2015 Week 39: Firsts

 A first for Rebecca: she climbed the spiral staircase to the loft all by herself! (Mind you, I was very close behind to catch her if needed!) And she did it her own way, placing her foot firmly on the next step and pulling herself up instead of crawling up on her knees--quite a feat for a tiny person.
The reward awaiting her at the top was the train table. Such fun!

Kayla and Rebecca visited us on Saturday and this collage was meant to be in last week's post, but I totally forgot--makes a great first photo for this week!

Sunday afternoon we went to support the Pray for Kelsie concert at the Lion's park and there was this lively attractive young lady taking donations.

We enjoyed the music, the atmosphere, the beautiful day.

The weekly teaching routine began Monday. The beautiful weather made grading papers outdoors more enjoyable.

Classes are going surprisingly well, for which I am exceedingly grateful--fifth week, eleven to go.

And I am still able to walk two mornings with whoever shows up at the Depot. We walk from there to Taylor and around the campus and back. Takes about an hour and a quarter and we get a lot of talking in too.

Back at the Depot, I noticed this interesting inscription on the brick. Who are Hombre and Majesty?

Leah called Wednesday to tell me the exciting thing that happened to do with her colorful girl paintings.

She loves her "girls" (and so does Rebecca who points to them!) Over time she has told so many people about her feeling that someday someone would be so drawn to these that they would suddenly notice and say, "I want one!" Sunday after the concert, one of the singers, a local acquaintance from way back, stopped by to visit, and that's exactly what happened!

Michael continues to be pain-free, rides his bicycle almost daily, has kept very busy preparing for next week's robotics team Open House, and many other things, as well as taking on two additional people-helping responsabilities.

Even so, he agreed to go with me on Friday to a few of my college Homecoming events. This was a first for me, I'd never been to any Homecoming. Next year will be my 50th year with the many accompanying celebrations, so I thought perhaps I'd give the experience a practice run.

Two learning institutions next to one another: McClain Hall where we had chapel and some classes when I was in college and/or seminary; and Jefferson Elementary where I went to second grade.

In the first one I found the wall of past presidents. I was especially interested in seeing Uncle Herman's plaque.

Our favorite activity of the day was the bus tour of Winona Lake, narrated by Dr. Terry White who wrote the most recent history of the town:

We enjoyed the fascinating stories. For me the ride stirred many memories.

The tour stopped at what used to be the Westminster Hotel--my first dorm room, and later where I waitressed at the smorgasboard and for many banquets during my student years. We visited the museum and listened to our guide play many old hymns popularized by Homer Rodeheaver whose music company was housed there.

Then we visited Mother, she treated us to dinner at the Grace Village cafeteria, and Mike set up her new iPad.

I can't resist adding some fun pictures of Stephan's weekend occupation--carving pumpkins. On Facebook he posted these large and strange specimens pondering what to do with each one.
Sometime later he shared the resulting creations.

One small step for Minion                                       Baby elephant                                                  Happy dance!

How creative have you been lately?
I picked sunflowers and arranged them. That's the extent of my creativity this week.

Although I suppose this blog post may be considered creative expression. I don't get much feedback anymore, comments are few, but I still feel the need to record our days and weeks by this means. Someday my descendants may be as fascinated by these notes as I am by what my ancestors have left behind.