Bull Run Campground, Centerville, Virginia
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.” ~ Genesis 47:5-6 So now, not only is Joseph’s family coming to live in Egypt in the most fertile land, Pharaoh is demanding that some of his current flock managers be ousted in order to give the position to Joseph’s brothers. Can you just imagine those conversations? Joseph introducing his brothers and telling the current managers that they’ve been replaced, and then later that day as the men came home from work and told their families? And yet, they dare not grumble because it could mean the end of their livelihood – – or even their lives. Life isn’t always fair. Sometimes, we’re called to endure not-so-nice surprises. Do we accept them with grace and humbleness, as Jesus would have us do? Or do we fight and argue or grumble and complain? Humble pie is never tasty!
I’m combining our visits with my cousin Ed and his family – wife Kerri, son Tyler, daughter Emilie, as well as my Uncle Butch (mom’s brother) and his wife Aunt Mitchi (MEET-chee) who drove up from Dayton, Ohio. We had an amazing time with them! Well, of course we did – – as Aunt Mitchi said, “We cook, we eat, we clean, we cook, we eat, we clean…” Ha! She was exactly right! We gorged ourselves on Asian Hot Pot, Blue Crabs, and Fourth of July BBQ, which was more like a church potluck given that everyone brought something, including Kerri’s family (mom, dad and two brothers) who joined us for the celebration. For some unknown reason, no one thought to take a family photo. Well, that’s not exactly true. I mentioned once that we should, and everyone agreed, but then no one remembered. C’est la vie . . . .
To cover the expense of our meals, Blaine did some electrical work for them. Really, now . . . did you think he’d charge them? Actually, Kerri offered (numerous times) to pay him, but he just told her to feed him. We’re family! Fortunately, they included me in that deal, because they certainly did feed us! It was like being on a cruise ship every day! And we did contribute a few things – two Kentucky Derby Pies and a crockpot full of Ranch Beans.
Loved the pies – cherry and strawberry/rhubarb!
And the cinnamon rolls! : )
This is our Asian Hot Pot dinner. First, ya gotta shop Asian!
Kerri says there’s another, larger one further away, but this place was huge, so I can’t even imagine . . .
I have no idea what she’s gonna do with the stuff she picked up.
and my little white body stood out like a sore thumb. : )
When I was 10, I discovered fish-head soup . . . . when I lifted the lid on the pot she had boiling! Haha!
I can laugh now, but then? Not so much.
Personally, I was wishing they had them in smaller bags so I could try them all!
Then ya gotta prep.
It’s kinda, sorta like a peeled grape with a huge seed once you get into it.
And then . . . . .
There were plenty of things we didn’t know what they were. lol
And some things we would never try again. lol
Well, it was cooked, but still.
All that great food!! Kids just don’t know what they’re missing!
Next up, is Blue Crab day!
Ed used his turkey boiler.
They thought it was too much work. : )
It is, but when you pick crabs, it’s more about the social aspect than how long it takes.
Ed and Kerri lined up the ’empty’ ones, then we counted ’em. 59!
There were plenty leftover, so Kerri put them in bags in their freezer for another time.
and rather than eating the leftover Hot Pot food, she ordered two pizzas!
Of course we ate them, even though most of us weren’t a bit hungry. : )
I’m sorry, I don’t have many food pictures from the 4th. : (
Aunt Mitchi’s making a stir fry from the Asian Hot Pot veggies.
We also threw in some fun games – – giant-sized Left/Right/Center, giant-sized Jenga, and a card game we introduced them to called, “Chase the Ace”. We only have pictures of Jenga.
38 rows!
Here’s some random pictures!
The one on the left is a neighbor’s dog they’re watching for the day.
So this post covered July 1, 3 & 4. Saturday the 2nd, we took a day and relaxed and visited the National Park, Manassas. But that’ll be the next post.
Clear as mud? 😊
Given the fact that as of this writing, I’m now nine days behind, I’m not researching things about our Nation’s 246th celebration of our Declaration of Independence. However, that being said, I did skim an article on Britannica.com that was pretty good if you’re interested. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Independence-Day-United-States-holiday