Dear Friends, 
We’ve been blessed this year–coming and going! And we’ve done lots of both of those as we’ve been to many new places, returned to many ‘old’ places and have met many new, wonderful friends. God continues to reveal His unchanging faithfulness to us over and over again.
Last summer I got several emails from ‘grandmas’ looking for ideas to start their own Grandma Camp.
Those ‘grandmas’, Carla in Blackfoot, ID., Brenda in Elizabethtown, PA., became friends during the year. And the blessing of blessings, one of them (and grandpa, too, Marilyn and Robert), drove all the way from Boerne, Texas to spend four days with us. We spent four glorious days sharing central Pennsylvania with them, and, of course, non-stop talking and laughing. Both our families thought we were crazy inviting internet strangers to our home, but it was a friendship made in heaven!
And this spring I met another new friend from York with a wonderful philosophy. She says "a dinner or party without a game is just a meeting!" Don’t you love that? A person after my own heart...thanks, Joyce!
Our family had an exciting year, too. Our youngest granddaughter, Ariel graduated from high school (she was a home-schooler) and our oldest granddaughter opened up her own beauty shop in their home. All the work was done by her husband and our grandson and is a picture of design and beauty!
And our grandson, Adam went sky diving for the first time – an adventure of a lifetime, according to him! Just looking at the pictures made me want to take a dramamine!
The sad news of the year is that our precious Wheaten Terrier, Chelsea, died at the end of July. Almost a year has gone by and we still miss her.
This winter it snowed and snowed and then snowed some more. Bud got lots of extra exercise shoveling and deciding where to put it all. He was certainly ready for baseball season to start. In April he started his 24th year as chaplain of the Harrisburg Senators Minor League baseball team. Instead of having Bible studies at the ball park, he invited them to our home for breakfast first, and several wives came along with their husbands–an extra blessing!
Bud and I became involved in the Tea Party movement in Pennsylvania and helped organize 2 events that were held on the steps of the State Capitol. Although we’ve never been involved in anything political before, we feel the time is now to support the principles of this country that were outlined in the Constitution by our Founding Fathers and to take a stand.
And last, but not least, our Camp Grandma is growing and thriving. I’ve written 2 stories for two different web sites. You can see them here: grandparents.about.com/ AND, www.grandmasbriefs.com/grilled-grandmas/. How exciting to talk to and share events and experiences with grandmas from all over the country! We’ve been blessed!
