Christ is Risen!

What a season of rejoicing! Even with all the snow, sleet, rain and cold that many of us experienced on this Easter week-end, it was a glorious experience! Above, you see a few of the spectacular roses that grace the entry to Incarnate Word College, just up the street from Jo and Scott's home in San Antonio. Even in the cold dreary day, the roses were radiant--a reminder of what a radiant life can do to brighten even the dullest of days!

Part of our Easter trip included a trip to Wemberley TX - and on the right we are visiting Ron & Nita Bagby, friends from Eastminster in Wichita, who have become Texans (again) after their retirement. It was such a special treat to be with them...to see a little bit of their new town...to watch Ron feed the deer who wander right up to their back deck. I do encourage any of you who are traveling in that part of Texas to spend some time in this little town--its a delight. (and on the first Saturday of each month, they have a HUGE market--I can hardly wait to be able to do that!)

Our family picture was taken on Easter Sunday at the Hilton/Peters home. What a great time we had just being together. To celebrate our birthdays, Jo and Scott treated us to dinner at a delightful vegetarian restaurant in SA called "Green". Family and friends are truly among God's greatest gifts to all of us - and we hope we are properly appreciative of this Gift. Our Easter circle was completed with the arrival of Scott's sister, Lynn, and husband, Jack, from Pueblo CO--who braved sleet, rain, snow and ice to make the drive to San Antonio--thinking several times of turning back. We are glad they persevered! Since we were all in London together over the Christmas holidays, we had lots of reminiscing to do. Jo has published her own book of our Christmas trip--so those of you who cross paths with us will one day have an opportunity to view it as well.

Speaking of friends, tomorrow we are off to El Paso to visit our cousins and see some special friends from Crane MO - back when Jerry was in high school, "Dr. Bob" was the "young optometrist" who came to town to practice, and is still there--and Jerry still thinks of him as the "young optometrist"---never mind that Bob is now 82 years young, and young Jerry is now 68 years old! Its all relative, isn't it? And even these birthdays have been occasions for celebration, and yes--amazement-- that we are, in fact, as old as the calendar says we must be! I don't believe it!!!! Not for a minute!

We'll be back from El Paso next Monday, and by the end of the week, we will be on the road again in our new RV to head north--with stops in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri--but you will be hearing more about that later.

Thanks for reading this blog, and for being such an important part of our lives!

Love, Mary & Jerry

Glorious Spring!

This is an absolutely gorgeous spring day...it is so nice to have the sun shining after over two days of heavenly rain--not a normal pattern in our part of the country! I hope you are enjoying a lovely day as well.

You CAN teach an old dog new tricks! And I am here to tell you that these two old dogs are slowly learning new eating habits and new foods. Here you see one of the appetizer servings on our cruise--now the food I am preparing at home HARDLY looks like this,

but it is fun to try eating the vegetarian/vegan way. I am trying lots of new recipes, and so far they have been successful! We both feel very well AND are losing weight..now we just hope those blood numbers are going in the right direction as well. So any of you who want to share a good vegetable, legume or grain recipe with us, feel free to send it on!

We will leave Palm Sunday in our RV with our destination being San Antonio to spend Easter with Jo and Scott, but first we will have a few days at Llano State Park on the Guadalupe River outside of Junction TX--a place we have been wanting to visit and this is the time. On our trip home from El Paso last week we notice the Texas wildflowers are beginning to bloom, so we look forward to seeing bluebonnets on this next part of our trip.

May the joys of this Holy Season be yours, as we walk with Jesus.

Healthy Cruising with Special Friends!

Last week we joined Jim and Sandy Alsup to celebrate Ralph and Sally Green's 50th wedding anniversary on a "Taste of Health" cruise aboard the Italian ship, Costa Magica. And indeed it was a magical week! We never lacked for delicious, beautifully presented healthy meals...or stimulating, hilarious conversations...creating memories that we will never forget!

And you are thinking "healthy cruise"? Jim is a cancer survivor of over 15 years through prayer and the macrobiotic diet. This is the 4th year that Taste of Health has offered a macrobiotic cruise...we numbered over 700 of the 2900 guests, had our meals served in one dining room where those of us who were not macrobiotic oriented could order off any of the menus--regular cruise fare, vegan, vegetarian, wellness--just about whatever you wanted. We were treated to the opportunity to attend 4 classes offered each day by very knowledgeable instructors--from diabetes management by Dr. Neal Bernard to cooking classes by Christina Parelli (whose TV show "Christina Cooks" is seen on many PBS stations) We had our own excellent macrobiotic chef, Mark Hanna, and his meals were amazing. Jerry had received a diagnosis of diabetes just two weeks before we set sail, with 3 months to get his blood sugar count down to normal or else, so we felt it was really a gift from God that we were going on this cruise. We came home healthier, lighter in weight, and determined to change our eating habits.

One of the Hilton "talents" which we are always happy to share with others is "hanging spoons". Now you have seen Jerry with one of his lesser-known talents, and he did his best to teach others around us to also hang spoons.

