Sunday, October 12
Happy Columbus Day!
With Bibles and containers of food in our hands, we climbed into the Vibe and headed into Richmond for the Sunday morning service at Grove Avenue Baptist Church.
Again, Mike and Kelly attended the contemporary early service and then went on to their departmental duties while we attended the later “traditional” service. Dr. Mark Becton, senior pastor of the church, was a powerful speaker this morning as he delivered a sermon on “What Heaven Looks Like.”
Following the service, we joined the kids in their class area for a covered dish luncheon and a time of making new friends and sharing personal stories with each other. Mike and Kelly later explained that their department, mainly singles and divorced or separated men and women, is in an almost constant state of transition, and these types of events help them to cement some relationships in the church. It really is an amazing ministry that they have taken on, and we now know to pray for their wisdom as they seek to assist those who are hurting and/or seeking a church home. 
When we were done with all our church activities, we followed the kids to Maymont Park, one of Richmond’s premier attractions, for a photo shoot to re-enact the events of the day Mike proposed to Kelly and she accepted his proposal of marriage…they just call it “Engagement Sunday.”We shared Mike’s story of the proposal in a journal entry last March, but of course there were no photographers handy that day to properly record the event. We decided to “fix” the official record by staging the event and getting some shots so we could place it in its proper sequence in the DVD presentation that will be shown at the wedding reception next Sunday afternoon.
So, with camera in hand, we trooped across the beautiful green hills of Maymont to “Kelly’s place,” a large flat rock on the side of one of the hills overlooking a series of footpaths that run through that part of the park. Mike had told us that Kelly had a special place where she liked to go and meditate or just sit and enjoy the beauty of the park, and we could see why as soon as we saw it.
For a half-hour or so we staged different poses, re-enacting as closely as possible what the kids remembered from that early-spring afternoon on Palm Sunday. After that, Barbara took some other shots that could be used throughout the slide show.With the important shots done, Mike asked if we wanted to go see the Jefferson Hotel, where they had eaten at the famous Sunday Buffet on the day of the proposal. Since we hadn’t seen the hotel, we said we’d love to, and followed them back downtown to see what it was all about.
Since 1895, The Jefferson Hotel has been recognized by discerning travelers as Richmond's grandest hotel and one of the finest in America. Known for its genuinely friendly service, luxurious guestrooms, breathtaking architecture and elegant décor, The Jefferson Hotel is reminiscent of a more gracious era.
The Jefferson Hotel has also been recognized as Richmond’s premier venue for elegant weddings, flawless meetings and conventions and the city’s most well-attended charity and social functions.
Mike and Kelly had a pre-marital counseling session at the church at 5:00, so we left them and made our way back to the RV park (by way of a couple of mall stops) and enjoyed a quiet evening while Barbara worked with the pictures that she had taken today and added them into the slide show.
Monday, October 13
Happy Birthday to our very special friend, Becky Roark, in Lubbock, Texas!
Our clothes hamper was full to overflowing, so while Barbara spent the morning working on the slide show, I took all the dirty laundry up to the park laundry room and invested heavily in washers and dryers. Three hours later, everything was clean, folded or hung up, and back in the closet or drawers, ready to start the process all over.
I spent the next couple of hours doing the ironing, something that I had put off for so long that I could no longer ignore it. By the time that little chore was over, Barbara had finished the slide show (at least up through yesterday) and was burning it to a DVD.
Since it takes around an hour for the computer to scan, load, and burn the show, we took time off to fix some lunch and watch another episode of M*A*S*H. It’s funny and worth repeating that Barbara never liked that show before we retired and would leave the room to do something else if it was on. But, after receiving that wonderful gift from the LHS staff and starting to watch the series from the beginning, she has become one of its greatest fans. I think she was more elated than I was when we found the final two seasons last week! (Barbara: I know I was!)
Later, we went outside and played couple of games of washers, but out of deference to Barbara’s sensitivity, I won’t mention how many she didn’t win (or that my final points in the second game came as a result of her hitting one of my washers on the board and pushing it into the hole for three points). (Barbara: What a considerate guy. Glad he didn’t mention my aiding to my third defeat!)
