Friday, August 30, 2013

Maryland 2


The inside of the Miller house is a single room downstairs and is simply furnished. Above the fireplace sets a log bearing the marking "1835", which is when the house was built.




A stairway to the left of the front door leads to the second story, but it was roped off. My brother decided to cross over the rope, so I sent my camera with him.


Obviously the sleeping room.


A side view of the house.



After that we went to see the old Casselman River bridge. It comes to a peak at the top, so when we walked it, we really couldn't see the other end until we crested the peak.


This photo shows the bridge that replaced the old one. I believe I saw a sign that said the old one was in use for 120 years.


Dave and Jana.


Andrew and Nicole.


Back from the bridge, Andrew led us to the Yoder house, which is a replica of houses in the Old World, (I think Germany.)


This house contained interesting facts about Yoders and their origins, family trees, etc. Andrew and Ryan love to get Noah started talking about history, and here they are, delving into some!

By this time we needed to get ready for the wedding, so we went and got all gussied up. ;)


This path led to the site of the wedding.


Our first glimpse of the campground where the ceremony was to take place. Megan's grandpa owns this piece of ground and has a cabin here.



Isn't this just the cutest idea?

 

The paper flowers were so pretty!
 

As this photo shows, not all the tables had paper flowers. In fact, most of the bouquets were from real flowers.




All of the cakes were simply gorgeous!
 
 
The chairs were arranged in a circle about three to four rows deep. We wait for the ceremony to begin.


And...here comes the bride! Megan, escorted by her dad, Dale.



Megan recites her vows to Jordan.


And now, Jordan to Megan.


Mr. and Mrs. Jordan Stoltzfus.




Let the party begin! Noise making things, bubbles, etc.


The yummy food. Pork, chicken, green salad, macaroni salad, and dinner roll. With cake and ice cream to follow. Wonderful ice cream.

And then we went back to our motel. Before long there was a knock on the door. THIS is who was visiting.


She would have been much scarier had she not giggled as soon as the door opened!

The story behind the gorilla suit? Jana notified her siblings that she had rented rooms for us at this motel. Ryan asked if it was spookity. (This was a word the children used in bygone days for scary.) So Jana decided to have some fun and make it spookity.


Ryan wearing the face part of the suit. It was funny, when later we met a complete stranger in the hallway, and she got such a bang out of the gorilla outfit. She told Jana to come to some family reunions that weekend, for she was sure people would absolutely love it!



















Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Maryland

Although we lived in Pennsylvania a couple decades ago, we had never visited the southwestern part of the state. So...when my nephew began dating a girl from that area, (actually she is from just south of the border) I hoped maybe we would get to go someday. And all because two people grew to love each other, we got to go this scenic place.

 
Here is the happy couple the morning of the wedding. Since the wedding was in the evening, we had the whole day before us. We spent a little time at Megan's house, getting to know her parents and touring the farmyard. The evening before Megan's grandpa had told me my great-great grandfather had once owned part of what is now their farm. Although no one knows for certain, it is not impossible that he built the barn.


Can you read "1807?"


Noah visiting with Megan's dad.



The milk truck arrives to pick up the milk.


 
The crops were lush and green.




The terrain varies much. We enjoyed the various views from their farm.



I think that is the city of Grantsville in the center.


Andrew thought it might be necessary to do a yield check.



We had agreed to meet our Ohio offspring at the Penn Alps restaurant.


After our enjoyable meal, we spent some time in the Spruce Forest Historical Village.





I enjoyed seeing the log schoolroom.


This house was built by my great-great grandfather, Benedict Miller, in 1833. It was moved to the village a few years ago and restored.



I want to upload more pictures, but blogger is not letting me, so maybe I can pick this up in a day or two and go from there.






Sunday, August 4, 2013

Family Times in Pennsylvania



Last weekend Noah and I went to Pennsylvania for a niece's wedding and to settle his mother's estate. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures at the wedding.

All of the ten siblings and spouses were there, which seldom happens. We spent much time together, which is a rare and special occasion in itself.

 
This little gal is a great niece, and I enjoy her sweetness.
 
 
Two of our girls came on Sunday afternoon, and so the four of us went to Sand Bridge for a little getaway.

 
Beautiful creek runs though there.

 
Noah and I
 
 
Our girls remember their grandmother as always eager for a Tasty Freeze treat. So in her memory, we made a stop there and each enjoyed a treat!


Oh, yum!
 
 
On Monday we lined up Grandma's remaining stuff and had a family auction.
 
 

Mollie modeled Grandma's white wedding cape and apron.

 
 
Daughter Jana modeled one of her dresses along with her Amish bonnet. She called it "going back to her heritage."


Simeon is doing the auctioneering here and selling Grandma's watering can.


The auction took a break so everyone could enjoy the delicious meal prepared by some of the nieces.


After the auction, the ten siblings posed for a rare photo. I think this might be the only photo of all of them. The brothers are in age from left to right, and the sisters from right to left. Yeah, not sure how that happened.


Now the ten siblings pose with their spouses. We have one taken about fifteen years ago, but I think this is the only time we have all been together since then. (Besides the funerals of Noah's parents, which is not the greatest time for family photos.)



 
The six brothers.
 

The four sisters.
 

All of us sitting around the tables taking care of legal stuff.

And our wonderful time together came to an end because we all have responsibilities elsewhere.