I'm here! I'm here. I'm. here. I think I'm here. Am I here?

Yes, I really am still alive. But it's summer. And for us, summer means family vacations (sorry, no pics of that coming), and extra ministry trips, and many, many birthdays. 

The last month has held more quaking of the deep places of my heart than I'm ready to share at this point. But maybe soon. . .  For those closest to me, you already know. For those of you who live farther away and would like to know before I'm ready to blog, just send me an email.

Yup. It's me and my best friend. I love nothing more than to be involved in ministry with Daniel. And God opens windows for that along the way. Last week was one of those.

Daniel and I were privileged to be leaders for the Yellow Bus Adventure, a four day, three night "overnight vacation Bible school" held in Gordon, PA and sponsored in part by FHC Ministries, a group pastored by Daniel's dad, Michael Hobbs. Daniel and I led the music, but were also involved in a campfire story (Daniel told the story of Gideon's Pot-- as first recounted by our dear friend Larry Guthrie) and I did morning coach time (devotions) with all the girls. 

YBA is for kid's in grades 2 through 8, so you can imagine the noise, the smells, the attitudes, the enthusiasm, the needs, the attention spans. Need I say more? 

I love YBA. We had a big mix of kids from church and kids from "town". Kids who know all the Bible stories already, and kids who don't. Kids from homes with a mom and a dad. And kids who have no idea where their dad is. It was incredible to send kids home having memorized Scripture, watched the Scripture acted out in a very memorable way and having learned songs that speak the truth of God's word in a way they'll never forget. 

That's me on the left, then Julie Bradford and my sister (in-law) Esther. We were the paparazzi, each with our own SLR camera, shooting anyone close to us. 

Here's William Straight, director of YBA. We worked with an incredible team!! Wow. So much creativity packed into a short time. 

Team colors!! Staff had black shirts this year, the boys team was green, and blue, yellow and red were girl's teams. 

Ready for YBA: duffle bag, sun visor, flashlight and Bible. 

Josh and Will: our faithful computer geeks. :o) Will has a gift for mentoring the young men around him. Josh is one of those. 

Putting motions to songs brings so much joy to the kids, and helps them to remember the songs. One hymn we did was written by Keith Getty: "Hear the call of the Kingdom". Hopefully it will be posted on youtube soon and I can share it. It was incredible!! 50 children singing "Hear the call of the Kingdom, lift your eyes to the King." And then the chorus: "King of Heaven, we will answer the call! We will follow, bringing hope to the world. Filled with passion, filled with power to proclaim salvation in Jesus name." There were times I could hardly sing, it was so overwhelming. 

chow time!!

adventure time!

Afternoon sports time on a soccer field close by. Tristen and I were waiting for the kids to arrive and Daniel grabbed the camera. :o)

Jake: all ready to run the 100 yard dash!!

The girls with some of their "bestest" friends.

Yes. That's me. The kids love to have adults join in the fun, so I was talked into the long jump. Imagine. No. Don't. 

At YBA we use a point system for everything from Scripture memory to good attitudes and our girls were on the winning red team!! 

Saying goodbye was NOT fun. 

Now, on to our first summertime birthday: Tobin turned 5 on June 23. We celebrated with a family from church whose son turned 14 the same day. With a river close by, what better way to celebrate than with a fire, hotdogs, mountain pies, marshmallows, cake and several hours in the river. Most of the time in the river was spent with snorkel masks on looking for "treasures". You know, things like broken dishes, old tire rims, large pieces of discarded, waterlogged rugs, snail shells, broken clocks. 

Tobin, Tyler and Tristen

And lastly, Grandma Showalter has been a caretaker of roses for as long as I can remember. In March she sent me a rosebush from Jackson and Perkins. It's a hybrid tea rose and has bloomed for the first time. I only wish I could include the smell. It's heavenly. 

That's all for now. There is so much more in my heart to write, but I haven't the time. Maybe soon. 

D.C.---Day 3

Last stop: Arlington National Cemetery. And we actually managed to be there on Memorial Day Weekend, which is the only time of the entire year when flags are flown on every grave. Any other day of the year only flowers are allowed.

Daniel and I had each been to Arlington before, and Daniel loves the place, but I'd totally forgotten how impressive the changing of the guard really is. 

The silence is amazing for so many people watching. 

A memorial to those who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger. That was a day I'll never forget. 

Yep. No stroller. Two tired boys. SuperDad!!!

JFK's grave.

But really, the whole point was seeing Kris. Thanks for letting us come visit you while you were visiting D.C. We love you!!

D.C.--Day 2

Day 2 began with a tour of the Capitol Building. Kris' friend Julie Blackorby so generously opened her home to this whole gang of 7 Hobbits. Another neat thing is that Julie works on "the Hill" as a staffer for Senator Jim DeMint from South Carolina. Wait. I think I already mentioned that in the last post. Oh well. 

Julie took us on a tour of the Senate building where she works, and then underground to the Capitol. But quite possibly the most incredible part of the entire tour (which I still am convinced the children never really "got") was when Julie introduced us to a friend of hers who took us into the Senators cloak room where we left all our cameras. And then from there we went directly onto the Senate Floor. 

What an amazing feeling. There are all those desks of the men and women who represent us in Congress. They'd just begun their Memorial Day recess, so the place was pretty empty. But to stand there and realize that not many are allowed that privilege. Pretty special.  

Here are the kids behind Senator DeMint's desk. 

This picture still gives me chills when I look at it. I don't even know if I realized the lighting when I took this shot. I think this is quite possibly my favorite picture from the whole weekend. 

"THE" rotunda.

In the rotunda there are brass plates on the floor marking the original places of the desks from long ago. We found Representative James Buchanan from Pennsylvania.

Elsa and Julie, our most helpful guide of the day!!

Then a most memorable picnic on the Hill before we made our way to Union Station and the Metro, en route to. . . the ZOO!!!

Ah. The beautiful Union Station!

And whom should we see getting on Amtrak but the very band, Dr. Magpie, we'd seen the night before at the JFK Center for the Performing Arts. They kindly allowed a quick pic before they departed. 

Yes, I know it's blurry. But that's how the Metro feels. 

The National Zoo. 

Auntie Kris treated us all to freshly squeezed lemonade or cherry lemonade. Mmm. It did wonders on that hot day!!

We were dragging at the end of the day. 

But since our Metro passes were still good we stopped off to get a glimpse of the White House.

And we found the doorbell. Long since disconnected. We really wanted to have tea with Laura on the lawn, but it didn't work out. Maybe another time?

Five Hobb(it)s peering through the gate. . . 

And the last laugh of the day was to find this stone. Kris was born in 1980 as was a friend of hers who told her to look for this stone in a park. Kris and I looked and looked and looked and couldn't locate it. Even after a phone call. Finally, we found it. We didn't realize it was the address for the place. Oh well. 

Then we all headed back to Julie's house where the supper I'd made ahead of time was awaiting us in the crock pot. Then Daniel took some time with the kiddos so Kris and I could have a couple of hours to just be sisters. So, we went to Starbucks and sat and talked for several hours.

 Ahh. How thankful I am for my sister. I love you, girl!!