Headed Down to Ashland Today

The Reunion is over and the final family members who stayed over (us) are leaving! We head back down to Ashland today and start the second part of our trip. I will be visiting with friends in the Ashland area and rafting and Mom will be staying with Don and Rita getting some visiting in with them.

We get one more part day with Melba and Dick today and a special lunch at P.F. Chang one of my favorites. I am looking forward to Honey Chicken and Lettuce Wraps!! Then the goodbyes will be hard. Melba and Dick will head to Sun River/Bend area and we head on down. Ashland here we come...

Reunion Photos - The Pauls Came

Heidi surprised Grandma and brought Andrew to the reunion. This is from left to right: Andrew, Virginia, Toby, Don, Rita, & Heidi. This is Virginia Pauls' family. Virginia is the last living Samples sibling, Don is her son, Heidi is his daughter, and Andrew is Heidi's son. Oh yes, Toby is their puppy!! More pictures to come as I get them.

Birthday Party for Fern

We just celebrated Fern's birthday. It's really not until the 30th but since we were all here we thought we should celebrate! Anything for a party. We wore our tieras and diamond rings from our party bags and ate cake and ice cream as Fern opened cards and presents. I will post some pictures later and update you on the reunion.

Reunion Prep

Today was prep day. We cooked and prepped for the big reunion. Lots of people came in this evening and we got the reunion off to a good start. There were 14 of us for dinner this evening and the troops are headed in in the morning. We've got salads and desserts ready, chili, baked beans, corn casserole and much more. Tomorrow should be a good day.

Oregon is Beautiful

...just like I remember. It feels good to be back in Oregon. The trees and scenery are beautiful. The weather is hot but no humidity, now that's nice! I will try to post as I am here and keep you updated on the family happenings. Don't get too excited it's a family reunion after all!

Heading Out Once Again

Today I am packing for a trip out to Oregon for a family reunion with my Mother. We will be flying into Ashland, OR and then heading up to Springfield to the property my folks once owned for the Samples reunion. Several of the relatives will be headed that way for this weekend. Then the middle of next week we will head back down to Ashland for some visiting with my brother and friends in that area. Oh yeah, did I mention rafting on the Rogue River?!

York, PA Convoy of Hope

For slideshow click here

It was a very long day but a very good day. We started at 5 a.m. Well that’s when the alarm went off! We arrived at the Convoy site and started getting ready for the volunteers and guests. Final fencing had to be readied and instructions had to be given, volunteers had to be assigned and inflatables had to be inflated. Then the guests started arriving. By the end of the day we had seen over 2800 guests come through and 668 volunteers had treated them as “guests of honors.” The Hershey characters were on site all day giving out candy and posing for pictures with the kids and me! Hot dogs, chips and drinks were served, medical exams were done, massages were given, lots of give-a-ways were given, haircuts were done, and the guests left with bags overflowing with groceries.

Over 100 guests gave their hearts to the Lord making all the hard work more than worth it. When good things like that happen you think, Okay, that’s why we do it.

All in all a very good day.


Meet my friends...

Traveling Evangelist

I travel a lot but I have to admit I don’t often engage my seatmate in conversation. Too often I end up in non-stop verbal communication that I am uncomfortable with or embarrassed by. But this trip was different. My neighbor didn’t give me a choice. The minute he was seated he started in. I could tell he was nervous.

He soon explained that it had been some years since he’d flown. I realized how many when he said that the last time he’d been served a full meal on a U.S. flight. He asked about me and then told about himself. We found we had some things in common—I’d been in his area during the Katrina disaster; he is a teacher as is my niece; he knows how to fix things, I don’t!

Then finally after several “hints,” he asked if I was a Christian. Then the conversation really started. I thought he was a new Christian—he was so excited to share his faith, his conversion, how he works with his students telling them about Jesus without compromising his job but openly showing them the love of Jesus. Then I found out he wasn’t so new at this, just still excited about his faith. Still, with that excitement to share. That boldness to tell the world.