When the outdoor fun was over, we came back inside, put the new DVD in the player, sat down and crossed our fingers, and pushed the play button, ready to stop it and make notes about the bad spots. Eureka! The glitches that had shown up when we played the storyboard on the computer were not on the DVD…we had a product that was beyond what we hoped for. Now all we have to do is get pictures of family and special friends when they arrive later this week, slot them into the waiting spaces on the storyboard, and burn the final DVD…what a relief!
Tuesday, October 14
With the pressure of preparing the slide show off our shoulders for the time being, we just took our time getting around this morning…checking email, straightening up Big V, etc. We both waked up early, but found time later in the morning to go back to bed, read, and take a short nap before getting serious about the day.
We had worked it out with our friends Rod and Ruth to come visit us today. They live at Lake Anna, about an hour or so from here. Although we have known them less than two years, our friendship is such that we can pick up in mid-sentence from the last meeting and carry on as if there had been no interruption at all. And so it was that as soon as they arrived shortly after noon that we were once again catching up with each other’s activities. We had seen them in April and May out at Glorieta, New Mexico, where they were spending two months working at the Glorieta Baptist Conference Center.
While we were talking, Barbara noticed a squirrel carrying something that looked like a large orange or some other piece of fruit. She called for me to bring the camera so she could get a picture of it. What we found when the squirrel had husked the object was that he had picked up an orange rubber ball and carried it up in a tree. He peeled away the cover and the twine and dropped the pieces back to the ground, keeping the rubber core. I’m telling you, these Virginia squirrels are some kind of tough critters!After a bit of talking, we drove to the Powhatan Historic District for lunch at the Garden Village Café. The trip served two purposes – we could continue our conversation while trying a meal at a place where we had never eaten, and Barbara and I could visit with the manager to clear up some last minute details about the rehearsal dinner Friday night.
We had a great meal and a good visit at the café and then returned to Big V where we introduced Rod and Ruth to a game of Washers (which Rod and I won). After the game, we went into Big V to show them the DVD that Barbara had prepared; then, it was back outside for another try at washers, which ended up pretty much the same as the first one, although there was a lot of good-natured joking about our various throwing styles and their results.
When we had put the boards away and talked a while longer, our visitors decided it was time to hit the road and head back to Lake Anna for the evening. After seeing them off, we went back inside, checked email, picked up our books to read awhile, and promptly fell asleep…guess the warm temperatures (85 degrees here today) and all the activity were just too much for us.
Our plan tonight: do nothing of a serious nature and don’t worry about accomplishing anything.
Wednesday, October 15
Like it or not, today had to be a grocery shopping day. With the cabinets, pantry, and refrigerator looking pretty bare, we had no choice but to draw up a comprehensive list and head out in search of things we needed to fill the larder.
We decided we’d do our grocery shopping in the Wal-Mart in Midlothian, about 25 miles east of here, but first we wanted to find a Target store that we had seen on an earlier trip so we could look for some items we’ll need down the road. Also, Barbara has been searching high and low for a necklace and some earrings to wear go with the outfit she bought to wear to the wedding, and we thought Target might be a good place.
As we entered the parking lot of the small shopping center where Target was located, we noticed that there was a Kohl’s right next door to Target. I’ve never had much luck finding anything for myself at Kohl’s, but figured we had plenty of time, so we might as well check it out.
Well, about an hour later we came out of Kohl’s laden down with new purchases. They were having a huge sale and I found three polo style shirts and a pair of khaki slacks, all of which I will be able to use during some of our duties when we are working at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Toccoa in another week or so. Likewise, Barbara found some khaki slacks and some shirts, as well as the jewelry she needed, all at bargain prices.
After putting our purchases in the car, we went on in to Target, but came back out shortly, having purchased only a diet Coke at the fountain.
From there, we drove back to Wal-Mart where we split the list and went our separate ways to find everything we needed. It was a relatively painless experience, and it wasn’t too long until we were back in the car and pointing back toward the campground; but first, a stop at McDonalds for a sandwich and some fries to tide us over until supper. It was 2:30 and we hadn’t eaten breakfast, so we figured we owed that stop to ourselves.
After putting everything away in Big V, I decided to put on my hiking boots and make one more training excursion to prepare for the upcoming hike in the Blue Ridge with the guys on Saturday. This time I headed directly back into the Forestry Service lands and followed a couple of trails for about two hours…saw some of the places I had been through the other day and located a pond that I had missed on the other trip. I also carried the camera this time, knowing that there were some great photo opportunities just waiting for my appearance.
