Saturday, 9/19/2020, Went for a ride in a military helicopter

Sammy Davis speaking...He is the only living veteran in Indiana who has received the Medal of Honor                                                                                    

Pastor Barkley speaking

Bill talking to Pastor Mark Barkley after he spoke at the Veteran's Reunion

Campground

Bill

Bill playing pinball

Bill and I on our helicopter ride

Bill and I (our knees) on our helicopter ride

Flying over our campground...our camper is the 5th wheel right in the center in the back row parked sideways

Me after our helicopter ride...Guy behind rode with us to make sure we were buckled in.  He photo bombed me....I had no idea he was behind me lol

Bill after our ride

That's the field we took off from

Bill on our helicopter ride

Bill with Sammy Davis and his wife

Steve, Jim, Diana, Bev and Bill visiting

 Read our Bibles, then went down for breakfast.  Pancakes and scrambled eggs with ham is what they served.  At 11, we went to hear, Sammy Davis, the last person alive in Indiana that was presented the Medal of Honor.  It was nice listening to him and his wife share.  Then, Pastor Mark Barkley spoke.  He shared about Jesus, about patriotism and did a great job.  Bill went up to him and he told Bill he remembered him.  We visited his church several times when our kids were little.  His church is right down the road from Kimmy.  Later, we went for a helicopter ride.  Bill really wanted to go and wanted me to go too.  It was so much fun!  I talked to Vikki a few times today.. We just ate at our camper tonight. Had chili and cabbage buns.  Bill didn’t want to go for their ham dinner they were serving tonight.  We went for lots of walks! Sat at our campsite lots too!

Friday, 9/18/20 Went to Walmart, came back and ate lunch, went to visit Lela and Doug

                                                                            My new hat

                               Bill...So much fun having him show me things he used in Vietnam.  Radio telephones he used were super heavy.  One of them I couldn't even pick up with one hand.

                                                           Jim Flickinger and Billl shopping

                                                    Loved this huge flag they had flying 

                                                                           Jim and Bill

                                                    Who are these masked men....Doug and Bill

                                        Doug and Lela while we visited with them on the patio

                                                               Doug, Bill and Lela

                                                                 Doug, me and Lela

                                              Bill used to drive a jeep like this one in Vietnam

                                          Bill used to shoot a M'16 like the top one in the picture

                                This is Sammy Davis, the Medal of Honor recipient that was the speaker there.             He had an amazing testimony, so I took a picture of it

                                                Bill showing me pj's they wore in Vietnam

                                Bill in a jeep like the one he had in Vietnam.  It took some effort to get in it with his knee replacements and also some effort to get out of it, but he did it.

Our generator ran out of gas so it was a little cool when we got up.  The fireplace was out, so we turned the furnace on.  It warmed up pretty fast.  Bill got the generator going again.  We read our Bibles and then went to breakfast.  We ate outside. The Tim Ministry served pancakes, crispy bacon and ham.  After breakfast, we went to Walmart so Bill could get a funnel.  We also found Scott RV toilet paper that is super good.  We came back and walked around for a while and went through the vendor tent.  After that, we had lunch.  We walked through the Vietnam traveling museum.  It was so interesting having Bill show me things he used and explaining what he did with them. So much fun!  I called Lela (Jared's mom) to see if we could come visit them for an outside visit.  She said they were going to be home and told us to come.  We got there and Lela was gone taking Noah home, so we visited out on the patio with Doug for a while.  Lela got there and we visited more.  Then we walked through their amazing yard with all the beautiful plants and flowers.  It was so much fun.  We got to taste some Anise which tastes like licorice.  I am going to plant some of that!  Lela certainly has a green thumb.  She wanted to show us all of the beautiful work Kimmy and Jared have done in their house.  We had seen pictures, but it was so nice to see it in person.  They certainly did a great job!  She took us to her sewing room and we couldn't believe how many face masks she had in there.  She was so sweet and gave us each two, plus one for Charlie.   They are really nice because they go around your head, not just over your ears.  She has made so many beautiful ones.  We enjoyed seeing pictures of Jared and Eric when they were little.  We sure loved our visit with them!  They are such nice people.  No wonder Jared is such a nice guy!  Sure glad we have him in our family!

