Aly's Mid-Summer's Dream Come True

We were all happy to 'welcome' Mama and Daddy home, from their trip to Orlando for General Assembly, this past week. Aly was so excited when she saw her Memaw and Papaw... she just about came unglued! LOL I honestly believe that she thought they had moved away and were gone forever or something! I am personally grateful, that when the business side of things in Orlando were completed, they ALLOWED themselves a tiny little bit of 'vacation' time in the sunny South-Lands of Savannah & the Smokies! If anyone ever deserved to take a break, the two of them certainly did! Though it was an extremely short vacation (following a very long Assembly), I know after spending every day, all day in (Assembly) meetings, in addition to the year they have had thus far, this is just the kind of thing that had to be done! While jealous of their time to some of the most beautiful places in America, I'm indeed thankful that they were able to come back to the hum-drum of everyday life, feeling a little more relaxed and ready to face what had to be faced! Upon their arrival home, it was such fun to watch both of their faces brighten up when they saw Aly and her face just absolutely GLOWED at the sight of them!
On Saturday, Cousin Cassie held an all-girl Birthday Party and Aly was 'in her prime'! While being one of two of the youngest in attendance... she didn't seem to notice or care, she was 'just as big as the next one', in her own eyes! It was adorable to listen to several little girls enjoying themselves, there was an abundance of giggles and lots of Cinderella-talk going on! They each brought their own dolly and the dolls had a table of their own, as well! The girls 'pinned' the crown on Cinderella, sang Karaoke and just GIGGLED! Thanks, Cassie for a fun time... Aly had a 'Ball' no pun intended)!!!
NOW, FOR THE BAD NEWS OF THE WEEK!!! Unless, by some miracle of the dear Lord above, it appears that we have either lost our camera or it has been stolen! We were able to take pictures of Mama and Daddy's return (which were loaded to picasa that same evening) and we were also able to take pictures of Cuz Cassie's Birthday Party. However, sometime between taking those and getting ready to load them onto picasa... IT'S GONE (the camera, that is)!!! We don't know what we're going to do without it!?!?! It's a big part of our lives... how can we 'Blog' without it? Well, we 'made do' this week, by borrowing a few shots for our slideshow below. For a larger picture, you may want to click on the center of the slideshow and it will take you to the actual Photo Album. We'll have to wait and see what happens from this point with our camera situation!

'Great' (My) Papaw J. also celebrated a birthday on Saturday and while we were unable to attend, Daddy drove over for a little while and enjoyed time with the family. We are SO blessed to still have Papaw and Mamaw with us!!! (As well as Mamaw S.!) God is good, to not only give us this kind of heritage, but to ALLOW us to keep them for a while! Papaw, we love you (Mamaw, too) and we are sorry that we weren't there to celebrate with you!!! We are proud of you and can't wait to see you, again! Happy Birthday!
Well, we were looking through our calendar on this morning and realized that our Anniversary (July 24th) was a mere 10 days away!!! One of two of the best days of our lives... our Wedding Day, (with the second being the day of Aly's birth)! We plan to 'hold off' on a celebration trip until Labor Day weekend, thus giving us a longer weekend (or if Greg's job requires, we may have to wait further into September). GREG! "You're still the one I love, the only one I dream of, you're still the one I kiss Goodnight. You're still the one I run to, the one that I belong to, you're still the one I want for life... and after all this time, you're still the one I love."
Last evening, (the 13th), I opened our home for an event called L.N.O (Ladies Night Out), which began with my local 'Facebook Family' a few months ago. This particular event was called, "Shelly's Spa" (because it was held at my house) and hosted by a dear friend of mine. Thank you, America, for an amazing evening! Everyone in attendance felt relaxed, revived and rejuvenated at the close of the evening. (I know I'm still 'feeling' it today, as well!) We were treated to foot soaks, foot rubs, instant manicures and facials... a PERFECT "de-stresser" for any girly-girl, especially comforting with 50+ candles burning throughout the house, 'zen-like' music in the background and a Spa-inspired menu!!! The menu consisted of Tossed Salad filled with Dried Cranberries, nuts and drizzled with (Paula Dean's) Southern Peach Pecan Dressing, Pita Chips and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Cucumber Slices with Ranch and a Fresh Fruit Salad. YUMMY!!! Boy, I can barely wait til the next Spa... but, more than that, I'm excited to find out about the upcoming 'end-of-the-summer' L.N.O. event! (If you are a 'local FBer' and are interested in our group, just contact me and we'll put you on the guest list for receiving event invites and information.)
Til next week...........

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!