The campers are home! We found out we could pick up the campers after the Friday evening service...so we did. Mike and I drove down to Aunt Jackie and Uncle Lou's home again. We ate dinner and visited for a couple hours. Then off to The Wilds to pick up the darlings. The service lasted until 11 pm, and it was midnight before we left for home. But it was worth it! We drove all night with one or two short rest stops and got home around noon on Saturday.

Every Marylander knows what this means. Crab feast! My parents invited our extended family over for crabs. Mom wanted it simple, so we had french fries (with vinegar and old bay!), hotdogs, crabs and corn on the cob. Delicious!

It was funny watching Dustin on the VA cooker and Simba on the MD cooker. Looks like a chef's war or something.

There were three tables set up for crabs. One outside, one on the porch, and one inside. It was just humid enough with a threat of rain, but the rain held off.

The french fries were a real hit. We had two kinds...steak fries and crinklecut fries.Aunt Leslie had to stay home with a sick Donovan, but Uncle Mike brought baby Kat and Brandon. KathrynRose was more than happy to spend time with everyone. Usually she is all smiles but this time she was seriously studying all the cousins and aunts. So much fun!

Lizzie got to feed her for a few minutes. KathrynRose was too busy playing to want to eat much.

Floyd, Mom and Dad at the porch table.

Auntie Cecilia's grandbaby didn't come...so she was part of the lineup to hold baby KathrynRose.

Of course, we all enjoyed Abigail. Abigail and Ruthie spent time swimming in the pool which was 80 degrees. After awhile, Abigail declared that her horsies were cold...so it was time to get out. "Are you cold?" asked her Daddy. "No, just my horsies."

Lizzie picked crabs for Maggie. This morning we ate the remaining 2+ dozen leftover crabs for breakfast. We call that The Decent Mother's Breakfast!
We're all still a bit off schedule from the traveling. Sarah is in Alabama visiting her friend, Rebekah, so Anna is babysitting Abigail this week.

Today we have had rain off and on...mostly on. The campers brought home a headcold which Ruthie now has. Tonight we watched The Great Escape and realized anew how many lives have been given for our freedom. Every time I watch this movie, I think about how good music really enhances a movie...and terrible music ruins a movie.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

You know what they say...a face with pizza dough on it is a happy face! This past Saturday, our family had the fun of cousin-sitting Abigail. Maggie decided to make pizzas and Abigail had a blast!

I'm not sure who had more fun...Maggie or Abigail! Poor Maggie's hands hurt her afterwards.

I loved seeing Abigail wearing my patchwork apron :-)

And here's one of their creations...complete with basil from the garden. Delicious! Abigail came over on Monday with Sarah...but all the cousins were in NC. Where are the cousins?! She just couldn't fathom them being gone. How 'bout Allen...where's Allen? Later we called Maggie on her cellphone and talked to Abigail. "Hi cousins!" she said. It was so cute!

On Sunday morning, six of us left to go to NC to drop off the three campers at The Wilds. Of course, we had to pass the amish before leaving our county. It's our dangerous tradition!

We drove from 10 to 6, arriving at Aunt Jackie and Uncle Lou's home in Asheville. What a delightful visit! I had not seen them in 25+ years, so it was a real treat.

I loved Aunt Jackie's cozy living room. It reminded me so much of Mike's home in CT before his parents moved to FL.

The view of the mountains from their porch is beautiful.

We all liked her primitive log table.

Here's another view from the porch.

Aunt Jackie has a real appreciation for all things handcrafted...just like my mother in law, Clare. I enjoy both of their knitted, cross-stitched, embroidered, and quilted items throughout their homes.

Aunt Jackie tried to take us to visit Georgia Bonesteel's quilt shop in Hendersonville...but we were unable to find it. Aunt Jackie drove up to several stores and ran in asking about the shop but we were still unable to find it. Gloria Bonesteel was popular in the 1980s when she was on PBS teaching quilting. I learned to quilt through her series. Thank you, Aunt Jackie for everything...we had a great time. Uncle Lou, thank you for dinner and for cleaning up both meals. What a blessing you two are!

Later on, we decided to visit downtown Ashville. What a wonderful place to walk around and enjoy all the many shops. I enjoyed Mast's General Store.
I liked the real wood floors and the real wood shelves. I also enjoyed looking at all the cast iron for sale. Here's the rug display.

The upstairs had camping supplies and clothes. This store reminds me of the Five and Dime store that I used to visit in Hanover, PA. I miss those kinds of stores.

Beautiful Fiesta ware.

Of course, we liked the signs.

Had to take the Bee sign to show Maggie.

There were bears in several places throughout, all painted differently. Aunt Jackie says she sees bears in the spring. Wow...that's more fun than copperheads!

There was an American Doll store! Ruthie loved this store. She has been studying American Doll clothes...and then sewing her own version. She gives away more than she keeps, but I think she has fun designing the dresses. She got lots of ideas on this trip!

Ruthie especially enjoyed the vintage type dresses.

