All Church Picnic/Community Fair/VBS Closing

Sunday afternoon was our annual All Church Picnic on our church grounds. This year it was decided that it would be a picnic combined with our VBS closing. All the kids from Bible School along with their families were invited. Then the community around the church was invited along with the Mayor, Fire Department, Police Department, etc. and then the armed services representatives in the area were invited. We rented a covered platform for music also. It turned out to be a HUGE undertaking that turned out very well!

Instead of everyone bringing dishes to pass and having a sit-down meal, we sold tickets for hot dogs, chips, drinks, watermelon, and cookies. There were tents and tables in different areas for eating and talking. VBS ran a very well done game fair for the kids and their families that went over big. The kids got tokens in VBS for doing various things and could use them to play the games. Visitors from the community and elsewhere could also get tokens. Here is a face painter that was hired for the day.

Shelley and Bob came and brought Matthew. He was very happy with all of those people around! He loves to be around people. (I think he comes by THAT honestly!!) The weather was just beautiful and, we had a great time.

Matthew got to get up on this WHITE fire truck. What ever happened to the red ones? Matthew likes the red ones better also. I actually had a better picture of him sitting on the step there with a fire hat on, but I couldn't get it to load!

We had a great turn out of people from church, VBS parents, and people from the community.

I saw lots of people whom I didn't know. Hopefully, some of them will come to church to check it out! We actually had over 150 visitors who were not from our church at VBS this year.

Here is Matthew trying out the fishing game. I think this was his favorite. He had to pick up magnets on the bottom of the pool with a fishing pole that also had a magnet. If the magnet you picked up had a certain color, you could pick a treat. There were also goldfish swimming in the pool! He loved it!  :)

Matthew is following in the family tradition of bowling here. He is being told what to do and is listening intently. He actually has bowled before and talks about it sometimes. He really liked doing it. One time we were in a restaurant with Shelley, Bob and Matthew. Matthew was in a very congenial mood and turned around in our booth to talk to an older boy in the next booth. He said, "Hi! I'm Matthew. Did you ever go bowling? The ball knocks down the pins..etc." That was one of the first times I remember him just starting up a conversation with a complete stranger!

When we went to Florida in June we went miniature golfing and took Matthew. This was the second year that we took him. He had a ball and also went golfing again with his parents when he got home. I love the way he holds the club! :)

This is the entrance to the games. The kids got tokens called Sand Dollars all week in VBS. Our theme this year was Outrigger Island.

                                                     No, the pop wasn't Matthew's! 

This is Amy Jaquomotte and her little girl Avery with Shelley. They live only a couple of blocks from Shelley and Bob, and Shelley and Amy have been friends for a long time. Now Avery and Matthew are good friends and play together really well.  Amy and Dave go to Cornerstone.

We had snow cones, cotton candy, popcorn and lots of things to do. The National Guard brought this big blow up deal and someone else brought the climbing wall. There were lots of blow up jumping things, lots of old cars to look at, and even some parade horses that were beautiful!

Here are the hot dog cooks! Mike Herhuth, Joe Asaro, Jim Alvaro, Troy Grogan, and Joyce Griffin. They were having a great time and probably cooked about 2000 hot dogs.

There was a little train that was motorized for the little kids to get rides in. Matthew loves trains and automatically says "Too-toot!" when playing with trains or riding in one. (That's what he is saying in the picture.) It was a fun day - lots of work to put together and a lot of clean-up, but a very successful "picnic"!

A Visit with David and Carol

While we were in Orlando last week we got to have a visit with my brother David and my sister-in-law Carol. We hadn't seen them in a year and it was great to have this time with them. 

We started out by going out to eat. David and Carol picked us up at our hotel (in the pouring rain) and we went to eat at the Bahama Breeze on International Drive. It was a very nice restaurant with good food and we had a great time talking and getting caught up. Then we went back to the hotel and just sat and talked a while more. We got to hear about what their kids are up to, about their grandchildren (they just took two of their grandsons to Disney World) and about their jobs. It is a shame that we can't get together more often - it was fun!  Thanks, David and Carol for taking the time to drive an hour just to see us!

International Christian Retailer's Show 2008

Terry and I had the privilege of going to the Christian Retailer's Show in Orlando this past week. It was amazing! All day long there were Christian author's signing their books and giving them away! We met so many people and it was very fun! Here is Terry with Ben Stein who was there because of his movie Expelled. Terry stood in a long line to have this one taken!

                    The information desk at the show.

Here I am with Terri Blackstock. She writes Christian novels that are a mixture of mystery, romance and just good writing. I have read all of her books. She is just a beautiful person. She is much more beautiful in person - this picture doesn't do her justice!

The vendor floor was just huge! Every big and small Christian publisher and supplier was there.

All of their products were on display with special deals just for ordering at the show. I really learned a lot and found some new suppliers for the book store. There were many suppliers of gift items for stores also - some beautiful stuff. (to keep in mind for the future)

We were given so much that we had to ship it home! We bought boxes and kept coming back to fill them up to send home. We sent home four large boxes! Can't wait to get them!! It was a good four days - wish we could have stayed longer. The last day all of the vendors give away their products that are left over to avoid shipping them home. We had to leave Wednesday and missed that part! :(   I also attended some training classes for bookstore managers and an idea exchange luncheon. We won't talk about the plane trips - flying is not fun for me. When we returned to Detroit (on time, I might add) we were waiting for our luggage for about 30 minutes when they came over the loud speaker and said that they had lost our flight's luggage. They couldn't find it! They said that everyone had to go to the baggage claim office and give their address for the luggage to be delivered when it was found! What really happened was that the shift of workers who unload the baggage walked off the job at end of shift and just didn't unload the plane. No one told the other shift and they didn't know that it hadn't been unloaded. When someone figured this out, we got our luggage! That was only an hour and a half after landing! What organization!