Camping fun with the newbies

Here are some pics of the campout
- I really enjoyed the family singing and the 4 - square games - thanks David!!!!
Spending time with the family was awesome and it was fun getting to hang out with some new additions to the family including Elliot, Jared, David, and Betsy.

Dad, grillin' up some tasty burgers and corn

Lovely

Philip, trying to make Elliot make some noise

David graciously gathered and cut some logs

lovebirds

4-square

Uncle Rico

Philip & Betsy

several tries from a railroad track on the blue ridge parkway

at a dam :)
-Philip

Micah and Krista Heatwole

Per multiple requests...

A few pics from the rehearsal and wedding day (though none of the actual wedding at this point...sorry). Our photographer (Rebekah) was, perhaps, thinking about other things during the wedding. :).

Happy couple, Micah and Krista (Classen) Heatwole. Cute picture.

Heatwoles
Micah's Men: Me, Diech, Jeremy Yoder, Tony Root, and Sydney Rhodes. Dad preached.

Diech and Cheryl being jovial.

I think this guy got more coverage than the groom did during the rehearsal.

Proud father and grandfather.

We got to wear cool shoes.

Sharp fellas!

Sister of the groom with Bek.

For us groomsmen, decorating the wet car was a bit tricky, but Rebekah thinks this part was a success (it makes her laugh every time :). Another nice touch was added by Diech (and I think Jeremy)--twine strung about the interior like spider webbing.

Bros hanging out, waiting for the couple...
...and a sister too...

Happily married! ...and happily leaving.

Being silly after the wedding.

...lovely...

Some partial-family shots
...and good times were had by all.

Much love to you all!

-Philip

bachelor parties and so on and so forth...

...come the last weekend in June we thought it was high time to help Micah kiss his life as a bachelor goodbye. Soooo, that friday we went out to a cabin and hung out, grilling various meats and getting in some low-stakes poker and a little quality conversation. There was no electricity, so everything at the cabin was gas but somehow we made it through without blowing the place up - hurrah!



We did some big chunks of flesh over the fire for breakfast appetizers.
Awww, look how sad he is that he has to leave me and Philip

Overall a very fun and relaxing time
-Diech

Baltimore!

Jeremy and I had the fabulous luck of getting free Baltimore Orioles tickets for a weekend we were both free. Big Brothers Big Sisters were given these two tickets by a donor and my social worker contacted me about them. It was Friday, June 8.

We started out at 1:30 in the afternoon and it was so hot we were sweating going up the road with the windows open and the fan on high (no air conditioning builds character as Calvin's dad would say :).

The fun started before we got to the game. I enjoyed the chance to talk with Jeremy on the way up about things we don't usually get to talk about. But then we were passing by this big garage-looking building, and we noticed some giant tires outside that looked suspiciously like monster truck tires.
Philip: "You wanna go see what those tires belong to?"
"Yeah!"
Pulled a U-ie.
Inside we found two big monster trucks, and soon enough the owner came by on his four-wheeler. He was really nice: "I don't usually let anyone do this, but you can climb up in since nobody's around. Just don't touch anything inside." We took turns climbing up for a picture in the biggest monster truck. He also gave us each a poster and a toy model of his truck and a t-shirt. I thought maybe this would be the highlight of the trip for Jeremy, but it wasn't (you never really know what's gonna strike him the most).

Today, a week later I stopped by his house to chat with him and I asked him "Hey big Orioles fan! What was the best part of the trip...the thing you always love to tell people about?"

"That guy on the motorcycle doing a wheelie."

Just into Baltimore, we were driving down this one street and all of a sudden a high-pitched motorcycle engine is revving just ahead of us and going the opposite direction. A guy with a bandana is doing a wheelie and he keeps it up until he's almost out of view behind us. It was pretty crazy.

But the reason we went was to watch a baseball game. After a McDonald's lunch, we walked to Camden Yards and Oriole Stadium and began to explore. We noticed that the Rockies were having batting practice so we asked if we could go stand right behind the right field wall to watch. Soon baseballs started flying over our heads, especially when a leftie was batting. One ball hit right in front of me on the top of the wall but I didn't have the courage to reach out my bare hand for it. We were patient and eventually pulled a ball out of a small fracas nearby. A very cool souvenier, I was happy.

