Ripley, West Virginia

My entire post just got deleted because apparently blogger has a mind of its own..So I'm going to try to recreate it real fast.

(Credits to Sarah G. for letting me use the pictures from her camera. We had taken ours with us on the trip, but it always got left in my sister's hotel room so I only got a few on my iPod. Thanks, Sarah, for letting me use yours!)

We had heard that there were special meetings in Ripley, WV, so after a bit of persuading, we went as a family. There were a lot less people there than we expected, but then again, we didn't know what to expect since we had never heard about the meetings or the place before.

The believers there rent an old theater every Sunday for service. The people they rent from enjoyed having them rent so much that they gave them the building for free Fri-Sun for the special meetings, which was really a blessing!

We broke the trip up into two days, and after reaching the quaint town, it was about time for church. We had some trouble finding the theater Friday evening despite the fact "ALPINE" was in large letters on the lit sign. :P

Esther and Laurisa with their friends Sarah and Emily-- they were really happy to get to see each other again. Sometimes a few years go by before they get the opportunity.

 Saturday after morning service, everyone was invited to a picnic at Cedar Lakes Park.

The food amount was so great that everyone was invited back the following day to help finish off the leftovers.

 While we were waiting on more people to arrive, Esther and I decided to walk around. Cedar Lakes Park is by far the biggest (mega huge) and prettiest park I've ever seen!

There was this 100+ year old bridge...

An old blacksmith shop..

Hey, guys, that's me again! ;) The door was locked so I had to take the picture through the window. xD 

  Old houses can be the coolest-looking things.

 I had to get a few different pictures of it..it was even neater in person!

This, my friends, is Esther's dream house. ;)

(Sorry about the haze..It was pretty cold that day so I guess it got to the camera lens.) 

Aside from this in remembrance of the pioneers..

There was this tiny post office.

I imagine a claustrophobic didn't work there..

The final exhibit they were working on was this one-room school house.

After that, we ate..and then we went on a walk across the park with Sarah, Emily, their brother Holden, their mom, and my siblings and I. That took a while. ;)

Holden had informed us there were creepy Ferris wheels over there..so we decided to see what this "creepy" was about. ;)

There were three Ferris wheels in all...and creepy was a good word for them. 

Apparently someone decided to do their Christmas decorating early...and to combine it with an old bear collection.. O.O

We thought they looked more like sloths after having sat out in the rain.....the matted, long fur....the green mold.....O_O

Another Ferris wheel had plastic Disney characters and a few plastic Christmas...yard decorations? The creepy thing about that one was Mickey Mouse... He be like 0.0

And these snowmen just didn't look well.....

After we left that slightly disturbing scene....

We reached the main picnic area and talked to a few more people.

I was amazed how all of the believers there had such a sweet spirit. This is a small portion of some of the youth that were there.

It took just a few minutes before a volleyball game was finally started. It's always a great way to get to know people and have fun doing so!

My cousins Stephen and Aaron drove from Ohio to the meetings as well. It was great to get to see them again and awesome that they stayed in the same hotel as we did because that meant we got to spend more time together.

(Stephen:tall guy to the left.) ;)

After about 10 or so games, everyone playing agreed to go to the bonfire on the other side of the park where everyone else at the picnic had already congregated. 

There were people talking, roasting marshmallows, making s'mores, and then signing and testimonies began before everyone headed to their bed to get some rest before Sunday morning service. 

We headed for home after morning service and arrived safely Monday evening. We all had such a nice time there, and some of the friends we made go to Pensacola, FL every year which means we may get to see them before long!

In case any of you were expecting a post on our canoe trip, that hasn't happened yet. The weekend we were going to go, the river was too low, and we didn't want to end up dragging our canoes 7 miles of the 15 mile trip. :P Also, Laurisa and Esther have been taking horse lessons every Saturday, so they have to try to reschedule them whenever we want to go somewhere. They're working on doing that now, so hopefully we'll get to go this weekend! *crosses fingers*