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And we had a very enjoyable trip, and got to see many people that we hadn't gotten to see for a year or more. =D
I guess I shall attempt to relate this in the manner that I have been recollecting our recent trip experiences to you all.
Friday: We were getting ready to depart, but then ran into the troublesome occurrence of Dad feeling ill. We ended up packing the van, while Dad rested, and then, sometime perhaps about 9:30 a.m., Dad decided he felt good enough to drive, so we got on our way, something like half an hour after we had originally planned to. But we arrived at Uncle Glenn's without incident, I think around 6:00 p.m. We actually brought Blanco along this time, since our Grandmother wanted to see him, and the other people we would be staying with didn't mind his presence. We played Mexican Train for a while, after dinner. Then we went to bed. We weren't put in the barn (Where Uncle Glenn's study is. It has a couple beds and chairs and such that we could sleep in. And it has computers, so I was thinking, if we did end up out there, I might go look at all those videos I've not been able to watch. :P) 'Twas not a very restful night for us, since they have a couple cats and a dog outside, so Blanco was pining to go out, and barking at the cats all night.
Saturday: We got the stuff back in the car, and Uncle Glenn let us peruse his library and look for some books to borrow. So we got the third book in a series (I think it may have been a trilogy, but I can't recall right now.) that we had already borrowed the first two books of from Uncle Glenn. I borrowed a science fiction novel, by L. E. Modesitt Jr., the author of one of our favorite fantasy series, since we like the author and I hadn't read much in the way of science fiction, so I decided to try it. We also got a few other books, but I'm not sure what they were. :P Then we left, about 9 I think, and got to Grandma's close to 6. Uncle Jeff, Aunt Laura, and Brinlee stopped by for a little while that evening.
Sunday: We went to the South Cullman church of Christ. We were a bit surprised (and amused) to find that in the class, they were going through Numbers 34 to Deuteronomy 4 (We reacted with such thoughts because, like Dad said, he would not be about to go through it that fast. We're currently going through Proverbs at La Vista on Sunday mornings. Until we started trying to speed up a bit, so that *maybe* we can finish it by the end of the year {Doubtful :P}. We have been known to make it through only 3 or 4 verses in about 45-50 minutes. Generally though, it was about 6-8 verses. And, on Wednesdays, Dad has been taking us through the Gospels in detail in chronological order, using Luke as a base. I'm trying to remember how long he's been at it. Over 2 years, I believe. And we're just now somewhere around Jesus' trials before the Sanhedrin and Pilate and such. =) )
Monday: We sat around and read most of the day. That morning, I also decorated so sugar cookies as turkeys. Throughout the week, Dad kept reading us pieces out of the book he was reading, which was about the changes and inconsistencies of the Mormons. They were both a bit humorous and disturbing, basically for the same reasons. About 6, Aunt Kathy and Kevin arrived. Aunt Laura and Brinlee dropped in a time or two, and Uncle Jeff, when he was off duty (He's a police officer in Cullman.) I think it was this evening that we sang a few songs from the Hymns for Worship Supplement with Uncle Jeff, since he hadn't heard a lot of the songs in there before. Sadly, we didn't get around to doing it again, since we didn't have too much time, because Uncle Jeff had to get up at 4 something in the morning.
Tuesday: We read, put the spray-on glaze on the clay flowers we'd made before we left, and we went to Aunt Laura and Uncle Jeff's to gather pecans and Dad worked on their laptop. We brought Blanco along, but he was being a noisy pest, barking at the cats. One of them, after being put outside, apparently gave Blanco a look that seemed to say "Where did this dog come from, and what is he doing in my house?". I didn't get to see that though. I did get to play on their dusty little keyboard for a little bit. I don't really like keyboards much though. I much prefer a good full-size piano. That evening, Grandma and my family played some Mexican Train.
