It's been a fun (and expensive) week!

We left for IHC (Interdenominational Holiness Convention) at noon on Wednesday. If gas prices were not killing us, I'd actually love to travel. Which, incidentally, we are currently paying more per month for gas than we are for groceries.

But, I digress..... The kids are starting to be allot of fun while traveling and we even made it from home to Dayton, OH (5+ hours) with no potty or food breaks!!! I was very proud of my munchkins.

We arrived at our hotel with enough time to check in, change into church clothes and get to the evening service. You can read about our hotel on Byron's blog. In a valiant effort to pinch pennys and save money, I managed (on the recommendation of a friend) to book a very nasty room in a very low budget hotel. It was NOT a memorable experience. It did, however, provide allot of opportunity to teach the kids that someday they may be called to a third world country where their accommodations may not be up to par with what they are accustomed to. Not sure if the lesson sunk in but, we tried.

It was a blessing to be at IHC and I greatly enjoyed Rev. Kauffman's sermon on Thursday AM. Rev. Stetlers sermon on Wednesday night was very good as well, however, as the saying goes, "the mind can only absorb what the seat can endure" and after an hour I kinda zoned out. Especially considering the fact that I had sat in the van for 5 hours then had sat there in the bleachers from 6:00. So, by 8:30 the kids and I were ready to evacuate the premises. By 9:30 when he finally dismissed we were pretty much ready to yell, "FIRE!" in an effort to get out of there in a more timely fashion. :-)

Thursday we left and headed for Zanesville, OH. For those of you who don't know, Byron was assistant pastor there a few years ago so we figured that we may as well stop on our way back home to see some of our friends whom we hadn't seen for a long time. The following pics are from those visits. We had a lovely time fellowshipping with everyone and made some very happy memories. We are so very blessed to have faithful friends who love us for who we are.

Sr. Geary & Alyssa chillin out.


Bro. Geary and the kids


Bro. Geary


Joey McHugh and the McCreery twins.


Sr. Geary, Carolyn & Abby McHugh

Carol Geary & Julie solving the world's problems


Rachel McCreery (the Coshocton Church's pastor's wife)


Unfortunately, the best picture we got of both Ben & Carolyn. Sometimes I think we need a list of pictures that need to be taken so that none get forgotten. UGH!!


Bro. Hartley. It was so sad to be there without Sr. Hartly to greet us. Be praying for Bro. Hartley. If we miss her this much I can only imagaine how much he must miss her.

Preview

For the ones sick of seeing "Tax day..." anytime they click on my blog, here's a few pics to hold you until I can get the umpteen pics uploaded from this last week.



Kenton and Andrew Hinkle


A pecan pie made just for me by Sr. Newman.

Tax Day Special at Walgreens

If you have a Walgreen's nearby, they are offering 15 free digital prints today only. The code is TAXDAY if you do it online. (thanks Kim for letting us know!!)

Great Krispy Kreme Deal

Go here for a BOGO coupon.....

He Got Me!!

Well, my husband did the impossible. He planned a surprise birthday party for me - totally under my nose - without me finding out about it. Now, granted, looking back on the last couple months, I can see multiple slip ups and allot of things that were "strange" to me at the time - all make sense now. However, he managed to plan, orchestrate and successfully pull of a surprise party Friday night for 70+ people. I was under the impression that we were planning a party for Kenton's birthday but instead, it was for me!!! For those of you who don't know, Kenton and I share the same birthday - 4/7. The party was also for Kenton but I had no clue it was for me as well!

So, needless to say, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised. We had a lovely evening and it was so heartwarming to see so many people come to show me that they care. I would post allot of pictures but Byron has a ton on his blog so you can hop over there and see them. And just in case you wonder, the bright colored walls are NOT our house. We had the party at our community youth center. And here are more pics.

Saying Goodbye and Hello

Saying "goodbye" is never fun and when that "goodbye" is in the form of a funeral - it is even harder. Yesterday we said goodbye to our dear friend, Rozella Hartley. She was known better to us as "Grandma Hartley". Although not blood related, we still felt loved as if we were blood relations. We met Sr. Hartley while we were assistant pastor's at Zanesville and she and her husband quickly became very dear to our family. They traveled to ISF each month with us and we made such dear memories with them. When we moved from Zanesville they came and spent several days at our new pastorate visiting with us and making more memories. She was faithful to write us letters and to call us every month. We had no doubt that she loved us and prayed for us. We will miss her but Heaven is sweeter.

Now for the "hello" part!! Hello's are much easier than goodbyes for most. I am more backward and not necessarily comfortable with meeting new people but the rest of my family has no trouble with this. So, last night on the way home from Zanesville we stopped by the Warren Bible Methodist church and said, "Hello" (ie. made new friends) to Rev. & Mrs. Henry Miller. The Millers are in revival there this week and Daryl & Marilyn invited us to stop by. We had a lovely evening visiting and getting to know Rev. & Mrs. Miller a little bit. Hopefully our children didn't scare them off from coming to our church in the fall for revival!!! At one point Rev. Miller said, "Oh, I can't remember ....." to which Kenton promptly said, "when you get old you tend to forget things." Oh gracious. That was clearly a "can I crawl under the table and hide" moment.

The song comes to mind.... "Sometimes we laugh together, sometimes we cry. Sometimes we share together, heartaches and sighs. Sometimes to we dream together of how it will be.... when we all get to Heaven - God's family!" That about sums up our day together. Lots and lots of tears and ended with lots of laughs!!!

P.S. We did get a picture of Ashley but I'm fairly certain that if I posted it she would never speak to us again!! LOL

Girl's Day Out

Cindy Misch and I have begun a tradition of going out to eat on the second Tuesday of every month. This month was our 4th month and I have found myself really looking forward to our outings. This Tuesday we headed for Erie and had a delightful lunch at Cracker Barrel where Cindy treated me for my birthday. Thanks Cindy!!!! The we went to the mall and I just thoroughly enjoyed walking through the mall. I have no idea when the last time was that I have just shopped in the mall. It was so much fun and I thoroughly enjoy anytime spent with Cindy. You can read her version of the day here.

20,000

This blog has had 20,000 hits since July 07.


That said, Byron reminded me that I did not put the sitemeter on here right away so that isn't totally accurate - but just a bit of fun.

Happy Birthday to Our First Born

Dear Kenton,

Today (April 7th) you turn 8 years old. It is unbelievable how fast these last 8 years have flown by. What undescribable joy you have brought to our lives. We are so very proud of you and love you very very much. This song is the song we sang to you at your dedication. We meant it then, and we still mean it. Happy Birthday buddy!!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

New Election Poll

A new poll showed that if the presidential election were held today...........







Most people would be confused because its usually held in November.



Sorry everyone but this just totally made my day.