"A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity."
Proverbs 17:17
To make a long story short, after 2 trips to the Vision Forum Father & Daughter Retreat in Georgia and seeing Mr. Whitson, Taylor, and Abby both times we always "hit it off." When Daddy and I (Kimber) went earlier this year we said they would have to come visit (they said the same) and we finally arranged something! They decided that last week would be the week!
After a couple of phone calls and emails arranging the details, asking questions, etc. the Whitsons arrived around 1:15 last Monday afternoon. Before they arrived we zoomed around the house (and outdoors!) cleaning, organizing, perfecting, etc.! :)
After they (the Whitsons) all piled out of their car we went through the Wassenberg House Tour, showed them their room, talked, laughed, and had fun! Then we went outside and we harvested around 40 ears of corn from our garden and then shucked, de-haired, and cleaned it. The Whitsons live in the mountains so they weren't used to Virginia humidity and it just so happened that the week they came was the hottest! :) So, Daddy took most of us to our neighbors' pool to cool down. Mrs. Whitson and Mama with some of the younger ones stayed home and prepared dinner. Monday nights' dinner was lasagna (from the Whitsons) along with bread, corn, etc. For dessert we ate the Whitsons carrot-zucchini cake (really good by the way!).
Taylor (14) and Abby (10) slept in our (the girls) room on the top bunks, Michael (8) slept in the boys room and Madelynn (almost 2) slept in the guest room with Mr. and Mrs. Whitson.
Breakfast Tuesday morning! :)
After a wonderful breakfast we prepared to leave home for Stratford Hall (Robert E. Lee's birthplace).
[The Whitsons wanted to do a little sight-seeing while they were here and most of us - the Wassenbergs - love History so it's always fun to learn something new!]
Seth, Michael, Caleb, and Eden walking into the Stratford Hall Visitor Center.
After reading some of the things the visitor center had, taking potty breaks, etc. we exited the Visitor Center and went along a bridge to get to the Lee's Mansion.
Walking along the bridge.
Eden, Alexis, and Abby.
Lexi and Abby are very similar and so they had a really fun time (as did the rest of us!).
While we walked along the gravel walkway Daddy found a tomato horn worm and picked it up for the little ones to see.
Madelynn and Mr. Whitson checking out the worm.
Lydia was a bit hesitant to touch it! :)
Stratford Hall
Our tour guide was really nice and you could really tell he loved History.
The house was pretty and it was fun learning about the Lee Family.
Once the tour was over we wandered around outside and took some pictures of everybody.
Madelyn found a leaf.
The Whitson and Wassenberg children - all of them - on the steps of the mansion!
Daddy, Mommy, Mr. Whitson, and Mrs. Whitson! :)
I like this picture. :)
A flower by the mansion.
Alexis and Abby at the front of the mansion.
(I was experimenting with my camera hence the Sepia tone)
Taylor and I (Kimber).
We wanted Hannah to be in the picture but she went on ahead before we decided to take pictures.
We then piled into our oversized van and went to the river that was on the plantation. We were planning to eat lunch and swim there until a sign said "No wading," "No swimming," etc. So...we packed up again and went to Colonial Beach! :)
[All the pictures of Colonial Beach were taken by one of the Whitsons - I never took my camera out]
Eating lunch at the beach (it's really a river).
Lunch was very good - sandwiches, chips, veggies, etc. - and after some potty breaks we headed into the river.
Mr. Whitson and Madelyn.
Lydia dumping sand/rocks into Eden's hair.
Me, Taylor, and Hannah in the water.
Daddy found a crab in the water and I think that's what Josiah's holding.
(Sorry about the unturned picture!)
Hannah had an idea to dig for water in the sand, so we started digging - realizing after a while that this was going to take a long time! So, we abandoned that plan and put Madelyn in the hole, covered her with sand, and took some pictures! :)
Daddy caught a little duck (it was returned to its parents after some time) and showed it to us all.
It was so cute!!!
After about an 1-2 hour(s) after swimming around we dried off, got in the van, and drove to Westmoreland Berry Farm, picked up some berries, and then went home.
