Road Kill Cook Off

Yesterday was the event we've been waiting for...the Road Kill Cook Off. I've included a brief video below to give you a 'taste' of what we saw at the event. Besides the tasting of 'road kill' dishes like ... there were booths with various local crafts and other baked goods, a parade, games, and live music. The two-hour drive to Marlinton was beautiful as we made our way through the very windy mountain roads. Leaves on the trees were already beginning to change from green to orange, red, and yellow. We arrived in Marlinton hoping that we'd be greeted with signs for the festival since it was in it's 20th year, but none were to be seen (Mike printed out directions to Marlinton but not the festival!) Once in the town of 1200 we quickly noticed the large crowds to our left so we followed traffic until we could park (a few blocks away from the booths).

We found the road kill tasting fun but some of us were a little disappointed that there weren't more creative or odd dishes, like possum as all the shirts showed... and the red neck parade wasn't as red neck as we'd hoped, but you can judge for yourself if you watch the video. We sampled boar, "bull," deer, "cat" and "panda", none of which tasted too strange. Then we got good old mystery meat hot dogs from a vendor since samples only go so far!

Open House

Family photo surrounded by 'school pictures'

We've certainly continued to be busy around here and this past week was no exception. A few weeks ago the girls had a great idea to paint their room to make it feel more like their own place for the next 10 months. They had big plans to paint bright colors and stencil patterns on the walls, paint the living room with a fresh bright color, and write a meaningful bible verse on a wall. To help keep everyone motivated to actually get the work done we set a date to have an open house and invited the church and our coworkers to stop by. Today was the open house and it was a success! Well, we still have to finish a few details, but you can view some of the pictures here, and watch the video of us creating our family tree. The family photo pictured above was a fun activity and the 'school pictures' that surround it are meant to be funny with us looking a little silly. If you want to see it in detail you'll need to drop in for a visit!

Busy weeks

Last Wednesday our house celebrated Ranita's 18th birthday! We tried to do our best to make it a special birthday for her by decorating the house with some streamers & birthday banners and making her a delicious dinner with chocolate cake for dessert. It was also the first week of meal rotation for the girls so they were tasked with making the birthday meal for Ranita. Cards from friends and family poured in all week for Ranita so we hope it was a memorable 18th!


In addition to starting meal rotation, we have started our weekly worship nights, weekly learning components and started making plans for local weekend activities. In a few weeks we're planning to spend the day at a roadkill cook-off in nearby (two hour drive) Marlington. Events include a redneck parade, possum run, and other wacky events. We'll be sure to include a full post-trip report.

Heidi's parents came to visit us over Labor Day weekend and we did our best to introduce them to everything that Philippi has to offer. Since we've only been living here for a month, however, we could only show them a few local hot spots so they'll have to return again soon once we learn of more places to see. Mike's family is looking at dates to visit too so this will give them a taste of what they'll get to see. Besides taking a walking tour through downtown Philippi, we drove past a coal mine, visited the historical society, and had some ice cream at the local Dairy King.