Harvest/Holiday Edition

​We hope this newsletter finds you enjoying the beautiful fall weather and God's artistry in the colors of autumn. The mountains of North Carolina are just beginning to turn, but as this photo shows, for the first time ever, we were able to see the Aspen in Colorado in all their glory!

We left Franklin, NC, on Sept. 10, jogged north to KY to visit The Wrights (one of our family of adopted kids and grandkids,) and enjoyed a service where they ministered. We then spent a week in the Topeka area visiting Jeannie's brother, Dave, and his wife, Rhonda, and Den's stepmom, Doris, and his brother, Brad, and wife, Kelly. Also, Jeannie's nephew and family, Adam, Kelsey, and Benton, and Den's Uncle Melvin, Aunt Marcia, and her husband, Gary, and cousin Gina, her husband A.J., and daughter, Avery. It was good to catch up with several friends, including Tim Oathout, and his wife, Lisa, and their growing family, son, David, and soon to meet daughter! Jeannie had a good visit with Deb Tubbs, high school friend and interim director of Topeka YFC.

​Special thanks to our Topeka hosts and life-long friends, Dave and Kathy Barkes, who in turn just visited us here in NC, where we took this photo on our land!

It was great to see everyone and we are sorry we missed the rest of you this trip. Next time! One of the highlights for Jeannie was visiting the Silver Lake Library, where she was the director in the 90's, and seeing the new renovation, and library friends, Cindy, Karla, Amber and Ashley. It looks great, inside and out! The current director and children's director, Cathy and Tracy, have done a fantastic job! (BTW, they have copies of all of Jeannie's books, and will soon have Book III in the Tresia series!)

​After our Topeka visit, we took off for Colorado with John and Marj Oathout, and their daughter Lisa, and her husband David. We sang with John for almost 25 years in the Messengers Quartet and have spent many summer vacations in CO together, but this was the first fall vacation. We stopped in the Denver area first to visit Jeannie's Uncle Lindy and cousin, Amy, and her family. Another cousin, Tim, and his family were there the same day, so we enjoyed a mini Aadalen family reunion.

This is the cabin where we stayed for five days in Salida, CO. Jeannie made the last edits to her book in this gorgeous spot! We spent three days in John's four-wheeler on the trails in the high country and saw so many wonders of God's creation. Here are a few of our favorite shots:

On the way back to KS, we stopped near McPherson to have a short visit with another adopted daughter, Carol Nelson, who is also Jeannie's webmaster and fixer of all things technical in regard to her writing! Carol has been invaluable! (Jeannie is still a bit non-techy.) Carol's daughters, Caitlyn and Emalee were on Jeannie's Youth Advisory Board for the Tresia series. We went the northern route back home through Louisville, KY, and enjoyed a short visit with Jeannie's cousin, Jill and her sons, Sam and Jack, and daughter, Lilly, who is also on Jeannie's YAB.

​After returning to NC, Dennis was busy officiating the final games of the volleyball season and attending official's meetings for the upcoming basketball season. He has enjoyed volleyball, but is really looking forward to getting back on the court and watching the game from a ref's point of view! It was also so good to be back home at Cherokee Bible Church and our family there.

​Jeannie spent October finishing up the final proofs on her book. Trinity Tales of Tresia, Book III: A Perfectly Magnificent Cane, will be officially released on November 1, but is available now for preorder on her publisher's website.

​This is the final installment in this series. The print proofs arrived this week and her first book order is in! She will take a few months off to market her current titles and get to know the western NC writer community, but the next series is already rolling around in her head. Check out her website for info and sales on the previous titles. While you are there, sign up for her monthly blog, Jewels for the Journey, and check out her Reading Nook with book lists of what she's reading, and our ministry page for photos on our progress.

We have decided to winter in our lovely campground in Franklin. We have a nice sheltered spot at Mi Mountain Campground, a wonderful campground owner, and we have adjusted well to living in a 26 ft. camper! Dennis is winterizing what is needed to keep us safe and warm, and Jeannie is determined to find room for a small Christmas tree and a few outside decorations! Dennis will work games several times a week, so that will keep him busy in the winter months. If it snows, they will cancel school, so Jeannie won't have to be concerned about slippery drives home!

We are looking forward to working on the land during the cold months when things are more easily accessed and cleared. By late spring we should be ready to begin the process of getting utilities hooked up, an RV spot ready, and moving the camper out to Macs MountainView Ministries. Over the summer, we hope to get our first cabin built and Macs Music Recording Studio established. Dennis is very excited about that. Our high school friend, Bob Iwig, and his wife, Diane, visited a couple months ago and his brother, Mark, took this photo of the Franklin area from the top of the mountains. You will find a print of this in our cabin one of these days! We are so grateful and amazed that God picked out this spot for us.

Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think may be interested in keeping up with the Macs. God is so good and we are excited for the next steps on our re-firement journey! We would love to hear from you!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas season! Be BLESSED!

Dennis and Jeannie