September has been packed with surprises, and it's not over yet. We ended the month of August and began this month celebrating Alan's graduation from Chaplain Training (blog and photos to follow) and had a great time with the McClellands and E&K Scherrers. Knowing that the McClellands would be posted to Germany 2 days after we left made our farewell rather difficult to say the least! But knowing that Justin had arrived home for leave while we were gone, made our home-going something to anticipate!
The first of our surprises was that John and I got dead-dog sick with Bronchitis (why do they always say "dead-dog sick"?) and poor Justin had sick parents to start out his leave with! Fortunately, that was the only bad surprise in the line-up, because a week later, who should just show up at the door? KATIE! John, Justin, and I just couldn't believe our eyes! When she had heard that Justin could possibly deploy before Christmas, she made reservations to come and see him while he was home. It turned out to be a pretty fun week - as you might imagine - and it was such a blessing for John and me that we got to see our older kiddos (and the babies) on one weekend, and then got to see our younger kiddos the next weekend! It did us good!
This is Andy and Ryan. They were Kate's accomplices in the surprise and had picked her up at the airport. And Ryan said he just wanted to return some books!!
The next set of surprises came from the garden. The green bean vines that had done absolutely nothing all summer long, and that I had given up for loss, were suddenly dripping with beans! How had that happened? The first picking yielded about half a bushel, so we got dinner and several future dinners out of it; and though the second picking (below) yielded less, there will still be plenty for dinner and some to put up. The second garden surprise came when I went over to the long neglected compost pile and found acorn squash growing! And I didn't even plant them! Apparently some seed from last winter took root, along with the seed of some tomatoes. What fun! One of them is pictured below with the green beans.
Just a few nights ago, Jupiter made his appearance in close proximity to the full moon. It was a beautiful sight to behold and I was surprised that my camera was able to capture at least a semblance of it. It was such a night, so clear, and even with binoculars we could see every detail of the moon's surface. 
Then just this morning I had the nicest surprise when I walked out in the backyard and found my old friend, Gail, on her way up to the barn for granddaughter Felicity's riding lesson. How fun is that to step out your backdoor and find an old friend? Gail's daughter, Megan, loved horses and riding as much as Eric, Katie, and I did, and spent many, many hours (years?) out here and with us at horse shows. Between horses, homeschool, and FCS, we spent lots of good times together. So, it sure was fun catching up - and what did we talk about? Grandchildren, of course. What else?And finally, before September is out - and there are a few days left - we are hoping, hoping for another surprise - that being one of employment. But, yes or no, the Lord has blessed us and kept us fully to this day and He will in the days to come as well.
