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New Year’s Eve in Maine

Monday, December 31

We did a variety of things on the last day of 2012. One of them was to play this game – a family gift to the Myers from our daughter Deb and her husband, Roy.

It’s a memory game made up of fifty lighthouses in the country. That means there are 100 cards. Elizabeth, Cerwin, Diane, Mark, and I played it twice.

It took us forty minutes to play it the first time, so the second time we played we tried to beat that time. However, we got too many interruptions and never got opportunity to beat our record.

After supper, and after everyone was in the house, we played Now-You-Have-It-Now-You-Don’t – using numbered cards from a game for our numbers.

We took these items along from Pennsylvania as the game choices.

After playing several hands of Scum (because we needed a game that would keep us awake until midnight) we welcomed the new year by texting many of our family members. Hezekiah went outside and lit a few ground fireworks.

Then we all collapsed into our beds for a good night’s sleep.

The Lord is great.
He is happy when his servant has peace.

Psalm 35:27 (GOD’S WORD Translation)

Snowy Sunday in Maine

December 30

This was the scene outside the dining room area of the house on Sunday morning. Notice Lydia is cleaning the snow off their purple van.

Our RAV4 is already finished and Hezekiah is preparing to start the four-wheeler.

Lydia wanted to do some plowing.

After taking these pictures we got ready for church and enjoyed worshipping with those who attend Brunswick Church of the Brethren – then we had a delicious fellowship meal in the church basement.

Late afternoon pictures.

The sun sets early this time of year in Maine. This photo was taken at 4:19 p.m.

After putting our church food and things away, we enjoyed an afternoon and evening of playing games.

There were five of us available for this game of Rook.

Before people can pray to the Lord for help, they must believe in him.

And before they can believe in the Lord, they must hear about him.

And for anyone to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them.

Romans 10:14 (Easy-to-Read Version)

Our Saturday in Maine

December 29

Our delicious breakfast – Apple Pie French Toast Bake. It was made in a 9 x 12 baking pan. (The topping was dark and is not burnt.)

The link to the recipe: http://foodformyfamily.com/recipe-cards/apple-pie-french-toast-bake#

After doing the breakfast dishes and getting some laundry started, they taught Cerwin and me how to play Ticket to Ride (Europe edition).

At first it seemed confusing, but after a few rounds it began making sense and was quite fun.

Mine is the blue train.

Mark was away for the weekend. He drives motorcoach and took a wrestling team to Salem, Massachusetts. I forget where Hannah and Lydia were, but they were out of the house as well.

It took two hours – 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. to finish this game.

We were expecting a snow storm after lunch, and it arrived about 3:00 p.m.

By the time it was finished, another eight inches of snow was added to the ten inches that was already on the ground.

It was a great evening to play Racko.

The Spirit God gave us does not make us afraid.

His Spirit is a source of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:6-7 (Easy-to-Read Version)

Our First Evening in Maine

Friday, December 28

When we pulled into their driveway Hezekiah had just finished making room for our car and was opening another parking area.

After supper and getting settled into our space, they prepared to open presents. The four Maine grandchildren participated in the gift exchange with our Pennsylvania children and grandchildren.

Lydia…

…loved her horse hoodie

Hezekiah…

…was delighted with his coffee cup and coffee.

Hannah…

…was glad for her gift certificates.

Elizabeth…

…was pleased with a new song book.

Diane and Mark with a few of their gifts that came from Pennsylvania. If I remember correctly, the air popper was from their Pennsylvania daughter, Abigail.

Elizabeth gave us a beautiful hummingbird feeder.

It will be fun to use this in spring.

Diane (our daughter) reading the directions for the popcorn popper.

Before long we were preparing a delicious snack.

After a popcorn snack we spent the evening playing Apples to Apples.

Don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily.

Keep it simple—in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on.

Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you.

This world as you see it is on its way out.

1 Corinthians 7:29-31 (The Message)

Traveling to Maine

Friday, December 28

We were up early on Friday morning and in the car by 5:12 a.m.

I love road trips!

Sunrise is always a favorite time of the day for me when we are traveling.

My heart was heavy as we drove by the Newtown and Sandy Hook exit in Connecticut.

We had planned to make this trip on Saturday, but the weather forecast called for snow, so we left a day early.

There were still signs of the day-after-Christmas-snow.

We were surprised that there was very little snow as we traveled through New Hampshire.

We called our daughter Diane about this time to tell her we were about an hour away. It was difficult to believe that they had ten inches of snow, as there was hardly any indication of snow here.

But the farther north we traveled, the more snow we saw on the ground.

As we neared their town, we began to see the evidence of lots of snow.

The road that goes by Mark and Diane’s house.

Our Father in heaven,

Your name is holy.

Matthew 6:9 (New Life Version)