Two hours and no telling how many shots later, the camera and I returned to Big V for the evening…I felt like I was in better shape than I could have been, but was still concerned about trekking through the Blue Ridge, whose trails are uphill both ways (but, thankfully, not waist-deep in snow this time of year). 
Supper tonight was a crock pot of stew that Barbara had put on to cook before we left on our shopping trip this morning. Our entertainment was another episode of M*A*S*H and an hour of quiet before we turned on the TV again and watched the presidential debate.Thursday, October 16
We haven’t had many days during the past three weeks when we did almost nothing, but today came as close as any. There was nothing on the agenda until tonight, so we spent the entire day inside doing as little as possible. Barbara worked at refining the slide-show while I got caught up on email and news journals.
The “official” pre-wedding events kicked off this evening with a lingerie shower for the ladies at Kelly and Jen’s apartment. The plan for the men was to have a “guys’ night out” at Buffalo Wild Wings, a mile or so away from Mike and Kelly’s new apartment.
With things scheduled to start happening around 7:00 p.m., we decided to leave early so we could scout out the area around Kelly’s current apartment for a trip we would have to make tomorrow morning.
When the kids were planning the wedding day, they discussed the cakes and whether Mike wanted a Groom’s cake. Mike said that if he had a Groom’s cake he’d like a DQ ice cream cake, but since that wasn’t practical, they’d just go with a wedding cake.
About a week after we got here and got well into the planning of the rehearsal dinner, Kelly emailed Barbara and told her about Mike wanting an ice cream cake. She wanted to know if we could work something out so she could design and order a cake and we could pick it up and have it for a surprise at the rehearsal dinner.
Of course we went to work trying to figure out what we could do about it…even made a trip to the “closest” Dairy Queen, but after talking to one of the workers there, decided that it probably wasn’t a good idea to order from them. So, Kelly found a DQ close to her apartment and a manager who was more than happy to work with her on the design. Our part would be to drive into Richmond, pick up the ice cream cake, and drive as fast as we could back to Powhatan to get it into the freezer at the Village Garden Café. Therefore, we decided to find the DQ tonight so tomorrow would literally be a “piece of cake!”
However, we never did find the Dairy Queen tonight (although we eventually found the street we were looking for), but after taking the wrong exit from the Powhite Expressway, we discovered a whole new way to get lost and find ourselves in the deepest part of downtown Richmond, somewhere that one does not want to find themselves after dark.
Luckily, Barbara got Mike on the cell phone and he talked us out of downtown and on the right roads to where we needed to be. We were amazed that we could just give him a street intersection and he could tell right where we were and where we should go next. When Barbara commented about that, he told her that Kelly used to have an apartment close to that area, so he was very familiar with it. That certainly explained his having that area memorized!
Anyway, we did eventually get to Kelly and Jen’s apartment with a few minutes to spare. I dropped Barbara off and, followed Kelly’s dad, David, who had also just gotten there, to the new apartment in time to catch up with Mike and his friend Josh Barbe, who had been his roommate for three years in China.
Whitney, Jim, and Little Jimmy had gotten in late, so Jim decided he’d better just stay at the hotel with Little Jimmy rather than the two of them joining us for a couple of hours at Buffalo Wild Wings; but, the four of us, Mike, Josh, David, and I, had a great time wolfing down a great stack of wings (a bucket of 50), talking, and watching football and baseball games on the big screens.
Barbara: Most of the guests were already there by the time I arrived; so after being introduced, I quickly put my photographer cap and began snapping and clicking, making certain that I documented the evening for the wedding slide show.
During the evening, we played several games; but my favorite was the “drop a potato in a jar.” One had to put a potato between the knees, quickly go to a quart mason jar located down the room, and drop the potato in the jar. It was an individual contest, but they wanted to run two at a time to conserve time. The lady next to me declined to play; so I wound up being the first one to agree to try. Thankfully, Whitney jumped up and volunteered to be the second runner; so at least I knew the person with me and I wasn’t quite so self-conscious.The night concluded with a take-off on some TV show, but I can’t remember what it is. But, Mike had been recorded answering 16 questions and Kelly had to answer them, trying to match his answers.
