The Medievel Festival

And what a festival it was!
Amy and children worked 6 or 8 weeks on this Medievel Festival-each of the children working at their own levels
Caitlin, Haley and Tori made ALL the costumes for all the children and the girls did almost all the cooking and planning of games, etc for the festival! Their mom reported that they used a large 2 lb. can of Crisco and 5 dozen eggs just making the pies! (14 of them) They also made this incedible bread- many round loaves of DELICIOUS bread-they called it parsley bread but it had raising and maybe nuts and was so good. I wish I had taken a picture of it.
Over 30 people were in attendance-most were in costume and all very much in the spirit of things!

Friar Dave and Lord Brian confered before hand on the events of the afternoon and evening

Friar Dave and Lady McBeth wait for the games to begin

They played several authentic Medieval games- the first called "Caomping- the goal was for the team to get the ball (a basketball ) in to a soccer goal. There were NO rules which made it very interesting. About 3 minutes in to the game the Ref-Friar Dave- added the rule that they could only take 4 steps with the ball. Much fun was had by all.
Camping game


They also had a "horse raise" where the little ones chose a big one and rode them piggy back- the riders knew the path but could not talk- only point to the horse to tell them where to go.

Slaying the Dragon- the kids had made a really cute green dragon pinata and hung it in the tree. There was the typical pinata contest and Amy shows the wounded dragon and prepares to scatter the contents.


The feast ws presented in 8 different "removes" or courses- one more spectacular then the last! This delicacy was reserved for the head "family" table.!






The festival was complete with the court jesters!


The evening was culminated with a huge bonfire and Lord Brian wrapped up things with a spritual message- he had also done this at the conclusion of games-linking them to real life issues.

This was an experience that the family will remember for a long, long time.

The week before...

Hey! I am at Paneras in Daytona Beach Fl...details later...
This is what was going on the week before we left Texas.
We DID get to go to a dance a few weeks a go...first in a LONG time...all country western...I don't know if we'll even know any ballroom by the time we dance on the cruise.
We DID get all the Advent calendars done.3 of them for the grandkids who didn't have one. I copied one I had given Amy's kids several years a go...you put up one felt figure a day during Advent..starting with creation and the fall (THE reason for Christmas) and ending with the birth of Jesus.
And...we got our whole house decorated for Christmas...so we'll be ready when we get back to TX in Dec. We babysat for Amy's kids one night and Abby was so taken in by the little trees!

Dave adjusted the 12 foot tree to be an 11 foot tree which now graces the dining room and is ready for company!

DECK THE HALLS!! WE did!

Photo Journal of...

I had one of those lovely events this morning- the semi-annual dentist visit...but since retiring I haven't been up to putting myself through one of those all inclusive x-ray sessions. I submitted to the machine this morning- 15 of them! and the scraping and probing for the cleaning and am SO glad that is all over with a good report! After running a few errands I stopped at Lisa's and am using their high speed internet...but looks like Blogger is still having trouble uploading pictures...so...no picture journal anyway.
I'll try again tonight, while Dave is at Men's Life. We have just 4 more days after today to get packed and ready to leave for Florida so there is MUCH to get done at home.
Check with me later.

Dancing...Bag Lady...Deck the Halls

These are some of our activites of last week. I'm off to the dentist...I'll try to post pictures and details later.

Almost ready for Brick!

Here I am just downloading picutures and Dave is ready to run to Wal-Mart for Paint Primer- so have to run...no more pix!
Friday we were at Amy's with the Fishers-here they are...I wanted to show the kids all playing chess..oh well.
Just as we were ready to leave- we went in to say goodnight to JM and Josiah- who had put themselves to bed at 8- we hardly noticed with all the activites going on- I just noticed that Jm and Josiah and Ana and Abby were gone! When we peeked in at Jm and Jo. JM asked if he could show up his costume for the upcoming Medievel Feast. I said, "sure"...not knowing it entailed sending me out to mom to see if he could have permission to go to the garage and get his sword...then taking 10 minuts to get changed in to his costume! But it was well worth it. Here he is.. The older girls have made quite elaborate costumes for all the kids. We got quite the invitation! I'll have to get to work on our costumes- just have 2 weeks until the Festival!
Have a great week. Thanks for visiting!
Saturday we did NOT get to see Henry, Jonah and Lisa but DID have the blessing of Sam to work and our Grandpup-Elmer- who was overjoyed to come and visit.

The Lord's Day

This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad. I've made my NFL picks, and am getting ready for church- to go and worship our AWESOME God. I'll be back later in the day, Lord willing, to post pictures and updates on our lives.

