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I made a new friend at the Greater Philadlephia Christian Writers Conference this summer.
She and her husband are missionaries with CLC Publications just outside Philly. She invited me to visit with my family, and I couldn’t resist the offer.
We started our visit with a tour of the U.S. Mint–no photos allowed there. We learned all about how coins are made and actually watched the process happening live. How cool!
Friday night we toured the CLC publishing house. What fun to physically see the Editors’ offices and the old print room–and everything in-between. I asked to see the infamous ”slush pile,” but these days it’s more of an electronic thing.
We spent Saturday in downtown Philly strolling the same cobblestones great men in history walked.
The line was very long to see the Liberty Bell, so we took our photo with the display at the Visitor’s Center instead, opting to come back on a weekday to see the actual bell.
We spent the majority of the day in the Franklin Institute science museum. (I’ll add another post with those photos soon.)
Sunday we worshiped with our friends and toured the Castle. The castle was my favorite place in Philly.
We had a fantastic time with new friends, in a new place. I hope we can get back there again next autumn.
We’d just sauntered through the park
and were dangling our feet over the edge of the pier when we heard ”plop” and a squeal.
Then we saw it.
The shoe.
Floating away.
Completely out of reach.
[Lone Ranger music]
Then our rescuers rode up the canal.
And one happy little girl went back to collecting leaves.
We hosted a little Cowboy Campfire a few weeks back.
We enjoyed lots of cowpoke singing and dancing,
a licorice lasso contest,
our favorite four-legged friends,
and roasted marshmallows.
Welcome Autumn!
My friend Kathy made this for our homeschool mom get-together last year, and I made some for our Cowboy Campfire last night. The recipe is from good ‘ole Martha, and you can watch her making it online, which I think is hilarious. I don’t want to take the time to watch her when I can be getting it done in my own kitchen. But if you like to watch cooking, go for it.
Warm Apple Pie Spiced Cider
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 quarts apple cider
- 3 tablespoons firmly packed light-brown sugar
- 1 whole cinnamon stick, plus 6 for garnish
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch of ground cloves
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup Calvados or other brandy (optional)
Directions
In a medium saucepan, whisk together cider, sugar, spices, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Remove from heat; pour in brandy, if desired. Remove cinnamon stick and transfer cider to a pitcher. Serve immediately, garnished with cinnamon sticks.
Yum yum yum yum yum! By the way, I’ve never used the brandy and it’s quite tasty!
(Serves 6…and yes, it’s okay to triple everything. Two cinnamon sticks might do in that case.)
Before the leaves start falling, I’d better catch up on the last few blessings from summer.
Good friends joined us for our last week of summer vacation.
We made our final summer rainbow cake.
We unofficially kicked off our Lego club.
We crafted
and sketched
and made beautiful music together.
These friends are so dear to us we almost call them family. See the resemblance?
A few weeks ago, we had the Sons of Thunder father-son discipleship group and their families over for some good, clean fun.
It was full of targets and shooting,
serious propulsion,
and cyclonic fun!
Funny enough, the families all had Sonflower Sisters in them, too. Here are two original sisters, and dear friends, Phyliss and Juniper.
What a FUN day!
We had some good times this crazy summer with folks we love.
Julie, my friend from before I was even married,
and her son, Ben, who visit every summer without fail.
Our cousins, playing Ring Around the Rosie.
Brooke and cousin Abby, having fun being girls.
There’s something special about living on the water and having a pool–we’re definitely summer people.
Each summer we go to the rodeo at River Valley Ranch.
This year we went with new friends, and had a great time!
While I didn’t catch any good photos of the real horses, I got this great shot of Chuck the Bull in action.
Yes, Brian stayed on for 7 seconds!
Brea was beat by the heat and chose to relax on her mama.
After a picnic dinner,
the kids enjoyed their absolute favorite part of our annual trek–the creek!
They build dams,
and have some good old-fashioned water fun.
It’s one of our favorite family trips of the year!
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On Friday night, August 28, 2009, River Valley Ranch experienced a severe flash flood unlike anything we’ve seen in 35 years. Fortunately, most of our buildings survived, but much around the river area has been lost. These include:
- The brand new suspension bridge
- Covered bridge
- Another bridge
- House of one of our staff members severely damaged (many of their belongings are gone)
- Virtually all our picnic tables lost
- Hundreds of feet of fencing, much of it brand new lost
- The old Chuckwagon & $3800 BBQ grill gone
- Significant damage to roadways around camp
- Speedball (paintball) course gone
- too many more to list
Unfortunately, our insurance company does not cover flood damage so we will have to absorb virtually all these losses.
How you can help:
1) Volunteer in the coming weeks to help rebuild – CLEAN-UP OF THE CAMP IS ALMOST COMPLETE! Thank you so much to all who helped around the clock to help clean up the mess. At this point our real need for volunteers is for people with building skills to help rebuild much of our fencing, bridges and even a staff house in the coming weeks. If you can help to rebuild, please email Laura at lkrebs@rivervalleyranch.com with your name, times you can help, and your specific building skills. At this point, we ask that you not just show up at the Ranch but contact Laura first. Thanks.
2) Donate towards our Flood Relief Fund – Early estimates for the damage upwards of $200,000. Any gift you can give would be very much appreciated. All gifts are tax-deductible.
a) Give Online – Fill out your information and select “Flood Relief Fund” as your designation
b) Mail a gift to:
River Valley Ranch Flood Relief Fund
Peter and John Ministries
Attn: Johnny Iseminger
3600 Georgetown Road
Baltimore, Maryland 21227
3) Donate Supplies – We have a number of items we need to repair what has been damaged. Since we are rebuilding to last for the future, we would prefer items be new if at all possible. Here is a list (more to come)
- Washer
- Dryer
- Fridge
- Dishwasher
- Range (gas)
- Carpet (for dorm and house)
- Furniture (bed, table, couches, etc)
- Dressers
- Floor Tile
- Plywood for bunks
- Sink Bowls for bathroom
- Fence posts and boards
- Treated lumber to make picnic tables
- Steam table (buffet table for dining hall)
- Smoker Grill (ours was an 8′ grill from : Big Johns Grills)
- Top soil, stone and millings
If you would like to give a gift to Brad and Megan Maines (the couple who were living in the cabin that was flooded and lost most of their belongings)you can mail a gift to:
Maines’ Relief Fund
River Valley Ranch
4443 Grave Run Rd
Manchester, MD 21102
Note: Since these donations will go towards replacing Brad and Megan’s personal items lost in the flood, they are not tax-deductible (but very much needed). Money given to the RVR Flood Relief fund will be used to rebuild the cabin in which they were living.
Thank you so much for your support and we would appreciate your prayers as we recover from this flood. God bless.
