norm for us. I spend most of Wednesday just getting the room ready for painting--with Shawn's help. I was able to get two walls started (cutting in around the ceiling, windows and base) before Bill got home. We ended up going out to dinner, missing our small group meeting and returning home to relax for a while. Bill decided to watch TV and nap, getting up at midnight to finish painting. Shawn heard him and got up and joined him. They painted and chatted until 3 a.m.! Bill said they had a great time working together and talking about just about everything (while I enjoyed sleeping peacefully). Today Bill finished the hallway (they had run out of paint on Tuesday) and did a light second coat. I just love the color. It is warm and cozy. Now I need to decide on what to do at the windows! I am open to suggestions.

While Bill was working in the living room I started working in Popdaddy's room. We had decided that while we had the time and before we started moving things into the room (which we have decided to make our study) we would paint there also. So while we were picking up paint for the living room we chose a color for that room. Home Depot doesn't sell sample paints (although we could have ordered samples on line) so I decided to be brave and just purchase the color I thought was what I wanted. I chose Pumpkin Pie with fear and trembling. We decided we could afford to be bold as it isn't a high traffic area. As you can see I decided to have a little fun while painting. We were really happy with the brand of paint we had chosen for the living room (Behr). It covered really well and didn't splatter or drip. However, the pumpkin color (also Behr) didn't seem to cover as well and definitely needs a second coat--hopefully not a third! When Shawn took a look he said that dark colors like that don't cover as well. The can also says it can take longer to dry--can't figure out why either of those things are true. The jury is still out about whether this color is a success. I figure I can always sponge another color (or two) over it to tone it down if I decide it is too much. It isn't a very large room so I am afraid it is overpowering.


Any opinions?