A Week in Norman

January 18, 2009

Please forgive my disposal of chronology. Our trip back east was amazing, but my posting of it will be backwards to forwards, starting with one of my favorite parts. :-) A blogger's privilege right?

Here are some words that describe my special week with Max, Jenny, and Graham:

Warmth, love, popcorn, watching Little Dorrit, heart-to-heart visits, hugs, White Christmas, relaxation, books, discussion, girl-talks, bookstores, wet baby kisses, reading stories, singing, scrabble, giggles-chuckles-and hearty laughing, walks in the snow, and much more.

Thank-you my dear brother and sister for the retreat, for the love, and for the way you made me feel like your home was mine. I love and miss you so much.


Max preparing for the C.S. Lewis class he is offering through the University for seniors. (Age 60+). His personal library is a treasure trove. :-)

Jenny kept us well nourished with her excellent culinary skills. Homemade pizza, the best ham I've ever tasted, gourmet fish, chicken and rice, and lots of delicious salad. Yummy!

Look at those white shiners!

Aunt Sally got the antsies and set off to explore the neighborhood and work out in the process. :-) The exercise was exhilarating, especially because I was escorted by the most handsome gentleman in Norman.



We were blessed by a white Christmas! No more dreaming for these Californian's . . . it was real. Powdery, softly falling, blanketing everything with millions of intricate crystals - snow on Christmas Eve is magical.

Imagine your surprise when, on Christmas morning, you open open gifts that you had picked out yourself! :-)

My sister and I. I love you Jenny!



Joy

On Christmas morning, we took the opportunity to snap some family photos.



Graham's first taste of snow. Does he like it? What do you think?


Christmas dinner is almost ready! Yum . . . just imagine the delicious smells wafting through the home. :-)

Dinner was a delight. Savoring every bite, talking about all sorts of interesting things, and doing lots of . . . laughing!!! :-) Laughter is sweet to the soul.

God has placed these two together in a way no man could. They are soul-mates. Watching them gives me hope. :-)
There is mistletoe above them of course, it's just invisible.

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Saying goodbye was not pleasant. It rarely is. I savored my last few minutes with them, smiled with Graham, and with a heavy heart, walked through security where, to my confusion and consternation, I heard my name called over the loudspeaker. My plane was leaving in four minutes! The Lord was gracious in allowing me to catch my flight, and travel safely home. Home is a beautiful place, but one I returned to with an ache in my heart. Norman Oklahoma is too many miles away.

SOS Conference

Our family vacation back east began in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, we attended the Sufficiency of Scripture conference put on by the National Center for Family Integrated Churches . Speakers such as Voddie Baucham, Paul Washer, Scott Brown, and Doug Phillips were featured, teaching on topics that were both convicting and refreshing to hear. Besides the teaching, a big highlight of the conference time was fellow-shipping with families we hadn't seen for a long time, as well as meeting new ones. If I heard correctly, there were 2600 conference attendee's!

Sitting in the airport -

Bird watchers, people watchers, T.V. watchers . . . these brothers are die hard airplane watchers.

We stepped into the hotel and were greeted by this sign. Hooray! We had made it at last. Because of the time change, we arrived at the hotel without eating supper. Thankfully, there was a cozy restaurant nearby. I can only imagine the waiter's surprise when we all came trooping in at 12:00 midnight for supper.

Conference attendee's were given free passes to the amazing Creation museum located just a few miles away from Cincinnati. While Simon and Dad attended the church leaders luncheon Thursday afternoon, the rest of us headed out to enjoy the museum. There, we met up with many other conference families. The halls were abuzz with conversation. It was great fun!

I especially enjoyed the Adam and Eve exhibits. Unfortunately, the low lighting challenged my technical photography skills. These pictures don't convey what the figures did - that breathtaking moment when Adam met Eve for the first time. The scene was beautiful.



We were happy to see a replica of Gutenberg's printing press, something we've studied in history this year.

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My family was stopped several times by families who recognized them from Peter Telian's video, To Be One. :-)

We enjoyed sharing the conference weekend with the Mr. Welch, Amber and Hannah who drove up from Tennessee. With these lovely friends, I was in seventh heaven. :-) Lots and lots of chatting, (can you imagine?) and even a visit to the sauna . . . created great memories.

Another highlight was the chance to see the Thomas family again! Unfortunately, there wasn't near enough time to catch up - one of the frustrations of a conference!

The hotel

Mr. Washer = Conviction

This is a photo of a room they had set aside especially for fellowship. On top of the tables, were signs for each state represented at the conference. Because of this, families were able to go in and eat with other families from their own state.

Listening to Doug Phillip's session on Aesthetics.

On Saturday afternoon, we packed up, took some photos, and drove to Tennessee with the Welches. Out time was short, but we had a blast spending time with them, also getting a feel for their new home and community.

I'm thankful for this precious friendship.

Here in Tennessee . . .

where the Welches made us feel so at home. Thank-you so much for your generous hospitality!

Sunday afternoon, chattin' as we wait for our food at a Mexican place after church.



Underneath the church on stilts. :-)

The charm of a country community is best felt on foot. :-)

Sunday evening, Amber got out her collection of miniature tea sets and treated the Littles to a real tea party. Even the boys got to join in on this special event!

Precious little one . . .


Monday evening, we visited the Courter family. They served us up a delicious hot meal and blessed us with wonderful conversation. Again, the time was too short. Thank-you all for sharing your home, your smiles, your testimony, and your joy in Him with us.

This is a snapshot of No Greater Joy, our destination on the walking tour we took. :-)