July 03, 2010

Marvin & Darlene Dueck with younger children.	Bro. Mark preached the sermon Sunday morning on "The Dangers of Being a Workaholic".  Somewhat of a counterpoint to Carl's sermon a month or two ago on "The Blessings of Hard Work.  It was good to recognize that a balance between the extremes is needed.  After church we had the Marvin Dueck family over to eat lunch with us.  French bread, ham, cabbage casserole, squash, cucumber salad plus chocolate cake and tapioca custard for dessert.  A nice time visiting with Marvins!  We got in short naps then went to church in the evening.  A good portion of the church was over at Hephzibah where the men's chorus was giving a program.  Those of us who were left had a Bible quiz.
The older Dueck children.	Monday was busy with Ina Sue doing laundry and me at work.  We had a pretty nice thunderstorm in the afternoon/evening.  We had leftovers for supper then I kept Claudia while Ina Sue took the other three children for a bike ride.
Landy opening his birthday gifts.	Ina Sue made us eggs in ham nests for breakfast on Tuesday.  One of our favorites!  I left for work.  She made a batch of bread, finished the ironing and managed the children.  We had zucchini stir-fry for supper then I kept the children while Ina Sue went to Sarah Ocker's baby shower at the church.  We had some very heavy wind this afternoon during a thunderstorm.  It blew down a big tree in Uncle Howard's yard and blew part of Carl's feed lot roof off and into his lagoon...
Birthday dinner at McDonald's playland.	Ina Sue and the children went to town Wednesday morning when I went to work.   Ina Sue had a back appointment then they did some shopping at Walmart.  They met me at McDonalds for lunch so that we could have a little party for Landon's 4'th birthday.  Hard to believe our little boy is growing up that fast.  They had fun playing on the playground and eating their McFlurry.  In the evening Ina Sue went to the church to meet with her accountability group.  The children and I went for a walk then played games.
On the hill at the Statesville rest area along I77	We had a full day on Thursday.  I got up early and checked the water meters then made up the Govan water bills to send out.  Ina Sue made us made us breakfast and made up the water deposit for me to drop off.  Since we are going to be on the road tomorrow I need to get all my jobs caught up.  Ina Sue did some laundry, packing and cleaning.  Betty Heatwole kept the children for most of the afternoon.  I came home around 6:00 and mowed the front and side yards then after supper I helped clean up and put the children in bed.  I went back in to the shop around 9:30 and worked until 1:00am.
Grandpapa and Claudia.	We got up and around in decent time Friday morning.  We had the van packed up and got on the road by 9:30.  I stopped in Gaston to do a short computer service call then we headed on up the road.  Stopped in Statesville at the rest stop for the children to stretch their legs.  The children all did very good.  We got to Ina Sue's home around 5:45.  Mother made us poppy seed chicken, sweet corn, and cucumber salad for supper.  We met Sherman's girlfriend Sarah for the first time.  She seems to be a very nice girl.   After supper Ina Sue and I drove over to Ina Sue's great uncle Charles Koogler's shop to talk to him about building a china hutch for us.  He does very nice work!
Grandmother's 60'th birthday celebration.	Saturday was the big luncheon in celebration of Mother's 60'th birthday.  Her birthday was actually back in May but it didn't suit back then.  Ina Sue, Jeanne, Marsha & Lori helped plan and make food for the party.  There were about 18 ladies there plus the older grand daughters.
Landon's birthday cupcakes.	I took the middle two children with me and got out of their hair.  Papa had Keith's older children with him and they met us at the Green Valley Book Fair for a while.  Then we drove to the Harrisonburg Livestock Auction where we ate a dinner of hotdogs & BarBQ then took in the auction.  The children both really enjoyed seeing the goats, pigs, sheep and cows.  We stopped at Sharp Shopper for a bit on the way back home and got back around 3:30.
Story time with Aunt Lori.	Meanwhile the party had seemingly gone smoothly.  Ina Sue said it seemed pretty chaotic but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  The children took short naps.  Ina Sue took Sarah with her and went to the Book Fair for a while.  After supper Uncle Lees, Aunt Mary and Ella came over to visit.  The children had a party jumping on the trampoline and really enjoyed seeing their friend Lola again.