Just one piece and the border would be complete!
Time to hunt through all 55 million other pieces to find the 1...grrrr....
Showing posts with label Spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spring. Show all posts
Monday, July 6, 2015
Friday, March 20, 2015
We Love Feebies!
Our time here in Central PA has introduced us some new foods; baked oatmeal, shoo fly pie, scrapple, Philly cheese steaks, white cheddar cheese to name a few. One that's become a favorite can be found at a chain in eastern US, Rita's Ice-Custard-Happiness. Most of the locations are only open in the spring and summer months. The first day of spring is traditionally Free Rita's Day. They give out free small sizes of their legendary Italian Ice.
Well, as Houseparents, we are all about free activities to share with our students. We split our group into two trips asking the first trip to take care of dinner clean-up so the 2nd group could go sooner. It was a fun dash for a treat, even if it was cold and snowy on the First Day of Spring this year:
Well, as Houseparents, we are all about free activities to share with our students. We split our group into two trips asking the first trip to take care of dinner clean-up so the 2nd group could go sooner. It was a fun dash for a treat, even if it was cold and snowy on the First Day of Spring this year:
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Spring Break 2014-Part 2
...our next stop was...
We talked about going to Jamestown and Yorktown but decided to spend our time exploring Colonial Williamsburg since the general consensus was that there was little to do at the other two locations.
We attended our church meetings at the Williamsburg Ward. Before attending, we found out that our niece, Liz had a friend from home serving her mission in the Williamsburg Ward. We made it a point to introduce ourselves to the sister missionaries. She said we looked familiar and we'd taken her home from Liz's house once, plus visited her home ward multiple times.
I asked her companion where she was from and she said Bunkerville, NV. Well, I knew 1 person with her last name from Bunkerville...Bob. Turns out he is her DAD! He and I were in the same ward at BYU many, many, many moons ago. When she told me who her dad married, I recognized her mom's name too, also from the BYU 160th Ward. Fun to discover that I "knew" both sister missionaries. There might have been connections with the elders too, but we didn't visit with them to ask.
Of course, after the meeting ended, we took a couple snapshots with them to send to family and I emailed the one so she could share it with her parents too.
While touring Colonial Williamsburg, listened to Patrick Henry & George Washington speak, participated in some group portrayals, learned some dances of the day, learned about the impact of slavery at the time, heard and judged some court cases, and enjoyed the warmer temperatures and sunshine. Both of us were even sent to the stocks.
We also visited the dressmaker/tailor's shop. He was so snooty that we didn't bother with any pictures of him, we were afraid that he might be offended and ruin the dress I ordered. ;)
Just outside the colonial part of Williamsburg were other shops that we strolled in and out of. There was a Scottish store with several tartan plaids. Whenever I see a store like that I go search for our family plaid. Someday I'll have a skirt made in our tartan but I have to do some saving before that becomes a reality.
The final portion of our Spring Break was spent closer to our home. My parents came to visit us at our place and we gave them the grand tour!
We headed over to Chocolate World to do some shopping for treats and take the ride that tells about the Milton S. Hershey story and how the Hershey company makes it's famous chocolate. Of course, we really took the tour for the end result, some free chocolate!
The four of us took a trolley tour that goes around town and talks about how Milton Hershey set up the town, where the factories were/are, and tells the story of the Milton Hershey School he started in 1909. Again, the information was great, but the chocolate they handed out along the way was the highlight.
One of our fellow houseparents let us take Mom and Dad into their empty student home so we could give them a better feel for how each house houses 12 students and the houseparents.
Mom and Dad stayed with us and enjoyed the view and our little farm house. Dad later told me that he thought it was a confusing layout; guess that means he needs to come back and spend more time so it feels more comfortable to him.
The last big thing we did was head over to Valley Forge and tour the historic site where the American soldiers camped for winter during the Revolutionary War. None of us had any idea what to expect and we only had a short amount of time to see everything before the park closed. We left pleasantly surprised and want to go back again.
