I thought it was about time to update so here I am. Some people have mentioned feeling pulled in all directions. That would describe me well...just like a rag doll. By the way..I am having trouble with my laptop keyboard...the "d" and "v" key often do not work these days so I have to go back and do all those over...if I skip some, you will know why....

Our hosts...Joe and Sue who never removed their aprons or stopped cooking all night!

The trio they hired to play for us... they were good!

Me with my friend Diane...

The exotic garden room...

 
Which holds the newly decorated tree....the angel moves...her wings flutter!

Most of you have seen my many photos of Germany. This time we were there to witness our youngest child graduating from high school. God provided in miraculous ways for this boy to attend Black Forest Academy and prepare for college in the USA. It was a special time. There was much emotion all around. These students and their families are from all over the world and they are serving God in other places all over the world. Relationships formed here are temporary but meaningful and difficult to let go of. When you choose foreign service you drag your kids into it and you just have to trust that God will use the experience in their lives in unique and positive ways and that they will be blessed in the end for their sacrifice.

I hope that everyone viewing this has a thankful heart and enjoys the holiday weekend! Here are the rest of the photos from Rhonda in southern Spain. It is an awesome place...very beautiful.

For some unknown reason, xanga is not cooperating to upload photos today so although I have about 14 ready to share with you, I have only been able to upload two. We took a little drive up into the mountains to see a white village called Rhonda where bullfighting is said to have originated. It is a beautiful place situated on a gorge with two sections of the village joined by a wonderful bridge. Hopefully I will be able to show you those photos later....for now...here is a tease...me on the day and the doorway into Rhonda.....
 

I submitted my revisions and bibliography today and should be able to submit the last chapter of my final project early next week. DH is teaching a class on Saturdays until Christmas. It is called "The Story of Redemption." Meanwhile, the redecorating saga continues...a new friend came by to show me how to re-wallpaper my powder room and next we will tackle the floor. Things are always more complicated then you would like. I need to take some after photos to show you. Hope that you all have a great weekend.

I Think we were in southwest Spain for four days and there are many interesting places to visit. One day we drove down to Gibralter. If a sense of geography eludes you it is a huge rock formation at the entrance from the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean Sea. It is actually a British colony much to the disgust of the Spaniards.
As we approached a plane took off from there and not ten minutes later we were driving across that runway.
 
A cable car takes visitors up to the top of the rock...from there you can see the town

That view is Spain...

A colony of apes resides on the rock...they are originally from North Africa

We were warned not to get too close and to guard our bags...they have been known to bite and to grab things looking for food...

They were so interesting to observe.....

And the babies were so darling....

Another inhabitant of the rock.....

Can you see the misty land and the distant mountain? That is Africa...it killed my husband that we were so close and did not have time to visit there as well.... there are ferries.....perhaps another time...

It is a beautiful day here in Eastern PA! The sky is so blue! I am nearly finished my thesis writing, hubby is preparing to teach his course at college, our carpet is nearly installed and the pile of boxes in our house is shrinking. Since it is getting colder I thought it a good time to begin to post some summer photos of Spain to warm us up. We stopped there for a few days in June on the way to our son's graduation.

The view from our hotel balcony....that is the Mediterranean Sea...
 
The enchanting village of Mijas...

Little church square...Mijas....

Spanish doorways...

An abundance of colorful pots..........

Beautiful bougainvillea...

Sweet smelling Jasmine...

Can you spot the bananas???

Unknown but beautiful plant.....

An evening view from the balcony...see the lighthouse? It blinked so I was lucky to get a photo of the light!

It was in the 80's most of the time we were there and the sea water was warm...the village was nice..a small number of restaurants and not too noisy. Much of the Costa del Sol is overbuilt and very boisterous with tourists. We chose well.

    It has been extremely wet over the past few days which supports my theory that we are changing into a semi tropical rain forest over here in Pennsylvania!I have had a busy week unpacking boxes, pulling up disgusting old carpet and writing my next to last chapter for my thesis project. Sunday was actually sunny and gorgeous so I did get some beautiful autumn color photos for your enjoyment... especially for those of you who do not have these beautiful colors in your location.
I have been reading a book by F.F. Bruce called "The hard sayings of Jesus and I like this quote from it..."It is not the parts of the Bible I don't understand that give me trouble but the parts I understand only too well!" Mark Twain

My fingers are blue! I am volunteering at church today...bonus..I get to use their computer while I wait on the phone. Our offices are in a very old farmhouse and this week the ancient furnace gave up the ghost. We cannot afford to replace it since we are still paying for the replacement air conditioner that died in August. So we are resorting to space heaters. My house was toasty this morning because I was baking my daughter's birthday cake. It smelled so good too! She likes carrot cake and I found a recipe that was a prize winner in Better Homes (my fav mag) and it is a combination carrot/cheese cake. I will take a photo and let you know how it tastes.....Monday meanwhile, I located 10 circle photos to share and some of them are actually in Spain :

Wow! It is raining hard and only 42 degrees...more like winter than autumn. I would have stayed home and kept busy unpacking but I had to shop for my daughter's birthday dinner on Sunday. I need to bake her cake tonight. Saturday we drive up to Binghampton, NY to a surprise party for a friend who was best man at our wedding. He is 60!!! I heard on the radio that it is snowing in the poconos so you people in Michigan have nothing on us!