We had many opportunities to give thanks to God - the beauty of His creation all around us; the glory of all that beautiful water everywhere--and when you are from West Texas, its doubly impressive; the precious gift of wonderful friends with whom to share all these experiences; quiet time for reading and meditating, or walking the track on the top deck of the ship; the beautiful young people (primarily from the Philippines) who made our stay so comfortable; and most especially, for the gift of one another in our own marriage and these exceptional 2 1/2 years since Jerry's retirement.

We cherish you all!

Christmas worship experiences

We began our worship experiences by attending a Taize service at King's Cross Methodist Church in the setting you see at the left...quiet, peaceful, meditative--just right for the weary travelers trying to get acclimated to their new time zone! There were about 25 there, mostly young adults, but a few of us older ones as well.

We have Taize services here in Midland several times a year so we felt right at home with the music and prayers. One fellow we visited with pointed out to us that Sunday worship at the "big" churches within the heart of the city are really for the tourists--they basically minister to a congregation of folks who are in the city to work during the week, but are not there on Sundays, because thats a day they do not have to make that trip back into the city. Their ministry to their congregation takes place at week-day services, be it morning or noon or 5 p.m. So worship services at places like St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey are for the tourists.

This did not seem to be the case at All Soul's, however. To worship at All Soul's was a dream come true for Jerry. He so admires their former pastor, John Stott (who is retired but still participating..unfortunately, we did not run into him...) so it was a treat to be there. The church is built at the end of Regent Street--a magnificent setting. It is a viable congregation, with over 19 on their ministerial staff, highly programmed....we were there both morning and evening on our first Sunday in London, and heard a small choral group that you see pictured here lead the worship--gorgeous voices. The fellowship hour after the morning service featured tea and little mince pies--a Christmas staple in London. The church operates a fine bookstore in the fellowship hall as well. Folks were very cordial and welcoming to us, and we certainly could feel the Spirit in that church family.

This is a first for us - standing in line to get into a worship service! Wow! On Christmas Eve we were in line for about two hours for the late service at Westminster Abbey--the photo below is one Jo took while we were waiting in line. It was a beautiful service, as you can imagine, and one we will not soon forget! The fellowship and cameraderie of folks standing in line was marvelous as well.

St. Paul's was another worship experience - we also were in line on Christmas Eve morning for that service, but not for very long. The contrast between St. Paul's and Westminster is really something - WA is SO grey--stone everywhere, no color, very austere and regal, while St. Paul's is simply vibrant with its color--lots of reds and golds everywhere you look. The acustics are magnificent--on New Year's Eve, Jerry and I heard a Salvation Army brass band doing a pre-service concert as well as all the service music. Following the NY Eve service, we were dismissed through the front doors to the pealing of the bells and a bit of the fireworks that our kids were experiencing down on the Thames. Quite a site!

While we missed being with our church families at this special holy season, we found God's people very welcoming and accepting of us wherever we were worshipping. We were thinking of you!

Greetings in 2007

Its hard to believe we have been home from London for several weeks, and have not sent out a blog! However, that is about to change! Let me share a few thoughts with you from our fabulous London trip (and more thoughts will follow! Our Christmas dinner was spent at the Windermere Hotel, complete with crackers and king's hats, as you can see--it was the most amazing time you can imagine..the menu was delicious, and we just had the best time ever! We had a good long walk over to the hotel, with a stopover at Buckingham Palace, and it was truly a delightful day. Shopping was a real highlight--especially all the small kiosks and special shopping venues. Jerry found this very small coronet, which he felt called to own - and so he does! He even sat in our flat window late on New Years Eve and serenaded the folks who were walking down the street! I had the most fun sitting in a window upstairs from him and watching the looks on their faces as they tried to figure out where the music was coming from! He will enjoy this coronet and its a great souvenir of our magnificent trip. We are such Sherlock Holmes fans that visiting the SH Museum was quite a highlight for us. Here you see Jerry having a visit with Dr. Watson in the drawing room--it was very well done, and makes watching the TV series from home now even more fun as we can say "we were there!" Of course, we also visited the Sherlock Holmes Pub & Restaurant to finish off our day! Much love to all of you - and more will follow now that I have finally finished sorting and editing all the photos that our daughters took (would you believe over 4,000?) Soon I'll share some photo websites with you if you care to look at the pictures yourselves!

The bet is over...

Jo dreaming about her new boots... Jo picking out her new boots... Dad forking out the cash for the new boots... Jo is the proud new owner of some beautiful black boots from Hobbs of London. (finally - some new shoes!) 

Week 1 in London, Part 2

Somehow this picture didn't make it on the first blog, so here's a bit more...this is the family standing in front of the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, where we started our C. S. Lewis tour today....the Randolph Hotel is one of the places Lewis frequented..(and also a favorite haunt of Inspector Morse, as we learned a few days ago). The Lewis tour was superb - we felt like we all learned a lot, and gained more understanding of the kind of person "Jack" Lewis was...the tour included his early homes, the site of his marriage to Joy, his schools and colleges, Holy Trinity Church at Headington Quarry, his gravesite (shared with his brother Warnie), and his home, The Kilns...a glorious day! Now, a very Merry Christmas to each and every one of you. We love you and treasure you! 

