We had our first day of school August 3rd.
This is a sad first day of school picture (you can't even see Harrison!), but it's the best one I've got. My phone camera is really wanting lately. And I really should try harder.
Happy First Day, kids!
We've got a College, High School, Jr. High, and Elementary student. That's crazy, ya'll.
The first week went great! It was a lighter week to ease us in, and it was pleasant.
Liz cleaning up spilt coffee grounds.
This is right before we were leaving for MO and college, and I thought I'd get a picture of one of her last messes at home. :-) We just finished baking the last of her cookie dough that she had in the freezer. What will we do without her?
The Paul Gore Farm in 1972.
Phillip figured out a way to scan in this really large picture of the Old Place where he spent his first 10 years. He has a lot of memories here.
The view from the New Place.
We were so glad to be in Missouri! It was so green and beautiful and much cooler (though more humid). And so many stars at night. It was a refreshing to our souls. No one wanted to go back to Texas.
Mr. Reese at our alma mater.
By the way, did you know alma mater means generous mother? Now there is something to contemplate.
We went to Moberly to see who we could see.
We visited with Phil Marley, Sherry Wallis, Mr. Fincher, Mr. Reese, Chad Summa, and Adrian and Lula Sanchez showed up! (I believe Lula and I were pregnant together in a Reese class.) Mr. Reese says he's going to teach 2 more years (or did he say 3?). His classes were among my favorite when I was there. I should have taken more, even if just to audit.
We stopped at Russ McCoy's business: ARTDEPT+Benton. He's got some cool stuff going on over there.
We stopped at Timberlake (the old Union Ave Christian Church), and then went to Mary's house to see her for a bit. She is amazing and was a home-away-from-home for many people at college.
Seeing old friends is a bit like what a reunion in heaven will be, I imagine. You walk around and say, "Oh, yea, I remember you! How you doing?" And then unexpected friends show up and it's exciting and heart-warming. Central holds lots of good memories for both of us. We appreciate them.
Phoebe swinging on the swings Papa puts up for the kids.
Harrison is the only one small enough to ride the battery car. I think Jon and Phoebe got in there anyway, but Harrison mainly drove the car around. He likes drifting on that big blacktop driveway.
Shirley and I.
I met Shirley at a Bible study on the campus of Moberly Area Community College. A group from the Bible college had started a study there, and I somehow got connected with it. I got to baptize Shirley in the baptistry at UACC. She ended up getting a degree from Central after she finished at MACC. She is very involved at her church and loves to take mission trips to Moldova. She gave me some Moldovan candy, which the kids and I quickly ate up. We decided it had been about 15 years since we last got together, and we had a grand time sharing a Greek salad and Bruschetta pizza.
The Capitol in Jefferson City.
We ate at a restaurant right across from Missouri's state capitol. I want to take the kids to see it when they're done working on it. It's been several years of construction. Maybe the next time we visit, they'll be done.
Papa, Phillip and Harrison in the living room.
We met up with Uncle Lee and Aunt Doris at a restaurant.
Paul and Lee at the far end there are eight years apart. They spent a lot of years farming together.
Liz photography.
She nosed around the garment factory in Vandalia. Mimi used to work there.
Our last day in Missouri, saying goodbye to Liz at Ozark Christian College.
These times of Covid are sad times at times. But, "there's a time to cry," so it's okay for there to be sad times. We found out several weeks ago that only two people per student were allowed on the campus, which left us with not a great plan of what to do with the other three kids while we attended the Parent Track and Banquet. Also, not all of the family could go up and see the dorm rooms anyway.
I cried. But Liz was fine driving down to Joplin from Mimi and Papa's house by herself. It's a four and a half hour trip. She unpacked herself and got her room set up and attended all the stuff on her own. (To be fair, we had none of this Parent Track stuff when I went to college, so it seems over-the-top to me, but times change I guess.)
We drove down the next day to have lunch with her. All of MO that we had been in thus far had been very lenient about restrictions and mask wearing. Joplin is not lenient. We decided on Chik Fil A for lunch and then arrived and recalled that their dine-in isn't open. So we got our food to-go and sat in the Home Depot parking lot and ate lunch together.
And then we dropped her off at her dorm and drove off......
This barn was behind our hotel in Oklahoma.
We got home safe. The drive was fairly leisurely ~ 7 hours per day is pretty nice after you've driven it all at once in the past.
As soon as we got home, Jonathan had a doctor visit to get his vaccines (he's technically underweight! Which cracks me up. He's the same size waist as Phillip and Papa were at his age, so he's fine). And we were able to schedule a DPS appointment for him to get his driver's license. Whew!!!
And Phoebe and H got haircuts today. And Phoebe found a chair at Goodwill that will work nicely in her newly spacious room. And tomorrow we meet up with people at the Vietnam Memorial downtown.
I'm sure this blog often seems like a checklist of accomplishments. Sorry about that. It's the way my mind works. Checking things off a list is one of my favorite things.
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