Caleb graduates from UF~by Beth

After driving through the night (thank you Jon for doing most of that) we arrived at Caleb's house around 10 am.  That gave us time to get some showers and breakfast and get ready for Caleb's graduation from the University of Florida.  It was a fun graduation, even though we had to wait in a line outside to get into the arena.  Wow, was it hot.  His graduation was a proud moment for us all.

Caleb is heading to his graduation from college

Waiting for it to begin

A proud moment

brothers

Beginning May 2018~by Beth

May began for us in Ohio with my family.  When we arrived it was so cold.  Winter would not let go of the north and few of the trees were even blooming.  But after a couple of days of warm weather the trees bloomed everywhere.  So beautiful.  On our way home we stopped by the Ark Encounter and met up with Jon's boss Brad and his wife and son, who are also friends of ours.  We spent the day there, grabbed a bite to eat and then drove through the night for the third time on this trip.  We ended our trip in Gainesville, FL for Caleb's graduation from college.

Charity turned 18 the day we left 

Mom and Dad Hofener

My sister Lisa and husband Woody

Beth and Brad on the way to the Ark

See the cross on the door?

Johanna loves animals

Stephen

Abigail

2018 Conference~by Beth

We ended up going to the Big Sandy, Texas conference because the one in Georgia was cancelled due to low turnout.  That was disappointing since it was a beautiful place and a better time of year for us.  But I did manage to get a few blurry pictures of the youngest three during their presentations.  Two highlights of the conference for our family was that Jon and I were on a panel during a lunch hour and then later that day Emma and Charity were recognized for journal completion.  They both finished their Faith journals and Charity also completed her Virtue journal.

 We drove through the night on the Friday the conference ended and met up with some friends at the Creation Museum.  They travel with their ministry Freedom Focus, and are thinking about expanding to a Freedom Museum.  It was so fun to spend a couple hours with them before we had to head up to Parma, Ohio to visit my family.

Pastor Darren and Tammy Myers with Beth and Jon

My birthday hike~by Beth

Because our conference was in Texas in April, we managed to squeeze in a visit to our adult children and granddaughters in Irving.  It just so happened that my birthday occurred while we were there, and Nathan planned a fun day of hiking in Grand Prarie.  We had an excellent time and took lots of great photos.  It began chilly for us that morning but then warmed up as the day went on.  Here are a few of the shots we took.

Audrey's personality shines here

Uncle Stephen, Lydia, and Aunt Abby

Grandpa and Isabelle

Audrey

Sophia

Beth on the bridge

Nathan

When we got home Jon and the granddaughters washed the cars.

Later that day we had a great meal that Hannah made, along with chocolate cheesecake.

Soccer 2018~by Beth

It was a busy season, and one in which we left for vacation before it ended.  But this year Stephen joined the boys team.  This is his team:

The teams were coached by three youth who aged out of middle school sports: Emma Blikstad, Amanda Morosco and Josh Dzielak.  Our girls, Johanna and Abigail, played on the girls team.  This is Johanna's last year playing as well.

In the play offs, which we were out of town for, the boys placed 3rd and the girls placed first again.  We were pleased as they were missing our two girls and only had 7 players to use so everyone had to play

Charity's senior pictures~by Beth

In a little more than a month Charity will graduate.  We have had a few photo sessions with her, plus her "class" did group photos.  She is a beautiful young lady, inside and out.  She is not certain of her future plans but she does hope to get a job and her driver's license after she graduates.  She loves to serve so she is praying about opportunities the Lord may have for her.

Another garage clean out~by Beth

With Jon working construction again he brings home all kinds of things that we can sometimes use.  A couple weeks ago he did demo on a building which had some commercial grade carpet that was in great shape.  So, he brought it home.  It didn't fit any room of the house so we replaced what we had in the garage.  I don't like walking bare foot in the garage to do laundry or get something from the outside fridge so having a piece of carpet out there is perfect.  It only took about 1.5 hours to clear out the mess that had again accumulated, sweep up, lay down the carpet and replace the stuff.

Abby looks on while Jon cuts the edge

Johanna vacuums

Stephen loves laying on it