Last weekend our family had an awesome trip
at the special invitation of my client in Pennsylvania ...
and we were SOO blessed by their love it's almost incomprehensible!
It's been a long time since all six of us traveled together for an adventure
and it was so SWEET!! All I can say is WOW ... love all five of my boys!
Dave, Ryan, Drew, Trey, Sean and I boarded a plane Thursday morning
and flew to Harrisburg ~ here are some pix from our flight & layover ...
George picked us up at the airport and we went to Tuscanos for dinner where we were met by George's wife Barbara and their teens Adam & Evie. We had a great dinner then were able to enjoy great time at their massive Harrisburg home and watch the Rockies win a game with the Diamond Backs.
The next morning we drove to State College, which is the hometown of the University of Pennsylvania.
We off loaded our luggage at their beautiful second home...
which George specifically designed for football weekends at Penn State!
And then headed out for some shopping and to stock the suite at the football stadium in preparation for the Saturday game. We had a great big dinner at Damons with lots of ribs and chicken and then headed to the center of campus ~ right to the famous Nittany Lion!
It was homecoming weekend and we waited and watched the parade ...
We were thankful to get out the cold when we headed to the rec center for the ladies volleyball match~ wow, were we in for an unexpected treat! The Lion Ladies are ranked 1st in the Big 10 and 3rd in the nation and the playing was powerful, exciting, and fun!
They handily smashed the Michigan Wolverines in 3 games.
At the volleyball match, we were joined courtside by another family George & Barb had invited to State College. Chris & Cynthia and their 3 boys Walker, Carter & Chase arrived. Their boys were a great match for our boys and really added to the fun and adventure of our Penn State weekend. More playing through the evening and then, the big day, Saturday dawned!
We headed to campus early to participate in the pep rally ~ what fun!
PSU has a 300 member marching band and there was a 200 member alumni band as well.
The nationally awarded baton twirler at Penn State is called the Blue Sapphire.
The current Sapphire and the immediate past alumni Saphire were both at the pep rally
and gave quite a twirling, throwing, flipping, dancing show ~ incredible!
And the big event ~ the football game itself! The big cheer goes like this:
We Are (from one side) ... Penn State (from the other side)
We Are ... Penn State
We Are ... Penn State
Thank You ... You're Welcome
George's box is right above the student section so it's really rocking and exciting.
A surprise for me? The students never sit down during the game.
Evie was so much fun ~ I love this picture that captures "her" as well as the concept of the box. 
Dave with none other than Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lion mascot!
The whole family with the Coach & Lion...
I so love this family ... Adam, Barbara, Evie & George...
Adam reminds me a bit of Rocky and both of our teens
really connected with Adam & Evie.
We were seranaded in the box by the trumpets from the Penn State band ...
(the woodwinds came by a little bit later, too!)
It's all GREAT!!
The Lions trounced the 15th ranked Wisconsin Badgers ~ Cheddar Shredders we were!
It was 24-7 at halftime and 38-7 at the end of the game as dusk fell...
In the box, we were joined by all the accountants from the Harrisburg ~ Tom + his wife Lisa Jean and daughter Elizabeth; Bob + his wife Karen; Greg + his wife Kim; and Lois and her nephew Matt. The company was as memorable as the game!
As George, Barbara, and I cleaned up the box to leave,
the kids goofed around ... so much fun!
Here is Ryan with Sean's arms putting on his chapstick... Goofballs!
Carter, Chase, & Walker in a tug-o-war with their new Penn State football...
We had another great evening spent in sports and chatter as we knit together our hearts in Christian love and fellowship. We were thankful to sleep in a bit and be all rested for church.
It was really a joy to visit our host's State College presbyterian church where the pastor taught on 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 ~ his message was titled Love the Brothers; Lure the Others. I loved his sermon regarding the Holy Spirit our teacher, our calling to strive to cooperate with the Holy Spirit's work through self-sacrifice and love in action for others, and the model of redeemed humanity that we can provide to the world.
After church, we visited Wegmans which is a grocery store, eatery, food place like none other. With full tummies, we went home, gathered our bags, cleaned up, and headed back to Harrisburg for our flight.
After such a perfect weekend in State College,
there were challenges driving back to Harrisburg :(
Barb & the teens were sideswiped by a truck towing a boat which crunched the side of their expedition and blew a tire. Thankfully they had help from the police to change the tire and the damage did not keep them from continuing on their way. We had left 45 minutes earlier with George, and there had been a terrible accident on a bridge in front of us which closed and delayed the highway (we finally arrived at the airport with 6 bags to check just a mere 20 minutes before our flight) By the grace of God and the Delta supervisor, we were allowed to board and head home~ hurrah!) Thankful, thankful, thankful that all was well.
Our greatest blessing from the trip however was in connecting with our host family. George is so faithful and provides such loving guidance to his family for the Lord Jesus Christ. Undoubtedly, God looks down upon him and smiles with gratitude. Everyone in our family was so touched in our hearts by George's servant's heart, faithfulness, humor, love, and thankfulness for the Lord's provision. And I so loved the extra time I had with Barbara - just to be able to be together loving on our families and each other during this long weekend... it was so precious to my heart. And as for all our kiddos ~ it seems they had a great, great time of connection and discovering new friends from across the country.
We left Pennsylvania full of good cheer and blessed beyond measure ...