Wednesday: We put the glaze on the other side of the flowers, and went up to Huntsville, to visit Uncle Darrell, Aunt Sherry, Eric (Who was visiting his family for Thanksgiving), Wesley, Jeremy, and Sam. We played Apples to Apples with everyone (Including Aunt Sherry's Dad, who was visiting them apparently. Excluding Jeremy, who was working at the time.), doing a round around the table using one green card, then a round using two green cards, then two round using three green cards. It was quite entertaining. One of the most entertaining sets of adjectives contained cute, another one that I can't recall right now (Though it did fit fairly well with cute), and repulsive. Then we took a walk, and Jeremy got home while we were out, and then we played Crazy Eights for a little while. Then we returned to Cullman, ate dinner, baked a red velvet cake, and went to church (Where they went through the next 7 chapters.). That evening, Aunt Laura and Uncle Jeff and Brinlee came over again, and Brinlee brought her electric guitar (Though without any amplifier, so it was very quiet.), so the Twin played that some. We worked on getting stuff ready for decorating the cake. It was getting to late though, so we basically only got the icings dyed and carved the cake.
Thursday: We decorated the Thanksmas cake in the morning. People started arriving, and we ended up with Grandma, Dad, Mom, the Twin, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Laura, Brinlee, Uncle Dennis, Aunt Kathy, Wesley (Oliver, not Hamilton.), Sarah (Also Oliver, not Hamilton. :P), Kevin, Uncle Keith, Aunt Cece (I guess technically it might be "Step-Aunt"), Brian, Jessica, Logan (Step-cousin), Kyler, Ellena (I'm not completely sure how she spelled her name. I think it is closer to how I spelled it, than how the Twin did. :P), and myself. Ellena was the only non-family member. The only people on that side of the family who were missing were Nathan, Savannah, and Andrew. We had a tasty meal, and completely forgot to serve the cake we had decorated. :P And then, we opened gifts, since we were combining Christmas and Thanksgiving. And then a certain unscrupulous aunt of ours started a gift wrap fight, by throwing a ball of wrapping paper across the room at our police officer uncle. It progressed until Brinlee, Logan, Wesley, Uncle Keith and I, and probably a couple others also joined in. I'm not sure if the Twin joined in, or just took pictures of it. :P I did manage to loft one at an unsuspecting Uncle Dennis who was reading a newspaper, and got him on the side of the head once. ;D Eventually that got stopped, and then we went outside and got family pictures and tossed a frisbee around. After that, everyone left. Uncle Jeff, Aunt Laura, and Brinlee came back for a little while later that evening though. We looked at their album of their pictures from their trip to Europe. Uncle Jeff turned on the TV and watched "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", and eventually settled on a station that was playing The Incredibles, so we watched that. They left a bit before it ended.
Friday: We left about 9 in the morning (Can you tell that that is our usual time to depart?) and began our journey homeward. We arrived at the Calverts close to 4 that afternoon. Joe and Paul took the Twin and I down to their new house, to show us around, and showed us the animals on the way. Their new house, though incomplete, is lovely, and very spacious. After that, we went back to their old house, and showed them some of the South Dakota trip pictures, and Paul looked up some videos on Youtube and "exposed" us to clips of musicals. Ones that he showed us that we hadn't seen, or at least I don't remember seeing them before, included clips from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and The Music Man. I have seen Mary Poppins though. ;) Then we eat dinner, and found that Blanco had somehow managed to turn the heavy keyring that we have on his collar into an egg shape about twice as long as the original diameter. And he did it apparently without choking himself, or hurting himself at all. Paul offered to brazen it (I think that was the term. Maybe not though.) so we went with him and Joe to see his workshop, which I found to be rather spiffy. They reshaped and brazened the ring, and we chatted about various things, such as our attempts at making swords and such. Paul showed us his big drill press, and let us try it. If we had one, that would have made it far easier to put holes in the hilts and/or blades. Somehow, the conversation moved to where the Twin or I thought of a fun scientific mixture stuff made from cornstarch and water, and they hadn't heard of it before. They didn't think they had any cornstarch so they spontaneously asked if we wanted to go to the store and get some. So we went. The grocery store didn't have any, at least not out on the shelf. On a whim, we went a checked to see if the Dollar General next door had any. And they did. So got some and returned to their house and mixed some of the stuff up. They were as fascinated as we were. We messed with it for a bit, and then we joined them in going over to the cabin they had built, since the people renting it were having trouble with the water heater that Paul and Joe had made. They registered 212° water coming out of their kitchen faucet. Then they chatted about pistols for a little while. When they were finished, Paul showed us what it was like to lose traction and spin out in a car, and what to do when that occurred. And yes, he actually purposely made his truck spin out in a field were there wasn't anything to hit a few times. Then we returned to their house and messed with the cornstarch stuff some more. Then they decided to see what happened when you shot the stuff with a pistol (I don't remember the gauge that they used.). So they put some in a plastic cup and took it out and set it on the ground and shot it. The stuff went everywhere, and we dug down and found the remains of the bullet somewhere around 4-6 inches in the ground. Then we cleaned up the mess inside from our playing with the stuff, and Paul and Joe took the Twin and I on the 4-wheelers and were going to ride around their land. We noticed a skunk before we got back to their new house, so the Twin and Joe went back and got the .22 rifle. Joe shot it, and then as they took the gun over to the new house, Paul took me to the back of their property and back. They ended up deciding to get the rifle again and shot the skunk 3 more times to make sure it would die. Then we went to bed.
