High Hopes

Thank you all for not giving up on me. I had high hopes of keeping

the blog up-dated on a regular basis, but.......well, we seemed to have jumped

from a busy summer to a busy fall. No complaints, mind you, just had to put

things on hold for a bit longer. Things will be getting back to normal now, as

we have hired our new Food Service Manager. Tom and his family arrived

Thursday and I have officially handed over the reins.

I have been cooking on and off since August, and the last month was more on than off.

I did enjoy it and it stretched me quite a bit, especially Labor Day, (250 people), and Thanksgiving, (only 75 people, but I sure didn't want to ruin Thanksgiving dinner for

these Canadians). We made it through..........I could have used my mother,

but I was able to draw from the many things I learned from her over the years

...... Thanks Mom!

We have had another beautiful fall. It was very warm up until

two weeks ago. It has turned colder now, and is time to bring out the

winter clothes.

We were able to get away in the middle of September. Had a very

nice time with Ken's Mom as we traveled to see Katie at Houghton,

and then on down to Virginia.

We came back by way of Gettysburg, Lancaster Pennsylvania and Hershey.

We didn't have much time to stop and be tourists, but the weather was perfect

and the scenery was beautiful.

The end of September brought our Young at Heart Conference.

Ken and I had the opportunity to step in and be the Program Directors

for this week. I think that we were blessed much more than our guests, as

we spent time with these Saints. Ken led music and did all the MC stuff,

I planned activities and enjoyed the fellowship.

One of the things that we did during the week was to take a trip

to the Royal Botanical Gardens.

There were 24 of us that went on the trip.

We arranged to have supper there at the Gardens which was

very nice as well. We got back to the conference centre around

7:00, served Hot Berry Sundaes and put in one of the

Gaither Homecoming DVD's. It was a great day!

Katie came home two weeks later..........

............Before

after.......

I don't buy many groceries in the summer, so I hit the grocery store before

Katie came home.

It is so nice to have her so close.

She will be home again for the US Thanksgiving weekend!

Celebrating Birthdays with Pete and Holly

at the Symposium.

Ken - October 8th, Pete - October 1st and Holly October 10th

Which one is which?

1961

1955

1965

I felt a little out of place not having an October Birthday,

but someone had to take the picture!

A new Blogger

For those of you who do not know, there is a new blogger in our midst.

The Californian eskimo has been keeping us updated on the new chapter of her life.

Who could this be, you ask?

Go to californian-eskimo.blogspot.com to see..........

As for Life in Canada...........

It hasn't slowed down much since summer.

We are looking forward to a quiet week as we get ready for

Thanksgiving next weekend.

........................More later

Well, our second summer here at

GBCC has come to an end. Although we

have a pretty busy fall, we look forward

to some quieter times.

Except for my computer crashing and out of service for

5 weeks, (I am still not caught up), and

Ruth, our wonderful Food Service Manager,

leaving us, we have had a great summer.

The thing about our summers is that

everything gets put on hold for a time. I am looking

forward to:

Having a cup of coffee for enjoyment, not because I need it to get me through the day;

Going for walks;

Blogging!

Going to regular stores instead of

Costco

Wholesale Club

Staples

Pool Supply

Etc...

Eating right;

Cooking [for just us];

Having a clean house;

Doing some yard work;

and

Corresponding with loved ones;

Katie worked on the Maintenance Crew this summer, and it was so fun to have her at home and to be able to snatch some special moments together.

The business helped me to not think about Katie going off to College, but inevitably we had to start getting ready. We were able to go to Buffalo one day to get stuff for her dorm room. We had a great day and we were successful in finding everything that she needed.

She went with a blue and green theme.

The day arrived...........

We got to the College about 1:00 in the afternoon and

got her moved in. You know the routine: Mom makes the bed and

Dad hooks up the printer......

There was a wonderful dedication service in the afternoon followed by a Bagpipe Recessional. The new students followed the Bagpiper out of the chapel and around the main part of campus. He played Amazing Grace and it was all quite moving.

The Bagpiper will lead them all in on the day of their commencement in four years.

There was a very long line of new students. Katie was toward the end.

They ended up on the steps of the chapel for a class picture.

Katie and her Roommate Genna.

Dr Suise theme: thing one and thing two

The good bye was very hard, but we know that this is a great fit for Katie. She is only 3 and a half hours a way. We already have plans to stop in and see her on our way to vacation next week.

"Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, giver of all good and perfect gifts, we thank You for these, our children, whom we now commit to the task of learning, and to growing in service to Your Kingdom. Grant that these, our children, may find in this, Your college, the love and the wisdom needed to illuminate the path to Your knowledge. Bless those who teach; enable them to walk in the light of Your everlasting Word. May your Spirit lead these students to become men and women of pure hearts, of upright purpose, of steadfast endeavor-to learn to do Your will. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen."

This prayer was in the bulletin.

Katie's Graduation

Ready to go!

There was a dinner for the Graduates and their parents before the Graduation.

This young man was sitting right in front of us.

(This is the College that Katie is going to in the fall).

He was about12 years old and very wiggly.

He did sit still long enough for Ken to take the picture.

We thought that it was a very "interesting" distraction.

Mom, Bill, Lisa and Peter.

Graduating with "Honours"

Lovely Sisters!

Katie had one cousin, (second Cousin), at her Graduation!

Peter has been working with us this summer

and he and Katie have been having fun getting

to know each other.

He thinks that Katie now needs to go to his graduation next year in Montana.

Who Knows??

It was a very lovely evening and we are proud of our Katie!
We are now starting to think about packing for College...............
I am not sure if I am ready, but ready or not,

it will be here in less than 5 weeks!

July 1st Canada Day

Ya Just Gotta Love Summer Staff!!!

Mom and Bill enjoying Strawberry Shortcake

I know I am a little behind.

Katie's Graduation Pictures will be coming soon!

Hope you are all enjoying your summer!

June 25th

Ya just gotta love summer staff!!!

I got home from work on Saturday to the "Bum" whistling Happy birthday,

a Coconut Chiffon Cake and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!

Also note the Strawberry Jam in the back ground.

Thanks Mom!!

I suppose that I should have some profound words of wisdom now that I have been on the earth a half a century. Nothing much comes to mind, especially during summer camp, but I do want to say that it has been a wonderful journey so far. I am thankful for my Lord and my family and I can say that I have experienced Gods Faithfulness time and time again, in all areas of life.

Looking forward to the year to come!

What Comes to Mind????

A very yummy combination!!!!!!

My Mother will be here next week...........

My little row of strawberries is quite full. All the rain that we have been getting has caused everything to really grow. I got my first three strawberries this morning!

The Rhubarb has already been cut once and is safely in the freezer. I may have just enough strawberries to make one pie!!!