NCFIC Conference: Day 4

Day 4:

Saturday rolled around at the conference and with it, so did the cold weather.  We woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground.  Ethan was determined to make the most of it, so he stockpiled a ton of snowballs to surprise Matthew with when he came out of his dorm, but at some point during Ethan's "diligent" watching, Matthew left his room and came up behind Ethan, ruining his surprise.  He did eventually get Matthew with a snowball, only to have him retaliate by stuffing snow down Ethan's shirt!  Crazy fellas...

 

We had picked up a few gag gifts for Matthew before leaving home and so Saturday we finally got our chance to give them to him.  This is one of Dad's favorite shirts...it reads: "Remember as far as anyone knows we are a nice NORMAL family".  

Ethan is always teasing Matthew that he has "perfect" hair...in the rain, playing sports, when he wakes up and doesn't do anything to it, it's still looks perfect.  So Ethan gave him a switchblade comb...by the smile on his face, I think he liked it.

Breakfast...a table for two anyone?

After eating, since it was too cold to walk outside, we strolled around the vendor hall...

Talking after the session again...

Chatting with one of Matthew's brothers....

...he was very entertaining!

Noah and Liberty Yuck...

Ethan chatting with Blessing and Cherish Yuck and one of the Redman boys.

Matthew talking with new friends....

The Hammonds, Girottis, and Yucks fellowshipping

Mom, Jordan, myself and Savannah...

Hannah Girotti, Mrs. Girotti, Berea and Jordan...

Our little Berea!

Caleb walked Victoria around to let her get rid of some energy.  Pretty soon they were looking down on us from the balcony.  You can't tell from the picture, but Victoria really enjoyed being up there!

Saturday was Jordan and Caleb's last day at the conference, as they had to head home to get ready for the upcoming deer processing season.  Below we are saying our goodbyes.  Mom and Dad both got a little teary-eyed.  It's never easy to say goodbye, knowing that we won't see them for at least a few months.

Ethan and Victoria!

Savannah and Berea...

After saying our goodbyes to Caleb, Jordan and the girls, we rejoined the activity hall.  Matthew found a lone piano in one of the rooms.  He asked me to play something, *cringe*, but I got so nervous, I couldn't hardly remember a thing I had been working on.  Argghh!  Oh well...he came to the rescue and suggested we play a duet of Heart & Soul.  

It was fun playing with him, but he definitely plays the piano a lot better than he let on.

Goofing around with Heart & Soul...

                                        

After playing around on the piano, Matthew then tried to teach us some of the hymns and songs that he knows on the guitar.  We didn't know too many of them, but we had fun trying them out.  Below...in the sing along room.

After searching our brains for songs that we might all know, Matthew knew some friends who were congregating up at the indoor volleyball court to play.  So we soon headed over there... more pictures to follow.

Matthew's Birthday!

Today, December 1st, is my special young man's 24th birthday!

Matthew is a wonderful young man and I am so thankful to the Lord for bringing him into my life.  I feel so blessed to be in a courtship with him and am looking forward to what He has in store.  Matthew is an all-round fun guy to be with and he can brighten up any day.  He is confidant in Christ, but humble enough to not make much of himself.  He enjoys being spontaneous, but also likes things to be well-planned out.  He is an amazing fellow who I am just beginning to learn.

Praying for you Matthew, that the Lord would bless you greatly in the year to come.  

Happy Birthday!

caring 

fun-loving godly 

hard-working humble joyful 

visionary

Favorite Verse:

"That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen."

Ephesian 3:16-21

Ethan's Birthday!

Yesterday, November 27th, was Ethan's 16th birthday!

bold confidant dependable 

energetic fun godlyoptimistic 

witty

Ethan is a fun-loving brother who always keeps you hopping!  He has boundless energy that we wish we could bottle-up for ourselves!  Ethan is also great with little kids, and his little niece Victoria simply adores him.  We all adore Ethan and are so thankful that the Lord blessed our family with him 16 years ago.  We are so proud of the young man you've become and are looking forward to what the Lord has in store for your life.  We love you Ethan, yesterday, today, and always!

Ethan's Birthday Verse:

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?  When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell.  Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.  One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.  For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.  And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.  Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.  When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”   Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.  When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.  Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.  Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.  I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

Psalm 27

Pictures from the NCFIC Conference: Days 1, 2 & 3

Here are some more pictures from our trip to the NCFIC conference.