One other thing on our agenda was go get Mom & Dad's paperwork all completed so that they can visit us again and stay with us next time. It's a requirement of the school for background checks to be done if people will be coming more than once a year. It took some doing for Dad to get his finger printing completed so the last background check could be completed. After a few attempts, we discovered that he no longer has fingerprints. Of course, we had a good time teasing him that he was really trying to hide his past from us.
It was an enjoyable few days with them and we look forward to their next visit. Hope it's sooner rather than later.
We talked about going to Jamestown and Yorktown but decided to spend our time exploring Colonial Williamsburg since the general consensus was that there was little to do at the other two locations.
We attended our church meetings at the Williamsburg Ward. Before attending, we found out that our niece, Liz had a friend from home serving her mission in the Williamsburg Ward. We made it a point to introduce ourselves to the sister missionaries. She said we looked familiar and we'd taken her home from Liz's house once, plus visited her home ward multiple times.
I asked her companion where she was from and she said Bunkerville, NV. Well, I knew 1 person with her last name from Bunkerville...Bob. Turns out he is her DAD! He and I were in the same ward at BYU many, many, many moons ago. When she told me who her dad married, I recognized her mom's name too, also from the BYU 160th Ward. Fun to discover that I "knew" both sister missionaries. There might have been connections with the elders too, but we didn't visit with them to ask.
Of course, after the meeting ended, we took a couple snapshots with them to send to family and I emailed the one so she could share it with her parents too.
The sister from Idaho.
The one from Nevada. I'll have to go back to my old pictures so I can better seen the family resemblance.
Toured the barrel maker, weavers, woodworker, apothecary, church (that still holds weekly services), several homes, and the shoemaker.
We also visited the dressmaker/tailor's shop. He was so snooty that we didn't bother with any pictures of him, we were afraid that he might be offended and ruin the dress I ordered. ;)
Just outside the colonial part of Williamsburg were other shops that we strolled in and out of. There was a Scottish store with several tartan plaids. Whenever I see a store like that I go search for our family plaid. Someday I'll have a skirt made in our tartan but I have to do some saving before that becomes a reality.
The final portion of our Spring Break was spent closer to our home. My parents came to visit us at our place and we gave them the grand tour!
We headed over to Chocolate World to do some shopping for treats and take the ride that tells about the Milton S. Hershey story and how the Hershey company makes it's famous chocolate. Of course, we really took the tour for the end result, some free chocolate!
The four of us took a trolley tour that goes around town and talks about how Milton Hershey set up the town, where the factories were/are, and tells the story of the Milton Hershey School he started in 1909. Again, the information was great, but the chocolate they handed out along the way was the highlight.
One of our fellow houseparents let us take Mom and Dad into their empty student home so we could give them a better feel for how each house houses 12 students and the houseparents.
Mom and Dad stayed with us and enjoyed the view and our little farm house. Dad later told me that he thought it was a confusing layout; guess that means he needs to come back and spend more time so it feels more comfortable to him.
The last big thing we did was head over to Valley Forge and tour the historic site where the American soldiers camped for winter during the Revolutionary War. None of us had any idea what to expect and we only had a short amount of time to see everything before the park closed. We left pleasantly surprised and want to go back again.
One other thing on our agenda was go get Mom & Dad's paperwork all completed so that they can visit us again and stay with us next time. It's a requirement of the school for background checks to be done if people will be coming more than once a year. It took some doing for Dad to get his finger printing completed so the last background check could be completed. After a few attempts, we discovered that he no longer has fingerprints. Of course, we had a good time teasing him that he was really trying to hide his past from us.
It was an enjoyable few days with them and we look forward to their next visit. Hope it's sooner rather than later.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
More of April
For my birthday this year, we decided to use a one of our Joint Personal Days so that we could do what we wanted to celebrate. I decided that I wanted to go for brunch at Hershey Pantry and then drive to Washington DC to attend the Temple.
Dan let me stay home that morning and sleep in. (When we don't have to cover, only one of us has to go in for the morning portion of our schedule.) He arrived and we got ready for our outing. We did a late brunch at Hershey Pantry before heading out of town. Yum Yum!
