Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Some Old Stuff

Since the old house has been cleaned out and the new family has moved in (settlement won't happen till later in August), busy has taken a bit of a break around here. Don't get me wrong, we haven't stopped being busy, just the crazy part!!

When we were cleaning out the barn, my hubby thought my brother may want some things that were my Dad's. My parents bought that property when I was 9 or 10. 
We still had some things that belonged to them. 

Do these pictures remind you of a popular TV show??



Looks like American Pickers =)
My brother did want this stuff.

I also took pictures and sent them to my large family to ask if anyone wanted any of this stuff.


My sister Jeanie said the strawberry boxes 
were a bad memory.
She didn't like picking strawberries.
When we lived on the farm,
Mom had a huge patch of strawberries. 
She sold them to help fund our family needs.



These are so neat and so dirty.
There were 3.
I kept one to plant flowers in (next year)
but I didn't need the other two.
The large one was our baby bath tub!
One is going to my niece in Hawaii!
The other one is staying with my brother and his wife.

This old calendar was in....


...this old tin can.
My brother wanted it.
The calendar was from the year he was born.
Mom had recorded on it 
when she paid a bill and 
how much it was.
So interesting.
So neat whenever I see the handwriting of my mom or dad!

One of my sisters asked if there was money hidden in that old can.
I replied that I didn't dig into it
but I doubted there was any to be found!
We grew up in a home of abundant love
but 
not abundant in money or material things.
If I had to choose an abundance of anything,
I would choose love!


These three things are going to the new owners of our home. 
They will purchase them but I don't know how much any are worth.






It feels so good to have our old home empty of our stuff. We brought enough old stuff with us to keep the feel of the our old home with us ♥ Hopefully Hubs will soon be able to work on the barn door that is to be our bedroom door. Love it! And, he also brought some old shutters along to make a headboard for our bed. See, the old house lives on here at the new house. I like that. A lot!


Friday, July 25, 2014

Hershey's Chocolate World ♥

We love Hershey's Chocolate World. So, yesterday Gina suggested taking the kids there for a fun outing....we have to do some of those before school starts in a month.

Here we go!

It's a happy place...
yes, there were crowds of people,
we knew there would be.
But it's a free activity.
We love free!


After going inside,
Gina noticed some changes...
where do we enter the free ride??
Oh, to the left past the candy and t-shirts for sale...
way back in the corner.
We found it...there was a big sign
and we were on our way for some fun!



On the car and on our way!



Look, says Zoe...


There's the cow!
She loves cows!


You hear the cows singing throughout the ride.


Ellen wants a PB cup!!



Mmm, Hershey's Kisses ♥



Aidan is always ready to come here.
We rode it twice....
he would have gone another time!


Gina takes a pic of Zoe.


Gina takes a pic of me....
and I take a pic of her ☺


We buy some candy to bring home
and it's time to leave.
Parking is free 
if
you leave before your 3 hours are up.
Then it's
 $12.
We like free so we are sure to leave plenty of time to walk to the car.


What a pretty day!!


A stop at Wendy's is in order. Why wouldn't it be? ☺

Zoe says she is soooo tired....


Oh sooo tired!!



Aidan isn't!



Neither is Ellen!

Ellen thought wearing her Chocolate t-shirt for the Chocolate ride
was very appropriate.
Perfect!


Nana needs a mini van so she can take all her little Grands with her on these fun trips. Yes she does!



Thursday, July 24, 2014

Witmer Family Retreat 2014

Refreshing Mountain Camp.

It's taken me awhile to get this post written. I'll try not to bore you with too many pictures!

Friday evening we all gathered in this large meeting room reserved for our family all week end. It was a wonderful space and just under the rooms where we slept.

My hubby and my brother relaxing.


We were all so thrilled to be there and start the fun!


My youngest sister Rose (from GA) on the right
and sister-in-law Nancy.


This sweet baby Eli
was a joy!
His daddy is holding him and his mommy is on the left of this photo.
They came all the way from GA.
He is the first Grand for my sister Rose.
She has a second Grand in Hawaii. 


The kids soon decided to find the playground.





But first, Brinley decides to find more potato chips, haha!


Success!



We ate our meals in a large dining hall. 
The meals were part of the our week end plan. 
No meal prep. No clean up.
Nice!
Were they as tasty as the meals we prepared in the past? 
No.
But we didn't go hungry.
I even found enough to eat even though there were many items I stayed away from.






The young man on the left came all the way from Sweden!
He's the grandson of my sister Jean.
He's living here in PA during his senior year in High School.
He will be playing football for our home team
the Manheim Barons =)
We moved from that school district but will be attending some games.



There was a large wonderful pool to splash in or swim.





 No matter where we go,
the sisters find something to talk about!!
We laugh a lot, too!


Ellen heard there was ice cream for sale at the little shop next to the pool.
She enjoyed some!


The brave and a bit crazy (my opinion!) did a zip line and ropes course.
Oh my, not me. 
Not in a million years!!





How interesting...
this is what the on-lookers looked like!
Thanks to Scott Smith (my son-in-law)
for thinking to take this!!

We made S'mores Saturday evening.

Mm- mm, good!



Sunday morning after breakfast
we always have a Worship Service.
We sing.
Scott Kepnes always has songs for the kids.

They love Uncle Scott!


Aunt Nancy told them a story and prayed with them.

Is this precious, or what?!!

We adults take time to share.




And we pray together.
Special time, always!



The kids play games on their parents phones while the adults sing =)



Random pics.....


This just cracks me up!!
my son, Corey, and his wife, Christy 


My fam ♥



Lovely spot to relax, chat, and laugh.




Friends and cousins....
Jeremy form DC
Andrea from Arizona



Cousins ♥



Kim and Brinley


We ended our family week end with sitting on my porch
with my sisters =)

Andrea took this picture...I should have asked someone to take it so she could be included too!

Sooooo,
what have I been up to this week??

this...


and this!

It was time for that!!

Of course, I did other things too.

I'm off for a fun time....
tell you about it tomorrow!

Bless you today!