Week 1 in London Part 1

We have spent one glorious week in London - and let me take just a moment to mention some of the wonderful memories we are sharing-- **another opportunity to see "Les Mis", our favorite play of all-times, and we are still ready to see it yet again, given the opportunity **Jerry and Carla riding on the bumper cars at Leicester Square--childhood revisited... **walking through the Sherlock Holmes Museum (and yes, Bev & Richard, there IS a Sherlock--we know because we visited with Dr. Watson and got all caught up on their lives... **worshipped twice at All-Soul's (where Dr. John Stott was preacher for many years) **saw Oxford through the eyes of Inspector Morse, one of our favorite British mysteries, visiting his pubs and many of the sites of filming **Carla & Jerry stumbled on the World Premier of "Its a Boy/Girl Thing" and there was Elton John! **shopping at Harrods, Selfridge's and Marks & Spencer (Jo's boots have NOT been purchased yet)  

The Christmas Adventure begins!

The first day of our adventure - presently in the DFW Airport preparing to board. Our two resident photographers (Jo and Carla) are already busy snapping photos, which means Mary gets a vacation from always snapping photos - and it also means Mary gets to BE in the pictures. (After our honeymoon, as my parents looked at the pictures of the occasion, my Mom turned to us and said "Mary, were you there?" Obviously I had taken every single photo!) Our thanks to our friend, Brenda Cooke, who graciously picked us up at Love Field and transported us to DFW--what an act of love and caring! We were so excited to meet up with Carla, who was already at DFW, that we didn't even stop for lunch with Brenda. However, we hope we will make amends on our return trip. Today - Midland and Dallas - and tomorrow London! Merry Christmas to each of you - and we hope you find a moment during this special season to check our blog and see what is happening on this Great Adventure. Love, Mary 

December 8th - a new addition to our family

Greetings - may we introduce you to our new home on wheels? This was not a part of our plans for these few weeks back in Midland, but it happened--there it sat, parked in an RV park in Las Cruces NM, which we just happened to be browsing through in anticipation of going to Las Cruces camping after the first of the year, and bearing a "for sale" sign in its window. Now it is truly ours, and after the first of the year, we will put "Sweet Mille" (our first RV) on the market. We have had such a good time traveling in her, and we know she will bring joy to her next owners as well. Meanwhile, we look forward to getting better acquainted with our new rig. Right now we are totally preoccupied with preparations to leave for London next Tuesday. We will rendevous with our kids in Dallas and fly out in the late afternoon. We are all so excited about being in London for three weeks - seeing the Christmas sights and lights, hearing all the wonderful Christmas music in St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey as well as Royal Albert Hall, and just enjoying our time with one another in this most unusual Christmas for us. In the meantime, we pray all God's blessings on each and every one of you, as we celebrate together the birth of our Lord and Savior. It really doesn't matter where we live, or where we spend Christmas, or what language we speak - God loved each one of us SO much that He sent us Jesus! Hallelujah!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our day was so blessed - and we hope yours was too. Here is our COMPLETE family on the porch of Jo & Scott's house (in front of their spectacular new handmade door!) We thought it would be the four of us--and just before supper, Scott went out on an errand ("be back in a minute")--and came back with Carla, who had flown in from Kansas City as a total surprise! While it was wonderful to have her with us for Thanksgiving, the real motivation is that Jo wanted her sister here for the opening of her photography showing tomorrow evening. Along with our friend from Enid, Pat Mundy, we are about to go to the Justins to hang Jo's photographs. Have a blessed week-end! Love and grateful thanks to each of you! Mary & Jerry  

You are all invited! The showing will be up through January, if you should be in San Antonio. Best of all is that we get to be there for the opening! We are proud of her work - and you can see more on: CJoShoot@gmail.com CJoShoot.com Think of us on Saturday evening! Love, Mary and Jerry

It is wonderful to be home! As we left Missouri, in cold and rain, and headed into Oklahoma, the sky cleared, the temperature warmed up, the sun came out eventually, and the skyline was limitless--what a good sight! One night was spent at Quartz Mt. Park in southwest Oklahoma, near Hobart--it was a perfectly glorious evening, pleasant enough to have a campfire for cooking supper and sitting out..and a very brazen deer who obviously thought she owned the place nibbling on the grass in the next campsite! Our comings and goings didn't bother her in the least. We are SO glad we stayed for the opening of the Christmas season at Silver Dollar City. There were 4 million lights twinkling everywhere you looked..an absolute fairyland. We saw a superb musical production of Dicken's Christmas Carol. Above you see Phyllis Garrett (Monett MO), Sally Campbell (Marshall MO) and Mary with a SDC treat--more 'smores! There were charcoal fires going in fire pits so you could roast your own marshmallows--what a great idea!

Anything better than S'Mores??

Take a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, a bunch of milk chocolate Hershey bars, a roaring campfire, some long roasting sticks, a beautiful setting amidst changing trees, and some of your favorite people – and what do you have? A perfect day! Last Saturday evening, we had with us Garrett & Shannon Worley from Chesterfield MO (some of our “grandchildren”) and our dear friend Pat Mundy from Enid OK – and all of the ingredients listed above for an ideal time for making s’mores…and they were yummy, as evidenced by the photos of Jerry and Shannon!

Little bit of heaven--Table Rock Lake in the fall!

