Category Archives: Mondays are for Memories

Family and Friends, Mondays are for Memories, The Adventure

Mondays are for memories- A Family Vacation

August 19, 2024 steph Leave a comment

My goal for this week is to finally get caught up on all the family fun that happened in July. But first I want to share a post from 2011 about one of our early attempts at a Conrad Family Vacation-

4/3/2011 – A Family Vacation

It was a long time coming. Although we’ve gotten together at holidays over the years, we haven’t really been able to pull off an official “Family Vacation” since Ellie was 2. And that was 6 years ago. Two more babies and a new DIL later, we were all gathered at a big old log cabin in Gatlinburg, TN for a long overdue gathering. Even though the weather was quite uncooperative (it rained 4 out of the six days we were there) and by the end of the week a couple of us were struggling with bad colds, I still think it was a great success and filled us up with memories!
Here a just a couple of the highlights –
On the first sunny day, we trekked over to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park where we enjoyed the drive out to Cades Cove. The girls had never been to a National Park and really thought we were going to a big playground (sorry, kids!), but I think they enjoyed the day!

One of the highlights of the day was the special “guest appearance” of my niece Christiana –

What a treat that she could join us (from Chattanooga) for the day! And how fortunate that it was a sunny day!
More Great Smoky Mountain National Park pictures here if you’re interested.

Between showers one day we checked out a local pottery

and Toby and Ellie tried their hand at some mountain music!

There is a ton of “touristy” stuff to do in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, and we chose Wonderworks as our big splurge of the week.

There were lots of activities to do, but I think the most fun was watching Hayley (age 6) climb the rock wall. It was a first for her, and she never hesitated for a moment.

She also went on the High Ropes Adventure with her Mom, Lara and Josiah.

That Hayley is certainly one brave 6 year old!
Everyone had a good time –

Ellie practicing her motorcross skills

Maddie taking on (and winning mostly) the air hockey challenge!

The big boys playing “Mind Ball” – to see who could think less the longest. It was a long match (really, about 5 minutes!) but Josiah finally won. Is that a good thing?
And Noah was a champ the whole time – just watching all of the activities!

(You can see more Wonderworks photos HERE if you’d like to!)
But let’s face it – most of our time was spent at “Mountain Dreams” – our home away from home for the week.

That’s Denali, our “guard” Great Pyrenees. She’s Lara’s dog, and she was wonderful with the kids and all of our inside time. Like when we celebrated Josiah’s 30th birthday –

the girls made sure she was part of the excitement!

Yes, it was great having Denali a part of the family vacation!
Then there was the day of the Jacuzzi and the bubble explosion –

Yep, Dad was in charge of that bubble extravaganza! (Just one more squirt, Dad, please?)
🙂
And even though it was cold and rainy most days, that didn’t stop us from using the hot tub on the deck!

You can find some more random shots of our “Fun at the Cabin” time here, and if you’d like to see the whole “Family Vacation” set, you can check it out here.

Ok, so I guess this was a little more than the “highlights”, but I tried to keep it short(ish), honest. The week had it’s ups and downs, but then with 11 people living in one house (with zero soundproofing!), I guess that’s to be expected. But all in all, it was a grand week, full of hugs and kisses, new adventures, and deepening relationships. I sure do love these guys –

Love. These. Guys.

Mondays are for Memories, SOWER Projects, The Adventure

Mondays are for Memories – A Mowing we will go!

August 12, 2024 steph 1 Comment

With all of the mowing that Gary has been doing (he was on the mover over 6 hours today), I was reminded of the time that I was asked to man the mower. It was early in our SOWER life – July 2007 – and at a camp in Tennessee. I tracked down that post –

With 130 campers running around, it’s pretty tough to stay on top of “pool maintenance”. So, I have been moved to Lawn Maintenance. Yes, the girl that somehow managed to never even get on the riding mower when we lived in Jamison, has spent the last four days cutting lawn with a zero-turn lawn mower. Here I am – Mower Steph (with a view of some of my domain!)

