Epic Estes + First Presbyterian Church + Gordon College = A Super Dandy Day!

With about 6 hours of sleep, I woke up at 5am (Thank goodness for that extra hour of sleep or else I'd be running on 5 hours of sleep) to take a shower and make a lunch for the day. Shannon, Billy and I headed off to Topsham as the sun rose. A few minutes after we arrived at the "Park and Ride" area, Nick showed up. We waited around with Nick until the rest of the Estes showed up in the big van.

The sunrise on the way to Topsham.

Billy, Shannon, and Nick waiting for the rest of the Estes to show up.

Once we were on the road to Massachusetts for awhile, we broke out the bagels and yogurts for breakfast. :D Mrs. Estes bought lots of great flavors, including Pumpkin Spice, which was really good! Next time I make bagels, I'm going to try and make pumpkin flavored bagels.

Once we arrived in Massachusetts, we picked up Joel at Gordon College and then we drove to First Presbyterian Church. Joanna and Bailey from Deerwander were the first to greet me. :) Later, Talia and her family arrived and Talia sat next to me during church. :D It was so good to see Talia, even though it was for a short time. Pastor Greg Hills preached on Great Expectations. :)

After church, Talia, Lia, Kenan, and I went outside and talked for a little while. Tyler saw me talking to Talia and came over to say hello real quick and then went to find Billy. Talia and her family left. :(  Kenan and I went inside with the rest of the group.

We waited around and talked to Joel and the Milette family for awhile. Eric (a counselor from middle school Deerwander) came and talked to us for awhile. Once the 11am church service ended a bunch of Deerwander friends came out and greeted us. It was so great to see Talia, Lia, Tyler, Elizabeth, Joanna, Bailey, Salley, Will, Ben H., Kristin, Hannah, Lauren, Nora, Megan, Colleen O., and many other Deerwander folks!

For lunch, we had a yummy soup and rolls and pumpkin cookies for dessert made by the wonderful Mrs. Vandyke. We had a great time talking with the Vandyke family. Thanks so much for your hospitality! :)

Around 2:15pm, we left the Vandyke's house and drove back to Gordon College. Joel had to go to his rehearsal so we met Malia near the Chapel. Malia gave us a little bit of a tour. Malia, Catherine, Diana and I walked to Bennett (the sports area) and then we walked to Malia's dorm and we met Malia's roommate (Julie). We walked back to where Mrs. Estes and Martin were and left Diana and Catherine with Mrs. Estes. Malia and went to Chester's and Malia bought me a Nutella Latte. It was super good! I couldn't finish it (with out burning my mouth) before going into the Chapel for Joel's concert so I let Malia finish it. :) Thanks, Malia, for the tour and Nutella Latte! <3

Joel's concert was really cool! There were two children's choirs, Gordon College Woman's Choir, and Gordon College Men's choir. It was a really great performance!

Joel and his choir. He is telling the crowd what the name and background of the song they were about to sing.

This is the men singing. Sorry, it's a bit washed out, I accidentally turned my flash on.

The Men's and Woman's choirs singing Praise His Holy Name!

After the concert we found Dan A.! We introduced him to the Estes family (he already knew Joel though). I happened to be coughing alot and my voice was getting pretty raspy while we were talking to Dan so he offered to give me some of his tea. So, Shannon, Billy, Kenan, and I followed Dan to his dorm. His tea was actually in a big tin can so he had to ask one of his friends for a plastic baggy. One of his friends had baggy with some pistachios in them, so Dan went into a random room and threw the pistachios away. We put some of the tea in the baggy and then walked to Joel's dorm. When we got to Joel's dorm, the rest of the Estes were already there. Joel showed us the pictures and posters and random stuff in his dorm and then we all said good bye to Dan and Joel. :(

For supper, we went to the Millete's house. While we waited for supper to be prepared, all of us kids played almost a complete round of Man Hunt outside. Supper was potato and corn chowder, with slices of yummy bread, and apple cider. SO yummy! After supper, we had apple crisp and vanilla ice cream. Mmm good! Mr. and Mrs. Millete, Mr. and Mrs. Estes, Shannon, Billy, Kenan, Martin, and I sat around in the living room and talked for awhile. We had some good fellowship. :) We left the Milette's house soon after that.

Most of us basically fell right to sleep on the car ride home. I woke up just before we got to the Topsham Park and Ride parking lot. Nick, Shannon, Billy and I got our stuff together, hugged those who were awake (Nick, Kenan, Mr. and Mrs. Estes)  goodbye and then drove home. I had SUCH a good day! A huge thank you to the Estes family (especially Mr. Estes for driving)!