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Aug

Evangeline at Yosemite

Categories: Evangeline, Penny's Cousins, U.S.A.

Introducing Penny’s cousin Evangeline!!

Evangeline was privileged to travel with Rachel to Yosemite National Park in California recently.

Yosemite National Park is located in the Sierra Nevada mountains just across the state from San Francisco.

Pier 39, in San Francisco, has been “owned” by these sea lions since 1990. After a large earthquake, they took up residence here and refuse to be sent away. I think they like being a tourist attraction.

Evangeline saw the San Francisco City Hall from her perch on a double decker bus, very impressive!

She was glad to have Rachel along for the walking tour of Chinatown.

A lovely clear day and a grand view of the Golden Gate bridge.

Running on the sand in bare feet, what a delight.

Yosemite National Park – wow, the size of those trees is immense!

The giant sequoia trees are not as tall as the redwoods up north, but the trunks are wider!

The famous Bridalveil Falls off in the distance.

Wading in Mirror Lake.

A campground nestled in among the giant trees.

These trees make full-sized people look as tiny as clothespin dolls!

Many of these trees were growing long before the birth of Jesus.

“Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty,

give unto the Lord glory and strength.

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name;

worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters:

the God of glory thundereth:

The Lord is upon many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;

the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars:

yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

He maketh them also to skip like a calf;

Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness;

The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve,

and discovereth the forests:

and in His temple doth every one speak of His glory.

The Lord sitteth upon the flood;

yea; the Lord sitteth King forever.

The Lord will give strength unto His people;

the Lord will bless His people with peace.”

–Psalm 29–

May God bless you all!!

Jul

Penny at an Ohio Wedding

Categories: Penny's Travels, U.S.A.

Comments: 1

Penny in the land of the horse and buggy people

The ride to Ohio in the little white car was snug! But Penny’s friends Thabeh, Adama, and Amadu made traveling in tight quarters fun! A little person like Penny can find small cozy places to nestle in and watch the scenery go by. Here she is keeping an eye on the wedding gift, a box of two elegant lamps. Yes, the wedding of our friends David and Rhoda is the occasion for this trip, and its going to be very special!

As homeschoolers, there are always books to be studied while traveling! Books are best friends (but maybe not always math books!) Yet on a trip there are always interesting things to learn about the places we travel to and the people that live there.

Here’s a view of some Pennsylvania countryside.

And the “Comfortable” Inn she stayed at when she arrived at her destination.

The next day at the wedding location, Penny saw this killdeer momma on her nest in the parking lot. Four eggs are nestled on the gravel and camouflaged to make them hard to find.

Here is a lively Amish horse impatiently waiting at the hitching post. He’s asking Penny if she’s ever been in Ohio before, and where she has come from. “Would you like a little ride?” he asks.

“Oh, Thank you very much,” says Penny. “May I sit here in front?”

And now for pictures of the joyful occasion, the wedding itself, taken mostly be Adama Joy and Thabeh.

This is my favorite picture of the radiant bride and groom.

The following day, Penny was thrilled to visit Behalt, the Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center in Holmes County, Ohio. “Called the Sistine Chapel of the Amish and Mennonites, Behalt, (meaning “to keep” or “to remember,”) is a 10 ft tall x 265 ft long cyclorama, or mural-in-the-round. Behalt illustrates the heritage of the Amish and Mennonite people from their Anabaptist beginnings in Zurich, Switzerland in 1525 to the present day. “

Making friends with an Amish doll.

A comfy bench invites Penny to sit a spell and chat with some more Amish doll pals.

Just imagine walking to school with the Amish children…

Penny knows I like quilts, so she was sure to get a picture of her favorite flowery quilt – Amish made! “Won’t you make one like this for me someday, Becky?”

Thabeh, Adama, Amadu and Penny all recommend this stop if you are in the area of Berlin, Ohio!

Jul

Attica Founders’ Day

Categories: Penny's Cousins, U.S.A.

Comments: 1

To celebrate their local Founders’ Day, the Attica First Baptist Church took part in the town parade. Their float included a model of the church and a sample pew. Church members dressed in matching red shirts and invited children to come to Vacation Bible School.

Thank you, Wayne and Darlene (pictured here on the right), for using Penny’s cousins in this project. And thank you for all these great pictures!

The Attica First Baptist Church

Here is the church’s booth, where church members shared the gospel with visitors. A pair of clothespin dolls went along to help tell the bead story. Those who stayed to listen were given a bracelet with the Gospel Beads to keep.

Below are some special pictures of the dolls checking out the model church. How fun to find a church building just your size!

In the early days, this side entrance welcomed horse drawn buggies.

“How do you do, Sir? What’s your horse’s name?”

An update from Wayne says: “We had a Record number pre-registered for VBS AND a record attendance! Many heard about Jesus and many were saved from eternal separation from God!”

The WORD of God is living and active,

“The WORDS that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” John 6:63

“Jesus answered and said, If a man love me, he will keep my WORDS: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” John 14:23

Spread the Word!!

Apr

Penny Attends a Greater Vision Concert

Categories: In the Family, Penny's Travels, U.S.A.

