Sudoku!!!!

Grandma and Grandpa bought me a Sudoku book and I'm on puzzle 8. Some of them are hard, but others are real easy. I love it.

Benjamin 

My Demonstration Speech

I had to do a demo. speech today, and did it on how to make homemade lemonade/lemonade stand. I gave lemonade to everyone in the class. I practiced last night on Grandma and Grandpa and Grandpa got to have the glass of lemonade! I got an A+. It was fun but I am glad it is over!

Elise 

All By Myself!!!

Poppa helped me a tiny bit. Then we go'ed to a Park and Poppa helped me go down a sidewalk. I go'ed on a sidewalk all by myself. We played on the swings. I like to ride my old bike.
Love, Isabelle 

Our Memorial Sunday Picnic, Baptism, Swim party....

We were thrilled that Mom and Dad could be with us this Sunday and enjoy our church family as we celebrated baptizing 4 young ladies and heard the testamonies of Pat and Lacey a couple who also joined the church. We all had a great time in fellowship and were thankful for the sunny weather all day. The kids enjoyed the swim time after lunch. 

Tea with Mum and the girls.

Patience and I along with Ruth and Crystal took my Mom to the teahouse today for Mother's Day. We had a lovely time in our private garden room. Patience enjoyed having her own little teapot, butterfly PB&J's and English hush puppies. And the cookies and desserts were wonderful. So who is going to come and go with us next? 

Caption this picture...

 

Our Bath Project continues...

 

JO at PINE RIDGE CAMP

Found these on the web and thought you might enjoy! Notice Andy playing the harmonica on the far right of the music pic. For more pics and daily schedule got to : http://pineridgeministries.org/photos.htm
 

Wrong Again, Aunt Ruth!

Notice that Poppa actually went to the Mall in a teeshirt! Now, that is a first, but the reason is clear in the picture--or should I say reasonS. Those are the hand prints of 3 super grandchildren! You have one guess left and we are running out of PATIENCE! 

Second Stop--Memorable Minneapolis!

Well, here we are in Minnesota! It was wonderful to see Dan and Brenda and the kids again. I had seen them in January, but Poppa hadn't seen them for 18 months! They are all so sweet. The a\c is out here and so we spent the day at the Mall of America. Hopefully, it will be fixed tomorrow. It is actually hotter here than in SC! It is in the 90's. Grandma had to go on the water ride in order to give Elise the courage to do it!

Plans keep changing here, but it looks like Dan will go on to Texas alone and Brenda will stay here. She is responsible to feed about 700 people for the funeral which will be on Saturday. It is overwhelming, so pray for her. (In case some have not heard, a family in their church was in a horrible accident last Friday. The father and one teen daughter were killed instantly. The 15 year old boy is in critical condition in a coma. The mother and older teen girl are doing ok.)
 

THE CHEF!

 

SC Memorial Day Picnic

Tim's entertaining skills, costing $1.29, were quite amusing! The balloons all popped within minutes! Our guests were: Millers, Coles, Amy S., Jeanine A. and Brian and Erik H. Food was a joint effort including: steaks, baked potatoes, salad, blueberry cobbler, and topped off with homemade ice cream! It was a lot of fun. Our resident chef did a good job, as usual, as you see in the picture by itself. Missed Johanna especially, and we wish you ALL could have been here.  

Guess What, Aunt Donna!

We beat you to ride in a hot air balloon! Of course, ours was inside at Camp Snoopy. And the hot air wasn't in the balloon :-) Love, Elise and Ben 

FWA, continued

Well, here's our account:
We left early this morning to head to Anderson. We actually stopped along the way to buy a parking coupon at BiLo, but their customer service center wasn't open yet. That ended up being a blessing, b/c in the end we didn't need one. Upon our arrival, we were told by an Anderson policeman that the day at FWA hadn't really begun yet, even though we could see the hot air balloons all around coming in for a landing. (There wasn't a race last night. The balloon we saw had just flewn a few miles this morning. We think perhaps the point was just for all the balloons to paint a pretty picture in the sky. --They succeeded!) In the course of driving around trying to find somewhere to watch them land, we bumped into the crew for the hot air balloon you see in the pictures, and they invited us to follow them to watch their balloon land. They gave us a very up-close and personal experience. They even let the kids walk through the not-yet-deflated hot air balloon.