All in all…the evening was a delight with Kelly glowing, sometimes even a little brighter than usual when she opened some of the gifts, since it was a lingerie shower!
Jim: Barbara called at 9:05 to say that their party was over, so we finished at the restaurant and I took the guys back to the new apartment before driving back to Kelly’s place (I knew the way by then – at least as long as I didn’t get forced into a wrong lane somewhere), and within a few minutes Barbara and I were starting our 50-minute trip back to Cozy Acres.
Friday, October 17
With our part of the pre-wedding events kicking off tonight, it was time for us to get to work today. We left Big V in time to be at the Village Garden Café by 8:00 a.m. so we could start decorating for the rehearsal dinner. By the time we got there, Wanda and her staff had the tables set up and covered with tablecloths…from there on, it was up to us.
Since Mike and Kelly wanted a fall wedding theme, we had bought several packages of colored leaves at Dollar Tree to spread out down the center of each table. We also found small ceramic candle pots that we filled with brown raffia and set on their sides on top of the leaves cornucopia style, so we could trail miniature Hershey bars, covered with labels that Barbara designed, onto the leaves.
When we finished with everything we had, we decided that the decorations just weren’t complete without two of the little pots at the center of each of the strands of leaves, necessitating another trip to town to find five more pots. That was no big deal, since we had already planned to go back anyway to pick up that special surprise that Kelly had ordered for Mike.
We drove to Richmond, stopping at Dollar Tree to pick up some more ceramic pots and raffia, and at a Ben Franklin store to get a couple of small floral arrangements to complete the setting we had in mind. From there we drove to the Dairy Queen, picked up the cake, and then drove at the speed limit + to get back to Powhatan before the cake melted.
Within 20 minutes of arriving at the café we had the cake in the freezer and the decorations all in place. All that was left was to wait until the rehearsal was over and meet everyone back at the café for the dinner. We ordered a take-out sandwich while we were there and went back home for lunch and some rest before getting cleaned up and heading back out to the rehearsal site.
We made it to the Mill at Fine Creek, site of the rehearsal and wedding, around three o’clock and waited for the rest of the wedding party to arrive. The rehearsal was supposed to begin at 3:30, but as that time approached, we found that someone on the staff had double-booked events for the afternoon, and a wedding party was arriving as we were getting ready for the rehearsal.
But, things finally got worked out and the rehearsal was over a little before 5:00. At that point, I gave instructions for getting to the dinner site and we formed a caravan to drive to Powhatan.The dinner was a wonderful occasion; Wanda and her staff had prepared a veritable feast for us, and the room was full of family and friends who had traveled from all parts of the country to share in the weekend. There was lots of talking all evening long, with everyone busy meeting and greeting and getting caught up with each other’s lives.
For us, it was great to finally get to meet other members of Kelly’s family. We had spent time with her parents and her sister and her family, but hadn’t met any of her other relatives. And, to top it off, we got to visit with some of Mike’s high school friends who were either members of the wedding party or who had just come to be a part of this special weekend.
Mike is part of a group from the Liberal High School Class of 1994 that has held together for the past 14 years, even though they have taken widely divergent paths in their careers and travels. Andy King, Mike’s best friend since they first met at West Middle School when we moved to Liberal in 1989, would be Mike’s best man. Groomsmen included LHS graduates Seth Lindberg, and John Mah, while Jason McCreary rounded out the LHS group. Also serving as a groomsman was Mike’s good friend, Josh Barbe, who now lives in Houston with his wife, Amber.
The evening ended with both hilarious roastings and sober toastings of both Mike and Kelly by their friends and family…what a fun way to kick off the weekend festivities!
Once everyone left the café, we cleaned up our mess and headed back to Big V, where Barbara immediately started downloading photographs and we selected the ones that we wanted to include in the final version of the slide-show on Sunday.I gave a brief thought to hooking to the internet and listening to Artesia’s game at Clovis tonight, but I was just too tired to care, so I left it for the Bulldogs and Wildcats to mix it up without me…found out later from Jean that the “Dogs got scratched up pretty badly, losing to the 5-A Wildcats.
Barbara: While Jim headed to bed, I stayed at the computer determined to have final copies of the DVD completed and burned before the light of day! We had all agreed that no other photos would be added after tonight and I knew that I would have no free time tomorrow. By the time I finished burning the DVD’s the clock numbers had rolled around to 2 something. I think my eyes were too blurry to see the other numbers!
