Brown's Journal

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Location: Wake Forest, North Carolina, United States

Saturday, October 24, 2009

David and Monica

We are happy to announce the engagement of David Brown and Monica Daming.

The Lord bless you and keep you; Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26



Thursday, October 15, 2009

Father/Son retreat


Scott and Triumph at the Father/ Son Retreat. For more pictures go to ncfic.org. There were 130 men and boys and the hill was covered with tents.
There were canoe races, highland games, tug of war, water balloon fights and much more.

The weather was glorious so we had church under the tent the day after the retreat.
After Church Elliott Hellwig and Jonathan Langford were baptized.






Al and Pat Pence

Thank you so much for coming to see us. It was good to catch up on each other and for you to see how we are faring on this beautiful land.
We have many shared memories and one of the highlights was visiting with you in the Philippines and seeing the work of Wycliffe there.

We rode the range in our trusty golf cart.

Al, we are looking forward to the completion and publication of your book on Leadership.

We visited Scott in his office down town. Then went to the Old English Tea Room across the street for lunch. The visit was much too short so we hope you do it again soon.



Saturday, October 03, 2009

Koi, Koi, Koi


On October 1st we drove 2 hours south to the Blue Lodge Fish Hatchery in Kernersville to pick up 120 baby Koi. Some were 3-4 inches some were 5 -6 inches and 10 were 12 inches long.
They begin their life in these tanks,

Their Koi pond is the envy of every Koi owner. My, oh my it is beautiful. The water is crystal clear. They filter their water which is something that is beyond us at this time. Since Koi are bottom feeders, we are hoping that they will keep the ponds relatively clean. That is the real purpose behind having Koi.





The welcoming committee was Scott, Claudia, Grace Breagy, Knox and Rylie and Elise Van Wingerdon.
Peter, Barry Daming and Triumph rounded out the onlookers.

The fish came in plastic bags in 4 boxes. Scott put the bags into the pond water to let the water in the bags get to the temperature of the pond to spare the fish of shock.

After about 20 minutes the bags were opened and some pond water was poured into them to further insure that the fish were getting acclimated.
Claudia is testing out the water.
Triumph was reluctant at first to touch the fish but it did not take long for him to like it.

All the fish were dumped into the pond and Mr. Van Wingerdon moved a flat rock to the edge of the pond so that we can enjoy a viewing platform.

So far the fish have stayed at the bottom of the pond in the mud. They have not come up for food so we hope that they are happy. We know they are not dead because none of them are floating on top.

Knitting project


Kelly had seen this purse in a the Yarn Birds knit shop and really liked it so she and Blair bought the pattern and I got to work. It took a long time and was huge. But this is how it turned out after felting it. It is really a great purse.


David's House update

This is the view from the front door.

The front door is to the left. The house is 60 feet long and you are looking at a "will be" fireplace and the living room. The picture is taken from what will be the kitchen and office. The door on the right is to the laundry room and back door.
The plumbing and electrical are in. Next will be the insulation and drywall. It is coming along slowly but well.

Texas in September

Can you believe that we took no pictures for 2 weeks? Neither can we.
Bill was invited to participate in a symposium at the Nimitz Museum. Yes, we still call it the Nimitz Museum but the name is The National Museum of the Pacific War. That is too much of a mouthful.
On the Friday before the Symposium, Frances, Libby and I helped the Veterans and Historians and authors sign the poster which will be sold as a fund raiser for the Museum. We have done this for several years. We never tire of listening to their stories.

The subject of the symposium was Siege and Bombardment:War of Attrition. The roles of strategic bombing and the Submarine war against Japan in the last months of World War II was the focus.
Bill and his friend Art Burry flew P-51's off Iwo Jima. They flew cover for the B-29's. Both were shot down and were rescued by a submarine. Jack Toliver, who was on the submarine Trutta that picked up Art, was on the panel with Art. Art rode out a typhoon on his rubber raft for 6 days before being spotted by the Trutta. Jack told how delirious Art was. Art was waiting for a party boat to pick him up and kept refusing to take the rope.
Bill was rescued by the Pipefish and was on it for three weeks before getting back to Iwo Jima.

The rest of the time in Texas was filled with seeing friends. One morning Frances, Libby and I prepared breakfast for the men's Bible Study and their wives plus some other friends. There were 30 in all. It was a great time to visit and re-connect. The day was beautiful so we could be out on the porch of Biedermann's home and enjoy the view of the Hill Country.
We had one breakfast at Rather Sweet and a lunch at the Herb Farm. Both are still delicious.
The Pirches treated us to an evening of good food and fellowship.

Sister Frances has made the decision to leave Fredericksburg and go to live near her children, John and Mary and their families in Salt Lake City, UT. Much time was spent doing things to prepare for her leaving....like change of addresses and choosing movers and packers, etc.

On the way out of town to the airport, we stopped by the Fredericksburg Bakery to buy Sweet German Pretzels to take home. We would not have been allowed to come home without them.

It is good to be home but the trip was memorable.