Ten things that I have learned while mowing acres and acres of grass:

1. The “zero turn” thing? Well it’s a little easier said than done.
2. Young campers are prone to enter your mowing area. Stop and find a new patch to mow. There is always somewhere you can mow.
3. Straight line mowing is highly over-rated. I personally think that a nice scallop to the lines adds interest.
4. Sunscreen
5. And if you forgot the sunscreen on the first day, DO NOT forget it on the subsequent days.
6. No matter how carefully you turn, there will be times when you eat grass. Or dirt. Or bugs.
7. Fingers usually stop tingling within 3 hours of turning off the mower.
8. There is nothing quite as lovely as the sound generated after turning off the mower.
9. “Getting close” to trees and bushes takes a lot of practice and is usually best left to those more experienced. (Sorry about that little Bradford Pear =/.)
10. Mowing provides a great opportunity to catch up with your prayer time. After all, who else can hear you? (Just don’t close your eyes and fold your hands!)

Oh – and my tan is really coming along!

This morning was one of those picture-perfect mornings. I carried my camera with me to take some shots – here’s the best one.

(and yes, I even mowed the island!)

When I have a better internet connection I’ll try to upload some of the others so you can see our home base for July.
No big plans for the weekend – it’s time for some household chores for sure! Watch out dust bunnies!

***********

If you’d like to see the original post, you can check it out here!

Have a great week, everyone!

Family and Friends, Mondays are for Memories, On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, The Adventure

Mondays are for Memories – Our First Anniversary

August 5, 2024 steph Leave a comment

It’s been fun looking back over those ‘early years’ remembering the delight that awaited us around every corner. Here is a (slightly adapted) post from August 3, 2005. My format back then was different, so I’ve added some photos to illustrate how varied that first year was!
Aug 3, 2005 –
It’s hard for us to believe that we’ve been traveling about the country (well, the eastern half of it anyway) for a full year. What had seemed like a far off dream for so very long, is now old news. It just doesn’t seem possible!
We’ve had an amazing year. We’ve been as far north as Copper Harbor, Michigan (which is only a couple of degrees farther north than our Maine stop or our visit to beautiful Georgian Bay in Ontario),

as far south as Fort Myers, FL,
(Six Mile Cypress Swamp)
and as far west as Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

We’ve had our toes (or more) in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, all of the Great Lakes, and Georgian Bay.

We’ve driven through mountains and valleys, and descended into caves and mines.

All along we have continued to marvel at the amazing country we live in, and the Awesome God that has created such a place and allowed us the privilege to be traveling through it.
But more than the places to see and things to do, we’ve been able to connect with friends and family – some of whom we hadn’t seen in many, many years. We’ve made new friends and seen firsthand how beautiful and diverse the Family of God is. Our work with the SOWER Ministry has blessed us in too many ways to recount. We have been able to use our skills and abilities while still having time to see the country. The friends we’ve made and the different communities we have been a part of have all been part of the treasures of this trip.
And so we continue on. We’ve found that living in our RV has added a new dimension to our relationship to each other, our relationship to the world around us, and our relationship to our Awesome God. Until He tells us otherwise, we’re content to be serving Him from our little house on wheels. Thanks for stopping by our website – it’s good to have you along! Please feel free to add a comment or send along a hello! We’d love to hear from you!
We have so much to see, and so much yet to learn!
And yes, we are still working on getting to the West Coast!

Mondays are for Memories, RV Life, SOWER Projects, The Adventure

Mondays are for Memories – Happy Hour – SOWER Style

February 12, 2024 steph Leave a comment

This past weekend we joined together with some other SOWERs working in the area for dinner out and a local play.

It was a lovely evening, and it made me think about the blessing of fellowship that we have with our SOWER family. And that brought to mind this sweet “Happy Hour” we had with our fellow SOWERs back in 2010!
Happy Hour – SOWER Style February 12, 2010
Have I mentioned before how we not only have a twelve-mile commute to work at this project but that our rigs are parked in two different locations? We’re only about a 1/4 mile apart as the crow flys (over the desert and through private property), but it’s about a 15-minute walk so it’s not like we can pop over for a quick chat or to borrow a cup of sugar (you know, for all that baking I do!). To try to compensate for our slight lack of “community” and to celebrate the end of the week (yes, even hardworking SOWERS are happy for the weekend!), yesterday we had our very own “Happy Hour” over at the other neighborhood!