Saturday: We got up about 7, and then packed our stuff in the van, and went up to the old house (We had stayed the night in the new one.) and Paul and Joe took the Twin and I back in their property to show us how to use pistols and the rifle. I got to fire the rifle, and a revolver, and a semi-automatic pistol. The Twin didn't end up using a revolver. We shot targets, and they had the Twin and I contest trying to shoot 3 targets down the fastest. The first time I took them down with three shots. =) The next time or two I didn't do quite as well. I thought it seemed rather close range, but I'm not familiar with firearms. I would have liked to try it from a longer range though. 'Twas very fun though. After that, we returned to the house and ate breakfast. The Twin showed them some of the pictures from the trip, and I showed them the album of pictures of my crafting the dagger and some of our pictures from decorating cakes. Then we headed out, since it was getting close to 10. We got rained on most of the way home, and got lightly snowed on for a little while too. We stopped at home at roughly 8:02:04 p.m.
Long enough? ;)
Oh, and we woke up this morning with perhaps a half inch of snow on the ground. Most of it's gone now though.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable trip, with plenty of family, friends, food, leisure, laughter, and puns. I did miss having any contact with Krystal (Though that is rather infrequent. I still like having the chance to get a comment or an e-mail, or her getting on Google Talk.) and Rebecca, and the rest of the Capeharts, and the Waltons, and all the other friends on here. And I missed having access to a good piano (I was feeling piano withdrawals. Well, maybe not quite that bad...), and the people and singing at church here... And I *suppose* I missed my brother too. ;D
I guess I'll stop and let you all read this now.
Pictures over there.
Have a great day! =D |
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We're all shiny now. =P
I'd guess that it was some extended family member, since when he interrogated the Daddoo, he said that he didn't do it, but somebody who had our Christmas list had called and asked if it was okay. But he was surprised that they did it that swiftly. He didn't divulge who did it though. :P
And I didn't even notice at first... Unless,since I think my last post had said there were only 3 older comments, and then I checked Krystal's blog, and then noticed something was odd, I guess it *could* have happened in between the time I refreshed my blog, and when Krystal's loaded. Because I hit back, and Rebecca had left a comment. =P
However it happened, and whenever it happened, I thank whomever did it. =) Though if you were trying to keep it a secret until Thanksgiving (To be explained later.) then you probably should have waited a couple days, since then I wouldn't have ready access to a computer for about a week. ;)
Thank you, Aunt Kathy. =)
Tomorrow, we (excluding the poor Andrew, who has work and classes.) leave for Uncle Glenn's, in Arkansas (And I may end up having computer access there, so I might get on.). Then Saturday, we'll be continuing on to Cullman, Abalama (or Alabama, if you prefer.) for about a week, to spend Thanksgiving with our Grandmother and the rest of Mother's side of the family. And, while we're at it, we'll be doing an early Christmas with them, since we won't be making it down there next month, and just about everyone (If not everyone) of the family is supposed to be there. (See, I explained. :) )
And then, I think next Friday, we'll begin our journey homeward, and stop at the Calverts' overnight. And then get home on Saturday.
So today's been fairly busy: making sugar cookies (Okay, technically they are called "Vanilla Butter Rollout Cookies" or some such nonsense. 1.5 cups of butter. A tablespoon of vanilla. And they think warrants deeming them "Vanilla Butter Rollout Cookies". Ridiculous people. ;) ); gift stuffs; etc.; etc...
Farewell. And have a most joyous Thanksgiving! =)
P.S. You know? Maybe we should get around to packing. =P |
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They were tasty. Yum... =) |
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But what to do it on? I had a few ideas, and one of the main ones I decided I did want to do, and now I can't really recall the others. =P
So what to do...
