Bonnie
Letterboxing on the North Carolina/Virginia Border
This is the first post in a set that I hope to continue called “No Spend Fun”. In an effort to live simply, we’re always looking for things that we can do as a family that are fun and free. As homeschool parents, educational value is a bonus, too!
Letterboxing is something that we’ve enjoyed doing as a family for some time. Letterboxing North America explains, “Letterboxing is an intriguing mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and sometimes remote places. Here’s the basic idea: Someone hides a waterproof box somewhere (in a beautiful, interesting, or remote location) containing at least a logbook and a carved rubber stamp, and perhaps other goodies. The hider then usually writes directions to the box (called “clues” or “the map”), which can be straightforward, cryptic, or any degree in between. Often the clues involve map coordinates or compass bearings from landmarks, but they don’t have to. Selecting a location and writing the clues is one aspect of the art.”
The weather was nice, and we had time on our hands this past Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. As we made our way south on I77 to North Carolina and then back north again to West Virginia, we searched for and found six letterboxes. We found the clues to their locations at Letterboxing North America and Atlas Quest. No GPS or other equipment is necessary, just the ability to follow instructions. We have a family logbook and each of the kids has his or her own logbook to keep track of the letterboxes we’ve found. We also have a family stamp. When we find a letterbox, we stamp our logbooks with the stamp in the box, and stamp the logbook in the box with our family stamp, writing in additional details such as our family name, location, etc.
Pictures of the fun:
Support Trip – First Christian Church and SNOW!
Things are going well here! We were blessed to have dinner and fellowship time last night with the Smith family here in Bluefield,
and we came home to snow!
We shared at First Christian Church Disciples of Christ this morning.
And, we played in the snow this afternoon.
Support Trip – Wrapping Up Week 1
We had a lovely dinner with the Adult Sunday School class from Bannertown Baptist in Mt. Airy last night. Ray updated them on our work at GFA and offered a question and answer time, as well.
Thanks for praying! We’re back in Bluefield tonight and will update again tomorrow.
Support Trip Fun at MawMaw’s house
On Sunday afternoon after lunch we headed out of Mt. Airy and up into the mountains toward West Virginia and Ray’s mom’s home.
We drove up and down . . . and when that got boring, we drove through a couple of times, too . . .
It’s beautiful up here . . . and COLD!
The kids have had lots of fun playing on the hill that MawMaw’s house sits on. Samantha rolled down the hill . . .
. . . and Allen rolled down the hill . . .
. . . and Jamie wanted to roll down the hill, too. He needed a bit of help, though.
My friend, Amy, of Prajna Mama knit hats for each of the kids before we left on our trip, and they love them!
What’s the best snack after playing outside in the cold all day? Why, ice cream, of course!
And one last picture, just to prove that I’m really here, too!
Tomorrow, we head back down to North Carolina for a dinner with the Adult Sunday school class from Bannertown Baptist Church in Mt. Airy. We’d like to hop over to Eastern Tennessee to visit with a supporter who lives there on Friday, but we’re still working out the details. We’ll be back here in Bluefield, WV, this weekend to speak at First Christian Church on Sunday.
Please pray for continued good health and safe travel (the forecast is calling for rain all day tomorrow). Please pray that those with whom we share will be open to what God has for them to hear. Please pray that we’ll be open to the Spirit’s leading. Oh, and the kids would appreciate prayer that we might have a little bit of snow here early next week, so they can play.
Support Trip Days 3 & 4
We all enjoyed spending time with Ray’s aunt and uncle, Velda and Tom (Meme and Papa to the kids), on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, Samantha spent the day with MeMe watching her cousins, Danielle and Savannah, play basketball.
Ray and I took the boys to downtown “Mayberry” for a famous pork chop sandwich at Snappy Lunch. There was a bit of a wait.
They are good sandwiches: a battered and deep fried pork chop on a bun with chili, cole slaw, tomatoes, onions and mustard. Doesn’t that sound yummy . . . and healthy?
We stopped to take a picture of the boys in front of Floyd’s Barber Shop. Maybe we should have gone in?
Then we found a great local park to run around in before heading home for a nap.
Sunday morning, Ray shared with the church, Remnant, in Mt. Airy about GFA and our work there.
After church, we went back to Velda and Tom’s home for an amazing lunch before driving up to Bluefield, WV to spend a few days with Ray’s mom.
