Annie made the decision to be baptized at the start of August. It was a sweet morning of seeing our girl proclaiming her faith to our church family. We didn't manage to get any pictures at her baptism which makes me sad but I did take this one after we got home. Bryan was the one that baptized her.
The second week in August was when the team from our church headed to Swaziland, Africa to minister to orphan children at a care point there. My friend Jennifer, her husband, and their two oldest kids lead the team that goes each year. Their two youngest boys came to stay with us that week while Jennifer and James were out of the country. We had lots of fun having Owen and Elijah here with us that week.
The girls usually outnumber the boys in our family but on this day our friend Nate came to play too which made it an even score between the boys and girls on this day.
The kids had fun playing with the water hose one afternoon.
Elijah and Ally were baptizing each other. *grin*
An evening trip to Sonic for ice cream cones.
Annie and Owen
We jumped back into school in August. It has been a busy but good year thus far. Our outside activities did not start back until the start of September so we had a few weeks to find our new rhythm with this school year before jumping in full force.
Our school tee shirts.
Ballroom dance began back on September 4th. The advanced class at ballroom is by invitation only. Curt and Wendy, the main teachers, watch for those that they feel are ready to move into advance and ask you to join when they see you are ready. Emmy and Annie were both moved into advanced this year! Annie was especially excited over it as she had been hoping all summer that she might be able to join advanced this fall.
Annie at ballroom the first class of the new year.
Intermediate class.
Natalie and Ally with their friend Abby on the first day back at ballroom.
Ally and Annalise.
Annie in advanced class.
Even though it is blurry, I love this picture of Annie! She dances with such beauty & elegance.
Look who joined ballroom this fall! After watching his sisters do ballroom for the past few years, he was excited to join in.
Brother and sister dancing together.
Our first field trip of the school year with our homeschool group was to Chick Fil-A for a backstage tour of how their restaurant runs.
Camden with Logan, Dylan, and Christian.
Mackenzie and Natalie.
In September Krispy Kreme donuts had their annual dress and talk like a pirate day. Camden did the honors of dressing up for our family and he scored a dozen free donuts for us!
Houston and Emmy are taking a debate class this fall. An older gentleman, Mr. Skip, who is a part of our church family, taught debate in the public school setting for 30 years. He is retired now and he graciously offered to teach a debate class this fall for our homeschool group. It has been a wonderful introduction into debate and both of the kids are enjoying it. Emmy especially. They meet every Wednesday afternoon with their class and their topic for these 10 weeks is capital punishment. They are debating for the affirmative side and are a team together. They had their first debate this past week and WON! They scored a 27 and a 28 out of 30 on their debate. I am so proud of them! The course has required A LOT of research for both sides of the argument as well as writing here at home weekly. Note taking and quick thinking with thorough responses is a primary skill of focus while in class and debates.
Emmy is taking an online philosophy college course through MIT this semester. It is her first college age course. Since the start of summer she has been working her way through a study by Apologia called I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist. She has loved the study and through it she has discovered that she loves philosophy.
Emmy, Annie, and Natalie joined Benei Aor this fall. The best way I know how to describe Benei Aor is that it is a youth discipleship team that meets together for bible study, prayer, and to learn dances and drama that are put to Christian songs so that they can perform at local venues and share the gospel around our city. We meet with our local Benei Aor group every Friday evening and our first performances are scheduled for later this month.
The history of Benei Aor is really fascinating. The original Benei Aor outreach ministry was started 20 years ago in Recife, Brazil. Today over 500 youth participate in Benei Aor groups in churches throughout north eastern Brazil and the US. The vision of Benei Aor—which is Hebrew for “Children of Light”—is to draw youth to Jesus Christ, deepen their relationship with Him, train them in leadership and involve them in reaching others with the Gospel. USA Benei Aor has been in existence since summer of 2007. USA groups are primarily in North Carolina and Alabama.
The girls LOVE Benei Aor and I love Mitzi, their leader.
Senior high small groups kicked off for Houston, Emmy, and Annie last month. They meet every other Sunday afternoon with their groups. The girls are going through the book, Lies Young Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I was so excited when I saw what book was chosen for their small group this fall as it is one I had put on their fall reading list.
My sweet friend Kristi and I share the same birthday. If you follow our blog at all then you have seen pictures of Kristi and her three adorable girls at some point. I love her to pieces. Kristi has been fighting stage 4 breast cancer for around 3 years now. She was diagnosed shortly after giving birth to their last child, Lydia. I am so happy to share that she is doing well right now. The medicine she is receiving is preventing the cancer from spreading at this point but please be in prayer if you would for Kristi and her husband Robert and their three girls as they walk this journey. Their faith in Christ is strong and it is what sustains them through the difficult moments and days. Their lives are such a testimony of God's goodness and love. On September 6th, Kristi was honored with a surprise birthday party. It was a very sweet evening for Kristi, Robert, and her parents, who came in from Georgia to celebrate with everyone, as well as all those who love Kristi. Sadly, I awoke on the day of the party with my Fibro pain levels on high which made me so sad as I wasn't able to go early and help with the setting up of the party like I had hoped to. Our family was able to attend for a couple of hours that evening though. I am thankful I was at least able to be there for a short time to help celebrate this amazing woman and friend of ours.
The medicine that Kristi takes for the cancer causes her cholesterol to rise so she has to be careful about her diet. Our sweet friend Alli made sure to plan the menu at the party as something that Kristi could enjoy. The entire menu was Greek food with Greek chicken as the main dish.
The women in our small group brought, made, and set up all of the food. Didn't they do an amazing job! Everything was so beautiful! It made me smile.
I just have to say that this hummus was incredible. Our friend Phylis made it. It was our first time to ever try hummus and the girls and I were instantly hooked.
Dessert table.
Music at the party.
Goofy Bryan and I. This picture makes me laugh. We were harassing him about not having enough fun in pictures so he started having fun.
Abi and Annie
Regina and I. In my lifetime, and through all of our moving around, God has blessed me with some very special friends that I love dearly. In the midst of them all there are a few that I can say are kindred spirits and best friends. This girl is one of them! Gosh, I love her dearly and thank God daily for bringing her and her sweet family into our lives.
Our small group ladies with Kristi in the middle. So thankful to have these ladies in my life.
W3 started back the first Wednesday evening in September. Bryan and I are continuing to lead Wacky Games each week. We are walking through the book of Exodus this year with the kids and were having a blast doing so!
The week before W3 started, the kids and I went to the church to decorate for our first night.
Check out what Annie painted. A photo stand for the kids. Didn't she do an amazing job!
Pharaoh Camden
Pharaoh Ally
And check out the display Emmy made to represent Moses as an infant. I love it!
We try to coordinate most of our games to the bible lesson each week and sometimes we add in some goofy games that do not relate at all but are super fun. Or at least we always hope the kids have fun!
On our first week we played Bible Wheel of Fortune and I used words that the kids would be encountering in the weeks ahead in the book of Exodus.
Finding out how to spell their names in Hieroglyphics.
Post it note relay on one of our first weeks. Our Ally girl covered up in post-it notes.
Memory Verse dominoes
On the week that we learned about Moses and the burning bush we roasted marshmallows over a fire pit outside and made smores. The kids loved it!
Our Ally girl in pink.
Camden in the American flag shirt.
Just a couple of weeks ago Emmy had braces put on.
A before and after pic. Right now she only has the braces on her top teeth. She goes back in three months to have them put on her bottom teeth.
Between ballroom dance, Benei Aor, and debate class as well as all of our other school work, church activities, and life in general, our lives are very full right now. We are so thankful for the opportunities God has placed in our path and for the people we get to do life with.
