a weekend worth remembering

Memorial Day is all about remembering, and our weekend was certainly one for the Sublett family history books.  We played all weekend, laughed a lot, created some great memories, and even cried a little.

The weekend broke all hot and humid, so after a rousing game of foursquare in the driveway, I took the kids over to Harvest Fields, broke out the kayaks, and we cooled off in one of the ponds.  The kids had a good time paddling around, so Kim and I thought we’d ramp up the adventure Sunday afternoon.

Sadie turned 9 Sunday, and we celebrated at the restaurant of her choice: Ponderosa.  Let it suffice to say that Kim does not vote for a hasty return to the land of the all you can eat buffet!  But Sadie loved it anyway.  After a trip home to change clothes, we headed over to Bellefonte, where we dropped off the kayaks.  Ashley and I drove downstream to Milesburg to drop off a car, then we all paddled our way down the creek.  It was the kids first time on moving water in little whitewater kayaks, and Annabelle’s first experience with anything like this.  They all did great!  There are 2 little sets of rapids, and I was a concerned about how they’d handle the waves.  I’m proud to say that they all rolled right through the quick water, and Sadie and Annabelle even ran the last set twice!  Ashley gave Sadie a disposable/waterproof camera, and I got some action shots of them all coming through the rapids.  (I’ll post them later.)

Sunday evening found us back at Casa des Subletts, where Kim was preparing a late supper.  We’d already had a banner day, but Annabelle had a big surprise for us.  We’ve been talking to her about Jesus since she joined our family, and we’ve been praying for her for the past 5+ years.  She’s been in church listening to the gospel, and even helped Kim prepare communion for midtown this week.  On her own initiative, she walked into the kitchen and announced:

I want to follow Jesus.

Kim and I looked at each other, sort of stunned.  So we dropped the supper prep and moved into the living room for a little chat.  We asked some questions to make sure that she knew what she was talking about, then I led her through a prayer of commitment to Christ!  Kim ran back out to the kitchen to grab the leftover grape juice and bread, and we took communion as a family!  How sweet is that?!  We were all a little teary eyed, to say the least.

The tears flowed again later, but not the happy-kind of tears.  One of our neighbors rang our doorbell about 12:30 in the morning.  She and her daughter were standing on the porch holding one of our cats in a blanket.  Daisy darted out in front of them as they were coming up Puddintown Road, and they couldn’t miss her.  They were terribly upset, and our kids were heartbroken.  Having pets leads to all kinds of life lessons, and some of them are more difficult to process than others.  Daisy didn’t live much longer after they dropped her off with us, and I buried her with her predecessor, Daphne, in the middle of the night.

The weekend ended well, though.  We ran over to Boalsburg, which is one of the cities that lays claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day.  The sun beat down on us without mercy, but there were some shade from the tree-lined yards that made nice little sit-down places.  The little girls rode a ride at the sketchy carnival, and the girls managed to consume a huge bag of kettle corn, so we called the day a success.

How was your Memorial Day weekend?  Did you create any memories?