Open House at the Bates'

On Sunday afternoon we went over to the Bates' house for a potluck lunch with our church family. The Bates even rented a cotton candy machine for the kids (and for the adults! :)).

Shady Maple

Adam and I met up with Rebekah, Sarah, CJ, and Dr. and Mrs. Bill Rice today at Shady Maple Smorgasboard in Lancaster for lunch! Rebekah also brought her friend, Christina. We had a great time together!

Looking around the huge gift shop downstairs...

After lunch we decided to go to Kitchen Kettle Village. On our way we met up with several Amish buggies (we thought of you, Deborah!)...

We got to visit the Old Candle barn while we were there!

Sarah and CJ

The Bug Shop! These pics are for you, Dad :) Wish you could have been there too!

Eeeeeeeeeeew.


Only in Amish-land...

For those of you who don't know, Rebekah and Sarah are Adam's deaf cousins. Unfortunately, I know very little sign language, so communicating with them is a little tricky. Thankfully, they do read lips quite well, so they can usually understand what I'm saying. They are trying to teach me sign language, though. Rebekah taught me the most important sign of all...Starbucks! That's what I'm doing in the picture below :)

Thanks for a fun day, Rebekah, Sarah & CJ, and Christina! We enjoyed spending time with you!

Ginza Japanese Hibachi Grill

I (Katie) got to go with Sarah Jones (a girl in our church) to a real Hibachi grill for lunch today! We left Adam at home since he can't stand Asian food. :)

It was fun watching the man make our food on the grill right in front of us...

...the finished product! Mmmmmm....probably the best Japanese food I've ever had :)

Unfortunately, the guy who cooked our food didn't speak much English, so when he was finished he said something like, "My joy is strong." I think he meant something like "It's been a pleasure serving you," but it didn't come out quite right :) Sarah thought he said "My name is Tom," so she said, "Oh, your name is Tom?" He just kinda stared at us, then left. We had a good laugh afterwards! Oh well....at least he could cook :)

Oovoo Session

Mom/Philip, David, and I (Adam) got to do an Oovoo session. Oovoo is kinda like skype but you can do multiple people at once in Oovoo. Worked well :)

Ice Cream with the Kohlers

Last night we attended a school program that some of our church kids were involved in. Afterwards, the Kohler family took us out for ice cream! We really enjoyed fellowshipping with them!



Me with Kelly and Katie Kohler


Mark and Lara Kohler

Adam with Chris and Cameron

Thanks for the treat, Kohlers! We had a great time! :)

Rehoboth Beach

We decided to take a day-trip to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware today. The weather was beautiful! We wanted to make sure that we did a beach trip BEFORE all the swimsuit nonsense. It was great! There weren't many people there...

Enjoying being together!

At one point, Adam decided to take a nap in the sun. As soon as he laid down, the seagulls started squawking! :)

Isn't this an awesome pic?

Stupid seagulls! They got really bold once Adam took out the pretzels for a snack. Guess they wanted some! :)

The beach has a lovely boardwalk!

Leaving the beach...

Fun with College Friends

Tonight we had the privilege of going out to Chick-fil-A with some of our old friends from college: Thomas and Sarah Overmiller and Nathan and Laura Roberts. The Overmillers were in town visiting family, and the Roberts were in the area for deputation. We took advantage of the opportunity and had a wonderful time of fellowship with them...



The Overmillers and Roberts had NEVER been to Chick-fil-A until tonight (can you believe it?)! They really enjoyed it :) We all got the #1 Combo meal (the classic Chick-fil-A sandwich with waffle fries and a drink).

Old seminary buddies with their Dean of Men :)


Chick-fil-A is now serving mountain goat! We found this on our way out of the restaurant... :)


After we ate, we decided to show them around our church. As soon as the guys saw the instruments, they decided to have a little fun "playing church." It's hard to see in the picture, but Thomas is on the piano to the left, Nathan is on the organ, and Adam is leading the singing at the podium :) At one point, we even had each couple on an instrument playing together!

Today was also Thomas' birthday, so afterwards we came back to our house and had some cake to celebrate!

Happy Birthday, Thomas!

We thought this way of wearing the tie was best... :)

Thanks for visiting us, Overmillers and Roberts! It was so much fun to fellowship with you and also get into some deep, theological discussions :) We look forward to seeing what the Lord has for you all in the days ahead. Come back soon!