Jeff and I returned to Girard, KS in June to celebrate our 50th high school reunion with our 1971 classmates. It was great to see all those who were able to come!
Girard High School - The Mighty Trojans!
It was a lot of fun reconnecting with several of our classmates as we spent many weeks prior communicating and planning this reunion. Here was part of our team:
Jeff and I stayed in a hotel in Pittsburg...a picture before we left our room for the Friday night event (which was at the Crawford County Fairgrounds....outside.....and so hot!). We were both dripping wet when we returned to the hotel - ha!
Saturday evening, we had a memorial service in the school auditorium. Jeff led the service for the 23 classmates (out of 104) who have passed away
out of our class (way too many!). It was really good. He would read the name of
each one, date of birth, date of death and then allow classmates to give a
quick adjective, memory, etc. Lots of laughter and a few tears! Jeff has done a
lot of research over the last few months, acquiring obituaries and stories for
these classmates and has created a document with all that information. Lots of great info about their
families, careers, lives! Jeff closed the service
with a reminder that death is "sure" for each of us and we must be
ready when our time comes!! Jesus is the only way to have that assurance and an
eternal home in heaven!
The Alumni Banquet followed that in the high school caftertia where the classes of 1970 and 1971 were honored (1970 didn't get to be recognized last year due to covid).
One last pic of the weekend!
Jeff and I are the only married “to each other” classmates out of our Class of
‘71….many didn’t think it would last….but God! By His grace and His mercy, we
are on year 48 and are planning on continuing til “death do us part” or Jesus
raptures us out of here!!
Mom rode with us to Kansas and spent the night/days with Aunt Jo. They had a great time visiting and catching up (also with Aunt Judy and Uncle Marvin).
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO THE 5 FAVORITE DAD'S IN MY LIFE!!💙
The Monday after Father's Day, we drove to Benton to meet Carman and get our Texas Swart grandkids for a week.
We stopped at Rachel and Jonathan's and spent the afternoon. Rachel fed us dinner that evening
8 of our precious grandkids!
After dinner, we headed to Conway with the addition of two of the McCrary kids in tow!
Papa's special time with each of our grandchildren--a lesson from God's Word and prayer time
Had to be creative in sleeping 6 kids in our small home
Tuesday morning, these 5 went to VBS at Antioch (Laine was a helper for a couple of days)
Mack spent the morning with DeDe
Rachel came Tuesday afternoon to get Eisley and Copeland as Eisley had her first dance lesson that day. She then brought the kids back Wednesday morning (dropping off Copeland and Eisley at the church). Wednesday morning before these 3 went to VBS.
And brought Gideon and Kipling to my house where we all spent the day together. Mack was happy to have some playmates!
That afternoon, our friends, Jana and Jay invited us to use their beautiful pool. We had a lot of fun!
Thursday morning - last day for VBS
Late that afternoon, Mom, Rachel and Jonathan and their 2 youngest came over for pizza and to go to the VBS program.
At the church before the program.....
The McCrary children all went home after the program with their parents. So Friday, it was just the Swart kiddos with us. I took them to the Splash Pad/Laurel Park. They had fun!
Saturday, Jeff and I and the kids drove to New Boston, TX (half way point) and met Carman to exchange the children (we stopped prior to that and ate lunch at El Chico in Texarkana!)
It was a great week and all of the grandkids were so good for us!
June 25th - Josh and Michelle's 6th Wedding Anniversary!
Friday, July 2, we meet Josh, Michelle and Saylor in Memphis to get Saylor! J&M then spent the night in Memphis to celebrate their anniversary.
We had a great 5 days together and she was perfect for us!
Two years in a row, Saylor spent July 4th with us💓💙
The 4th this year was a Sunday, so she went to church with us that morning.
On the evening of the 4th, Kaye and Rob hosted us, Mom and the Stoners in their home for a delicious meal and games. Saylor had fun!
The adults did too!
On our last day together, I took her to the Splash Pad/park. She had fun there too!
She enjoyed our swingset as well as the school playground. We had hoped to get together with her McCrary cousins but they were out of town for the holiday weekend and then Saylor's visit was shorten a couple of days, so it didn't happen😢
Say's time with Papa
The last night she was here, we were invited to our good friends, Paul and Glo Jensen, along with Mark and Kerry Stitch for games and dessert. Glo had a ton of "granddaughter" toys to keep Saylor entertained.