My motley crew!

 

FREEDOM WEEKEND ALOFT

Anderson, SC is known for its hot air balloon race the weekend of Memorial Day. I had the girls from the church over to spend the night, and we went down to Anderson to watch the Mass Ascension Saturday night . It was really cool. We stood up right nextto this one and followed it from unfolding to take off. Very interesting, lots of fun. Tim and Ruth have gone this morning (Monday) to watch the descent. They were having their race yesterday, and I believe it went through the night, and they are landing this am. Ruth will confirm when she blogs their day. I am sure Micaiah will have a blast. My dream is to go up in one someday! 

First stop -- Rockford!

Well, here we are in irresistible Rockford. Three guesses as to what makes it irresistible.

We arrived last night 826 miles after leaving Greenville. We had a good trip, stopping in Lexington Ky. just moments before the strong thunder storms hit in all their fury. They lasted all night and swept everything clean for our travel the next day.

So good to be with Bob, Jennie and Patience. Looking forward to being in their services tomorrow, then on with them to see Dan and Brenda and family. Love Dad

Rhubarb Recipes

A recent Taste of Home magazine featured a rhubarb recipe contest. That put the bug in me (I love rhubarb), and so I began my hunt to find rhubarb down South. (Quite a challenge, I might add.) Here are the two recipes I tried. They were the winners of the contest, and they were winners at my house. Mom suggested I should share them here. You Bixby girls up North probably have a little more ready access to rhubarb. (Jennie, I still have fond memories of your delicious Rhubarb–Meringue Torte that you made for the church picnic when we were visiting a couple of years ago.) The rhubarb flavor in both of these is quite mild, so I think they please even those who aren't rhubarb fans. So here they are:

RHUBARB SWIRL CHEESECAKE
2 ½ c. thinly sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb
1/3 c. plus ½ cup sugar, divided
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 ¼ c. graham cracker crumbs
¼ c. butter, melted
3 pkgs. (8-oz. each) cream cheese, softened
2 c. (16 oz.) sour cream
1 T. cornstarch
2 t. vanilla extract
½ t. salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
8 squares (1-ounce each) white baking chocolate, melted

In a large saucepan, bring rhubarb, 1/3 c. sugar and orange juice to a boil. Reduce heat; cook and stir until thickened and rhubarb is tender. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine cracker crubs and butter. Press onto the bottom of a greased 9” springform pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 7-9 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, cornstarch, vanilla, salt and remaining sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat just until combined. Fold in white chocolatge. Pour half of the filling into crust. Top with half of the rhubarb sauce; cut through batter with a knife to gently swirl rhubarb. Layer with remaining filling and rhubarb sauce; cut through top layers with a knife to gently swirl rhubafrb.

Place pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 16 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. Place in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan. Bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loiosen; cool 1 hour longer. Cover and chil overnight. Remove sides of pan. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 12-14 servings.

RHUBARB UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
¾ c. packed brown sugar
¼ c. butter, melted
3 c. diced fresh or frozen rhubarb
2 T. sugar

Batter:
½ c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 t. vanilla extract
1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
½ t. salt
½ c. milk
¼ t. cream of tartar
Whipped cream, optional

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and butter. Spread into a greased 9-in. round baking pan. Layer with rhubarb; sprinkle with sugar. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Gradually fold into creamed mixture, about ½ c. at a time. Gently spoon over rhubarb.

Bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Serve warm with whipped cream if desired. Yield: 10-12 servings.

Memory Award

I was in Eden Kid's Club and I got a reward for saying all my verses, and a certificate.
I had to say 80 verses. I memorized all Matthew 5 and 6.

