Black Friday

Yesterday's Thanksgiving celebration was fun. All my brothers and their families eventually showed up. Dad came, but Mom stayed home with a headache that wouldn't go away.
We had fun playing games with Dad all afternoon.
Allen and Cody enjoyed several rounds of checkers and chess.
Floyd and Cecilia always find relief from the noisy crowd in the living room. When I took this picture I thought Cecilia was sleeping. But she yelled, "Hey, you didn't give me a chance to suck in my stomach!" As if she even has a stomach!
Dad spent the evening in his usual fireside spot, but we didn't have a fire for him. The day was quite warm, but once the storm passed through quickly, the temps dropped dramatically. No one had brought their coats in, and it was pretty cold when they ran to their cars afterwards.

Just as my family was leaving, Anna, Drew and Ted came. So we put on another pot of coffee and had fun catching up on their lives. Anna brought these flowers ~ aren't they beautiful and cheery?
I couldn't resist taking a picture of my hubby's breakfast plate this morning. Usually Mike eats a bowl of oats and nuts. Not so today! Two slices of scrapple (a rare treat here) and a slice of both pecan and blueberry pies!

This afternoon Mike took the five youngest children to the "back forty" and let them target shoot with ole Betsy, a 22.
Doesn't Allen look happy? Allen is such a man's man ~ he loves hunting and fishing, and all the things that men love.
Lizzie looks like a pro!
Even Anna looks like she's been shooting daily.
And Ruthie got some help from Daddy. But she sure enjoyed it!
This poor shot-up pumpkin was one of three targets. Looks like they have good aim!

This evening is quiet. Sarah, Maggie and Anna went to a youth get-together for prayer and fellowship. Ruthie fell asleep at dinner. The remaining four of us are going to watch a video called "Rodeo Bloopers." I expect the girls to be home early since Sarah spent the night at Walmart, and Anna went shopping with her Daddy at 4:30 am. They said it was worth it since they got the great deals they wanted.

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

The Cat's Away!

When our Pastor goes out of town for vacation, he usually warns the congregation that "While the Cat's away, the mice will not play!" The good thing is that our Cat has a great substitute Cat. Dick and Doris (pictured above) retired from the ministry five years ago and they moved onto a hill next to their daughter's family who are also members of our church. We are so thankful that Dick is able to fill in for Pastor.

Yesterday was one such Sunday. Pastor is in PA hunting while Debie recovers from radiation treatments for thyroid cancer. So Dick preached.

Dick is my kind of preacher. He always has one or two profound statements that you remember and meditate on throughout the week. Preachers call these, "if you remember nothing else that I say, remember this." Well, Dick's "medititorial moment" yesterday was when he was reading from Isaiah 40:22. "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth...." Dick brought to our attention that more than 2000 years ago, Isaiah spoke of the earth being a round planet, almost as if he had the same opportunity as our astronauts, to see the earth from a distance. No one can ever accuse the Bible of being outdated!

Last night after evening services, the youth (and my hubby who thinks he's a youth) played a great game of indoor soccer in the gym. The adults had fun fellowshipping on the sidelines.

The drama portion of the Christmas Cantata was practicing up in the sanctuary. The thrill of the holidays is in the air!

Our high temp for today will be 46 degrees, so Allen built a fire in the fireplace. Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. Take a moment to pray for the Native Americans from whom we took this land. Many of them will be gathering on Plymouth Rock this Thursday to mourn for what was taken from them. Our way of life that we enjoy today came at a great sacrifice to the first nations.

For any of our local friends, if you are in town on Thanksgiving Day, please feel free to stop by for dinner and/or dessert. Dinner starts at 1 pm. Since my brothers all have local inlaws, they will come at different times during the day...so there will be food available all day. Some of our friends are only coming for dessert, and that will be served whenever you get here. Lots of hot coffee and hot tea too. I will be serving traditional Southern Maryland stuffed ham, so if you've never tried it, you're in for a treat!

Many blessings ~ Kathie