October Adventures

I am really, really late with the post for October.  There's no excuse.  I just couldn't get motivated to do it.  

We started the month with my 60th birthday on October 2.  It's weird being 60.  The other day I was listening to a news report about an accident, and the reporter referred to the victim as "elderly."  The man was 62.  From my point of view, this fellow wasn't elderly at all.  He was just getting started.  But I am so blessed to be this age, to see my children and grandchildren.  I don't deserve any of these blessings.  It's all the grace of God and I am thankful.

 I'm wearing the beautiful gloves that Hannah gave me for my birthday.  They are the perfect gift for me.  

 We visited the Natural Bridge in Virginia where a chunk of rock fell off and almost hit us.  That didn't happen 42 years ago when we were there on our honeymoon.  I guess the bridge is aging and getting a little shaky, just like we are.

We spent some time in Radford to see our Virginia girls, Jaclyn and Emily and their families.  Caleb celebrated his 14th birthday.  That's almost as hard to grasp as my 60th birthday.  He's grown into a young man so quickly.  I didn't take any pictures.  The boys have gotten camera shy as they've gotten older, which I completely understand.

 Our Lucy girl spent the night with us.  She is playing games on my Kindle and eating bunches of candy.  We used our new patio for the first time.  We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.  I hope Lucy had a good time; we certainly did.

Laura got a new car.  Her old one finally gave up.  It was a good car and she drove it a long time.  I hope this one gives her that kind of service.

Hannah grew pumpkins this year.  She carved one to take on our camping trip.  This is the beginning.

And this is the result.  She did a great job on this little owl.

We ended the month with our annual family camping trip at Kings Mountain State Park.  If you're from this area, you may remember that there was a significant storm on Oct. 31.  This picture shows our attempts to stay dry.  Since it almost always rains on our camping trips, we should have been better prepared, but we survived and had a good time.