Tuesday, I met Josh in West Memphis to return his girl. It was the first time I had driven this trip by myself, but did fine. Thankfully, Josh drove the "extra" distance so that I didn't have to get in the river bridge repair traffic. It was not fun the Friday before when Jeff drove it!
July 6th was Rachel and Jonathan's 9th wedding anniversary!
And July 9th was Andy & Carman's 16th anniversary!
And the last of the grandchildren's summer visit! Rachel and Jonathan dropped off their 4 on July 9th on their way to NWA for a weekend to celebrate their anniversary.
It was a hot morning, so I immediately took them to the Splash Pad. Jeff left the church office earlier than normal and joined us
They all had a great time!
Again, their time with Papa and Bible story, prayer time
Saturday morning, we walked over to the school playground
Fortunately, there were some other children there to play with. I sat in the shade and was thankful for a little breeze!
As you can tell -- they played hard and got good and hot!
Sunday morning, they went to church with us at Antioch for the first time
Kipling had fallen down right before the picture, so thus the tears. Gideon just wasn't in the mood for a picture - ha!
They all 4 had a great time at Antioch and there were no tears!
After church, we joined Great Grandma and Aunt Kaye and Uncle Rob for lunch at Slim Chickens
The Alaskan
cruise that First Baptist gave to us upon retirement was cancelled in 2020 as
well as 2021 (thanks Covid!😖). Norwegian
cancelled it this summer because Canada will not let the cruise lines dock in
their ports. So we were given a full refund. We had debated on what to do with
that but knew we wanted to take a vacation this summer as we really haven't
done a "real" vacation since Jeff retired in 2019. One night recently, I just
really was wanting to cruise! So I did a quick google search and found a Holland
America Alaskan cruise.....in just a few weeks! The price was right, so I contacted
Valerie (our Galena travel agent who helped us book before/and get our refund)
and she immediately went to work and has us booked the end of July! Less than 2 weeks and we will be on a ship somewhere in/around Alaska!! And we are both
so very excited!!!
We will fly out of DFW on the 23rd so that we will be in Texas when we return on Saturday as the BMA National Meeting begins on Monday and Jeff needs to be in Waxahachie on Sunday. We will then be in Texas til Thursday, come home and then I will be involved in a women's conference at our church that Friday and Saturday. Busy days!!
Jeff is greatly enjoying his new ministry "job." He normally works 4/5 mornings a week in his office at the church along with making phone calls, home or hospital visits, etc. in the afternoon/evenings as needed. He still loves his men's' discipleship group that meets Friday mornings (very early) as well as mentoring several men at various times during the month. He will be very relieved when he is able to hand over the "honor" of BMA President to the next elected man at the meeting in August. That has required a lot of work....especially with all the mess of covid cancelling the 2020 meeting which resulted in Jeff serving an extra year and 4 months (3+ years total).
Enjoying a quiet couple of days all by myself! First time to stay in our new home overnight alone. Jeff was asked to be a part of the funeral service for Jim Brown today. Jim was one of our faithful members at the mission church in Nevada, MO. He was Jeff's right-hand man in building the church. Jim was ready to see Jesus, so we rejoice for that but praying for the family he left behind. He was a soulwinner and will receive many rewards for leading many people to Jesus. He even drove to Girard one time and witnessed to Jeff's dad (Jeff didn't know til after the fact). Sadly, Bill did not respond to the gospel at that time and to our knowledge never did 
. Jeff will spend the night in Girard with my Uncle Marvin and Aunt Judy and do some more research at the Girard library (for his autobiography) before coming home tomorrow evening. Not only have I been reminded of the fragility of life with Jim's passing, but another friend, husband of one of Antioch's former secretaries (while Jeff was on staff before), has passed away from the difficult journey of brain cancer. Praying for the Cannedy's! And a co-worker/pastor from the Springdale church where I served 14 years ago (and he is now on staff at a church in the south) was found unresponsive at his mailbox on Friday and there is no change from the last I have read. Praying for the Swain family as well!! Just a reminder, that we cannot take a day for granted and must be very thankful for each day we have with our family! 
So today, I praise the Lord and am so very grateful for the life and blessings He has given me! Thank you, Lord!💗💗
Another great blog!!!
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