White Chicken Chili, Chocolate Chip Pie, and Nick Vujicic!

Great weekend!

Monday we got an email from a young man who introduced himself as a hospital corpsman at Oceana Naval Air Station asking about joining our Saturday evening game night. We wrote back, gave him our phone number,  and now he's a member our extended family!

Tristin's selfie!

Josh, Andrew, Tristin, and Titus Ray joined us!

We had a really complex meal: fish sticks, french fries, and cinnamon rolls

Then we played Settlers of Catan. Titus had never played the game before so we had to teach him. He caught on real quick! Since we had six players we had to use the expansion pack. That made the board a lot bigger! Andrew won the game! Titus said next time we play he will win! Judging from the look on Andrew's face he isn't so sure about that.

Today Josh, Andrew, and Titus joined us for Sunday school and worship at church. Then it was on to our house for dinner. Cristian and Tristin joined us for dinner too!

Yvonne made White Chicken Chili, and home made French bread for dinner.

This is what the soup tureen looked like after five hungry sailors finished with it! 

Josh Ellinor made a Chocolate Chip Pie with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce for dessert.

Looks great doesn't it?

After dinner we watched a video called "Verve!"

The story of Nick Vujicic, a man born with no arms and no legs, but with a wonderful spirit and powerful testimony for Jesus Christ.

After we watched the video everybody Googled his name and wanted to see what his wife looked like! All of the guys agreed she was really good looking!

Finally, we shared prayer requests and prayed together.

I found this story about Nick on YouTube and thought I would share it here too.

John, Jass, and the Iced Tea Saga!

What happens when your girl friend comes to visit from California, and you bring her to meet your extended Virginia Beach family - John and Yvonne?

You DON'T open the freezer door!

John Ortiz brought his girlfriend Jass to meet Yvonne and me last night. They drove all the way up from the outer banks, so we invited them to stay for supper.

John asked, "Where is the iced tea?"

Busy preparing supper, and forgetting that the ice tea jug was precariously sitting in the freezer leaning against the freezer door,

Yvonne simply said, "In the freezer."

That sounded a little strange to John, but Yvonne often puts drinks in the freezer to get them cold a little quicker before we eat.

John reached up and opened the door to the freezer and out popped the gallon jug of iced tea!

John did a great job of catching the jug as it tumbled out of the freezer, but not before the tiny lid popped off and the jug tipped over enough to splash about a quart of iced tea all over the kitchen!

There was raspberry iced tea that ended up in the refrigerator, on the wall by the refrigerator, all over the kitchen floor all the way to the pantry, and all over John's shirt and socks!

Fortunately, Jass brought a hoodie that John went out to the car to change into.

After some fancy work with a big bath towel we got the tea mopped up, the walls cleaned off, and we sat down to eat.

We now had a new story to add to our collection of funny (though somewhat embarrassing) events at the Wagner house!

Jass was a really good sport about the whole thing. We all laughed and joked about what happened. John even offered to do a reenactment! An offer we quickly declined!!!!

But we did take some pictures and decided to add the story to our blog for you to read!

Saying Goodbye to My Grandmother

Andrew Raffety went home on leave a couple of weeks ago because his grandmother way dying of cancer. His leave ended and he came back to Virginia Beach. She passed away last week. But before she died Andrew sent a letter that he wanted his family to read to her. Andrew's family was gathered around her and she was awake when his aunt read his letter. It was such a touching tribute to his grandmother I wanted to share it here. I asked him and he said it was all right.

 

Papa,

Had a great time talking to you this evening, will call again on Wed (got duty tomorrow night).  I was wondering if you could share the following message with Beemer, even if she may be asleep.  I have been wondering how to deliver this message since I started leave, and it just came to me:

Beemer,

I wished I could have communicated this to you sooner, however this message just came to me.  I love you.  You have been the best Grandmother anyone could ask for.  If I  could say one last thing it would be this:  Jesus Loves You!  Trust in Him and receive him into your heart!  This is the path to everlasting life, this is what I have learned since becoming a Christian.  I Love you!!!

Your Loving Grandson,

Andrew

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John and Josh Cross Paths at Work

Pretty cool picture of John and Josh. They work at Oceana but in different commands and hangers. But one day recently their paths paths crossed. john took a selfie and sent it to me. I thought it was a cool picture of them and thought I'd post it on here.

Chicken Wings and Apples to Apples!

