~2010 Harvest of Thanks~

As I mentioned last night, we had a wonderful time of fellowship at the Alfred church yesterday! The church was packed with people from far and near...

But, before I share pictures at the church, I have a few from on the drive over there (it takes us about an hour to get to Alfred from our farm).

Our very experienced driver:
A practicing banjoist: (Andrew played a special in the afternoon.)

AND, we had a hair stylist along... :)

Oh yes, there was also a photographer along, but as she was the one taking the pictures, alas, there are none of her to post!

Here's a picture of the Alfred COG7 (Church of God, 7th day) pastor, Pastor Kyner... We have been very blessed by his friendship over the last few years!

Mother and Andrew joined the choir in singing, "Crimson Stream"... (I have several videos I'd like to post also, but I tried uploading them today and it was literally taking hours to load and then up popped an error message. Perhaps another time it will work?)

Pastor Overman was the guest speaker and he spoke on redemption, resurrection, and reconciliation...

Then there was a large feast for everyone to enjoy!

Around 2:00 in the afternoon, there was a special music program where anyone could share a song or reading... These cuties put smiles on everyones faces with their eagerness to sing! I hope I'm able to post the video I got of their song, as it was so adorable. :)

I didn't get many pictures of people singing, as I was using my camera to tape them instead! My family sang the hymn, "And Can it Be?" and Mother sang "You're the only Jesus".

The program lasted for approx. 2 hours, and then there was a mini jam-session up front, which Andrew participated in...

After the music was over, many people headed out of doors, as it proved to be a lovely day weather-wise. PTL! Mom found a lady to walk with (and not a strolling kind of walk, but a walking kind of walk!) and then asked Monica S. (whom I was visiting with at the time) and I if we wanted to come along too. We agreed to, but followed behind Mother and her new walking friend a ways, as we were in more of a strolling mood than a fast-paced walking one. :) We all stopped when we came to this friendly fellow though!

I edited this picture a bit (the sky was really blue and not pink when we were walking, but I thought it looked neat this way...)

When we returned from our walk, the food was once again set out for everyone to eat, if they were so inclined, (which most of us were, even though I can't imagine that any of us were very hungry.)

Then, the boys headed outside to play ball and the girls helped clean up the kitchen and visited. That evening, there was a fun night over at the old school house where you could play games, eat popcorn, or just relax by the campfire outside and visit or sing. My brothers were over there for some time while my parents visited and I babysat a busy toddler so my mom could visit with his mother easier. He and I played songs together for a while (have you ever played piano duets with a little boy?) and just tried hard to stay out of trouble (basically, keep him away from the candy dish...)

Later on, I went over to the schoolhouse to see what was going on there and, it just so happened that, as I went in the front door of the building, my brothers were just leaving the same building by use of the side-door, so we did not see each other. They walked over to the church to find the rest of us, to see if we were ready to head for home.

Meanwhile, upon not finding my brothers in the school, I visited for a while with my friend Whitney until she had to go out the front door to help her brother with something. I proceeded to exit the building by way of the side door and headed over to the campfire, thinking my brothers must be there.

Then, I heard Whitney say to someone, "Oh, she was looking for you!"

When I turned around and looked, there were my brothers, coming in search of me. :) At last we were together at the same time in the same place! We said goodbye to friends, and gave more than a couple hugs, then walked over to the church, where we found our parents nearly ready to leave. It was 8:30PM and high time to be heading home.

We finished chores at 10:00, and I guess I told you the rest of the story last night, didn't I?

It was a special day!

It's so wonderful to spend wonderful time with wonderful friends on a wonderful day in a wonderful state.... It's a wonderful life!