Saturday, October 18
Jim: What a great day this was! We were up early so we could ride in to Richmond to begin all the day’s activities. After meeting Heather, Andy, Alexander, Abbie, Andy’s sister Heather, Whitney, Jim, Little Jimmy, and Mike’s friends at the hotel, Mike, nine of his friends, including four of his LHS Class of 1994 friends John Mah, Andy King, Seth Lindberg, and Jason McCreary, and I loaded into three cars and headed west on I-64 to the north entrance of the Blue Ridge Parkway, about 85 miles away.
We traveled about five miles south on the parkway to the first major hiking trails, the Humpback Rocks trail. The trails we followed today totaled about four miles or so, not long as hiking trails go, but Mike had selected the route for the spectacular scenic views at the top end of the trail. He told us that it was a little steep at the beginning…what an understatement! The trail was VERTICAL, and the first part that he was talking about went all the way to the top. But, this old man held his own with those ten kids half my age…I think they might even have been a little impressed, especially after they asked how old I was. When I told them I was 63 and almost 64 I could see a bit of respect in their eyes.
We all had cameras on the trip and got some beautiful shots, but I was using Mike’s camera and wasn’t able to download anything to my computer, so we’ll just have to wait until all the guys start sharing photos to let you see where we were.
Barbara: The ladies had a luncheon to attend at a friend of Kelly’s. It was a lovely, fun affair; but I’ll once again let the photos do the talking…
Jim: After I enjoyed a steaming hot shower and a short nap, we were ready to hit the trail again. We got back into the Vibe and drove back to Richmond, this time to Bottom’s Up, a favorite pizza hangout in the Richmond area. Mike and Kelly had invited all their family and friends to an evening of all-you-can-eat pizza and a time of visiting. Since some of Kelly’s family members had arrived in town today, we got to meet them, as well as some more of the kids’ friends from Grove Avenue Baptist Church.There’s an unwritten rule that you can’t hold a family gathering without having our camera present and we invoked that rule tonight to get shots of everyone just being themselves and enjoying each other’s company on this last night before Mike Little and Kelly Jividen become Mike and Kelly Little.
On the way back to Big V, Barbara and I decided that we had no choice, but to throw away all the DVD’s burned last night and re-do the slide show since we got such fabulous photos tonight.
So…once home, we went through the photos we knew we wanted to use and then we had to decide what photos we were going to take out of the slide show that was already prepared, as we knew the kids only wanted it to be around 20 minutes long. Once those decisions were made, I got busy working on the journal while Barbara did the one-man job of placing photos on the new copy.Around 12:30, Barbara had everything ready and started the burning even though we knew we were going to bed!
We took turns in the middle of the night going in and taking one DVD out and putting another in. (We were burning DVD’s for family members of both Mike and Kelly.) We were definitely going on a leap of faith because we didn’t stay up to check the first DVD to make certain everything looked right!
“Faith is the place between the way things are and the good things that are sure to come.” – a saying on the mantle in Mike and Kelly’s apartment
Extra Note: We received the following note and some photos of Jaycie this week from son Jimmy....
As most of you know, Jaycie ran in the ‘Race for the Cure’ to help fight breast cancer.
She was in 3rd place when a police officer yelled out ‘STOP’.... Jaycie thought he was talking to her so she stopped – he was actually talking to a car coming out of the parking lot...
Anyway, she started again and came in 4th – BUT, that was 4th out of literally thousands of people running!!! All ages.
2 high school track runners came in 1st and 2nd....... Jaycie did awesome.
The wild thing is......... she wasn’t even out of breath afterwards!!!!!!
Jaycie ran in memory of Cathey’s Aunt Lana... that’s a sweet story in itself.
The wild thing is......... she wasn’t even out of breath afterwards!!!!!!
Jaycie ran in memory of Cathey’s Aunt Lana... that’s a sweet story in itself.
We noticed people were running in honor or memory of someone and I said ‘Jaycie, you know Mommy’s Aunt had breast cancer?...... she said Daddy, that is sad – can I put her name on me?’.....
Love, Jimmy and Cathey
With family and friends in historic Virginia,
Jim and Barbara
Love, Jimmy and Cathey
With family and friends in historic Virginia,Jim and Barbara