Each day it seems we turn to one another and say "Isn't this just the greatest?" We are the ONLY camper on our side of the campground (that would be the boat dock side as opposed to the swimming beach side--when we started camping here there was ONLY the boat dock site...the other area opened up years later and we have never been able to try it out--we just gravitate right back to the same old place!) Its been cool at nights...sometimes downright cold...some lovely days..and delightful rainy days as well. Last weekend it was a joy to share the days with Mike & Karen Price and kids Meredith and Spencer. These friends are much more than that - they are a vital part of our entire family.

It all started when Mike came to Missouri Valley College as a freshman in the early 70's and showed up on our doorstep to introduce himself. From then on, he was part of our family--lived with us off and on during his college days, took care of our daughters on many an occasion, and the relationship has continued on for many years. Jerry and Carla were both a part of their wedding in Dallas...while they lived in Oklahoma City, they became a part of my parents' life...and 18 years ago this past week, Jerry was with them at the hospital in OC when Meredith was born. And Spencer is a true OU fan, which endears him to me! Their travels have put them in the homes of both of our daughters over the past few years...God is so good to put folks like that into our lives, isn't He?

Today we travel to Pella IA with Carla to honor another of our close friends - Hutch Bearce, who was killed last summer in Michigan near their summer home. Bearces were a part of our lives when we became back-door neighbors in Marshall MO. This photo of Hutch and Carla was taken a year ago at Apple Butter Days in Marshall - a tradition that we all began about 35 years ago. Hutch was very gifted - and his contributions to higher education are enormous--let alone his contributions to our life! Hutch & Gretchen left an ad for a used pop-up camper taped to our front door one day - which we bought and enjoyed for over ten years. Along with the Garretts, we traveled together to the British Isles-- hiking Hadrian's Wall, staying in B&Bs, poking Hutch & Jerry to stay awake during Evensong at Wesminster Abbey on our arrival evening--many many precious memories! Hutch's last visit with one of our family was last year, when he and Gretchen visited in Jo & Scott's home in San Antonio while they were attending the Dean's Conference there. We look forward to sharing these two days with his family and lots of friends who will gather to laugh and cry together, and give thanks to God for the gift of Hutch's life. Please remember Gretchen, David and Kate in your prayers.

We return to Cape Fair on Monday--the trees (which may not be as vibrant as they could be due to the drought) are still glorious to us, whose fall usually consists of mesquites that don't turn! We will enjoy a drive into northern Arkansas on Tuesday, to spend a day with Wichita friends (Harriet & Fred vanBebber). Pat arrives from Enid on Wednesday to camp with us, and we will do Silver Dollar City all day Thursday. The Worleys from St. Louis will join us on Friday - Jerry is looking forward to taking the children fishing and sharing Cape Fair with them -- provided the weather cooperates. Right now the old weather man is calling for rain next weekend (as well as this weekend here), but we can always hope he is wrong.

I hope you are enjoying the fall as much as we are!

Love, Mary & Jerry

Weekend in TEXAS!

Friday, Oct. 6th Jerry and I are standing on the beach at Horseshoe Bay on Lake LBJ, where tomorrow Jerry will be officiating at the wedding of a young lady who grew up in our church in Midland (Jessica Marshall). Jessica is being married to her boyfriend of eight years, Nang, on this site--a beautiful setting and a wonderful weather day. Occasions like this surely have to be one of the greatest blessings of ministry--to share in the lives of folks so intimately that on the occasion of their wedding, they ask you to be a part. We are so grateful to be here! Nang and Jessica included Jo and Scott with us at the rehearsal dinner at her parent's new home on the lake last night--an evening with a full moon reflecting off the lake, and the joy of sharing the meal with the Marshalls to catch up on their life. Jo and Scott have joined us at the lakehouse of our friends, Glenn & Louan Rogers, on Lake LBJ - we have had a couple of days of visiting, walking, eating - and sitting on the back porch looking at the spectacular view. In fact, yesterday morning began with breakfast on the porch and the coffee and conversation went on so long that it became lunch time! We will have breakfast together at the Bluebonnet Cafe in Marble Falls (an institution around here) and then part company. We are heading back to Monett MO, where we left our RV in the Garrett's driveway (Mike and Phyllis Garrett's claim to fame is now their grandsons, Eli and Silas, whom you met in prior blogs.) On Tuesday we will head towards Cape Fair on Table Rock Lake for an extended stay - we have no cell service there, and certainly no internet access, so there is no telling when we can write another blog! PS - Sunday - a glorious wedding..what a radiant bride in her wedding dress with barefeet, being brought from her parent's lake house to the beach in their boat driven by her Dad! All the wedding party had leis brought from Hawaii, and that even included ME! I felt so special! The pastor (who did not go barefooted as all the rest of the wedding party) wore a long lei of green leaves. Blessings and hugs to all of you.

