My beautiful children!

I don't need to say much more than that! It was a thrill to have them all together along with my granddaugher, Miriam, eating at one of our favorite places, Weathervane in Portland.

In Memory...

We had a service on Monday for my Auntie Gladys and my cousin Don. They both passed away within the last year and the family brought them back to Massachusetts to be laid to rest. Actually, Don's ashes were sprinkled at Mt. Chocorua in New Hampshire. My Dad did the service. It was nice to see the family even though the circumstances weren't the best.

My fondest memory of Don was one Christmas at my grandparent's house in Massachusetts. I had received an easel and paints as a gift and he took the time to show me how to paint. I've never forgotten that--I was probably 10 years old or so. I'll always remember my Auntie Gladys and our trip to Newfoundland. It was a hoot anytime she and my grandmother (her sister) were together! It was quite an experience traveling around Newfoundland, searching graveyards as they disagreed about where people were buried or where they had lived. Auntie Gladys also loved it when I brought the kids to visit. She always enjoyed seeing them.

JAMES!!!!!

Need I say more??? It was too cool for words. James spent more time singing my favorite JT song than any others he sang tonight (How Sweet It Is)--he was obviously thinking about me! The only thing that would have made it perfect would have been to have my two best friends with me--Sue and Robyn--but it was great to have my oldest son Phil enjoying it with me. Now, on to my 10 pg. paper that's due tomorrow!!

FBC Camp 2006

By default, I ended up as "kitchen director" at First Baptist Church Portland's camp this past week. My sister was supposed to be the director but took a position with Samaritan's Purse in Islamabad, Pakistan 3 weeks before camp started. I had a chance to shadow her last year and agreed to take her place. It was a rough week, but everyone got fed and we had a lot of compliments on the food. All in all a successful week. In the picture of the kitchen, Peter is the one on the left and Harry is the one on the right. We had one member of our crew, Jim, who celebrated his 20th year in the camp kitchen. He's a saint! The kids at camp made him a special crown and the kitchen crew all signed a apron for him. When we got home from camp today, we found a very needy cat!

Trying Firefox...

Well, thanks to my son, I now have a new way to post on my blog since I was having so much trouble with Safari. Best of all, I can add pictures again!! Here's Abby on a recent trip to the beach.

I just got through with my first graduate class--What Your Parishioners are Reading--too cool. It was taught by the Seminary's president, Dr. William Imes. What a wise man! I hope I get a chance to take more classes with him. He gave some great suggestions for books to read in different subject areas--he has such a wealth of knowledge! I still have a 10-12 pg. paper due on the 25th!

Camp starts tomorrow and I'm in charge of the kitchen--yikes! Anyway, the first half of the food order came in today and we seem to be in really good shape. Hopefully we won't be too short-handed and have plenty of help.