-Benjamin 

Layton Talbert

We just completed some of the best meetings (as in special meetings) that I have ever enjoyed in the context of a local church. Layton Talbert delivered six messages to our congregation. The first was an introduction to the Wisdom books, the second was on Ecclesiastes, and the remaining four were on Job. I have never heard a better exposition of Job.

Bill Hunt told me after the service last night that from now on he would always look forward to reading Job! Another woman tearfully told me how grateful she was that I conscientiously provided the best teachers I could find for our congregation. Both Mark and I heard numerous statements like these.

We had some technical glitches in our recording, but they should be available soon. Dad and Mom, I think you'll enjoy listening to these as you travel.

New Meteorologists on the Horizon

The Dead Sea Scrolls

We (Dad, Mom, Tim, Ruth & Johanna) took a trip to Charlotte today to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Discovery Place during the last week of its 100-day display. M & M stayed back in Greenville first with Great Aunt Donna and then Naomi until their Aunt Donna was able to retrieve them after her long day of teaching.

We had a super time, and it was definitely worth the expen$e! The exhibit was quite impressive, and, besides some fragments of the scrolls, included other artifacts found at the same site in Qumran. It also gave a lot of information about life and times of the Essenes sect, the people group which probably planted the scrolls in the cave hideouts about 68 A.D. We saw fragments from 10 scrolls, five of which were Biblical texts and five of which were extra-Biblical (e.g. the Apocryphal Book of Enoch, a commentary on Nahum, etc.) Seeing the tiny fragments gave us quite an appreciation for the scholars who had to piece them together and then somehow manage to read them. (We were especially surprised at how tiny some of the print was.) Above all, we were impressed at the providential hand of God in preserving these texts. It is amazing to consider how He allowed them to be hidden away and preserved by the salt air of the Dead Sea until just such a time as He deemed appropriate to reveal them, and with their revelation, to reaffirm that the words which we hold in our hands every time we hold a copy of the Scriptures are indeed the Words of God. 

Not $orry, Not a $econd Thought!

Okay. This happen$ in pa$toral coun$eling all the time. And I did it with my bathroom! $omebody come$ with a thing they want to fix. What they hardly ever realize i$ that the "thing" i$ rooted in $omething else and that fixing that mean$ fixing $omething else. And it could go on ad infinitum. It i$ alway$ more co$tly than one would immediately a$$ume. Now, often folk$ give up and walk away.Though I committed the $ame error with my bathroom, I will not walk away. We are now in a full-$cale renovation project in our bathroom. I took everything apart by my$elf (the ea$y part), but then di$covered rotten overlay under the linoleum and then it $tarted getting too big for me and my three tool$. Then we decided to re-do the wall$, the vanity, the lighting, and ton$ of other thing$. Lot$ of thing$ had to be done just becau$e we had the audacity to $tart $omthing else. $uch is a project in an old hou$e, I'm told.By wonderful providence, Jehovah Jirah had arranged the $chedule of our normally very bu$y floor man in the church $o that he ju$t "$o happened" to be in between job$! He graciou$ly volunteered to come and help me! And we have been working on it all day. I worked late into the night la$t night (all day) and early thi$ morning. Will do more tonight. Our goal i$ to have a functioning toilet before Mom and Dad come.The whole rea$on I thought that I would be able to do thi$ project i$ becau$e I am not $peaking one time thi$ coming $unday! Anyway, here are some pic$. Hopefully, we'll be able to $how you progre$$ a$ we move along.It'$ been fun. I've been relaxed. And I haven't given a $econd thought to all the money we are $pending. And I $imply refu$e to make an i$$ue of it. I $imply will not let my private concern$ dampen my $weetheat'$ enthu$ia$m. All I want i$ for Jennie to be happy! A$ my $i$-in-law would $ay of her hub, I $ay of my$elf: "What a guy!" 

Grandkid-sitting!

We had lots of fun taking care of M and M for a couple of days. We played and did some jobs around the house,too. They were both so good that we made a trip to the "restaurant". Can anyone guess who got Miriam dressed that morning? Have to admit that Grandma didn't even notcie it--Auntie Jo did!