St. Louis Zoo

Grandma Mary and children in front of elephants Is there anything more fun than a zoo, and especially a zoo with youngsters? During our week in St. Louis, we spent lots of special times with Garrett and Shannon Worley. A week ago the day was spent at the St. Louis Zoo—what a treasure the city of St. Louis has in this zoo! Our highlight was to meet Melia (meaning “strong and beautiful”), the seven-week old baby elephant. Can you see her back there by her mama? She did not allow her mom to get more than a foot or two away and Melia was right back beside her, usually underneath her. They were just a delight to watch. The elephant on the left of the picture is now pregnant, so the St. Louis Zoo will be blessed with another baby elephant come next February. The Zoo folks tell us the lines to see the baby when she went on display were just enormous, but fortunately for us, the crowd was very light when we visited. Tim and Jerry and penguins When you have Carla Hilton, life-time collector of penguin memorabilia, for a daughter, we would dare not miss the penguins! They were darling and great fun to watch. Jerry and our dear friend, Tim Garrett, tried to look like penguins to blend in with the crowd, but I don’t think they were very successful, do you? Our time in St. Louis was so special—our thanks to Janelle and Tim for sharing their lives with us—and their children! For newcomers to our blog, Janelle and daughter Jo were roommates in Chicago for several years, so we just adopted her into our family as well. If she looks familiar to Midland friends, Janelle came for Jerry’s retirement weekend at FPC. Janelle, Shannon and elephants We are now on a farm outside of Rolla MO and enjoying every minute of it. The scenery is spectacular…nights are cold and crisp…days are sunny and bright…great porches to sit on and watch fall come upon the Ozarks…time to practice our musical instruments…a road to walk down and back each day (literally only ONE road – this farm is at the end of the county road so there is only one way to go!)…time to reflect on all our blessings – and you are all part of that!

Weekend in St. Louis

Happy 12th Anniversary to Jo and Scott! Shannon and I are sitting at Forest Park participating in a picnic prior to the Balloon-Glow last Friday evening…and our picnic supper brings back memories of twelve years ago this weekend, when we celebrated the rehearsal for Jo and Scott’s wedding by enjoying Popeye’s chicken and biscuits in a park…Popeye’s is still just as good as it was twelve years ago, and their marriage is even better than ever. I haven’t told you all that their home is going to be on the Mahnke Park Homes Tour in mid-October…you’ll hear more about that later! Balloon-Glow prior to the balloon race on Saturday afternoon was spectacular! Jerry had to indulge the children (Shannon and Garrett Worley) in their own hot-air balloons, while we walked around the Park after our picnic and watched a multitude of balloons being inflated with hot air and put into the sky for our delight. As it got darker, all the balloons would be made to glow on a set signal (horn), by the fire heating the air, as you see in the picture below. The energizer bunny (called the Hot Hare Balloon!) was the biggest of them all – and what a colorful display it was an unforgettable experience. Look who we got to meet! Please meet Elijah Garrett, son of Pat and Jessica Garrett, and grandson of our good friends, Mike and Phyllis Garrett of Monett MO. Eli came out to Jellystone Park (where we were camped on Saturday) to make our acquaintance, bringing with him his father Pat and his aunt and uncle, Tim and Heather Garrett. Jerry had officiated at the wedding of Pat and Jess two years ago, the fall after our retirement (and also the marriages of both of Pat’s brothers in earlier years.) What a joy to meet this delightful one year old…Jo would be so proud of him, for he uses sign language very well! And he never met a stranger! This has been a glorious rainy day in St. Louis…Babler State Park is well–soaked, but we are safe and dry in Sweet Mille (our RV). Unfortunately, the cook-out and s’mores with Garrett and Shannon had to be postponed until tomorrow. We will be going into town tomorrow to join Garrett for lunch at his school. Tuesday we plan to see the new baby elephant at the St. Louis Zoo, so we’ll be going back to Forest Park.

Southern Gospel Picnic

Use your imagination - and picture this: The Homestead Pickers, a music group at Silver Dollar City, are gathered on the front porch of the old homestead with all their variety of musical instruments readily at hand...and tucked back in the corner, there stands Jerry with his fiddle under his chin, backing up the group as they play through their show. Can you see it? Isn't that great! We spent the last three days attending the Southern Gospel Picnic at Silver Dollar City - and first-time event for SDC and judging from the crowds and enthusiasm, it will be a continuing event! But best of all was when we learned that the Homestead Pickers would have a jam session at the close of each day and anyone could come and join them. The last thing Jerry's fiddle teacher in Wichita told him was to find some folks to jam with, just jump in and DO IT. And he did...and he had such a great time. We heard marvelous gospel groups and were even entertained by Dr. Dennis Swanburg with his enthusiastic gospel message (he was MUCH more entertaining than when he did his introductions to the Mayberry RFD video series!) Every evening we had two more hours of entertainment in the Echo hollow Theatre at SDC--if you like gospel music, I suggest you check it out next year. Now we are enjoying a couple of relaxing days at the campground before leaving for St. Louis. This evening we will go to Branson for dinner at the Hard Luck Diner--where all the wait staff are good singers and one of them is always entertaining at the mike. We ate there last spring with Carla and are eager to go back. It was unbelievable on Friday to think that all those folks were at SDC and we didn't see anyone we knew - but on Saturday we were blessed to run into our dear friend Gayle Edwards from Crane (you might remember I mentioned last February that her husband Bill had died from cancer--he and Jerry were friends from grade school on). And yesterday we met Mike and Phyllis Garrett from Monett AND Phyllis's sister Linda and husband Mitch Garrett from Louisville who were passing through the area on a camping vacation. Linda has been a special friend for many years as well - she and Carla share the same birthday and even celebrated their birthdays together once when Carla was about 4 and Linda was ????...oh well...Linda spent part of her career as a Christian Educator in the hills and hollers of Phelps,KY and invited Jerry down to do a preaching mission at their two little mission churches--certainly one of the highlights of Jerry's ministry. So it was a glorious day to all be together at Silver Dollar City. So until next time - say a good word for Jesus!

