Saturday, August 2, 2008 -  SHE SAID:  Well, our last full day in IL was indeed full, filled by driving Vince to the Milwaukee airport. The drive was really nice not only traffic & weather-wise but also by being able to visit with Vin. He truly is a delightful, funny, & fascinating young man...not that we're biased of course!  We also got to have a quick conversation with our other son, Jimmy, who is heading out to Afghanistan next week, and we were a bit distressed to learn instead of being sent to a secure area to work on the armored vehicles he builds, he is instead being sent out with troops into the field, so PLEASE keep your prayers going up for him. We want this brave young man totally blanketed in prayer for the duration of his deployment--and we want to thank all our faithful prayer warriors in advance.

We then hopped aboard the Metra (not Metro) train in Harvard and headed down to a yearly fish fry feast put on by John's fishing buddies and to call it a mere feast seems terribly insufficient because the flow of fantastic food just keep coming and filling up the tables! We're talking fried onion rings, fried zucchini & other veggies, scrumptious appetizers with wonderful dips, to die for barbecued jerk skirt steak, brats, corn, burgers, pork loin, & platefuls of fried trout, which came from the guys' yearly fishing trip to Missouri--a trip a bunch of them have made for over 20 years.

John's wonderful family was also there, including his loveable little mom, Pat, & delightful siblings Carol & Rob, & best buddy Don, plus new Momma Katie & new Daddy Dan. Unfortunately, Cheri & John's new grandson, Jacob, was having a heck of a time with an nasty earache, so our time with him was cut short. So, hopefully next time we will have lots more time with them! But, lordy, what a terrific day, full of fine food & finer moments with precious family!

Sunday, August 3, 2008 -  SHE SAID: Just a quick note to say we left Harvard early this morning, with some tears part of the hugging going on but it is just so darn hard to say good bye to ALL the wonderful folks we've been blessed to spend time with...and it is a blessing. But, we put in a pretty long driving day, made around 300 miles & ended up about 25 miles out of Indianapolis at a lovely, wooded campground. So, we're going to rest up & look forward to the blessings we're sure to experience tomorrow!