I have to admit I enjoyed my flight. I enjoyed my seatmate's enthusiasm for the Lord and I felt a little ashamed at the opportunities I’ve missed in not opening up to past experiences and those people I’ve let slip away from the seat next to me.

No not New York, York, PA

I mentioned a couple of times today that I was headed to York and everyone said oh New York. I had to say, "No, York, PA." It seems to be a nice town. The hotel is in the parking lot of the mall! Sorry Ken!

There is a Harley Davidson Factory, a cheese factory, Pfaltzgraff dinnerware factory, it's an area full of factories. I drove (a PT Cruiser) from the Baltimore Airport about an hour past wineries, trees and beautiful scenery.

Tonight I have a dinner meeting with the local pastors and then a Leaders Meeting.

York, PA here I come...

Tomorrow I head to York, PA for a Convoy of Hope. This is the only Convoy I am doing this year. Hard to believe since I usually am involved in several. Since Daddy died I took some time off and just haven't gotten back involved as much as I would like. I will be starting to work with the Disaster Team this year again so we will see where that leads!

Well I will try and keep you updated and let you know how it goes.

Ken - Back to Work

Ken went back to work today. He decided to go in a little late and see how he would do. I gave him a haircut last night, we didn't realize how long it had gotten! I got a call around 4:30 that he was shutting down his computer and headed home. He usually works until 5:30 but felt he had overdone it and needed to come on home. He will probably work half days the rest of the week.

I started preparing for my trips this week and next. I have a Convoy of Hope this week in York, Pennsylvania and next week I will be taking Mom to Oregon for a family reunion. More later about both of those.

Scripture Says It All

I stole this from Ken's TPE blog. But since it's my picture I figured it was OK. Have a great day.

Another Long Wait!

Ken had a doctor appointment this morning and guess what? The doctor had emergency surgery to perform and was late for Ken's appointment! We finally got in to the appointment about 1 1/2 hours late but all seems to be going well, the pain is normal! Easy for him to say, but at least we know nothing is wrong!

I have decided to go ahead and book tickets for Mom's family reunion in two weeks since all seems well with Ken and he should be recuperated by then. I was trying to wait and see if all would be well and this appointment seems to tell me it will be OK! Will keep you posted on tickets, times, etc.

Ken Recuperating!

Ken may have too much time on his hands, this is the picture he sent me today. What was he thinking!? He had added the caption, "If you went grey." Well at least he doesn't know I already have!!

Nursing Skills?!

Took Mom to her doctor today to reconfirm she has a broken rib and cracked ribs on the other side! Mom was in a car accident a couple of weeks ago and is still having lots of pain. I took her to emergency last week and they x-rayed and let us know the extent of her injuries. Today she was still in quite a bit of pain so I took her to her doctor and they checked to make sure she hadn't punctured anything. They expect it to take about eight weeks of recovery with pain the whole time!

Ken is still recuperating but had to take pain pills throughout the day.

I better keep up my nursing skills!!

Happy 4th of July

Ken is doing better today. Less pain but planning on staying down and getting lots of rest and waiting on hand and foot! I do plan on doing my part!!

Hope you have a great 4th. God bless our Veterans and those involved in our freedom!

Another Long Day

Today Ken had surgery.

We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 a.m. Signed in and began to wait. Then we waited some more. Around noon they moved him to holding and said it would be 30-40 minutes. We again waited. We began to wonder around 2 if maybe we would be sent home to return another day but finally around 3:30 they came for him.

At 5 I spoke with the surgeon and everything went well. Ken was in recovery and would be back in his room in about half an hour. I made calls and then headed for the room. About another half hour and there he was. We finally headed home about 8 p.m.

He is having quite a bit of pain but hopefully the pain pills will kick in and after a good nights sleep tomorrow will be a better day!