Labor Day with No Labor

While the rest of the country seemed to be getting a small touch of fall with lower temperatures, San Antonio continued to enjoy its hot and humid weather! Both Midland and Kansas City had temperatures fifteen degrees lower than SA! However, SA finally got some much-needed rain on Monday night. All the decorative fountains are turned off, which is indeed a sad situation, so we hope they receive some rainfall soon. We did a lot of nothing while we were at Jo and Scott's-- our focus was for Jo to give her mother some Adobe Photoshop training, which she did admirably..now I just need lots of time to play and practice with the program. Go as quickly as possible to the movie theatre to see "The Illusionist"--Scott, Jerry and I saw this on Labor Day while Jo put in 3 hours of work at Sorenson. It is a GREAT movie, and we all highly recommend it to you. In fact, it is one of those I would enjoy seeing again--and I don't find many of those. The treat of our Labor Day was dinner at The Tower of the Americas...Scott and Jo had been there earlier for Jo to take photos, and Scott wanted to treat us to an evening there. The restaurant (run by Landrys) rotates--the view of the greater San Antonio area is magnificent, especially as the city lights up for the night. And besides that, the food was marvelous. If you enjoy photography, please check out Jo's website links on this blog. She is amazing her parents with her artist's eye. With the collaboration of another photographer at San Antonio Community College, she put together a San Antonio collage of 90 photos that is great. The first one was auctioned at a fund-raiser last week, and another one will be auctioned at Nutcracker Sweets in December, which benefits the agency Scott works for. The above picture was taken inside the Gruene Dance Hall when we surprised Scott in August. The Gospel Brunch, on the second Sunday of each month, is a real delight. And speaking of Gospel, which we do enjoy a lot, we are on our way to the Gospel Fest at Silver Dollar City--so we must get on the road. We are presently camped overnight just south of Dallas--and we are hoping that mid-morning traffic through Dallas will be more palatable than the 5 p.m. traffic--but I am betting traffic is heavy all the time around here. We hope you all are enjoying this month as we feel fall approaching. We do miss our new Wichita friends - Missouri is pretty close if anyone wants to come and catch up with us! Love, Mary

Vacation time and back home!

Vacation time was absolutely fabulous! Fishing...friends...food...flowers...fun. We drove to Colorado with our good friends from Wichita, Bev & Richard Spann (if you remember last summer's blogs, we also went to South Fork together then). Their big Dodge van made the trip most enjoyable - though I have to admit to having some serious doubts about it when we drove up to the American Basin outside of Lake City on what should have been a road only for 4-wheel drives! But the American Basin was well worth it--wild flowers that were just out of this world, or a little bit of heaven right here in Colorado. The fishing was excellent - Jerry and Richard didn't miss a day while we were in Colorado, including stopping to fish on the road home at Silver Plume! They fished the Rio Grande, Beaver Creek at South Fork, the Taylor & Gunnison rivers, and many more--anyplace they could find to drop a line, actually! We were able to see many olds friends--Barry & Nancy Beal from Midland were just the best hosts ever! While the men put in hard days of fishing, we gals had the joy of doing a lot of reading on their gorgeous porch, watching the cloud formations over the mountains, shopping and eating in quaint Creede. Jerry and I had the good fortune of having a visit with one of my high school classmates who was camped in an RV park in South Fork--Jim and I hadn't seen each other in 50 years, so that was a delight. On our way to Gunnison we spent time with a new friend from Eastminster Church in Wichita, Joan Olander, who summers in Lake City, and drove up to the American Basin--put that on your "must-do" list! We moved on to the Gunnison area, occupied a cabin on the banks of Spring Creek and were able to spend time with Abbe Mahone from Oklahoma City, and her son David who got out there in time to do some fishing with Jerry and Richard. Worship at Tin Cup is always a highlight and this year was no exception. Best of all was crossing paths with folks who were serving as camp hosts at one of the national park campgrounds, and whose parents were members of our church in Enid OK. We spent an evening with Eastminster friends, Fred & Sue Berry, in their lovely home in Mt. Crested Butte...what a spectacular view--another little glimpse of heaven! They graciously included our friend Abbe, who it turns out had toured their home several years ago when it was on the Homes Tour. The Gunnison area also gave us the opportunity to spend time with Kirk & Nancy Fry from Enid (now from Hotchkiss)...many years ago, when we lived in Enid, they first introduced us to this area of Colorado by offering us a cabin for our fall vacations--and we've been hooked ever since! We completed our holiday with a few days at the Spann's time-share condo at Beaver Creek--which included two or three trips up the ski lift--one time we saw a bear below us, and another time a beautiful buck with a very large rack. Wow! On our way back to Midland with the RV, we were able to surprise our son-in-law at the Sunday Gospel Brunch at the Gruene Dance Hall in Gruene TX and celebrate his birthday, along with our friends, the Greens, from Midland; and special friends of Jo & Scott's, Naomi & Conner from Austin (who are moving to Colorado Springs, even as I write this blog--we shall miss their presence in Texas but thank goodness for cell phones and email.) Its been good to be back home--even unpacking boxes and settling in was joyous! Our year in Wichita was marvelous, but there's no place like home! By way of an apology for the long stretch between blogs, we have only just been able to get high-speed internet at the house! With the oil industry being what it is, you can imagine how things are booming in Midland...And its proved to be very difficult to get any kind of services installed, turned on, etc. We have become so dependent on high-speed internet that this has really been a time to try men's souls! And now - just when we are back on-line, we are preparing to leave! Tomorrow we head out to spend the Labor Day weekend with Jo and Scott in San Antonio. From there we turn the RV towards Missouri--we have lots of plans, which include the Gospel Fest at Silver Dollar City, Babler State Park outside of St. Louis; quiet R&R time on a farm outside of Rolla; and October camped on Table Rock Lake in southwest Missouri, taking in the Fall Festival at Silver Dollar City. We will be able to keep up with emails, so if you are going to be in any of those areas, please let us know. I've missed communicating with you via the blog these last six weeks - here's hoping I can do better while we are on the road. Love, Mary & Jerry

