A Proud Moment

My nephew, Matt, received his Doctorate in Ministry Degree from Westminster Theological Seminary on May 24.  Kat, Daniel, Abby and I drove to Souderton, PA, to attend the ceremonies.  R.C. Sproul gave the graduation address. He was incredible. Wish I had taken my tape recorder so I could have a copy of the text of his message.  Basically told the graduates to preach the gospel as we have it presented to us in the Bible. We can't tell the creator and author of salvation how to improve on His plan for salvation. Great message.  Both Sproul and James I Packard received honorary degrees. Rev. Packard's presentation was done on video from England. Matt's parents, my brother and sister-in-law were there as well. It was good to have a family get-together for such a happy occasion. After the ceremony we went to the hotel where they were all staying and enjoyed an evening meal together before we drove home. Long, happy day.

 R.C. Sproul addressing the graduates.

Peter and Andrew watch and wait for their dad to receive his diploma.

Let me introduce the Reverend Doctor Matthew Charles Mitchell, affectionately and humbly known as "Pastor Matt."

Heather, Andrew, Matt, Isaac, Peter, and Robin.

Congratulations, Matt.

Love,
Aunt Susie

Daniel is now 3

Daniel has worked for quite some time now to properly hold up three fingers when someone asks how old he is. He finally managed to make an "Okay" sign and hold up the middle, ring, and pinky fingers. That works!
On his birthday he went to Monkey Joes with some friends in the morning then they all came to Grandma and Pop-pop's for lunch and to play some more.

 After Monkey Joes, a jungle-themed cake (of sorts)

 Kat made a great Daniel banner to decorate the party room

 Lunch - hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, carrots, grapes, apples, goldfish, and cake!

 A drum set from Disney's Cars movie - the favorite gift of the day

 Fun cards, great gifts, wonderful friends - what more could any three-year old ask for?

For Julia

I have been scanning in slides of Japan for my dear mother-in-law, Julia.
Julia, Here are a few of your slides. I will send the digital pictures to you soon. Maybe Donna or Lynn can help you get to see them!

Love, Susan

 Bangkok Temple

Around the Shiratoki family table

 Kyoto Gardens

 Mimi-san

 Nikko Post Office

 Shopping in Japan

Daughter and Mother back home in Cocoa Beach

Mother's Day and Abigail's Dedication

Mother's Day was especially wonderful this year with the dedication of our sixth grandchild, Abigail Reagan. She joined 24 other babies who were dedicated that day. In fact, the entire service (both of them) was given over to dedication of the children.  After the service we joined the Marquiss family for dinner at a new restaurant in Carlisle called Momma Spriggs. Kat and Jason had a flowering plant and a card for each of the moms (Beth, June, and Susan).  We are so blessed!

 Three generations

 The charge to the parents.

Pastor's prayer for Abigail.

Our pastor, Phil, thoroughly enjoys this day. Baby dedication is one of the most important services he leads during the year. He is laughing at a 2-year old who is climbing on the steps in an effort to join him on the stage! The little guy later crawled between his legs while Pastor Phil was dedicating the child's baby brother.

More Signs of Spring

I enjoy being able to sit at my computer desk and watch the wildlife outside my window. Even though we live just on the outskirts of the borough, sometimes it feels like the wilds! The bird feeder constantly attracts cardinals, red-wing blackbirds, and goldfinches, adding lots of color to the scene. The fox came by the other day carrying a rabbit. (My picture of him was from a previous day when he was out hunting.) Rich brought in the first roses of the season.   Ahhhh, Spring!

Home to Spring

Kat and Jason watched the house while we were away and Kat had reported that everything was in bloom.  This is what greeted us when we returned home!

Second Day at Sea World

On Monday we visited Sea World for the second time. (We had a two-day pass for less than half the cost of a one-day pass to Disney World.)  This time we focused more on the rides, although we also saw the new turtle show and an arctic explorer exhibit with a helicopter ride.  The kids enjoyed feeding the sharks, seeing the sting ray tank and watching the dolphins.  In the Turtle show they also got to watch manatees. Since they are seldom seen from below the water, this was quite a treat!

At lunch Leah was fascinated by an egret - who knew how to stay safe while begging. Egrets were all over the park - on the stage for the water shows, wandering near the eating areas, and just hanging closeby wherever they might get a bite of food.

Visiting Great Grandma

On both Saturday and Sunday we drove out to Cocoa Beach to spend time with Great Grandma Julia. We took Julia to the Cocoa Beach Pier for lunch on Saturday and the kids watch people fish off the pier. We also saw a pelican up close - within five feet - who was waiting for someone to give him a fish too small to keep.

After watching all the fishermen, Leah decided she wanted to fish, too. So we rigged up a fishing pole for her and she fished for most of the afternoon. (No, she didn't catch anything, but she saw fish jumping in the canal.)

Four Generations

 What beautiful ladies!



CA in FL Part 2

After a day at Sea World we were ready to chill again. The kids played most of the day Friday in the pools at the resort. They are both learning to swim, so this was a good time for them to practice.

Rich did all of the cooking for the evening meals - so he got the most out of his bundle of meat. We ate hamburgers and hot dogs, ribs and chicken BBQ, sausage and steak. No one went hungry and Laurel didn't have to worry about any of the meal preparation.

CA in FL

We met our California family in Florida for a week at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club in Orlando.  After a hectic drive from Cocoa Beach to Flip's to get the car seat then to the resort to drop off Susan so everyone could fit into the car and then to the airport to pick up the family and back to the resort (whew!) we finally all met up and got to our suite for the week. It was a very nice room with two bedrooms, two baths, living space, porch, kitchen, laundry, on one side and a smaller hotel-like room on the other side for the inlaws. We were near the pools, playground, and basketball court.

On Wednesday, the first full day, we just chilled at the resort (that is the adults chilled...the kids ran full-speed ahead).  Luke and Leah discovered a ping-pong table and had a lot of fun with that.

 

On Thursday we sat in on an owner's update and breakfast at a new resort Hilton is constructing, then tackled Sea World for the day. Rich and Lars wanted to hit all the shows the first day, so we watched the dolphin  and bird show, the otter show, the whale show, and an acrobat show. We also had time for some rides and the kids climbed in a huge above-ground play area. Luke's favorite was the water roller-coaster. Grandma's favorite was the carousel (of course), and Leah's favorite was the kiddie coaster. Pop-pop only rode one - the water roller coaster. I think Laurel liked them all, but agreed with Luke on her favorite.

In the aquarium.

 In the splash zone at the Shamu show.

 Above-ground play area.

 Laurel, Leah and Luke climbing in the nets. Laurel was soon dismissed and the kids climbed by themselves - for at least half an hour!

The crab ride

 Leah riding next to Grandma.

 Laurel, Lars and Luke on the water roller-coaster ride.