Later on we drove to Brevard to drop Allen, Lizzie and Anna off at camp. This is Anna and Lizzie's cabin. It was quite a hike to get to! I had not seen this building before. I was a camper here during my high school days in the 70s, so it is exciting to see the camp still building new things.

This is my only other picture from the camp. We were kept busy getting everyone settled in. This stream is where they go tubing. I used to love tubing here. I noticed the water level is much lower now. We saw our friend Denise and her sons who used to go to our church. Anna also saw a friend from Camp BIMI. So it was a fun time.

It was exciting to see the many, many buses from independent Baptist churches all over the Bible belt states. But that excitement quickly turned to heartbreak as we watched the teens getting off the buses. The immodest clothes were a shock to us. From what we could see, the youth from independent Baptist churches have the same love affair with the world that we expect from youths who have never heard the gospel. We talked to our three children and decided to let them stay. They are strong...but I have no desire to return next year.

These two pictures are for Allen. We told Allen about the mountains in CA and how there were many places alongside the road for the trucks to use if their brakes failed while going downhill. Well, after we left camp, we saw several such places.

Oops...my last three pictures are in the left column. Oh well. You can still see the dirthills for the trucks.

I always enjoy seeing trains!

On the way down, we listened to this cd by R.C. Sproul, Jr. What a blessing! We felt this message was given just for us. Lots to meditate on. If you'd like to borrow this cd, let me know and I will get it to you. Mr. Sproul gave some points that I wanted to make note of here...but I forgot them! So I will listen to them again and come back to type them in here. This is definitely a cd to hear.

Ruthie is lonely without her siblings, so Sarah took Maggie and Ruthie to Grandaddy's home for the evening. We got home from NC at 3 am this morning, so I am dragging. I have a feeling Mike is downstairs asleep at his desk :-)

This morning when we went outside to take Maggie to her appts, there was an awful stench in the air. It smelled toxic...like burning plastic. I kept Ruthie in the air-conditioned car. Turns out, the smell (and the smoke) came from a fire that is burning in the Great Dismal Swamp in VA! Both the smoke and the smell were gone by mid-afternoon.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

On Sunday, June 26th, Ruthie got baptized in the Patuxent River. She had been trying for 2 years to get baptized but there was always some reason that it didn't work out. So Ruthie started to pray about it...and God answered her prayer with a yes! Here are some pictures of the picnic/baptism. (Thank you so much to Nick for these pictures!)
We all brought our own picnics. Our family chose to sit under the big willow tree where the shade was. It was 90 degrees and humid...but we stuck it out! I made brisket sandwiches...simple but good.

Pastor gave a 15 minute devotional.

Laura and Steve were visiting from BJU, so they were asked to sing a special.
Here's Pastor giving his devotional.

Here's Ruthie telling how she is trusting in the Lord and wishes to follow in believer's baptism.

"Ruthie, I baptize you as my sister in the Lord, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." Amen!

One happy little girl! Ruthie was thrilled that her grandparents were able to come. They haven't missed any of their grandchildren's baptisms. This past week I was reading a book, and the author mentioned that her sister played a tiple...a large ukulele. Well, that got my curiosity stirred since I had never heard of a tiple (pronounced tee-pleh). Turns out, a teple refers to a wide range of instruments that some people say are guitars and some say ukuleles. Since they have 8-12 strings, I'm with the guitar folks. Uke have 4 strings. There are many different kinds of tiples for sale on eBay. Very interesting!
This past week, I was mowing our backyard where we have a little hill. I wasn't very high on the hill...but I managed to roll down that hill on the lawn mower! I didn't realize the front right tire had gone flat, so when I turned a little to the right, there was nothing to support the mower...and over I went! Fortunately I only got a bruise and a scrape on my ankle. The mower landed upside down...with gas and oil dripping everywhere. I stood up and said aloud, "Well, Kathie, you have lots of adrenaline...so push the mower rightside up!" So I did...and boy did I feel it the next day! Sore and bruised. Anyhow, hubby cleaned the mower all up...and this is what a rolled-over, 22 year old mower looks like! Still works like a charm. This past week I bought a new cookbook, so I decided to try one of the recipes. My hubby loves rhubarb, so I chose this recipe:

Fast Rhubarb Cake

4 cups chopped rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup (or one box) strawberry jello mix
1 white or yellow cake mix
3/4 cup water
1 stick butter, melted

Place rhubarb in greased 9x13" dish. Sprinkle sugar, then powdered jello mix over all. Spread dry cake mix over all. Pour water and butter over all. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or so, until golden brown. Serve with ice cream.

I skimped on the sugar...but regretted it. Rhubarb is just too sour to skimp!
This is the cookbook I got the recipe from. I enjoy reading all the stories about western living. Good, simple recipes.

Well, we are busy getting 3 of our children ready for camp at The Wilds in Brevard, NC. All three are allergic to dairy and eggs, so they have to make all their own food to take. Anna and Lizzie have been busy making pizza pockets and veggie potpies. I made baked ziti. We will stop in NC to buy sandwich fixin's.

Keep cool and enjoy your summer. Many blessings ~ Kathie