Retirement--again!

Today was our last Sunday at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita KS...it was a glorious day. Jerry preached from Philippians 4, on rejoicing - we were recognized at the close of each of the services, the congregations sang joyously on Jerry's favorite hymn "Because He Lives", we have a basket full of cards to read at our leisure, and we got lots of hugs. I received a beautiful large cross woven from Kansas wheat, which is truly a marvelous memento. Jerry was given an IPOD ("an 8-track for the 21st century")loaded with all his sermons from this past year, choral music, Elder training material, and anything else that was a reminder of our year here--what a great gift for him! If it had not been for Carla's presence on Friday, I don't believe we would have made it through the day! This was our day to have the rental furniture picked up, disconnect phone/cable/internet, get everything distributed either to the rv or the Spanns home (where we are presently staying) or loaded in the Escape for the trip to Midland, and a walk-thru by the apartment manager...and Jerry ended up having an burial first thing in the morning, followed by a memorial service, followed by a dental appointment for several fillings, followed by his last fiddle lesson (Oh, did I mention he has taken up the fiddle?) Without Carla, I could not have done it - so I will be forever grateful for all her help. We ended up the day at the Prairie Rose for a barbeque dinner followed by cowboy music entertainment with a group of friends from EPC--we enjoyed the food, laughed at all the jokes, and the music was just great--so tired though we were, and extremely hot from the hard days' work, it was a fun evening. We were so glad to be able to take Carla to it, for we have been out there before (to hear Roy Rogers Jr) and had talked about what a neat evening it was. We are about to finish up packing now--we leave in the morning for cool Colorado with Bev & Richard Spann, and you cannot begin to imagine how excited we are--the fish better beware! We are all four tired, so the prospect of cool weather, hungry fish, neat friends, and no agenda really sounds good right now. We will not realize we are really and truly retired until we get home to Midland--right now, its just a vacation to look forward to. We did not realize that in one year we would become so attached to our new church family. We have made so many very special new friends. Right now I am very grateful for our modern conveniences like email and cell phones so we can stay in touch! Our trip to Midland the first week of August will find us facing a house full of boxes which were moved by Atlas--I'm sure its absolute chaos, but like Scarlett - I'll think about that tomorrow. We'll appreciate your continued prayers for our friend Carol and her battle with breast cancer, and our upcoming travels. God bless you all!

The "Texas BBQ with a Kansas Accent" for our church family at Eastminster was a great evening, made even more special by having both Jo and Carla join us. Folks turned out in huge numbers, consumed lots of great food, and were magnificently entertained by the Home Rangers (a Wichita group that includes an Eastminster family)--their music is called "moograss" which is a blend of bluegrass and country! Just for us, they played "Waltz Across Texas With You"! There are a number of displaced Texans in our congregation and we all enjoyed it. The girls arrived on Friday night to enjoy a family dinner at Abuelo's - a favorite dining spot and one that Jo does NOT have in San Antonio, so it was her request to go there. After dinner, Jerry joined Gary Thompson, our volunteer pork cooker, at the church to tend to the pork shoulders that were in the smoker (and that was only the first batch). Gary, wife Jan, and Jerry rubbed and smoked this batch, and Gary had a volunteer team in at 6:30 a.m. to continue the process. Those folks are worth their weight in gold, let me tell you! The fruits of their labors were consumed by a most appreciative church family. On Saturday we were able to take the girls and our friend Pat Mundy (of Enid) over to the Buford's ranch in the Flint Hills near Cassoday. It was a picture perfect day. We absorbed too much sun, played in the pristine swimming pool, took a boat ride all around the lake, and watched the wild mustangs who live on the ranch, and were exceptionally close that day. (Unlike yesterday, when Jerry and I went back to the ranch to spend the day and saw very few horses near enough to photograph!) We are grateful for their cooperation, however, for our daughters and friend on the 24th. We have spent so many wonderful days at the ranch during the last year that it was very important to us to get to share that special spot with Jo and Carla. Sunday morning worship gave Jerry an opportunity to introduce his daughters to the congregation. After church we all pitched in to get the table decorations on in both the gym and the fellowship hall. The tables were decorated with cowboy boots filled with bluebonnets or sunflowers, or bud vases bearing bluebonnets. I would like to thank Susie Hitchcock-Hall of Susie's South Forty in Midland (the best pecan toffee in the world -- check out the website!) for her help in providing bluebonnets (you know you can't buy those in Kansas!) and bandana ribbon for our use in the decorations and wrapping silverware. Thank God for daughters who helped clean up! It didn't take long to get the whole church whipped back into shape and all the decorations put away. The kitchen crew was incredible--all volunteers--and we think everyone had a marvelous time. It was a great way to wrap up our year with this church family. We are really in countdown time now. Moving boxes are filling the garage and now taking over the dining room. Vacation is just around the corner--and speaking of that, one of our favorite places to fish is the Taylor River outside of Gunnison. An older gentleman in our church is an artist, had us for dinner this past week, and gave Jerry one of his paintings of his favorite fishing spot, which just happened to be the Taylor River! Now its July - and the 16th will be Jerry's last Sunday in the pulpit, so 3 more Sundays. He is already moved out of his office as the staff gets it in order for the new pastor, Steve, to move in on the 17th...its the Changing of the Guard, and we pray for this congregation as they enter a new phase in their journey. Have a safe and sane 4th of July, and we cherish your friendship.

