People

Dorothy the Doodler

I often doodled in school and I still occasionally find myself drawing during meetings. Most of my doodles are either random shapes or very poor drawings of people. I would love to be able to sit in a meeting and draw actual people from the room. As it is, I usually hide my doodles and they eventually find their way to the shredder. Once in a while I’ll come up with something worth keeping (and the bar isn’t even all that high).

Dorothy is also a doodler but her doodles are of a much (much) higher caliber than her old papa’s. For a good while now she has carried around a small book that has become her journal. In it are notes and doodles intermixed. This isn’t that book but another that she happened to have with her today. The outside cover is nicely decorated. Yes, she’s making a bit of a face here, but it’s not a bad picture of her, and the notebook is nice.

Rock Creek Church

During our Sunday School time this morning we gathered to put together donated food to go to Manna Food Center for their Smart Sack program. This was organized by Erick’s Hope and our good friends, Donna and Richard Brown. We gathered briefly in the church lobby to fellowship and I asked if everyone could get together for a picture. They said yes, and here it is.

Pretzels and Sausage Rolls

Dorothy and I went up to the Lancaster County Dutch Market this morning. Mostly I go there for the butcher shop, which has a nice assortment of meats, both processed (e.g., sausage, etc.) and not. We also bought a few cheeses. Dorothy asked me to buy half of a broccoli and cheese pie, which I did (and boy, was it good). Of course, we can’t really go to there without buying sausage rolls. Their pretzels are good, but unless you aren’t into sausage, I really recommend the sausage and Cooper sharp cheddar rolls. They are excellent!

Dorothy Blowing a Soap Bubble

Dorothy was cleaning up after having baked some cookies and while she was washing off the cooling rack she noticed that she could use it as a bubble wand. They didn’t “release” well. Still, as you can see in this picture, they got to be pretty good sized.

Cathy

Dorothy was out at youth band practice and Cathy and I were sitting on the couch chatting. I had my camera near by (surprise!) and I picked it up and started taking pictures of her. I had my 100mm lens so I was only getting her face. Then I got up and changed lenses to something more suitable to the close quarters. Cathy sat on the end of the sofa and I took a bunch more. In some of them she made faces but I like this one best. It’s just a relaxed pose, with her feet up on the back of the sofa.

Dorothy

I don’t really have much to say about this picture. It is of Dorothy, obviously. She has her back pack on with a blanket over it and she was saying she was a turtle, for some reason, which I don’t fully understand.

Dorothy On A Violin

Dorothy picked up a violin today and started playing it tentatively. Of course, she’s never played the violin and after a short while she said something to the effect of, “I just can’t play holding it like this, it’s just wrong.” Then she turned it down and played it like a very small cello. She did reasonably well, actually, all things considered.

Orion

I’ve got three posts for today with pretty varied subjects. The first is Orion, the son of a coworker. He wouldn’t smile for me, which is understandable. I know I’m a little scary looking to kids who don’t know that I’m mostly a Teddy bear. Even his “I’m not sure about this man” look it adorable, though. Thanks (and thanks to your mom) for the visit, you really brightened up my day.

Dorothy, Passing The Test

Or should I title this, “get off the road!” We spent a relaxing (not!) five hours at the MVA but at the end of it all, Dorothy was awarded a permit to drive a motor vehicle (with considerable and reasonable restrictions). She got her learner’s permit. Woohoo!

Most Of The Party Guests

Well, we did it. We planned and gave a surprise party for Dorothy. Lots of people say that don’t want a surprise party. Dorothy meant it. We did it anyway and she wasn’t particularly happy with us. Still, look at how many friends she has. And of course there were others who couldn’t be there (and a few who had to leave before I took this picture). It was a beautiful, cool, breezy day and everyone, except possibly Dorothy, had a good time. Thank you all for coming.

Dot, Dorothy, Margaret, and Cathy

For Dorothy’s 16th birthday we went out to dinner with her two grand mothers. Here are the four girls in my life, my mom, daughter, mother-in-law, and wife. I’m a very fortunate man.

Kendra, Briannah, and Dorothy

Kendra’s mom to Kendra, Briannah, and Dorothy to Merriweather Post Pavilion to see (and hear) Gotye in concert. It was a bit cool and they got rained on but were able to move into the pavilion, which was nice. They ended up with very good seats and had a great time.

Maydot and Lexi

We got a text last night from our friend, Jean, saying her daughter, our god-daughter, Lexi, was going to be running in a cross country meet this morning not too far from us. Cathy had a soccer game so she couldn’t go but I did and saw Lexi run. She did a good job and improved her time but considerable. I was also happy to see our good friend Amy and was able to cheer on her son, Jon, who finished in eighth place in the boys race. This picture is of Lexi (on the right) and her friend, Maydot (I’m not sure of the spelling).

Hannah, Lauren, Michelle, Michael, Libby, Abigail, and Dorothy

Despite the significant storm that rolled through just before 4:00 PM today, the school picnic went on as planned. It was mostly indoors but our spirits were not dampened. As expected, I took a few pictures, including this one of Dorothy (on the right) with some of her senior friends (from the left), Hannah, Lauren, Michelle, Michael, Libby, and Abigail.

Dorothy, Hannah, and Kendra

There isn’t a lot that can be said about this picture other than it’s so nice that Dorothy has such great friends. Since there isn’t a lot else to say, I won’t say a lot else.

Cathy, Dorothy, and Margaret

We had our wonderful friends, Krystal and Mike, over for dinner this evening, along with Cathy’s mom (who is much more than a friend, of course). They don’t like having their picture taken, however, so, although I took a few pictures of them, I’m posting one without them. So, if you know them, just imagine them off to the right, ready to eat.

Lyla, Eshe, and Stephanie

It was nice to have a few of our college-age students with us at church this morning. Here are three of them who will be heading off tomorrow — Lyla, Eshe, and Stephanie.