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No longer on the river and, again, an empty nester. Back to living on Fleming Island and making some more friends!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Some more pictures for your enjoyment!

Here I am at the Green Street Tavern with two of my friends, Dolly and Wendy. Dolly and I have been friends since 4th grade at First German, and Wendy a classmate through high school. Her locker was adjacent to mine and we got to see lots of each other. Dolly's and Wendy's lives have overlapped through the years, even their jobs matched! Dolly and I stay in touch now on a regular basis, and I will with Wendy now, too, since she is on Facebook! The ladies' cheeks are red from being warm, notice mine are not!!

Due to the inclement weather in the forecast (i.e. cold and rain) the church picnic was held inside at the school instead of at the area park. No worries! The food was still delicious and the company magnificent! Mom is shown here enjoying some of the tasty offerings from the grille, and my plate is sitting right in front of Tommy. He is eyeing it closely but did not mess with my food! There were yummy desserts to be purchased and the Hmong members of the congregation made their own version of picnic food. I had a very good egg roll, which reminded me of my friend, Mai-ly, who moved to WA. I want another one, please!

Kevin Buch received a lovely watch as he leaves his role as principal, a thank you from the congregation. Kevin has a hard time expressing himself without becoming quite emotional, even having to pre-record his messages to the graduates as they leave him for high school. This time the man next to him had to read his message as Kevin was too choked up to do so. Afterwards I gave him a big hug and he said to me, "I wish you lived closer!" That was my gift from him! We share something---both us losing children from our lives, which is why we are so connected, I guess. Kevin is not going far, only changing schools, not congregations!

Tommy, Linda, and Lynn are enjoying their meals, inside rather than outside. It was so cool that folks kept their jackets on even when in the gymnasium!

Not only did Kevin receive a thank you gift, but Evangelist Nau Lee recently graduated from the seminary and is officially a pastor. Or rather, a shepherd. The gift presented to him by the congregation is known as "The Shepherd's Prayer", as he is now the shepherd among the Hmong! At a recent meeting, the congregation decided to put in a Call for him to continue serving the members of First German. We pray the assignment committee opts to keep him at FG. His wife nicely invited all those in attendance to come to their home on Saturday for a party!

Kevin was also the choir director at First German and as a sort of tribute to him, Kari lead the choir in the "First Song of Isaiah" whose refrain goes "Surely it is God who saves me, I will trust in Him and not be afraid...." Lynn is wearing her purple and blue jacket, 3rd from left, and Alayna is two people down in a green top, front row. I could see Kevin looking down from the balcony, watching and listening as this larger than usual choir sang praise to God during Sunday worship. Kevin trained them well! Surely it IS God who saves us!






4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Thanks for sharing the pictures. It's fun to see your sisters and your mom too. Also it's great you had the chance to see Darlene and Wendy. Looks like it was a great trip. I am so behind with facebook and your blog. I thought summer was for taking it easy. Hope that part comes soon

diane

Anonymous said...

Good morning Kim,
Yes, the temps did get up to the
70's yesterday, and it was sleeveless weather. Today is a different story, it is raining and only 57. It doesn't look as if we will see the sun again till Sunday. Hey, I like that, sun till Sunday! I'm good!

Love you lots,
Linda

Kim Lahaie Day said...

Hi Dee Dee!

Was it funny for you to see the inside of First German and the gym again after all these years?

So glad you enjoyed the pictures. I am going to post some from the wedding next so stand by. Some are on facebook already...

No rest during the summer, only play play play!

Hugs,

Kim

Kim Lahaie Day said...

Hi Linda J.:

Mom told me it warmed up and that she even had her patio doors open, but wore her jacket when out walking. Such erratic weather you have up there!

Last night we had a wind-rattling thunder storm with reports of penny-sized hail and 74 mile an hour winds in areas. Yikes! I do hope you get sunshine to last you a while--we are expecting temps around 100 this week....

Hugs,

Kim