This has been quite a weekend! I'd like to share a few of the highlights with you via pictures. On Saturday we attended the Symphony in the Flint Hills, a concert presented by the Kansas City Symphony in an open-air setting in the heart of the scenic Flint Hills. The day was very hot and humid, it was a sell-out for 6,000 folks, the music was an original score inspired by the scenery of the Flint Hills, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Joining us for worship on Sunday were Greg and Bobbi Calmes. Back in 1964, Greg was the Youth Delegate on the Pastor Nominating Committee that called us to our first parish in Hobart OK--so we go back a long way! Greg has an aunt who is a member of our church in Wichita, so the five of us had a memorable day together. Some of you who have been with this journal since its inception may recall that we visited them in Seattle in Feb. 2005 on our way to Vancouver to see Carla receive her Certification in Christian Education. And now meet the newly called Senior Pastor and Head of Staff of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Dr. Steven Marsh. It was a great day - EPC members turned out in full force for all 3 services to meet and greet Steve, the Hiltons received a standing ovation during the congregational meeting, and we are delighted to report that Steve will be here by the end of July. Jerry's last Sunday will be July 16, followed by some fishing vacation in Colorado, and then HOME! Blessings on all of you! Carla is home safely with her group from their mission trip to New Orleans, and we are grateful for your prayers.

Please meet our new friend, Dr. David Githii, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. David was here last Sunday to preach and to hold an evening session to share more about the work of the PC in his countries, and in between we were fortunate to go to dinner with him. There were 6 of us gathering around our table at the restaurant, when two young African men and a young lady in a nearby booth got up and came over to us. One of them began talking to David in another language--and while that was taking place, the other couple told the rest of us that they were from Kenya and either KNEW David or KNEW OF David when they were in their home country! James, who spoke the same tribal language as David Githii,had been a member of his church...the young lady, Grace, knew David when he was a Headmaster of a local school. It was SO exciting! One said to us "He is a very important man in our country." All 3 young people came that evening to the session, David introduced them, and they shared a little with us about what they were doing in Wichita. God is SO good. We could just imagine what a treat it was for James to find someone to speak his own tribal language - we discovered that when you are in a foreign country you just get hungry to hear your own language (and that applies to England as well!!!) The most disappointing part of this day was to find out about our national denomination -- more bad news that I didn't need to hear. David is entering his second term as moderator (3 year terms). At the last General Assembly he had been invited to address the GA and bring greetings from his church, and at the last minute, that invitation was rescinded. This year his denomination is sending him as an observer but he has NOT been invited to address the GA, bring greetings, or even be recognized--and its all politics, folks....not much to do with our Lord Jesus Christ. I know lots of you reading this are Presbyterian, and care about our church, and this is a sad state of affairs. David thought it would be a good idea for our Uganda trip to just stop by next year and see him...and Jerry was very excited about a future possibility of working with the indigenous pastors on a short-term basis. Lots to think about, and even more to pray about! We did our two days of slave labor for Carla last week - wow - are we out of shape. However, Carla does have the most beautiful yard in the block right now! It was fun as well...Carla hired two high school grads from her youth group to come and assist, and they were fabulous help (they could climb ladders and get to gutters easier than anyone else!) I did lots of cooking and freezing of food for Carla. In addition, we took in two plays, one each evening--that might NOT have been the best idea in the world, but we did it anyway, and especially enjoyed the Dinner Theatre with our friend Anita (from Marshall MO) who traveled in Ireland with us in '04. Things at EPC are going well - the pastoral candidate is here this weekend; the congregational meeting is Sunday; and we think Jerry's last Sunday in the pulpit will be July 16th--then vacation for 2 1/2 weeks and back to Midland! I'll give you definite dates next time (I know - you've heard that before!) Love to all of you....Mary and Jerry