Upon leaving the Chattanooga National Cemetery, we were headed someplace special. Next stop, Walmart. No, that wasn’t it. Our final destination for the day was our friends’ home, the Wickhams.
For a few years, the Wickhams lived in CA. In Sonoma County, just like us. They attended our Healdsburg Church, and had three boys about the same ages as ours. Our friendship grew into more like “framily”, and it was hard to see them move back to the TN area. But it was a move God was calling them to make.
Since moving back to the area, they’ve added one more to their bunch. Liana Joy. And that she is. She’s Daddy’s number one fan, loves applesauce (who wouldn’t), and bath time. It was special getting to hold a little girl again. I hadn’t gotten to do that since my niece was that age eighteen years ago…
It seems the Southern skies know they’re supposed to rain every afternoon between 3 and 5. It’s something we’d encountered regularly for the past week or so. And that just so happened to be when we were pulling up to Jeff and Amy’s house. The sky didn’t just sprinkle. It didn’t just send down droplets. It sent down buckets. Each drop seemed like a bucket in itself. It was like the clouds decided since it was Friday, they might as well get rid of anything else they had. You know, lighten up for the weekend. So as we sat in the motorhome, looking at the 20 yard walk to the front door, we were in a quandry. Well, Albert and I were. Do we go out and get completely soaked before going into their house, or wait it out? The boys had no questions. They were not going to let some buckets falling from the sky keep them from their friends. You may be wondering why we didn’t get out our umbrellas. Well, when you’re packing for a trip, while in AZ, with the sun shining brightly and warming the days up to triple digits, one does not think of umbrellas. So, we had none.
Eventually, we all made it in without drowning, and the fun began!!

Matthew had a lot of fun trying to find a stick Melbee wouldn’t chew. He never did. 🙂

Friday night’s dinner was Amy’s homemade pizza…need I say YUM!!! The crust is so yummy. The kids got to design their own pizza. (Pizza is a work of art!) From left to right, Dayne, Brodee, Ben, Bryan, Matthew, and Ean.

Amy also is a prolific bread baker. These loaves are ready for the oven, and when they come out, they’ll be just what your heart was yearning for. She once baked twenty-one loaves in a day!

We attended church at the Southern Adventist University campus church in Collegedale, TN.

On the way home, Jeff took us on a driving tour of the campus.

If you’ve ever eaten a Little Debbie snack, they’re made in Collegedale, too. Not in this building, though. I think this is the Men’s Dorm. I’m quiet partial to Pecan Spinwheels, myself.

After church, we enjoyed a lunch of “Haystacks” at the Wickham’s.
If you’re not sure what Haystacks are, here’s the recipe. They’re simple and yummy!
HAYSTACKS
Main stack
tortilla chips
Spanish rice (optional)
beans
grated cheese
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes

The following are optional garnishings.
salsa
sliced olives
diced avocado or guacamole
diced onion (any color)
sour cream

Place the main stack items on your plate in the order listed above. Add any desired garnishes and enjoy! Yum!!!

Amy’s sister and her family joined us. It was really fun to finally meet Loree and get to spend the afternoon together. And since the clouds hadn’t dumped all they were holding the day before, there was more rain, thunder, and lightening that afternoon. That thwarted our plans of a hike after lunch, so we got to visit even longer.
The rain finally stopped and we took off for the hike. Now, Jeff and Amy are the adventurous sort. They didn’t think of this hike in the usual sort of way – go out, walk for a while, turn around and come back. Instead, they packed up everything we’d need to enjoy a hot dog supper out by the creek, complete with their backpacking stove.

The boys had to work up an appetite first.

Brodee got up to twenty-three skips on one try.

It was very sweet listening to Matthew say, “Wow, Dad!”, as he watched Jeff skip rocks across the river.

Before heading out, there was a little time for some three-on-three.

It’s always hard to say good-bye, but this wasn’t good-bye. It was “until next time”…