Mom and Dad R's visit

When Eric and I returned from our home Annual Conference meeting at the beginning of June, we brought my mom with us. She spent the week with us, working in the library with me and hanging out with us in the evenings. She got to spend some time with Mike and the Lemonses, and she got to meet many of the people that we tell stories about. (Too bad they missed Lori, though, 'cause she's up north--hopefully she'll be back in time for their visit in July!)

The seventeen-year cicadas were out in full force while she was here. These are the guys who live underground and only come out every seventeen years to mate and sing to us (or scream at us, depending on your perspective) for a couple of weeks before dying. They're big bugs--over an inch long--and they were everywhere!

My dad drove down that Friday, making impressive time--only eleven and a half hours--and he joined us for the weekend. Of course we made the rounds at the Settlement, showing them the campus and the lower farm and telling them all about everything.

Saturday we walked part of the Clear Creek Hollow trail.

Here are my mom and dad in front of the tunnel.

My dad considered impersonating Indiana Jones on this old hanging bridge.

Sunday my parents went to Sunday school and church with us. It was really great to be able to introduce them to many of the wonderful people in our Hope Church family. (Faye has already mentioned that I need to bring them to her house when they return for work camp in July.)

After church, we went to Webb's restaurant in Cumberland Gap, TN, for some good homestyle cooking. Then we went up the road to the National Park and drove up the mountain to see the incredible view of three states at once from the Pinnacle Overlook.

While we were there, a landed butterfly caught our eye, and it obligingly climbed onto my mom's finger for a photo opportunity before she passed it on to another visitor at the Pinnacle.

It was great to have my parents visit. It was wonderful to be able to spend several days with my mom, and I was so glad to be able to show them around and have them meet our Kentucky friends and learn about what we're doing. We're looking forward to their return in July with a work team from the Lehman-Idetown UMC!!