look who's cooking again!

we have a built in gas grill in our sunroom. robin's been dying to check out the strength of the vent fan. after one of many church softball games this week, he decided to grill some bubba burgers. here's the result!

home tour-family room

this is the current family room. originally (1978) the front of this picture was the kitchen (and they left a little sink) and over by the fireplace was the family room. in the early 80s, they added the kitchen (pocket door to your right in this picture) and the sunroom (through the back sliding doors). you should be able to click on the pictures to enlarge. this view is coming in from the laundry room (dining room to the left).

before

after

another view, from the other side of the room. if you walk in the front door, and pass the entrance to the front living/dining room, this is the next room on your right. it runs parallel behind the front room, and that door straight back (to robin's left) is the laundry room, which has a pocket door (both doors into the kitchen are pocket doors too. i do love pocket doors!) you can just barely see the sliding doors on the left, and the old kitchen window, which now looks out into the sunroom.

before

after

yes, we're crazy to have white furniture. but since we're renting and can't paint, and this space was so dark since it doesn't have any windows to the direct outdoors, the white furniture (cheap, slipcovered from ikea--and they wash so nicely!) brightens it up a bit, and i love it. now if we can only keep one un-named male black lab dog off it....
the chair and peg rack are one of my favorite little corners. i got the chair at a flea market for $5. it's old, very sturdy and is just full of stories it's not able to tell. i love a chair with history. on the pegrack are a special event apron (from pleasant view schoolhouse), an old baby smock of robin's (which will show up on a brand new family member soon...) and my old blanky! the very small bags are from long time friends/missionaries carl and pam brought to us as a prayer reminder for the people of papua, new guinea. (and all people groups without a bible in their language as they work for wycliffe bible translators).

before and after-dining room

this is the first room on the right as you walk through the front door.
it is verrrrryyyyy long. the front half (not pictured) is the library/computer room.
when the house was first built in 1973, there was a divider between the two halves, with one half being the formal living room, and this half being the dining room.
we love this as our dining room because when company comes, we just add an extra table.
we can host *lots* of table company.

what we've been up to

monopoly til midnight


a trip to australia (via vacation bible school)


visiting with michigan cousins
(and how pathetic that the only photo i can find of their visit is of their dog, jersey.
the drama of the vignette is on purpose. she is a princess)

creation2009

now that we have internet in our home again (thank you Lord... and robin...) it's fun to go through the main computer and see what pics are on it that i haven't seen (and to do a test post to see if i remember how from the pc).
i'm not sure which girl is responsible for this picture, taken at creation where they worshiped with 50,000 others while camping, waiting in line for port-a-johns and listening to bands/speakers.

nice job on the picture, girls. how 'bout a guest post?

robin in the kitchen

we were thrilled to get a call last friday night from my sister who was in ohio en route to my mom's in n.j. asking if they could spend the night. we were even more excited that it only took them 10 hours to get here, so it wasn't midnight or beyond when they arrived!

robin had some cooking to do....it hits him every 5-10 years and so he shared his specialty with our brother-in-law, mark (really, we should describe him as brave, courageous, or lacking a full deck for eating something so.... artery clogging. i did make sure his life insurance was paid up before partaking).

can you guess what's in it?




it's a fried lebanon bolgna, egg, mayo and cheese sandwhich on a bagel.
with steak sauce added.
ahem. enjoy, men.

church suppers

one of the things we love about our church is the wednesday night church suppers in the summer, the first of every month. each one has a theme, and the food is always good. july's theme was a pet show with a message with special guests from animal alley and the grilling done by the pastors (pictured is pastor marv).

we love the integration of all ages together, the opportunity to serve families with young children and the atmosphere of informalness at these get togethers. thanks, gbc!

lancaster county

some of our favorite scenes locally.....



lest you think it too idyllic.....see that gargantuan building in the back? it's QVC's warehouse :)

farewells

these three are very happy to say goodbye to the bathroom all 9 of us have been sharing for the past 6 months.
we praise God for His faithfulness to us--God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.

more posts on the new house coming. we won't have internet of our own until the 17th, so i only get to check emails/the blog every 2-3 days or so.

boy in the plastic bubble. (wrap)

this is what happens when you're the youngest of 7.....