We had good seats too from which I could explain to him everything that was happening and point out where the ball was. He loved the Oriole mascot. Here we are just before the game right behind the Orioles' dugout...we weren't sitting here, just getting a picture. Notice the mascot at the mound.
The weather was beautiful that night, so we got up during the 7th inning stretch and decided to try to go to the highest point of the stadium we could find to look out. We found this ramp that went up and up and raced each other to the top. We looked out at the city and there was lightning on the distant horizon that made the night so beautiful.

the view from our seats:

After the game (actually after the 8th inning...that's about all he could take; the Orioles were up 4-2), we walked to the inner harbor and watched lightning there, which was very peaceful. We found some really good break dancers doing a street show nearby and watched their craziness for a little while too.

Jeremy says, "I'm gonna stay up all the way home."
15 minutes later he's gone and I drive home 3 hours in silence...the first prolonged silence of the day :).

The most interesting thing I noticed during the day was that Jeremy reacted quickly against my hand on his shoulder, like when I would try to hold him back from traffic a little bit. But later I noticed that when we would walk anywhere, he would put his elbow against my elbow with a constant pressure. He was okay with that and so was I. It made me smile.

Music and Golf

Hi family! Hope everyone's well.

Diech and I went to Ohio two weekends ago, road-trippin' with the other half of 3 'n 1, and that has to be the highlight of my summer so far. It was such a great time, and very refreshing to be away from the norm for a couple of days. The weekend also stretched us and grew us as individuals and as a music group. Monica Unzicker had set up some programs for us to do around her home area. We sang at a youth rally, in a Mennonite church, and at a Christian Cafe called New Grounds.

They were all really fun, but our favorite was the one at New Grounds which was a real spirit-led, joyful evening of singing and fellowship. God showed up in a powerful way that increased my faith. Before we sang, we set up our stuff and then had a prayer time with the three young adult guys that are in charge of the ministry. I felt very encouraged and God gave me peace and assurance of his presence that evening in that place. When we sang, the 130 or so young adults that were there seemed to really enjoy it, especially our acapella. We had two sections of praise and worship that we asked them to sing along and they sang so loudly we could hardly hear ourselves. It was such a joyful time of worship. The neatest thing, though, was after we finished singing, we asked for those who wanted to share about anything, testimony or whatever, to come up and several people got up and shared. Two girls had recently struggled with suicide and shared about the pain and their new hope in Christ. We were able to pray over them as a group. We joyed in their joy. (did you know that Paul made up the verb "to glory in"?)

Here are 3 pics from that evening:

Later, I enjoyed a frapaccino coffee toffee and conversations with some great Jesus-followers trying to figure out how to live in their post-Amish lives. The cafe seemed to be a great ministry, we need one here in Harrisonburg!

Practicing before the youth rally:

Some other funny things that happened on our trip:

-before the cafe program, we had a prayer time with the leaders, dedicating the evening to Christ, then one of the guys says, "So you'll be doing some music and some drama stuff, right?" We all kinda look at each other, then I said, "Uh, well we could make up something quick." Then he goes, "So you're going to sing for half an hour and then..." Again, awkward silence and I go, "Uh, we prepared for an hour; would that be alright?" "Cool." Love the great communication. :)

-so we get to the church on Sunday morning only to realize we haven't brought the key for the trailer lock, with all our sound system and instruments inside. Micah thinks he knows where this friend of his lives nearby, so he goes to his house. He had left for church already so, just as you would at any friend's house, he goes around to the shop, finds a saw, and that is that...except later we found out that his friend had actually moved and doesn't live there anymore....

-Dietrich got asked if he was Amish everywhere we went out there. Deep in Amish country, Wayne County Ohio, he fit right in.

More recently, we enjoyed having Martin, Sylvia, and Elliot up here for a week. Thursday I enjoyed a nice afternoon with Martin catching up on our lives. His new job sounds really cool. He was telling me all about it. I liked his answer to his boss' question, "Why does a Master of Theological Studies want to work at a coffee company?" You'll have to ask him sometime. Saturday we enjoyed lunch at Jess'. That evening was fish fry at Mom and Dad's, and Micah joined Diech, Anita, and I at the table. Sunday morning, Martin, Diech, and I went golfing before church. It was raining lightly off and on and on one hole we had to strategically and nimbly chip our balls before the revolving sprinklers got us. Diech won both rounds. The second round, he and Martin were tied after nine holes, so they played hole one and tied. On the second hole, Diech went in first for the win. My small victory was getting par on hole 5, the hardest one! :)

Philip

Celebrating the completion of another year of school...

