Five Medals 2017 (Part 1)

The weather was perfect for this year’s Gathering at Five Medals.  I appreciated the time each person took to tell their story of life in the Midwest between the 1660s and the early 1800s.

I  talked with a spinner who explained what she was doing and said she loves the chance to relax and spin while her children did chores or read out loud.  I learned about caning chairs.  We were instructed on how to make birch wood homes and how easy they were to pack up and move. My favorite though was a little boy who told Megan, “We just slept here all night, we are not really Indians”.

Colorado Tea Party

Many years ago, the girls started inviting relatives over for a tea party when we were in Colorado.  They wanted a chance to have fun while getting to know everyone better.  We were to dress up and wear hats.

When they were younger, they often found “dress up” clothes and shoes in the closets, but now Andrea and Audrey have outgrown most of them.  However, the hats are becoming a lot more fun.

The boys enjoy themselves also.  They go out with the uncles and explore or listen to stories the uncles share while sampling the treats the girls made.

Kissing Contest

A & J

 

Instead of doing a huge group photograph during the reunion, we decided it would be nice to do a picture with Grandma and her children.  We took family pictures of the “original seven” with their children and grandchildren. Then we narrowed it down to each individual family.

It was raining and not the best time to take family photos.  So about half way through, we started the “kissing contest”.  It made pictures a lot more fun and we captured some great memories.

P.S. For those concerned, all children were coached in the “proper response” to their parents affection for these pictures.

New Year’s Weekend

When we came back from Swaziland trying to earn support to return, we started in a new Sunday School class and needed to find friends. We mentioned something along the lines of we would love to visit with people.  We only had a few people take us up on that offer.

Dave and Kristi have been our friends ever since. Our children became friends as they came along also. On New Year’s Eve, we spent the evening at church, playing laser tag, watching a magician and being thankful that we could all be together. Megan was so exhausted she fell asleep early and slept most of the evening.

The rest of the weekend was spent talking, playing games, and just discussing how God has been working in our lives.  It was a great weekend!

And I learned one very important lesson. Since we did not really know what was happening New Year’s Eve, I left my camera at home and ended up using Allan’s phone camera. The pictures are not great, but the memories are.

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