Happy July 4th, Everyone! (ONLY 3 Days Away...)

It's about time for sparklers and fireworks, again!!! The time of year that we feel those 'chills' run up our spines as we listen to a moving Patriotic song, gaze upon "Lady Liberty" as she stands boldly on the New York harbor, see a member of the Military in full uniform walking along the sidewalk or simply watch as an American flag sways gently in the evening breeze. We are truly a blessed people to live in America. Our Nation is changing and it's becoming more and more important that we beg God to once again BLESS America and REVIVE us as a CHRISTIAN Nation. "WE WANT AMERICA BACK"! (In order to view this video clip, you will first need to scroll down to the right, to our 'Penn Palz Favorite Online Music' and press 'Pause'.)

Well, our company from Louisiana have already headed back South and we only wished we'd gotten to tag along! Our family is entirely too close to have this many miles lay between us and these Good-Byes are always tearful! We are so thankful the trip home was made safely, though! (Thanks, Suzanne, we couldn't have made it without you this week and Mamaw was even more thrilled to have a 'new' nurse!!!)

Whitley has been with us since Saturday and plans to stay for the rest of this week. Aly thinks it's pretty incredible having someone 'dote' on her 24/7! Where, you may ask are the pictures of these precious moments together? Well, the lovely camera has been tucked away in the back of the computer armoire, since our Father's Day blog! However, it is now out on the shelf and we hope to put it to use over the next few days!

Until next week, may God bless YOU and may God bless America... Happy July 4th, everyone!

A "Buckeye-Blitz" Kind of Vacation

Last Tuesday, we made sudden plans to drive over to Dayton, Ohio for IHC. Greg and Aly had never been and I hadn't been since about 2001. We had a marvelous time seeing many friends (and family) that we hadn't seen in years!
We arrived in Dayton on Wednesday, around noon and made our way to the Convention Center by about 2:00pm. We were able to attend the G.B.S. Reception later that afternoon and the Evening Service, as well. By the time we got back to our hotel late that evening, Aly was so wound up she didn't go to sleep til close to 1am and needless to say Greg and I were pretty wore out by the time she did go down!
On Thursday, we joined many of our family members, that were also attending IHC, for a delicious lunch at the Spaghetti Warehouse. Again, during the day and evening on Thursday, we were able to see many people that we hadn't seen in a very long time and truly enjoyed the Mass Choir (300+ voices), as they joined together for the IHC '09 Finale. We've posted a video below for you to view of this amazing moment... some of the crowd had begun to leave, but the angelic music from the 300+ voice Choir and large, live Orchestra sent chills up and down our spines as we stood and experienced this wonderful music! Praise be to God for the liberty we now have in America to honor God in this way!!! (You will need to 'pause' our Penn Palz Favorite On-Line Music, to your right, in order to hear the video properly.)
The highlight of Aly's IHC part of our trip, was when she ate a late-night supper on Thursday, with her favorite cousins... La Rosa's Pizzeria is just the best with that wonderful sweet sauce! Those kids had a ball together!!!

On Friday, we decided to take Aly to the United States Air Force Museum for a little field trip. This was a trip that I'd also taken as a small child and it was fun to watch Aly checking out all those planes. This was an exceptionally interesting place to go at this time, being as big brother Wes, is in the process of joining the USAF! Aly really loved the little red remote controlled plane and thought it was her own because it was 'just her size'. After we left the Museum, we couldn't leave the Dayton-area without stopping by, Graeter's Ice Cream, for a yummy taste of their famous "Buckeye Blitz" dish.

We then drove down to Cincinnati for even more fun! We stopped by to show Aly my home-place from our G.B.S. days and see some of the new renovations that have been made on campus. We, then met up with Memaw and Papaw for supper at City BBQ in Hyde Park. No vacation is complete without something SOUTHERN, right??? We ended our little blitz of a vacation, by allowing Aly to play her energy out at a local city park, before the long ride home. She met a new friend at the Park, Cole, whom we found out attends church with our friends, Phillip and Dorcas. (Such a small world, huh?) We arrived back home in Indiana around midnight... pretty tired out but having had enjoyed our 'surprise' vacation very much!



On Saturday afternoon, I attended my first L.N.O. event, "An Afternoon Tea at The Ruby Pear Tea Parlor". L.N.O. is a new Facebook Group for local gals to have a chance to chill, relax, de-stress and just hang out with friends every other month or so. My personal menu was that of unlimited Dragon Pearl Hot Tea, a homemade Dark Chocolate-Orange Scone (served with Lemon Curd or Berry Spread), a huge Chocolate Covered Strawberry and two of their famous Fat Rascal Cookies. Did you know the only Tea Plantation in the United States is located near Charleston, South Carolina. HMMM, yet another southern touch to my week! Our L.N.O. 'Tea' was fabulous and I can't wait for the next event!
( Well, I have found there is always a way to 'capture a moment'... even when your camera battery is dead or the camera is MIA or just nowhere near where you are at the time... check out the pictorial view of our vacation here: http://picasaweb.google.com/thepennfamily2007/BuckeyBlitzVacation?feat=directlink ) Here's to another fantastic week for everyone and may God bless!

Perfect Ending To a Perfect Summer: Birthday Parties, Kiddie Pools, Etc.

We don't have much news to share this week... with the exception of the unbelief that Fall is already upon us! UGH!!! Being that we're not fan's of the popular Fall color 'orange' and due to the fact, this is a 'voting year' for America... we've chosen to go with the good ole' red, white and blue for our blogging-background!!! God Bless the U.S.A.

Other than Greg's Birthday Party last Friday (the 22nd), it hasn't been all that eventful around our place... even though Greg's actual Birthday was Tuesday (the 19th), on Friday, we met the entitre family at his favorite Mexican Restaurant (in Indy), "El Azteca" for his favorite meal there...
Shrimp Quesadillia's, Guacamole Salad and Sweet Tea.
For dessert, we all went to Mamaw S's house for a slice of his '70's Tie-Dyed-Ice-Cream Cake'. It was a great evening to celebrate a great guy and spend time with a great family!
On Saturday, Greg and I bought Aly a 'Froggie Kiddie Pool' for next year... however, we put her in there for a few minutes and she absolutely LOVED it!!! She's our 'water-girl' and it doesn't matter if it's a pool, the tub or even a sink... she loves playing in the water no matter!

We haven't taken many pictures since our Anniversary Trip, but as we do, we'll post them! All of you know by now, that our picture-taking goes in 'spurts', one week we'll take a ton of them and another week will go by without our taking even one photo! Oh, well that's just the way are, I suppose... LOL
Guess this is it, until next week or the next piece of 'big news' rolls around! (Pray we'll have our camera handy when it does! wink-wink) Take care, ya'll...