July 1-5

We drove back through EasternWashington, and I was excited to see some real live cherry orchards!   Maybe some of the forty pounds of cherries that we have consumed came from those very trees!!  Okay, so I have gone a bit overboard on the cherry thing...oh, well!

We got to the McGuires (near Springdale) in time to go to their dance class with them...what fun that was!  We made some new friends and learned some new dances that we have been practicing ever since, and we got a feel of what it's like for other people to meet us...two of the families there had ten children each, and that is a lot of names to remember!!!!!

More impromptu concerts and lots of volleyball kept our stay with the McGuires busy, and that night of singing around the piano with our new friends, and listening to the sweet voices of the Hines family, and then some dancing on the back porch was unforgettable.  Before we knew it it was time for our concert in Chewelah.  By the way, that is pronounced ChewEElah for those of you who are not from Washington!  We had a picnic in the park first and played volleyball or waded in the little creek running through the park, and visited with new  friends.  I have to say, that concert may go down in our books as the most fun yet!  The crowd was terrific, the amphitheater was nice and big enough for all of us, and the day was perfect.  When we were setting up, the wind blew our marionette stage over, but God was faithful to answer our prayers and the wind died down before the performance began.  A big thank you to Marcia and family for arranging the concert, and to all the kind people who helped get us set up and going!  We did our marionettes first and then played for about an hour and a half and then later after the concert did some jamming and dancing....and of course met more wonderful people!!! 
Now you have to realize that we are still using the trailer and truck and van as well as being housed by our generous friends.  It's no wonder that things get a bit disorganized at times, and a little chaotic.  Still, I think one of the most memorable things about the concert was when we found out that Anna had forgotten to bring her shoes to the park ~ and her tennis shoes just didn't work with our outfits ~ so she did the concert in her stockings, even though Luke McGuire was kind enough to offer to lend her his boots!!!

On the Fourth, the McGuires took us to a very special place in the Cedar Creek area where we met a whole bunch of great people and played softball and volleyball and chatted with our new friends while we waited for dark and fireworks.  We were asked to play a few songs and did so gladly. 

The fireworks were very nice, but the highlight of the evening, and perhaps of the whole trip was when we gathered outside with over a dozen other people, mostly youth, and stood in a circle and sang praises to our God and Savior for well over an hour.  This wasn't planned, it just happened, and no one wanted it to stop~ even when some of us were getting hoarse from singing we just kept going, one song right after another.  I'll tell you, I think that heaven is going to be like that, truly I do.  There is nothing so sweet as gathering with other believers and worshiping the Lord in spirit and in truth.  It's a glimpse of heaven for us thirsty pilgrims!

Saturday we had a nice Bible study with the McGuires and a couple other families and shared a wonderful meal and then it was time to move on.  Yes, some of us cried when we left!

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