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Happy 18th Birthday

To Our Favorite Jordan

We love you!

Eye Exam

The reason I didn’t post last night.

Flowers are clear and sharp, and lights look normal again this morning.

Cerwin and I had routine eye exams late yesterday afternoon, and were pleased to hear that we both have healthy eyes. We went to a new ophthalmologist (due to insurance) who used an interesting machine to check out the interior of our eyes.  He was thorough in explaining everything we saw on the screen, and pointed out what he can tell about our health by the blood vessels in our eyes. 

It has been three or four years since we had our eyes checked.  Our prescriptions changed very little.

After that we went next door to check out new cell phones, especially looking at the AT&T Eternity and IPhone. Oh, my, do I really need all that stuff?  Plus it was difficult to think and focus with dilated eye pupils. We are going to evaluate these and look at them again when we go back for our new glasses on Friday.

Our next stop was Arby’s (in the same mall) for supper.  What fun to meet my cousin, Diane, who recently had the same rotator cuff surgery as Cerwin – by the same surgeon.  We invited her to sit with us (Lydia was also along) and heard about her experience. Diane is experiencing a lot more pain than Cerwin did – to the point that one month later she is still sleeping in a reclining chair. On the other hand, she is supposed to be lifting ten pounds, and Cerwin is still restricted to two or three pounds. 

Cerwin just walked in the room, asking if I noticed anything different about him.  He was able to wear a t-shirt for the first time since he fell in mid-May.  He mentioned earlier this week that the mobility in his shoulder was going to soon allow him to do that.  That is progress – especially from the days when I had to help him get dressed.

Friday was a good day in my office as well.  The Truck Rally recap newsletter is ready for the mail.  I’ll be running the inserter machine this morning and preparing 1,100 newsletters for Monday’s mail.

I received the last Truck Rally bill and another donation (an envelope taken home from the rally) a few days ago, and was able to complete the reports from the Truck Rally and mail them to the committee.

Friday was indeed a good day.

Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent.

A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. 

Hebrews 12:15 (The Message)

A Birthday Celebration for Diana

“Squirty” to Her Parents

Sunday, August 2 – Part 2 of 2

 This hunter’s backpack is what was in yesterday’s package. 

Diana has wanted to hunt since she was small, and is excited about being a “mentor hunter” this fall with her dad.

The backpack from Roy and Deb was filled with interesting hunting items.

A canteen

There was a compass and walkie talkies.

Toilet paper

 Freeze-dried food

 Then it was time to open the presents from her parents.

 Camouflage shirt

A skim board that she will use when they go to Chincoteague.

 a

 Time for cake!

 First we must sing, “Happy Birthday.”

She has eleven candles to blow out.

This is truly chocolate “to die for.” 

I don’t think I ever had a better piece of chocolate cake.

~~~

There were six granddaughters here on Sunday night – anxious for an all “girls day” on Monday. 

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.

Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:8 (New Living Translation)

A Birthday Celebration for Diana

“Squirty” to Her Parents

Sunday, August 2 – Part 1 of 2

After lunch and a few games of Apples to Apples (Bible Version) the girls began decorating the garage for the evening birthday party.

Gloria (above) and Lydia (below) helped Diana because they were celebrating half-birthdays.

 How do the girls wrap Roy around their fingers?  They can talk him into almost anything.

 The food table is ready – except a few items that are on the grill or still in the refrigerator.

Roy & Deb brought a bouquet of beautiful flowers for the party.

 The girls began with sandal plates, and planned the rest of the decorations around those colors.

 Jared’s newly discovered talent – keeping his nose closed! 

 After a supper of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, it was time for Diana to open her presents.

 What could be inside this piece of wrapping paper?

Diana will show you tomorrow night.

I am the LORD All-Powerful.

So don’t depend on your own power or strength, but on my Spirit.

Zechariah 4:6 (Contemporary English Version)

Tough Trucks

Lebanon Fair – Friday, July 31

This is held at the same fairgrounds as TFC’s Truck Rally.

I just had to get a picture of this camel as we walked by the petting zoo and camel ride area. 

We quickly located Abigail and Nathaniel (via cell phone) and settled in for the evening.  This skid loader was preparing one of the ramps. 

I had never seen a tough truck competition, and didn’t know what to expect.  I soon learned that there was going to be an interesting course of ramps, water, tires, and barrels.

The guys (and a few gals) listen to instructions.  Nathaniel is on the right (black shirt/yellow lettering).  The only other competitor we knew was George, who is in front of Nathaniel (black shirt/green and white lettering).

Walking the course. 

Nathaniel and George, are you not concerned because there are fire trucks, medics, and ambulances on standby? 

There were fifty-eight in the 2 WD competition and forty-five in the 4 WD competition (Nathaniel was in this one).

I took 294 pictures, but figured that you would not want to see each vehicle going over the ramp that was directly in front of us, so I deleted and deleted until I had twenty-one.

The large mud puddle made lots of splash during the early part of the evening.  By the end of the competition it was mud, and at least one vehicle got stuck.

The most entertaining of the evening was this old motor home.

If you want to get a “feel” of this run, go to the “YouTube link” I entered at the end of this entry.  It is so funny!  The person who posted it on YouTube must have been sitting very close to us, as we had the same view of the vehicles.

It took a lot of help to clean the debris from the field.

Quite a few became damaged on the ramps and had to be towed from the field.

Here comes George!  As you can see, it was difficult to get good photos after dark.

He capably maneuvered the entire course, but I didn’t hear his name announced, so expect he was not one of the winners.

This was the only time the medics and ambulance were needed.  I understand something went wrong on the first or second ramp, after which he hit the wall and came to a stop. 

I heard that he was complaining of back pain, but was talking and able to help the medics remove him from the van.  If you know him, let us know how he is doing.

Thanks to http://loveobx.xanga.com/ for letting me know that he is okay, and was back at the fairgrounds that same evening.

Finally it was time for the four-wheel-drive vehicles.  Nathaniel was early in that group, and did quite well:  111.3 seconds.

However, several others scored less time.  We did not see a final listing, but expect he was seventh or eighth out of the forty-five other drivers.

Good job!

One of the lady drivers

This one had some serious wheel problems after the first few ramps!

~~~

We had lots of fun, and if you want to get a feeling of the course and see the motor home, click on this link.

This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God:

Call to me and I will answer you.

I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.

Jeremiah 33:2-3 (The Message)