Thank you for all your prayers and calls. We appreciate you.

Another Book Project Complete

Another Onward Books, Inc. project complete. This is the book that caused my exciting Thursday! Looks good doesn't it? Feels good to complete another one. Now on to the next. This time it's Ken's book we are working on to be complete by the end of August. No rush job on this one!

A Long Day

Well, Thursday started out with a phone call to see if the books would be ready to pick up. Yes, they would be ready by 3. Okay, we were off. Not as early as we hoped, but book pick up and delivery, here we come (with some shopping in between). Our drive to our pick up location would be three hours.

I picked up Jill Franck and the truck, and we were off. I think I already said that but, believe me, by the end of the day we were really off! We couldn't find a QT until we nearly reached our destination so the caffeine kick we needed was slow in coming. After filling up with frozen cappuccinos we started searching for our destination and a few phone calls later backed the truck to the ramp and started loading the books. They were not able to load the pallet so we loaded each box by hand, all 21 cartons, or 548 pounds into the bed of the pickup surrounded and covered by a tarp since we had come through a severe rain storm on the way from Springfield.

Next we visited Trader Joe's, our real reason ... I mean one of the reasons for coming on the trip. Then after having not eaten all day we stopped off at Mimi's Cafe for some lunch/dinner. Yummy.

Now, off to camp to deliver the books. But first a stop for gas and to unload the books from the back of the pickup into the back of the extended cab since the downpour was threatening to dampen the delivery! Yep, all 21 cartons and 548 pounds. Plus all those bags from Trader Joes!

When finally we reached our destination some two hours later near Lake of the Ozarks we were ready to unload a few boxes and be on our way home. The then near three-hour drive seemed more than we wanted to do but necessary to get us back home and it was then too late to stop at the Osage Outlet Mall. Our dreams of shopping during the day (other than Trader Joe's) squelched, we drove on home and with our delivery made and job well done we were able to put our heads to the bed and feel like we "done good."

Kristy Dykes - My Friend

"A great story is life with all the dull parts taken out." —Alfred Hitchcock

Oh, but life is the story with all the parts left in, even the dull parts. Though life in the Dykes home these days is far from dull. Each day is new as loved ones watch Kristy slip closer to her heavenly home.

Christ is still the great physician, He can still heal that precious body. He can still bring strength and wholeness. We can still believe for His miracle touch, and we do. But, He can choose to take Kristy home, and if He does we have to believe that in that He also chose to bring His healing touch. Just for us that’s more painful.

I met Kristy many years ago when I began my first book and she agreed to be a contributor. Thus began our journey of friendship and partnership in two devotional books. She is one special lady. Always smiling, always upbeat, positive, genuine, giving and ready to talk about her hero husband.

My friend, Kristy Dykes, has cancer. A brain tumor. Actually it's gone, but the cancer's not. I read her blog each day (www.christianlovestories.blogspot.com). Actually her husband Milton still keeps it up; Kristy can't anymore.

Kristy is an award-winning author of 10 Christian fiction titles as well as over 600 articles in many publications including two New York Times subsidiaries. Her titles have been on the Christian bestseller list and Top 20 List at christianbook.com, and have won many awards, including second place in the 2007 Barclay Gold, third place in the 2007 Inspirational Readers Choice Contest, and third place in the ACFW 2006 Book of the Year Contest (novella category).

"She will touch your heart with love and laughter.” —FLORENCE LITTAUER. I know her many other friends would have much here to say about her if given the chance.

I read the blog each day with hope that God is strengthening her, bringing healing, giving peace. They are sharing precious memories with us of their grandchildren, blessing them, teaching them, growing them, letting them receive from them all that they can at this time.

Milton may God richly bless you for all that you are doing. May He grant you the strength, the peace, the comfort and the knowledge that whatever this trial may bring that He will be there upholding you, shielding you, carrying you when need be.

Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

It’s a simple verse but it says it all.