We then got on the road. Because of the craziness of our work schedule, we get to the Temple about once every six weeks. Each time we go I take a picture of the grounds since we're capturing it seasonally. It's fun to see the changes to the landscape. Even if the trees are bare, the grounds are beautiful.
This trip was not exception to our grounds picture tradition. We decided to also take a selfie in front of the Temple. As you can see, they are not our forte.
The most embarrassing part is that we didn't do well with the selfies we took with our work iPad even with turning the camera to the front screen so we could see what we were doing.
Guess this one will have to do:
After completing our service in the Temple, we decided to drive into DC (hoping to miss the commute home traffic) and go to the Jefferson Memorial. Unbeknownest to us, it was smack in the middle of the Cherry Blossom Festival and we were heading straight towards all the blossoms! It was G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S.!!!
We then walked around the area and the Memorial. It was a peaceful and pleasant way to celebrate my birthday; maybe even a tradition in the making.
The following weekend was the big Cancer Care Community Walk. It was a 24-hour relay walk sponsored by the school though anyone was welcome to attend. Several students stayed the full 24-hours and a few walked over 30 miles in that time frame.
Leading up to the walk the different student homes did unique and creative fundraisers to raise money for cancer research. Some of the ideas were bake sales, sports memorabilia auction, scrap metal recycling, car washes, t-shirts, restaurant percentages, etc. With the winners receiving dinner at a popular Amish buffet, the competition ran high.
The event started on Saturday late morning with everyone doing the first ceremonial lap together lead by cancer survivors:
The stands then began to empty:
We held a special chapel service on Sunday to close the walk after doing the final lap together. After chapel was complete, we remained in our seats to see the preliminary final count of funds raised for cancer. Can I have a drum roll please....
That's $102,417! The most amazing parts were: (1) the fundraiser was a last minute decision and we only had about 4 weeks from start to finish. (2) The students came up with the ideas and did most of the work selling, cleaning, sorting, baking, etc. (3) The students were selling to the same population for 4 weeks straight-houseparents, students, teachers, administrators, etc. It was a remarkable and Herculean effort. The goal was $100,000 and when all was said and done the final number was closer to $120,000. What an amazing experience for everyone involved!
Spring Break then onto Summer fun!
Dan let me stay home that morning and sleep in. (When we don't have to cover, only one of us has to go in for the morning portion of our schedule.) He arrived and we got ready for our outing. We did a late brunch at Hershey Pantry before heading out of town. Yum Yum!
We then got on the road. Because of the craziness of our work schedule, we get to the Temple about once every six weeks. Each time we go I take a picture of the grounds since we're capturing it seasonally. It's fun to see the changes to the landscape. Even if the trees are bare, the grounds are beautiful.
This trip was not exception to our grounds picture tradition. We decided to also take a selfie in front of the Temple. As you can see, they are not our forte.
They are all about having fun, right! At least we got a good laugh at ourselves.
The most embarrassing part is that we didn't do well with the selfies we took with our work iPad even with turning the camera to the front screen so we could see what we were doing.
Guess this one will have to do:
After completing our service in the Temple, we decided to drive into DC (hoping to miss the commute home traffic) and go to the Jefferson Memorial. Unbeknownest to us, it was smack in the middle of the Cherry Blossom Festival and we were heading straight towards all the blossoms! It was G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S.!!!
We then walked around the area and the Memorial. It was a peaceful and pleasant way to celebrate my birthday; maybe even a tradition in the making.
Dan insisted that since it was my birthday I had to be the only one in the pictures. Guess that's ok since I'm usually the one behind the camera.
The following weekend was the big Cancer Care Community Walk. It was a 24-hour relay walk sponsored by the school though anyone was welcome to attend. Several students stayed the full 24-hours and a few walked over 30 miles in that time frame.
Leading up to the walk the different student homes did unique and creative fundraisers to raise money for cancer research. Some of the ideas were bake sales, sports memorabilia auction, scrap metal recycling, car washes, t-shirts, restaurant percentages, etc. With the winners receiving dinner at a popular Amish buffet, the competition ran high.
