Trip:

Our most recent long trip was to Berea, Ky to see our children. It is always fun hanging out with them if we have planned events or not. We parents and grandparents value our time with our family. To see Ben interact not only with us but to see him work with his parents and to see the love they have for each other is worth a million dollars or more. Skip and Sarah have their limited quality time with him, but each moment is special and through those moments together you know their love for each other is unlimited. I know that God has blessed us all so much with this young man and will with all our other grandchildren. Skip and Sarah are wonderful children of God also and you can see it through their actions and love.

It trip took us 12 hours getting there but only 9 1/2 to get back. Going the weather was rain, and rain but on the way back you could not have asked for better weather. On Saturday, we made a trip to areas of eastern KY to drop off boxes of school supplies to Henderson Settlement (Frakes, KY). We toured the area with a wonderful guide, Brenda Stoneburner, who took her Saturday to show us around the area. This mission is a very good one in that it serves not only children's needs, but the needs of the local community, and senior citizens. They have an opportunity store where the local community can buy clothing--they pay for it but for very reasonable prices. ($1.00, .50, and .25)

They help supply toys for the children at Christmas so that each child can receive two toys. In most cases, these are good used toys. The parents get to come in and select two toys for each child they have to give as presents. The settlement also furnishes meals for low prices for senior citizens and others in need. We found out that most do not have community water not do they have air conditions or in many cases proper heat. They have a small library area and tutoring area for the children, and have a crafts and sewing room for the adults at Henderson Settlement.
They have a craft store that sales items made by the community to help sustain the programs that they can furnish to the community. The residents raise cattle, pigs, have greenhouses and apple orchard products that they sale to help with the community. Also, I believe the fall foliage there was some of the prettiest I have ever seen. This was a enlightening trip for all.

Then there was the hike through the fall foliage--as we walked together, sharing the beauty of each step with nature. We made it to chain rock and enjoyed the beauty from the top. Pine Mtn State Park was awesome along with Cumberland Gap. The day was filled with laughter, sharing,
beauty and just catching up on things. We were blessed with a beautiful day to spend together.

Sunday was church, lunch, rest for some, and dinner at the house. For others it meant a trip to the local craft shops to see what they had to offer, drink a little hot chocolate and walk around a bit. Quality time and we did not spend much money. The local people have much to offer to the community with their crafts.

We got to see a friend that once lived in Jackson but now lives in Wilmore, KY. We got to meet new friends of Skip's, Sarah's and Ben's. We got to enjoy their new house and meet Ginger. I guess you could say the weekend was great--or better than that-----