A busy week (a good busy), Tis the time to celebrate after all : Mother's Day, Martin finishing his thesis , Philip finishing his final paper and exam for his class, me finishing my sophomore year (not to return to BC until next spring!). We did, however, miss the presence of a few loved ones - miss you all very much!
So how did we celebrate? (you may ask in consternation). I shall tell you...I (Dietrich) finished on Monday at 3:00 pm when I handed in my last final paper. It was so very refreshing but I think Philip was almost as excited as I was *big hug*. It felt like I was spending more time in McKinney hall than at home, so it was nice to rest my eyes from the computer screen (possible blood vessel explosion in the eye?). On Monday evening Mom made us some excellent lasagna and then Mom and I went bowling. Ma was pointing out the fact that it had been many years since she had played - and then proceeded to win the fist game. She, however, could not stave off my thirst for victory and I ended up winning the match 2-1. Thanks for helping me celebrate Mom!!! On Tuesday I was very lazy indeed. I slept in and then at 5 pm went canoing with two friends, Parla and Jen. After canoing we made a fire and made some mac and cheese and hot dogs - and later, smores of course!
On Wednesday Philip and I (Dietrich) went camping at Sherando with some BC friendsThis is a tent that was loaned to us from the BC outdoors program. It was very smelly and we actually found some wet undergarments inside. Needless to say, we did not use this tent because it was both smelly and slightly broken at a few joints (we tried duct tape and sticks but to no avail). Like I said-we gave up on it and settled for a smaller tent. Me, Philip, and Ian ended up sleeping in a very small tent - Ian and I were squished up against the sides while Philip got the middle (luckeeEEee). Oh yea, on wednesday evening we tried to start a fire and, as we were just getting ready to start it, the rain came. Then, right after we got it going (after attempts to shelter the fire and ourselves from the rain with 1 lg umbrella and 2 sm umbrellas) the rain stopped. I was thoroughly soaked but we had a fire!
Enjoying salties along the lake. I think Philip chose to enjoy every chip to the fullest (just look at the way he's looking at it lovingly).
Here's the sand castle that we (back to front: Philip, Me (dietrich), Parla Cline, and Jen Payne. We are standing in the river of life that is running through the middle of the city. As you can see, the wall on the left is quite angular and substantial (yay, Parla!) while the wall on the right is very rugged (more character) and rather insubstantial (boooo, Me!). We called it "Ugly Duck City" - you may be able to see the wings and the beak (facing up). If not, use your imagination.
Here is the governing body of the city: Queen Parla, King Philip, King Dietrich, and Queen Jen (think Narnia).
Here we have the erudite BC students (and alumnus) playing boggle along the lake while the rest of us throw Frisbee. I hear (from one of my most trusted sources) that Philip utterly and systematically crushed the two poor ladies - beating their combined score.

It was a very fun camping experience over all. On saturday, Mom, Dad, Anita, Philip, and I headed off to Durham, NC. On the way we stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then continued on. We got to Durham around 4 and hung out until we ate and then left to go to Martin's hooding ceremony (congrats Martin). The next morning we ate a scrumptious breakfast and then went to Mt. Level Baptist Church. The sermon was very fiery and the pastor spoke in tones that were not whispering. He had many good things to say about getting the message out by "going natal" and preserving that message in children by getting rid of the "septic sounds" and "toxic tunes" that are found in mainstream rap these days. I very much agree with him and I'm sure not a small amount of older people were nodding and amening. After church we had a mother's day lunch, consisting of grilled chicken (angelic voices), hot dogs, asparagus, and bean soup (not grilled). It was serry good. It was very fun hanging out with the Witmer side of the family (I believe Jefferson was scared of the animal on my chin). I also enjoyed getting to know little Eliot a little more - he had grown so much since the last time I had seen him. He's going to be one cute little kid.
Last night I got to say my farewells to BC friends that are heading out - some never to return. We went to Klines and then went over to enjoy the warmth of the truck stop/travel center. After an enjoyable time together we departed (but not before enjoying Matt Costa with a friend). Twas a very good week altogether - lot's of rest happened and that is very good.
Cheers to Philip for finally finishing his finals for Perspectives - woot woot!