Thursday, 9/17/2020...Went camping in Kokomo, Indiana, met Jim, Bev, Diana and Steve in Flint follow each other

 

                                    Bill driving us to Indiana.  He loved the RV video cameras we all went in on for his birthday.  The screen is so nice and clear and it is wonderful to be able to what's coming on the sides and back of the camper while driving. 

          This is how they had us park.  It wasn't easy for Bill because their was a tent close to the other end of our camper

                                       Diana and Steve's camper in the back, ours in the front. Below is Jim and Bev's RV out our back window.  It took us lots of time to get parked in these positions.  Jim had it pretty easy.

                                    People in their golf carts listening to the oldies being sung by the band.

          Bev and I saw these shirts and laughed.  We had to hold them up and get a picture of them. Took our masks off for the pictures.

                     Steve, Diana, Jim and Bill (Vietnam Veterans)!  Picture taken in front of Memorial Garden

Bill, me, Jim and Bev.  This tent is where we ate our meals.  Tim Griffin ministries provided 3 meals a day. You had to go to the hand washing station first.  They also had hand sanitizer on each table.  The meals were free.  They wouldn't take donations either.  They had hot food off the grill.  They served it on our plates.  They wore masks and gloves.  They had people come ask if you needed anything, they would talk to people about Jesus, take our plates when we were done and were amazing servants of the Lord. It was very touching to see them show the love of Jesus to everyone.

                           That is the stage where all the bands sang.  All I heard them play was oldies.

                                            There were also vendors with food and elephant ears.

I couldn’t sleep good, so got up at 5 and got last minute stuff done,read my Bible, and got ready.  We left at seven and headed to meet Jim and Bev, and Diane and Steve by Flint.  We filled up with gas and headed to Kokomo Indiana.  We got food from a Cracker Barrel and ate.   Drove another half hour and reached our destination.  Knitted a dishcloth and listened to the Christian radio station on the way.  We got here and dad had to pretty much parallel park the camper.  Good thing he had the cameras on the camper from all of us.  He sure loves them!  We got parked and then set up really fast.  We walked around and went in the huge outdoor tent to look at what venders had for sale.  They had signs up to wear masks in all the buildings and stay 6 feet apart .  We went to eat outside and noticed it was a Ministry serving the food.  They had a hand washing station and you had to wash your hands before they would serve you.  Hand sanitizer was all around too.  They served chicken. Mashed potatoes and rolls.  We found out it was free and they wouldn’t take donations.  They talked to people and shared the love of Jesus.  We were blessed to be able to share with a guy at our table and let him know how much Jesus love him. He has to be careful because he is in remission from cancer.  The doctors said there is no cure.  He confessed Jesus as his Lord and Savior and then we got to pray for him. He was in tears and told us he had to dry his eyes.  The Holy Spirit is so awesome!  We prayed for opportunities before we came!  Such great joy!  We walked around with Bev and Jim and Steve and Diane followed on the golf cart.  Listened to a band sing oldies for a while. Talked to Melissa and Vikki.

Wed., 9/16/2020, Went grocery shopping, Vikki and the twins and Kimmy came over, Dropped off veggies and stuff to Marie

 

                                     Isaac, Nana and Peyton playing 3-13.  Kimmy was playing too but took the      picture.  Peyton was the big winner!  We were tied until the last hand, then she went out on me.

                              Vanity table Bill got me for our anniversary!  It sure was a nice surprise!

