Fabulous Friday Finale at EFCS

What a wonderful week it has been!!! Returning to Epworth Forest Choir School (now at Anderson University instead of in Webster, IN) has been a great experience. Experiencing the  conducting skills, spiritual depth and musical gifts of conductor Craig Courtney is an overwhelming  gift  of joy for me. The music that he writes and/or arranges  puts my heart and head into another plain of spirituality. The stories that he tells about the pieces that he writes make each piece personal. Every phrase tells a piece of the story. Every notation has meaning. Every note is special.

Our concert was tonight with the incredible Dr. Randy Frieling accompanist. Oh my! There is nothing more that I can say about his skills. Put Randy and Craig in the same "house" and you have music that makes the angels take notice. 

He is Born! (arranged by Dan Forrest)
The Yearning (Craig Courtney)
Great Day (arranged by Howard Helvey)
Lord of the Small (Daniel Forrest)
I Will Rise (arranged by Craig Courtney/Linda Hasseler)
Voices of Praise (Craig Courtney)

Musical Monday at EFCS

Jane, Kathy, Pat



Julie, Mary Ellen, Steve, Eleanor

 

Sue, Sheila, Bev, Patrice, Karen



Jane, Susan



Janna, Craig Courtney



Mary Ann, Susan, Derek Weber, Sheila

 

Becky,  Kim, Marylou



Lynn, Sue



Greg, Claudia, Cheryl



Ginger, Lynda



Craig Courtney, Sandy

 

Patrice

 

Randy,  Craig Courtney



Lynn,  Julie



Glenda, Cheryl



Linda



Randy Frieling



Fab Five!!!!!

It's a Canon...small...cheap...a few pixels. People often ask me what kind of a camera I use. Trust me, when I see those people with the huge cameras and the foot-long lens attached to another lens, I hide my little Canon. But I DO love to take pictures. My pictures are my memory. My memory is limited due to old age. If I don't have pictures of my five grands with me, I'll bet you that they are not  far away. ("Wait! I'll go get them! Can you wait for about 1/2 hour? Be right back!!!") 

This week is Epworth Forest Choir School. I attended for several years at Epworth Forest. It was moved to Anderson University a few years ago and it's time to return to this fabulous week of music. My dear friend Jane Peiffer and I will return together. We met at EFCS and have remained friends for these many years. Poor Jane listens to my grandkid stories over and over. Poor girl...good friend. She knows that I will have pictures.

I had to update my "carry on" photos. The kids are growing so fast! So, since I can't carry around the 1,235,255 pictures that are in my hard drive, I had to chose one updated picture of each kid. And the winners are:

Nicholas (7 1/2)

                               





Alexis (2 yrs. 3 months)                                         Blake (5 1/2)



Marley (4 yrs) and Layla (7 yrs.)

P.S. I REALLY REALLY REALLY don't like this web site. The published blog photos do not appear as I placed them on the site. Very very frustrating. I have tried a different site but it is too difficult to navigate for an old person. So....what you see isn't how I placed it.

Summertime ... and the livin' is easy.....

Before retiring from teaching 1st and 2nd grade, I was a compulsive school teacher. I would go to Target, Walmart and Meijer just to inhale the new school supplies.  As soon as the July 4th weekend was over, I was in my classroom. I cut, I hung, I wrote names on everything, I made reading coupons, I wrote letters to parents, I organized, I studied manuals, I began lesson plans, I made graphs for everything. That was only the beginning. My room was ready by the end of July but I continued to be at school. I don't do that any more. I miss it but it was out of control. Post-retirement (has it really been 6 years already???) I just breathe in the summer heat air and enjoy every day. I have been with the grandkids a bit (never enough!). I needed to update my blog and do just a sampling of all that has happened this summer:

Alexis has grown so much. She was 2 in April.  She just passed her First Steps evaluations with flying colors. She just got her new orthotics after outgrowing her last pair and is getting closer and closer to walking on her own. I think that her new glasses are on order. She is such a sweetheart!

Lexi and PopPop had fun during the July 4th weekend on Daddy's boat. Lexi loves her PopPop. She and Tom were probably telling naughty stories.

Nicholas (7) and Blake (6) went to Boy Scout camp last week. Nicky had fun canoeing, swimming, shooting, and doing all those things that scouts do. Blake isn't a scout yet but was able to go along and do several of the activities.  Tom headed to Noblesville after church on Sunday to go along Monday and Tuesday in spite of the intense heat. I'm sure that when Tom attended Camp Belzer over 50 years ago,  he never dreamed that he would one day be there with his grandsons.  

Blake led the way climbing the ropes. I hope noone told him that it was hot!

This was Nicky's first experience using a bow and arrow. It looks like he is discussing his shooting skills with a new-found friend. He and Blake enjoyed a full weeks worth of new adventures. His daddy was able to attend camp with the boys on Thursday and Friday and spend the night. Kendra and Lexi then joined the boys and Jason on Saturday for a family cookout. Ohhhh the memories! Meanwhile, back in Elkhart....

Tom and I have been wanting to replace our little deck with a patio for a long time. This summer was the time. We had waited for a month to get it poured (due to the daily rains) and it finally happened. It was freshly poured in this picture and 3 weeks later, we are still waiting for the company to finish with the second coat of glazing. Of course, they led us to believe that it would happen 2 weeks ago. NOT!!!!!

We (well...Tom)  now have/has  landscaping to do. Tom will place decorative bricks around the other end (where there is a dropoff) about 8 inches from the patio edge. He will put dirt between the patio and the brick and place greenery in between. He has a very good eye for this but with the temps so hot, it's difficult getting much done during the daytime.

The opening of the Lerner Theater was a thrill. We went with Linda and Stan Delagrange to the opening night and then Nila App and I went to the Saturday night performance. It is such a healthy addition to downtown Elkhart.

We have been with our two favorite Elkhart granddaughters several times this summer. Can you tell that we went to the zoo??? Marley (4) and Layla (6) had fun but it was hot of course.


Such silly girls!

"Are they going to blow the whistle???"

"I think they are done!"

It has been fun  traveling around town (and some out of town) to find the "ELK in ELKhart". It  is more fun to stop and take pictures when the girls are with us. We had time to find a few:

 

Summer is half over already!  I still have lots of things to look forward to. After church next Sunday, my friend Jane Peiffer and I will head to Anderson University to take part in Epworth Forest Choir School. We attended for many years before it was moved to Anderson. Just having Craig Courtney as the resident choir director is such a gift! We can hardly wait. Well....I think that I need to go buy myself a new camera card. Choir School....here I come!