The event started on Saturday late morning with everyone doing the first ceremonial lap together lead by cancer survivors:
The stands then began to empty:
We held a special chapel service on Sunday to close the walk after doing the final lap together. After chapel was complete, we remained in our seats to see the preliminary final count of funds raised for cancer. Can I have a drum roll please....
That's $102,417! The most amazing parts were: (1) the fundraiser was a last minute decision and we only had about 4 weeks from start to finish. (2) The students came up with the ideas and did most of the work selling, cleaning, sorting, baking, etc. (3) The students were selling to the same population for 4 weeks straight-houseparents, students, teachers, administrators, etc. It was a remarkable and Herculean effort. The goal was $100,000 and when all was said and done the final number was closer to $120,000. What an amazing experience for everyone involved!
Spring Break then onto Summer fun!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Miscellaneous Spring Related Things
Our winter was very wet and harsh to so Spring was a very welcomed change. There were so many beautiful blooming trees around campus and it seemed that they bloomed at the same time:
In order to get these beautiful flowers, rain must fall. I took a student to Walmart and noticed the clouds gathering. I hoped that we'd get in and out before the storm hit...One of us got back to the van without getting wet...
As I was driving towards campus with a student, we saw a person flying around with a parachute on a chair with a motor. (Not sure of the official name of the "sport" or equipment.) As I was driving a few minutes later I stopped the van to take a picture or two; not great quality but you get the idea of what was being used:
Dan frequently introduces himself as "The Chosen One" or "Your Highness" to the students when they can't remember our name. One day he managed to find himself a scepter-he thinks it helps his case for his titles:
One of our day's off we headed to DC to spend some time in the Temple. The flowers and green was amazing here too:
I smile whenever I see this sign as we head to the DC Temple; it's definitely an attraction to not be missed:
With the warmer temperatures comes the need to collect delivered milk as soon as possible. At one student home we weren't sure when the 5 gallons of milk were delivered so we erred on the side of caution:
I discovered dumping 5 gallons of milk doesn't take very long. Not the best but better than drinking sour milk for several days.
Dan received the following in the mail this spring:
I found it very funny for some reason, maybe because my card is still so far away. The thing that was strange though is that he could have joined at 50, two years ago! Guess needs to update their mailings a bit.
My cooking skills have been put to the test with this new job.Not only am I cooking for at least 14 but I have tried more new recipes in the last year than I think I have in previous years put together! I've even tackled coconut shrimp.
While we were shopping for our new couch, we saw this small plaque and Dan thought we should take our picture with it...The things we do to humor each other...
In order to get these beautiful flowers, rain must fall. I took a student to Walmart and noticed the clouds gathering. I hoped that we'd get in and out before the storm hit...One of us got back to the van without getting wet...
As I was driving towards campus with a student, we saw a person flying around with a parachute on a chair with a motor. (Not sure of the official name of the "sport" or equipment.) As I was driving a few minutes later I stopped the van to take a picture or two; not great quality but you get the idea of what was being used:
Dan frequently introduces himself as "The Chosen One" or "Your Highness" to the students when they can't remember our name. One day he managed to find himself a scepter-he thinks it helps his case for his titles:
One of our day's off we headed to DC to spend some time in the Temple. The flowers and green was amazing here too:
I smile whenever I see this sign as we head to the DC Temple; it's definitely an attraction to not be missed:
With the warmer temperatures comes the need to collect delivered milk as soon as possible. At one student home we weren't sure when the 5 gallons of milk were delivered so we erred on the side of caution:
Dan received the following in the mail this spring:
I found it very funny for some reason, maybe because my card is still so far away. The thing that was strange though is that he could have joined at 50, two years ago! Guess needs to update their mailings a bit.
My cooking skills have been put to the test with this new job.Not only am I cooking for at least 14 but I have tried more new recipes in the last year than I think I have in previous years put together! I've even tackled coconut shrimp.
While we were shopping for our new couch, we saw this small plaque and Dan thought we should take our picture with it...The things we do to humor each other...
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Diet Problems #1, 2, 3, & 4
These are my favorites. They are distributed by Hershey. They've been out for a couple weeks in several stores. We get discounts on them at Chocolate World. I'm in so much trouble!
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