While the guys were busy setting up chairs, I took in the view –

Quite nice, don’t you think?
Our Happy Hour is a little different from the traditional HH – we decided to concentrate on Ice Cream instead of drinks! One of the couples picked up some ice cream on the way home and the rest of us raided our pantry for toppings. We had chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, pecans, almonds, chocolate chips, craisins and Cool Whip. And while I wish I could show you pictures of our lovely pre-dinner ice cream social, I was too busy enjoying it to snap any pictures. You know the saying, life is uncertain – eat dessert first. We concur.
I did get the camera out, though, when I saw a bird feeder set up just outside the parking area. And even though the feeder was just about empty, there was still plenty of activity –
A beautiful little House Finch

A House Finch coming in for a landing –

A White Crowned Sparrow –

And my personal favorite (well, today anyway), the Gambel’s Quail-

who were busy scooting around between the rocks under the feeder. They are very fun to watch!
It was so nice to sit and relax with friends after a busy week. Plus the drive home (all 2 minutes of it) was lovely.

(That’s us down on the left.)
We have lots of options this weekend here in the Valley – the Riverside County Fair and Datefest starts today, there’s a Greek Festival on Saturday and Sunday, there’s always the big flea market over at the College of the Desert, and different RV resorts offer entertainment and festivals…Phew. Oh, and the weather? Well, the cute girl on the local station is promising sunshine and 75.
Ah……..

Family and Friends, Mondays are for Memories

Mondays are for Memories – Connie

February 5, 2024 steph 1 Comment

One of my birthday buddies, Connie Breyer, met Jesus face-to-face last week. And oh, what a greeting she must’ve gotten! For those of us still on this side of eternity, though, the parting has been hard. I haven’t been a part of Connie’s everyday life for many, many years, but still, I consider her one of my closest and dearest friends. We didn’t speak often, but we always knew we were there for each other. Because I knew she was a faithful reader of this blog, I would often think of her as I figured out what I should write about. Several years ago (2018), I wrote the following little summary of our friendship. But as I read it now, I realize what we had was much, much more precious than what I was able to convey here. But it’s a start.

Long, long ago, in (what seems like) a galaxy far, far away a young bride [me] met with a ‘more experienced’ bride [Connie] once a week for lunch. And encouragement. And prayer.
Time passed, babies came, and schedules changed. But the friendship and encouragement and prayers never ended. Our little twosome grew to include others as we changed from being young brides to being young moms.
Friends moved, babies grew, and life happened. Things changed.
But through it all, three of us somehow, by hook or by crook, managed to continue to meet once a year to celebrate our November birthdays. We’d often meet at church on a Sunday in November, enjoy lunch, catch up with each other, and end the day in prayer. It was a very precious day for me, as I would often go the whole year without being in contact with them. But that thread of friendship never broke. Never even frayed!
Since we’ve been on the road, we three birthday buddies haven’t always been able to connect during November. But whenever we can work it out, we work it out!!

I didn’t make it back to Hometown this past summer, so being able to connect with these precious Birthday Buddies, these Sisters in Christ was especially sweet this past October.

I’m so thankful for these friends from that galaxy far, far away!

So Thankful for US!

What a blessing both Bonnie and Connie have been to me over the years! As Bonnie and I talked this past week after she shared this sad news with me, our tears were mingled with such sweet remembrances of times we had spent with Connie, and how much she meant to us (and most everyone else who knew her!). I am so thankful that this past summer we were able to get together for worship and then lunch!

Me, Bonnie, and Connie (surprisingly color coordinated!)
We had the husbands along (sometimes that just happens!), so we didn’t get to spend hours catching up, but it was still the sweetest of visits.

My heart aches for her family, especially her beautiful daughters and her beloved grandchildren. And for the many people whose lives were brightened by this triumphant daughter of the King. Our grief is real and hard. But I am praying that they (and I!) will continue to rest in the knowledge of the glorious life that Connie is now enjoying.
“…That you [we] may not grieve as those who have no hope.” (I Thessalonians 4:13)

I can only imagine, dearest Connie, what your new life is like. We miss you here – and always will! But oh what joy you must be experiencing!

Your friend, the young bride,

RV There Yet?

Category Archives: Mondays are for Memories

Mondays are for memories- A Family Vacation

Mondays are for Memories – A Mowing we will go!

Mondays are for Memories – Our First Anniversary

Mondays are for Memories – Happy Hour – SOWER Style

Mondays are for Memories – Connie

Seeing the country……Serving our Lord!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Seeing the country……Serving our Lord!