Our family surrounded by God's love and loved ones.
Ahhhhhhh ....
and we were SOO blessed by their love it's almost incomprehensible!
It's been a long time since all six of us traveled together for an adventure
and it was so SWEET!! All I can say is WOW ... love all five of my boys!
Dave, Ryan, Drew, Trey, Sean and I boarded a plane Thursday morning
and flew to Harrisburg ~ here are some pix from our flight & layover ...
George picked us up at the airport and we went to Tuscanos for dinner where we were met by George's wife Barbara and their teens Adam & Evie. We had a great dinner then were able to enjoy great time at their massive Harrisburg home and watch the Rockies win a game with the Diamond Backs.The next morning we drove to State College, which is the hometown of the University of Pennsylvania.
We off loaded our luggage at their beautiful second home...
which George specifically designed for football weekends at Penn State!
And then headed out for some shopping and to stock the suite at the football stadium in preparation for the Saturday game. We had a great big dinner at Damons with lots of ribs and chicken and then headed to the center of campus ~ right to the famous Nittany Lion!
It was homecoming weekend and we waited and watched the parade ...
We were thankful to get out the cold when we headed to the rec center for the ladies volleyball match~ wow, were we in for an unexpected treat! The Lion Ladies are ranked 1st in the Big 10 and 3rd in the nation and the playing was powerful, exciting, and fun!They handily smashed the Michigan Wolverines in 3 games.
At the volleyball match, we were joined courtside by another family George & Barb had invited to State College. Chris & Cynthia and their 3 boys Walker, Carter & Chase arrived. Their boys were a great match for our boys and really added to the fun and adventure of our Penn State weekend. More playing through the evening and then, the big day, Saturday dawned!We headed to campus early to participate in the pep rally ~ what fun!
PSU has a 300 member marching band and there was a 200 member alumni band as well.
The nationally awarded baton twirler at Penn State is called the Blue Sapphire.The current Sapphire and the immediate past alumni Saphire were both at the pep rally
and gave quite a twirling, throwing, flipping, dancing show ~ incredible!
And the big event ~ the football game itself! The big cheer goes like this:We Are (from one side) ... Penn State (from the other side)
We Are ... Penn State
We Are ... Penn State
Thank You ... You're Welcome
George's box is right above the student section so it's really rocking and exciting.
A surprise for me? The students never sit down during the game.
Evie was so much fun ~ I love this picture that captures "her" as well as the concept of the box. 
Dave with none other than Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lion mascot!
The whole family with the Coach & Lion...
I so love this family ... Adam, Barbara, Evie & George...Adam reminds me a bit of Rocky and both of our teens
really connected with Adam & Evie.
We were seranaded in the box by the trumpets from the Penn State band ...(the woodwinds came by a little bit later, too!)
It's all GREAT!!
The Lions trounced the 15th ranked Wisconsin Badgers ~ Cheddar Shredders we were!It was 24-7 at halftime and 38-7 at the end of the game as dusk fell...
In the box, we were joined by all the accountants from the Harrisburg ~ Tom + his wife Lisa Jean and daughter Elizabeth; Bob + his wife Karen; Greg + his wife Kim; and Lois and her nephew Matt. The company was as memorable as the game!As George, Barbara, and I cleaned up the box to leave,
the kids goofed around ... so much fun!
Here is Ryan with Sean's arms putting on his chapstick... Goofballs!
Carter, Chase, & Walker in a tug-o-war with their new Penn State football...
We had another great evening spent in sports and chatter as we knit together our hearts in Christian love and fellowship. We were thankful to sleep in a bit and be all rested for church.It was really a joy to visit our host's State College presbyterian church where the pastor taught on 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 ~ his message was titled Love the Brothers; Lure the Others. I loved his sermon regarding the Holy Spirit our teacher, our calling to strive to cooperate with the Holy Spirit's work through self-sacrifice and love in action for others, and the model of redeemed humanity that we can provide to the world.
After church, we visited Wegmans which is a grocery store, eatery, food place like none other. With full tummies, we went home, gathered our bags, cleaned up, and headed back to Harrisburg for our flight.
After such a perfect weekend in State College,
there were challenges driving back to Harrisburg :(
Barb & the teens were sideswiped by a truck towing a boat which crunched the side of their expedition and blew a tire. Thankfully they had help from the police to change the tire and the damage did not keep them from continuing on their way. We had left 45 minutes earlier with George, and there had been a terrible accident on a bridge in front of us which closed and delayed the highway (we finally arrived at the airport with 6 bags to check just a mere 20 minutes before our flight) By the grace of God and the Delta supervisor, we were allowed to board and head home~ hurrah!) Thankful, thankful, thankful that all was well.
Our greatest blessing from the trip however was in connecting with our host family. George is so faithful and provides such loving guidance to his family for the Lord Jesus Christ. Undoubtedly, God looks down upon him and smiles with gratitude. Everyone in our family was so touched in our hearts by George's servant's heart, faithfulness, humor, love, and thankfulness for the Lord's provision. And I so loved the extra time I had with Barbara - just to be able to be together loving on our families and each other during this long weekend... it was so precious to my heart. And as for all our kiddos ~ it seems they had a great, great time of connection and discovering new friends from across the country.
We left Pennsylvania full of good cheer and blessed beyond measure ...
Our family surrounded by God's love and loved ones.
Ahhhhhhh ....
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