Comments: 1

Our family enjoys the music of the Southern Gospel trio, Greater Vision, made up of Gerald Wolfe, Rodney Griffin and Chris Allman. They were in concert in Bath, NY recently and our family was eager to go see them again live in concert!

Penny was excited to be able to go and shake hands with these fellows herself, and to sing along with all her favorite songs!

Gerald Wolfe is the lead singer, and emcee. He used to be a member of the legendary Cathedral Quartet with beloved members George Younce and Glen Payne. Gerald is also a great piano player, and is a lover of the old songs, especially the hymns written in shaped notes in the old red Church Hymnal.

Rodney Griffin is a popular song writer in the Southern Gospel field, in fact, is known as the Singing News Fan Awards Song Writer of the Year for 13 years! Papa Dart likes how his songs reflect his rich study of Scripture. His songs are thoughtful, fun, unique and inspiring.

Chris Allman is the tenor and is also a songwriter.

We hope you enjoy these video clips we took at the concert. The first song portion is called No Longer Chained, written by Rodney Griffin. It tells of Paul imprisoned for his faith, whose story is told in the book of Acts. In prison he was chained to a Roman soldier, and this song is from the soldier’s point of view as he hears the gospel message from his unusual prisoner.

This next is a favorite of ours, a portion of the hymn “I Sing the Mighty Power of God” sung so mightily!

And now a bit of Rodney’s testimony about his alchoholic father who met a common ordinary man with a wholehearted love for Jesus, Bill West. When none of the highly gifted people could reach his dad, Bill West’s simplicity and compassion met a need in his dad’s heart and created a hunger for the Savior, which our Lord happily met!

We have gotten to know these men through building our collection of their CDs and DVDs, and seeing them in the popular Jubilee DVDs, and by attending their concerts when they are in the area. We enjoy their humor and their heart for ministry. You can learn more about them at their website www.greatervisionmusic.com.

Here is Penny relaxing at home near the stereo with her kitty, Ruby, listening to CDs of Greater Vision, recalling how special it was to be there at the concert hearing them in person.

One of their classic songs is this one written by Rodney Griffin. It is a favorite of mine, below are the words.

God Wants to Hear You Sing

Their chains were fastened tight
Down at the jail that night,
Still Paul and Silas would not be dismayed.
They said, “It’s time to lift our voice,
Sing praises to the Lord,
Let’s prove that we will trust Him, come what may.”

God wants to hear you sing,
When the waves are crashing round you,
When the firey darts surround you,
When despair is all you see.
God wants to hear your voice,
When the wisest man has spoken
And says your circumstance is as hopeless as can be
That’s when God wants to hear you sing.

He loves to hear our praise
On our cheerful days
When the pleasant times out weigh the bad, by far.
But when suffering comes along
And we still sing Him song
That is when we bless the Father’s heart.

God wants to hear you sing
When the waves are crashing round you
When the firey darts surround you
When despair is all you see.
God wants to hear your voice
When the wisest man has spoken
And says your circumstance is as hopeless as can be
That’s when God wants to hear you sing.

God wants to hear you sing!!!

Pixie and Penny together make a joyful noise to the Lord!

Who better to sing with than a talented bird??

Apr

Penny at Tim’s Greenhouses

Categories: In the Family, Penny's Travels, U.S.A.

Comments: 1

Penny has been visiting at my brother Tim’s house!

Abby went to visit for several days to help out in the greenhouse and around the house with Jess and our two little neices. Here is Audrey greeting Penny, she’s ready to play the “gentle” hostess.

Tim has 3 greenhouses on his farm. Two of them are shown here full of flowers: flower packs, pots and hanging baskets, all growing so beautifully green and accented with bright flower colors. Abby took Penny for a tour and took some really nice pictures. Thank you, Abby!

The next greenhouse is ready to be filled with vegetable plants of all sorts: tomatoes, peppers, melons, cucumbers and all. Greenhouses are a great place to get a head start on spring while the snow is still flying outside. Feast your eyes on these pictures and imagine you can smell the warm moist air, the damp soil and the breath of green plants that are happy to be alive!

These little neices know that wherever Aunt Abby is there is lots of tickling and laughing going on! Fun, fun, Abby! Emma is 3 1/2 and Audrey just turned 2.

This was the final day of Abby’s stay there at Tim and Jess’, she helped with hosting a birthday party for Audrey. Mama Dart is in the background on the couch with Mike. What a fun, festive ice cream cake!

Darling little Audrey, enjoying her special treats, displaying her pearly Oreo teeth and ice cream drippy chin.

Mar

Heading for Oklahoma

Categories: Penny's Travels, U.S.A.

Comments: 2

This is Becky writing, because Penny isn’t here, she has left on a new trip!

The last I heard from her was when she was traveling through Illinois. She was passing through Abraham Lincoln Country where so many things there are named after that famous President of the United States.

Penny was heading toward the big city of St. Louis where she would be crossing the Mississippi River.

This is not really the car she is traveling in, but this is Penny’s little copper music box car from home.

I took these pictures on our driveway to show you how the farm looks now without much snow. The grass is flat and brown, but the birds are busy singing the arrival of spring! I wish you could hear them sing so joyfully. The snow is melting away and there is mud everywhere. I wonder how much greener the farm will be when Penny returns? I can’t wait to hear about her newest adventure!!