October in Texas

Dave says we are running the tires off our car driving to Lindale and back! But we are loving every minute of it. Monday night we were down for the ESOAL banquet honoring all the participants- 540 some and the 140 some Finish- Finishers. (They ALL finish- some finish at the end-the Finish Finishers) What a great experience for these kids! Many of them limped up to the mike or platform to get awards due to their blisters and soreness of body. David and Sam have had many letters and visits of appreciation from participants. (I have tried for 1/2 hour to download more pictures but can only get this one! I'll come back later and try again!)
Tuesday night we were back at David's for dinner and helped Jay celebrate his birthday-late. We had to cut it short as I had my Beth Moore Bible study back in Quitman at 7. I just love the study and will look forward to doing another!
Wednesday we celebrated Abby's 2nd birthday at lunch time with all the Smiths. What a gala affair! We headed back to Quitman where we had dinner with my cousin Larry and his wife Sue and her dad and then to church for our "Walk Across the Room" Bible study. It is based on the book by Bill Hybals, pastor of Willow Creek and highlights evangelism. It is really good. All four of us attended that-Dave and I and Larry and Sue.
Thursday Dave worked on the workshop and I got ready for the Fisher Affair. Our nephew, Steve and his wife Sharmin and their 4 children are here from Hong Kong. They are involved in teaching a Bible school there and taking literature to the Chinese. They lead an interesting life. They had been fishing down in the Keys of Florida and brought Lobster, Red Snapper Grouper and other fish for us to feast on which was great. We were joined by Jon, Kelly, Jordan, David, Beth, Ashley, Jay, Cole, Nicholas, Sam, Lisa, Henry and Jonah. We dined on the patio and got to watch the sun set right down the canal in back. We are having beautiful sunsets- God is good.
Tonight we'll be at Smiths with the same group minus Jon and Kelly who will be attending a wedding in Missouri.
Saturday Sam and Lisa and family will be back for Sam to work on the workshop with Dave.
So goes our week...we will try to catch our breath today!

A look at our week

We've had a busy week and were blessed to spend some time with each of our kids and most of our grandkids this week. God is good!
I'm in a Beth Moore Bible study at church which I really like- studying the fruit of the spirit- the 12 week study has just 3 to go. Then this week Dave and I started a 4 wk. study at church- "Walk Across the Room" an evangelism study with Bill Hybals by dvd. It too is good. We attend Church on the Rock in Quitman and really like it.
Wednesday I went over to Amy's to help with some of the weekly things- like laundry. She is busy painting and getting the house ready for market. I have the fun of getting in on some of the kids actions- like seeing the tree house that they have built-
Then watching out the window while Abby "washed" her dishes in the fountain. And watching how they so lovingly care for each other- like Tori removing a clump of cactus spines from Abby's feet- she was barefoot out there washing her dishes etc! It is so cool to see how they love one another. I am so blessed!
Thursday Dave and I went to Tyler and ran some errands- then met Jon and Kelly at On the Border for dinner-picked up my computer from Jon which he had fixed! (So nice to have a computer geek in the family!)-then rushed off to the State Fair to hear the girls play violin- we missed Haley and Tori and got there just in time to hear Caitlin. She is behind the 2 boys in the foreground. They play with the Tyler Jr. Symphony. Afterwards Jon Michael had to show off his headstand and then we all shared treats at Sonic.
Friday morning I got to babysit with Jordan and really appreciated being able to spend some one on one time with her. What a sweetheart! We had a great time building blocks, swinging and playing in the water. Her mom had her dresses in a cute little pink jogging suit- but came home to her baby in jeans and a tee shirt! Grammy!
On Sat. we visited with Amy's family again and helped put some handles on the kitchen cupboards- I did laundry- and got in on the excitement of Buddy's first BASS!
In the afternoon some of the kids took a "fishing break". Little Brian came running back SO EXCITED with his first bass! Tori, Haley and Josiah are all avid fishermen- with Tori checking out books weekly from the library like, Jimmy Houston's secrets to Bass Fishing...she is becoming quite educated in the art of fishing!

In the afternoon we went over to Teen Mania to view- ESOAL- it is an activity much like the training the Navy Seals go through- they were in Day 4- quite INTENSE! There were about 200 kids left out of the original 450 who had not "rung out". They can ring out and quit at any time- David is the General- Sam was a Major in charge of the Montana Company.



After this we went to Tyler- met up with Brian and Amy for Pizza and a great movie- "Facing the Giants". You can take your kids- a great movie!
Today is our day of rest- and then another week!