Well, here's an updated list of songs that I have memorized for the piano. Most I can play at least fairly well, but a few I struggle with a bit, here and there.
Aeris' Theme, from Final Fantasy VII.
Besaid Island, from Final Fantasy X, Piano Collections version.
*Chrono Cross ~Scar of Time~, from Chrono Cross.
Dancing Mad (First Tier), from Final Fantasy VI.
*Decisive Battle, from Final Fantasy VI.
Frog's Theme, from Chrono Trigger.
In Dreams, from The Lord of the Rings. (With the vocals.)
*Super Mario Bros.; Overworld Theme, Super Mario Bros.
*Pink Panther, from the Pink Panther.
Shion, Past Memories, from Xenosaga.
Stones, from Ultima V(?) (I'm not sure exactly which one it's from.)
To Zanarkand (part one of the duet version), from Final Fantasy X.
Triumph ~Gift of Spring~, from Chrono Cross.
*New from last time I posted a list.
Songs in the learning:
Canon, by J. Pachelbel. (My first classical song. :P)
Dancing Mad (Second and Third Tiers), from Final Fantasy VI. (I've gotten playing through the whole song down to 33 minutes and 33 seconds, last I checked. Though that's probably a bit inaccurate, I thought is was funny that my stopwatch ended on 0:3333. :)
One Winged Angel, from Final Fantasy VII. (Not the Piano Collections arrangement. Sadly. I think there is only one part that I am having trouble playing at the proper speed, though most of it needs a lot of work. That part is four measures long, with sextuplets of sixteenth notes for the entire time. At a tempo of 123. I think I can play it about half the speed I need... =) The Piano Collections would be fun, even if it's beyond my ability currently. But what better to improve my ability with? =D )
And probably fairly soon I might be trying to learn a duet with Rebecca, even if it will probably be months before we get to try to play it together. And, if I can (Though, I don't know yet if Krystal wants to join us.), I'm going to try to figure out parts for a few others to play with us, on other instruments. And I'm running into trouble already, since the ocarina is a whole note too short to do part of the song... So we'll be trying to come up with a remedy for that, such as trying to whistle the note instead. It should be fun to try though. =D
I love music. And I dream a bit big with it too. =D
Oh, and it's flurrying outside right now. =)
I hope you all are doing well. Farewell! |
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There they stand, hand in hand. They've exchanged wedding bands.
Today is the day they seal all their plans.
And all we who love them just wanted to say,
God bless this couple who marry today.
In good times and bad times
In sickness and health,
May they know that riches
Aren't needed for wealth.
Help them face problems
They'll meet on their way.
Oh, God bless this couple who marry today.
May they find peace of mind comes to all who are kind.
May the hard times ahead become triumphs behind.
May God give them children to brighten each day.
Oh, God bless this family that started today.
As they go, may they know ev'ry love that was shown.
And as life gets shorter, may their feelings grow.
Wherever they travel, wherever they stay,
May God bless this couple who marry today.
In good times and bad times
In sickness and health,
May they know that riches
Aren't needed for wealth.
Help them face problems
They'll meet on their way.
Oh, God bless this couple who marry today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Irish Wedding Song, by Ian Betteridge.
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That song expresses my sentiments very thoroughly.
The internet was down all day yesterday, so I couldn't post about the time that the wedding would be taking place. Or the day of it, in fact. Though I know it couldn't be heard by them, I wanted to do something. So, I sat at the piano and played the most beautiful song that I have memorized, Aerith's Theme. And then I got the sheet music out and played through the Wedding Song. =)
May God bless you both. *Bows*
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Wedding Song (There Is Love), by Noel Paul Stookey.
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He is now to be among you at the calling of your hearts,
Rest assured this troubador is acting on His part.
The union of your spirits here has causd Him to remain,
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name,
There is love,
There is love.
Well, a man shall leave his mother and a woman leave her home,
They shall travel on to where the two shall be as one.
As it was in the beginning is now until the end,
Woman draws her life from man and gives it back again
And there is love,
There is love.
Well, then what's to be the reason for becoming man and wife?
Is it love that brings you here, or love that brings you life?
For if loving is the answer, then who's the giving for?
Do you believe in something that you've never seen before?
Oh, there's love,
Oh, there's love.
Oh, the marriage of your spirits here has caused Him to remain,
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name,
There is love,
Oh, there's love. |
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