July 23 and summer has hit with a vengeance! Temperature is hitting triple digits and the humidity isn't far behind. Sure glad we went miniature golfing last weekend and not this weekend. This is when I really thank God for air conditioning! I remember the summer our AC went out and it was this hot. We all sat in front of fans and put cold wash cloths on our necks and faces to stay cool. We said everyone could go home to their nice air conditioned homes if they wanted to. But they all decided to stay and suffer with us! This year our AC is new and works GREAT!!

Todd Williams (our resident reservist), Josh Ellinor, Andrew Raffety, and John Ortiz joined us tonight. Todd suggested that we play "Apples to Apples". John Ortiz won.

We had fun and laughed a lot! Todd suggested a new twist to the game that I had never heard before. After the game is over we all went around the table and read the green cards we won as characteristics of ourselves. That made us laugh even more!

Yvonne made chicken wings (hot and spicy and mild and spicy ) and cole slaw for dinner, followed by popsicles.

 

Sunday, after church, Andrew Raffety and Josh Ellinor came over. We ate Chicken Broccoli with Bowtie Pasta for dinner with homemade French Bread and Ceasar Salad and Blueberry Pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert. Sorry, no pictures of the pie and ice cream. We dove in and finished it off too fast!

It was a pretty relaxing afternoon. We watched the "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered" marathon on the Hallmark channel. There's a new episode premiering tonight.

Before everyone left we prayed together for our country!

Pot Roast, Giants, and Settlers!

Good morning. Now for Sunday's post!

Josh and Tristin came over Sunday. John Ortiz had to move rooms in his barracks so couldn't join us.

On the menu was pot roast, new potatoes, and green beans. Yvonne tried a new recipe for the green beans that everyone really liked. It had maple syrup in it!

Dessert was strawberry shortcakes with lots of whipped ream!

 Do you notice the pots and the plates are empty? I think they liked it!

We no sooner sat down to eat when the doorbell rang. and who should come in but Andrew Davis! We haven't seen him for years! He watched us eat (he had already eaten) and caught us up on what was going on in his life.

 After dinner we watched a movie - "Facing the Giants"

Then, since it was still early we played Settler of Catan! I wanted to teach Tristin how to play it. He learned really fast!

Yvonne concentrating!

We played two games. Josh won the first one and Yvonne snuck up from behind and won the second game!

Pizza, Mini-Golf, and Ice Cream!

How 'bout that for a title?

Saturday the weather went from rainy to cloudy to beautiful! Yvonne had already planned our dinner with the guys and had purchased the groceries at the commissary. When she got home I had the wonderful idea of going miniature golfing instead of staying in the house and playing a board game! We'll just save that food for next weekend!

For us, going miniature golfing also means going to the Pizza Hut on General Booth Blvd to eat beforehand, and then to Dairy Queen afterward for ice cream. Which is exactly what we did!

We had three sailors with us - John Ortiz, Josh Ellinor, and Josh's roommate Tristin Baumann!

Nice looking group of young men - right?

But let me back up for a minute. First we went to Pizza Hut on General Booth Blvd for dinner.

The food was good! Not many people in the restaurant, but hey, who was counting? When we walked in we were the only ones there.

Are you hungry yet???

John Ortiz chose Pepperoni Pizza as his favorite, so we ordered one of those; and of course a Super Supreme with all the stuff on it!

So this was dinner. Then it was on to Lynnhaven Golf Park for a rousing 18 hole game of miniature golf! The clouds looked like they were going to cut loose at any time. When we got to about the third hole we began feeling some sprinkles. Then it became enough to put some spots on my glasses. But finally it stopped! Yea!

Tristin says, "Now children, settle down! Hey, am I going to have to separate you two?"

OK, OK, quit posing and give me an action shot!

 Now that's what I'm talking about!

 OK Josh, your turn!

 Hey Tristin, how many is that? Four or five????

 And now it's John Ortiz!

Nice pose John! Now hit the ball!

And here we have Yvonne up for the putt. Think you can make it up the hill and around the island?

John Ortiz had two, that's right, TWO holes in one! In spite of that impressive showing, Josh, Yvonne, and Tristin tied for first place!

Finally, it was on to Dairy Queen for dessert!

Tristin, are you going to be able to finish that whole thing?

Hey, I'm getting better night photos with my iPhone than I get with my Nikon digital camera!

Photo bombed! See Tristin?

See the DQ cup? That's to let ewveryone know we were really at DQ!

Yvonne wanted to make sure I got in on one of the pictures with the guys.

We ended the night praying together. What an awesome evening!

Since it's midnight Monday I'll go to bed and post about Sunday tomorrow.