Support Trip Day 2
Thanks so much for your prayers! We arrived safely in Mt. Airy, NC yesterday just before dinner time.
This was our view most of the day yesterday:
The rain was travelling with us, so it felt like it would rain forever.
God took care of us, though, and brought us safely through. When the rain cleared, we could see the mountains in the distance.
We spent most of the day in Tennessee, then crossed the narrow western part of Virginia . . .
. . . and arrived in our first destination, North Carolina.
We’re staying with Ray’s aunt and uncle, Velda and Tom. Samantha’s off with Velda today to watch some of her cousins play basketball, and the rest of us are planning a bit of sight-seeing. (Mt. Airy is the childhood home of Andy Griffith and was the basis for the town of Mayberry in the Andy Griffith Show.)
Prayer needs:
We’ll be sharing with Remnant in Mt. Airy during their morning service tomorrow. Please pray for us as we prepare.
Please pray that we’ll have some last minute opportunities to share fall into place.
Our other confirmed appointments are on Thursday evening with Bannertown Baptist’s Adult Sunday School Class in Mt. Airy and next Sunday at First Christian Church Disciples of Christ in Bluefield, WV.
Please pray for safe travel. We’ll be here in Mt. Airy until Sunday evening, then we’ll travel up to Bluefield. We’ll be back down here on Thursday, then back to Bluefield on Friday.
Please pray that we can be be a blessing to those that cross our path on this trip.
Please pray for Sean and Morgan who are back in Texas while we’re travelling.
2008 Support Trip Day 1
Ray and I left early yesterday morning from Dallas with Samantha, Allen and Jamie to travel to North Carolina and West Virginia. As full-time staff with GFA, we are supported by family and friends, through prayers and finances. We’re travelling to visit with family and friends who have supported us over the last several years and, prayerfully, to add new supporters to our team.
Yesterday we mostly drove.
We drove from Texas into Arkansas.
Mmmm . . . breakfast and a movie.
We stopped for brunch at a Cracker Barrell, and Jamie was so excited by the “cycle” hanging from the ceiling.
We crossed Arkansas and drove into Tennessee.
. . . and spent the night in Jackson.
We’re back on the road now west of Nashville in rain and heavy traffic, so prayers for safe travel would be greatly appreciated!
IT Party
Last Saturday, November 1st, we hosted the GFA IT party at our house. When we were planning the menu a few weeks earlier it had started getting cooler, and we thought soups and stews would be appropriate.
The temperature that day, though, was a bit warm.
We all had fun anyway . . . and we enjoyed some great soups, bread, salads and desserts.
When the sun went down, we all pulled our chairs around to the back of the house and watched a movie under the stars.
Jamie had the front row all to himself!
Trunk or Treat
Our local church joined with the other churches in town to host a Halloween Trick-or-Treat alternative called “Trunk or Treat”. Families met with their cars in the parking lot of a local water park, decorated their trunks in the theme of their choice and handed out candy to kids as they walked through. It was an incredible success this year with almost 50 decorated trunks, over 2,000 children and lots and lots of candy.
Samantha, Allen and Jamie dressed up as characters from Little House on the Prairie. (We’re reading through the Little House series this year using a homeschool unit study called The Prairie Primer.)
Samantha dressed as Laura in a mama-made costume. Allen was Mr. Edwards and Jamie was just cute in his time-period appropriate Osh-Kosh overalls and plaid shirt.
We did drop in at Auntie Janet’s house to trick or treat before leaving.
We ran into a some friends including Auntie Teressa, Uncle Tony and Ava (left) and Auntie Summer, Uncle Casey and Colton.
This cute couple is actually our church’s pastor and his wife in disguise.
Jamie figured out pretty quickly how to hold out his bag for candy! He was so cute . . . and no, we didn’t let him eat all that candy. We did let him have some Smarties (the American kind, not the Canadian ones).
Sean dressed up, too. This is his “Olympic Gold Medal Winner” costume!
And, one last picture to show you that Allen stayed in character, chewing on his “wheat” the whole night!
Lots of Sewing
Whew! I had a bunch of custom orders to finish up last week because of our upcoming trip. I’m so excited that they’re all done!
Three different trainer orders
One order of undies
These were all one custom order: two raglans with matching trainers, two more raglans and a pair of wool interlock pants with patch pockets