Day 1:

Jordan, Caleb and the girls visited with us for a few days before the conference (more pictures of that coming later), and then we all traveled up together.  Here Dad and Mom are enjoying little Berea...

And Uncle Ethan with Victoria....

We met up with the Yuck family, who had arrived there shortly before we did, and we had a nice time of catching up.  That evening we met up with some more friends and headed over to the pizza parlor for supper.

Day 2:

The next day, Thursday, the conference still hadn't officially started yet, so we spent the day fellowshipping, shopping, going out for lunch, and then we all took a drive to the top of the mountain.  

The Hammond Clan

Some of the Yuck Gang...

The fall colors were absolutely stunning...

Sitting around chatting....

Later on that night was when Matthew surprised me by coming to the conference 12 hours ahead of schedule!  Here are some pictures that Dad took on his phone, only a few minutes after meeting...

Very happy!  (My eyes are closed on this one, but Matthew's smiling so much I posted it anyway!)

In this next picture, we were checking our texts.  He was proving to me that throughout the whole joke, he never lied to me....I went back and looked and it was true.  He was vague when I asked him questions, but he never told an untruth!  He even sent me pictures throughout the day that he had taken before hand.  Like one with his car all packed up so that he would be ready to go at 3:00.  He had taken the photo the day before at sunset, so when I texted him Thursday evening and asked if his car was packed, he sent me that picture.  Because the lighting was right for the time of day it was, I never even questioned it.  Too funny!

Feeling light-headed!

Day 3:

Friday started out with Matthew, Ethan and I hiking to the top of the mountain.  We then shared breakfast together with everyone and headed over to the breakout sessions to join up with the Yuck family.  Now, at this point, the Yuck family didn't know Matthew and I were getting to know each other.  However, since Mrs. Yuck is on Facebook and Dad and Matthew are also on Facebook, the news leaked just enough to make her suspicious.  There was a picture of me on Dad's Facebook page and Mrs. Yuck commented "Very cute!" on it.  Well...Matthew liked the photo, as well as Mrs. Yuck's comment.  Her antennae went up right away and she started asking questions about who this Matthew Dickerson was that liked her comment, what was going on, and why we wouldn't just spill it.  Dad, Caleb and Jordan convinced her that it was nothing and that she was reading more into it than was there.

So...back to the conference...

Since the Yuck family didn't know and they were going to soon, we decided to have a little fun with it!  Matthew decided to sit right in front of the Yucks in the first breakout session (we were at the other side of the room) and then introduce himself at the end, but before he was able to, Mrs. Yuck recognized him and introduced herself and family.  Matthew still played it cool and walked over to the main auditorium without letting on that he knew us.  We joined up with the Yucks and Mrs. Yuck quickly pulled us over to the side to explain to us that a certain Matthew Dickerson was here,...at the conference and she just wanted us to know....

*snicker, snicker, snicker* 

We all slowly made our way over to the main auditorium and sat in our normal seats, but I left a seat open for Matthew.  Right before the service started, he meandered over and sat next to me.  He looked down the long row and sent a slow wink in Mrs. Yuck's direction!  The cat was now out of the bag...

Sitting together for the first time...

Here we all are, explaining the whole thing to everyone after the session ended!  

At the dining hall...

All smiles...

Matthew and I enjoying our lunch with family and friends.

We had a little bit of free time in between sessions, so we all headed over to the Yuck's room to play Guesstures.  It's a game of charades, absolutely no sounds.  It was our family's first time playing it, but it was a lot of fun!

Suppertime....

Talking after the service...

Just realizing that someone was taking pictures of us...

A very blurry phone photo, but I couldn't resist throwing it in...

After the main session in the evening, there were impromptu jam session going on and since Matthew is very talented on several different instruments, we convinced him to play along while we listened.  

They started out in the middle of the hallway, but as their group continued to grow, they moved over to a quiet corner to play.

Matthew on dulcimer and Jonah Boucher on banjo.

Our friends, Jonathan Girotti, playing the penny whistle, and Emily, playing the violin in the center.

Meanwhile,....

Savannah and Ethan had joined in with the dancing and were giving it a go.

Lined up and ready for the music to begin!

Stay tuned for more...