           I had to throw some of my bouquet out, but these are as beautiful as the first day I got them

Went to Jacks and Kroger and got some things I needed for our camping trip.  Came home and Vikki, Peyton and Isaac were there.  Isaac and Peyton came right out to help carry groceries.  Had to sanitize them in the garage, then they helped carry some in too.  Sweet kiddos!   Kimmy got here soon after that.  Vikki went to get a shelf she found by the side of the road for Kimmy.  The kids, Kimmy and I played 3-13 while she was gone.  After our game, Kimmy and Vikki power washed the shelves.  It looks really nice.  Kimmy was very happy to get it for their pottery.  I got the last load for the camper ready.  Kimmy put it in her van and drove back by the camper and carried it in for me.  Thank you Kimmy!  Bill mowed the grass.  We finished putting the ice air thing in the middle of the pool and drained a little more water off.  It is now officially closed.  Today it was 80 degrees too.  Cool down coming tomorrow though.  Chance of frost on Friday.  My vanity table came today.  Bill and I were coming to get the girls to help carry the vanity table into the house.  They were already carrying it it and took it all the way upstairs.  Thanks girls!  I talked to Melissa a couple of times.  She is packing the camper for their trip.  She also had a get together with some neighbor friends so the kids could play while still social distancing.  These friends are doing a good job social distancing.  I am so glad Melissa and the kids could get out and have this get together.  She is such a sweetie too.  God has blessed me with three wonderful and amazing daughters.  Dropped off some stuff we got at Sam's Club and some vegetables from our garden to Marie and Roy.  Nice visiting with them.

Tues., 9/15/2020, Watched Peyton and Isaac, Made Chili and cabbage buns for our camping trip, Went to Melissa's, Packed the camper

                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                        Peyton and Isaac

                                                                 Isaac with his spelling test

                                                           Peyton with the shield she made

                                                                    Evan, Jack and Max

                                             Hailey was so happy when I brought her cabbage buns.

When I got up, Peyton and Isaac were already up and sitting on the couch.  They were so quiet, I didn't even hear them.  They wanted to wait to eat breakfast, so I read my Bible.  I read a chapter to them too.

We ate breakfast and then started spelling.  I decided to give them a test, even though they didn't study, just to see how many they knew.  I was amazed when I checked Isaac's paper and he only had one wrong.  He is an amazing reader, so must retain how to spell lots of words.  Peyton got lots wrong, but once we studied and she wrote the words out, she did great.  She did very well for not studying the words though.  I started two batches of dough.  We played 3-13 after that.  I finally won...these two are hard to beat lately.  We sure had fun and lots of laughs.  I cooked burger, cabbage and onions while we played.  I made chili after we were done playing.  It got done in time for Vikki to eat lunch with us.  She dropped off a cute plant stand for inside and a cute outside bicycle plant stand for outside she found for me.  She sure is a sweet!  When I was making the cabbage buns, I texted Melissa to see if she wanted me to drop some off for them.  I know they all love them.  She texted yes, then called me and told me that Hailey had just asked them to make some because she hasn't had them in so long.  She did ask them to make them just like Nana does, ha ha.  I called Hailey to see if she wanted me to drop some off to her for her lunch, and she said she would come to her house to get some and see me.  I got there and gave Hailey hers and Melissa theirs.  They were still hot out of the oven, so Hailey ate one right away and said they were so good.  She sure made me happy.  Melissa said she and the boys loved them too.  Bruce wasn't home yet.  They all make Nana happy.  I left and took some chili to Charlie and Sue.  He is going through radiation and chemo right now, so like to take something to them now and then.   Melissa called while I was there, and she told Sue what Evan said about family traits.  Sue was so happy and so was Charlie.  Evan middle name was named after Charlie.  Bill took some chili to Rich and Pat.  Rich just got his reverse surgery for his Colon a few days ago.  He is cancer free now after almost two years.  I packed stuff in the camper, so I can enjoy the day with Vikki and Kimmy tomorrow.  By the way, girls, I sure am enjoying being able to open my closet doors so easy upstairs.  Great job fixing them.  They work amazing.  What a great family I have.  They are all so loving and kind.