Pumpkin Night & Visit with Mema

Friday night, David was in Minnesota for his 6-month kidney research trial. Back in Blacksburg, the nlcf staff ladies came over for Pumpkin night.


We enjoyed pumpkin chili, pumpkin hummus, pumpkin corn muffins, toasted pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin mousse for dessert! It was pumpkin all around. Sarah S. even made a pumpkin centerpiece for us to enjoy. :)

After dinner and conversation (during which we were serenaded by piano music by Terri and Sarah H.), a group of us watched "Penelope" at Terri & Jeanette's place.

Saturday, David flew into Richmond and I drove there. We went to visit Mema in the hospital. Mema (my mom's mother) had double-bypass surgery last week and just got moved yesterday to the rehab portion of the hospital.

Also Saturday, Cheri and Jordan came by with the nephews for a quick visit. Papa was staying with mom & dad for a few days to make it easier to see Mema, and so there was a full house!


Asher, Dad & Papa.


Jonas & Uncle Davey like to wrestle.


(As you can see, Jonas likes to run!)

Keep both Mema & Papa in your prayers. Papa has been having a rough go of it since he broke his pelvis late in the summer, and Mema will be in the hospital at least 10 more days or longer. They are both 85 and I know this is hard on them. But God is faithful, and he has been for them throughout the years.

Farmin' it in Craig Co.

Barbie & JC Winstead invited us to bring our homegroup out to their farm in Craig Co. pick apples and make cider. The Winsteads are the parents of our friends Kelly & John who both used to be in our homegroup, and cider making was a regular thing for several years. This summer at John's wedding, they invited us back this fall, and we were thrilled.

It was a crisp, clear day -- an absolutely gorgeous day to drive out into the country. Below are some pics of our HG's visit today to the Winstead farm. We picked apples, explored the old farmhouse, used the cider press, fed the cows by hand, touched electric fences, and enjoyed dinner! A great day! :)

A Wedding Weekend!

We spent the weekend in Marion, Virginia for Jessamyn & JD’s Wedding! For those who don’t know, Jesse has been in our homegroup since her freshman year (Fall 2003) and she’s lived at houseofchinn since July when her lease ran out. I co-officiated the ceremony with Jason Snook, and we had a wonderful time seeing and hanging out with old friends.

Although Saturday was quite a chilly day outside (temperatures in the 40’s during the ceremony), it was a gorgeous place to hold a wedding with the leaves changing. It was a meaningful day for everyone involved, and best of all, Jesse & JD are now married!

Below are some pictures for your enjoyment. Take special note of the flower girl picture. After throwing just 2 petals walking down the aisle, she finally got the hang of it during the ceremony and proceeded to dump her whole basket. ☺

Field Trip!

I'm up late because I had payroll due tonight (the stack of paperwork required for my job -- its usually about 30 pages of notes/logs). Since all our clients are billed through medicaid, we have to complete tedious paperwork for the government that is a colossal waste of paper. And I haven't yet mastered getting a little done each day so here I was again, frantically typing to get it all done.

But this post isn't about paperwork -- it's about my first FIELD TRIP OF THE YEAR!

Tomorrow, we take the 4th graders to Virginia Tech. I should say bring them here because the field trip will be closer to my home than my job is. It's a trip to the barn/animal center where the 4-H extension agent has a bunch of science-related activities set up.

It should be a blast -- and I'll write more soon.

Also, JD & Jesse's wedding is coming up this weekend, so Friday I'll leave straight from work to head to the rehearsal. I'm co-officiating this wedding with Jason Snook, so it should be lots of fun! The wedding is of course on Saturday, so it should be a busy but exciting weekend! I'll try and post pics of that early next week! :)

SHE'S HERE!!!!

K-PO (a.k.a. Katie Pepiot) arrived today!


Katie is a former houseofchinn roommate and current volunteer for the Peace Corps in South Africa. She's been gone for 15 months, and arrived this weekend in the U.S. on a 2-week break. She's back "home" in B'burg for our friends' wedding this weekend, and then she heads back to Va Beach for her brother's wedding the next weekend. Then it's back to South Africa for her last 10 months of her commitment.

She was supposed to arrive tomorrow, but she surprised us and came tonight, in time to go with me to our 707 church service and hear me speak (it was my Sunday to give the message in church).

It's going to be a fabulous week having her home! :)

Since then... CHICAGO!!!

Since my last post last week, the White Sox won and made the playoffs...only to be knocked out yesterday. It's been a wild and crazy week for me -- at work, then this past weekend on a trip to Chicago. Pictures below.