Bible Character T-Shirt #17

Who in the Word could have sported this message on his shirt? Check out John 21:6. Peter and his fishermen friends, at the direction of Jesus, put down their nets on the right side of their boat and brought up a huge catch of fish!

Antique Auto Parts Auction

If you are interested in antique cars, you might like to look at some of my dad's antique automobile-related collections going up for sale on September 29. Go to http://www.higginsauctions.com/, then click on Auction Calendar/Large McClenathan Auction/More Info/Photos. By the way, some of these pictures were taken by Anna. You might be surprised how interesting old radiator caps and hood ornaments can be!

Family Picture

This is a picture of our whole family together. It was taken after a church service at First United Methodist Church, Allen.

Row 1: Mallory

Row 2: Marie, Rachel, Stacy, Chloe

Row 3: Wayne, Leah, Anna

Row 4: Walter, Sean, Wes

Girls' Overnight

On Friday night the guys all stayed at our house while we girls had an overnight at Wes and Leah's temporary home, the First Baptist missionary house. It is a fully furnished house in Plano which a church member had given to the church to be used just by missionaries on furlough. Because Leah's parents are members there, they were glad to let Wes and Leah use it. What a blessing it has been!
Well, the boys watched documentaries at their party, while we girls decorated caps and made shrinky dinks! Here are some pictures from our event:


Here is Leah working on her cap. We all decorated caps and wore them to the Rangers game the next evening.

Here we are at the table preparing our shrinky dinks.

Chloe and Rachel watch the shrinky dinks shrink up in the oven.



Below are photos of Yvonne, Leah's mother, and then of Karen.


This is Mallory in the little vintage costume store in downtown Plano where the girls went for a walk on Saturday morning. Looks like a dress for a princess!

Happy Birthday Surprise for Wes

Leah arranged for us to attend a Texas Rangers game as a surprise for Wes's 40th birthday. Here are a few shots at Texas Stadium. This was my first time ever to go to a Rangers game. I discovered that it's not all about baseball, but about talking and eating and having fun with friends and family! At least, that's what it was for me!

Lights, Camera, Auction!

It was fun and games for us when we were all together! Among the games we played was an activity inspired by the recent auctions Anna and I attended back home in Ohio. Everyone was given $80 of play money to spend at the "sale" of merchandise, mostly provided by me. (It's a good way to get rid of stuff in your house and closets, and the family members get what they really want.) I had a great time digging out items. I found things like unopened cotton pillow cases that were wedding gifts from 1964--we received so many of them I never did use them all up--well, I guess I forgot I had them! There were my handmade potholders I had given to my Grandma Gompf, which my mom had returned to me when she cleaned out Grandma's house. There was also my grandfather's cap which still had the price tag and store name, Jim Dugan's, Marion, Ohio, in it. There were some drawings made by Chloe and Mallory for sale--they were popular items! And there was my Grandma Gompf''s corset. I won the bid on that one, as I want to use it again for a Red Hatters party. There were also a bag of pork rinds, a Christmas baby bib, some little trinkets, a kit for making plaster of paris handprints, a jewelry box, to name a few other things. Notice the picture of Anna. How do you like the orange "Operation" shirt she won?

Some little items were sold as "choice out."

Chloe in Grandpa Gompf's cap!

Here we are playing Cranium.

And here we are playing Mexican Train (a domino game). Left to right are Wayne, Stacy, Rachel, Walter and Wes.

Welcome, Baby Andreya!

One of the highlights of our family week was getting to meet Baby Andreya! She is the five-month-old daughter of Walter's niece, Karen Halvorsen, who traveled from Minnesota to be with us. What a treat! Andreya kept the cameras clicking with her beautiful smile and wonderful disposition! Here are some snapshots of Andreya:

Mallory loves Andreya!

Andreya "reads" while we are busy crafting.

Andreya and Momma Karen

It's Sean's turn to hold Andreya!

Andreya with Anna. Andreya sports her Fourth of July headgear!

Leah and Chloe with Baby Andreya

Andrey's most typical expression--a big smile!

Crafting Shirts

Whenever we Magruder girls get together, we do some kind of crafts. On Thursday Anna provided us with some appliques to iron onto our shirts. Here we are at my house working on them. Mallory is deciding what to put on her shirt.

Chloe irons her shirt.

Chloe's shirt is filled with her favorite things!

Rachel in her creation.

Magruder Family Week-Museum Visit

Wes and Leah and the girls arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 1 for their three-month furlough from Cameroon. The month of June was occupied with physical exams, speaking in churches in Alabama and Georgia, and a trip to Disneyworld, where Charles and Yvonne, Leah's parents met them. They arrived in Dallas on June 30, and the "Magruder Family Week" began! Anna arrived from Portland on Tuesday. (Sean and Wayne and Stacy arrived Friday.)


Our first group activity was on Wednesday, the Fourth of July. We rode the Dart Rail to Fair Park in Dallas to an exhibit of "Ancient Treasures of the Holy Land." Here we are riding Dart:

Wes

Leah


Mallory

Our Gang That Day

Mallory and her Aunt Anna

I found some chickens at the museum--chickens from Bible times!

Of course, the Fourth of July evening we were present for the nearest fireworks display, right down the road at the Collin County Community College campus. The girls looked forward to fireworks--there's no Independence Day celebration like this in Cameroon!

Goodbye to Rachel

On August 5 our thirteen-year-old Rachel had to leave and go back to Cameroon to be ready for her school to start. So her grandparents (Charles and Yvonne and Walter and I) took her to the airport, since her parents and sisters were in Oklahoma on speaking engagements. Here we are at the counter checking in her bags. Rachel has had a jam-packed summer. Besides spending time with extended family, seeing old friends, visiting churches, enjoying Disneyworld, shopping, and such, Rachel had two unique experiences as well.

One week in June she attended a SIFAT Christian youth camp in Lineville, Alabama. SIFAT (Servants in Faith and Technology) encourages students developing a heart for missions and an awareness of other cultures, and sharing God's love in practical ways. The retreat included an overnight stay in their "Global Village," a developing Third World setting.

While she was here in Plano, Texas, Rachel took the Dart Rail to downtown Dallas every day for three weeks to a Children's School of Musical Theatre at the Majestic Theatre. That involved an intense program of instruction in vocal, dance and acting classes and concluded with a performance. It was a showcase featuring songs, scenes and choreography from the Dallas Summer Musicals 2007 season.

Whew! Rachel is ready to go home and get back to school. She attends Rain Forest International School in Yaounde, founded by the Wycliffe Translators. She will be able to stay at the school for a couple weeks until the rest of the family gets home, as the school is also a boarding school. Chloe and Mallory are home-schooled.