Cookout was for dinner. Daddy took Mr. Whitson, Hannah, Taylor, and I to work out at our local SnapFitness. We showed Taylor all the machines and just laughed and played while Daddy and Mr. Whitson actually exercised! :) Alexis and Abby couldn't come so they stayed home and did a makeover. The rest were either in bed or talking!
After we got home (around 10:15) most of the younger ones were in bed. Mama said we (Hannah, Taylor, Abby, Alexis, and I) could have some ice cream so we pulled out the mugs and ate ice cream while reading 3 chapters in Daniel! (We decided to read through the book of Daniel while they were here)
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Here are some random pictures I took during the week:
Abby reading to Eden and Josiah.
Frozen blueberries!
Wednesday we went through the blueberries, de-stemmed, cleaned, washed, drained, dried, and put them in Ziplocs and then into the freezer for fruit slushies and eating later on.
Clothes drying inside.
We were eating lunch Wednesday when all of a sudden it started raining...laundry was on the line. We jumped up, ran outside (barefoot!), and very quickly took off the clothes/towels and took everything inside before it got too wet. That was fun!
Then we laid everything over the tables and chairs and turned the fan onto them to help them dry (it did work too!).
Abby playing the piano.
We're a pretty musical family and the Whitsons were too, so we (most of us) played or sang something together throughout the week.
(Taylor, Abby, Michael, and their cousins have their own musical CD called Joshua Generation)
Hannah at the piano.
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Thursday night was the last night that we had with the Whitsons. :( So we planned to have a movie and popcorn after dinner. We watched the movie Time Changer (a Rich Christiano Film). It was a really good movie and if no one has ever seen it before I highly recommend that you do. I can't say a whole lot about it or I'll give it away...so you'll just have to watch it yourself!!!
Everyone (other than me) before the movie.
When the movie ended we went upstairs and most of us went to sleep. The 5 oldest girls were, of course, up still but we had until 11 PM to get to bed so we wouldn't be tired in the morning.
We whipped up some homemade peach sorbet, went upstairs, and read our last 3 chapters in Daniel before rushing into bed. We then talked a little bit and probably fell asleep around 11:30.
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Now Hannah was supposed to wake us up Friday morning when the alarm went off at 5:50 AM. But she turned it off and just "rested her eyes" a little longer so it was like 6:30 before we all (the 5 girls) got up. :) (We were planning to get up early so we could spend a lot of time together before they left) We quietly brushed our teeth, changed, etc. while they (most of the Whitsons) packed up. They were out of the driveway by 7:30 AM but first we talked a little bit, gave hugs, and Mr. Whitson prayed for us all before they left.
We were really quiet during breakfast...everything was so still and lonely feeling. We warmed up a bit more as the day went on but we still missed them as much as the second they left.
The verse in Proverbs that says "there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother," is certainly coming true with the Whitson Family.
It's just so amazing how the Lord used 2 Father & Daughter Retreats and a visit with their entire family to Casa de la Wassenberg to knit us together. Plus they just live in North Carolina - a 7 hour drive to their house from our house - and not somewhere like California where there would be hardly any chance of us getting together. What a wonderful God we serve!
They are a huge blessing to our family and an answer to one of my prayers for a like-minded family. There aren't a whole lot of people that believe what we believe so it was so refreshing to meet someone who did. They were so helpful and kind during the week...it was so fun to be together!
We're really hoping to see them all again...really...really...soon!
[Hannah, Daddy, and I will see them Friday and Saturday at a conference but the rest of the family won't :( ]
All for Jesus,
Kimber :)
P.S - Just a quick sidenote: two babies were born today (the 5th)! Mama's midwife for Lydia (Kristi Zittle) had a little girl (their 10th!!!!) at 4 AM and my Uncle's friends' wife had a baby sometime this morning/afternoon.
Fanning him/herself in order to dry the wings!
Eden and Josiah helped tamp everything for us by jumping/walking on the dirt as we raked. They love getting dirty so taking their shoes and socks off and playing in the dirt was very exciting for them!
