Saturday, July 23, 2016

Fun in Texas in July 2016~by Beth

Since Katie works at a gym we were able to again go have some fun playing there.  Though I took a bunch of photos, only this one came out decently.
 On Thursday of our visit we went to the Aquatics Center.  It is only 2 miles from Nathan's house so we felt safe leaving David home alone, with cell phones.  All  was fine.  So the next day on Friday we did some other fun things, such as visit the Ft Worth Stockyards.


Twice a day the Longhorns are driven up the main street.

"Howdy Partner"

Stephen sneeks the gun

Abigail, Stephen and Johanna in the visitor building
Later that day we drove over to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and saw how money is made.  We learned a lot.  But, we were prohibited by federal law to bring in phones or camera's so I don't have any photos.  It would be great to go back there again some day.

Before we left on our fun day I took Katie to the air port to fly to Minnesota for our niece Sophia's wedding.  Here she is with the lovely bride.

The night before we left for our next adventure all the children got free slurpees since it was 7/11

Friday, July 22, 2016

A Broken Leg in July 2016~by Beth

In the process of taking down a dead tree, our son David had an accident which injured his leg, fractured his tibial plateau and broke a small bit off his femur.  We rushed him to the ER, and later that night he had a surgery to wash the wound and stitch up the injury.  He spent two days in the hospital getting rounds of antibiotics and then came home to Nathan and Hannah's house.  We were not sure if he would even be able to continue the trip with us, but God was good and David healed up enough to continue on the trip the next week.  Here are some photos of him in the hospital.

David on his way home

July means vacation~by Beth

We did a lot of travel this month.  I will have to break it up into different posts.
We began by visiting Nathan, Hannah and the three little girls in Texas.  We arrived the weekend before Independence day.  On Sunday we had Emma's catechization.  Hannah made a wrist corsage for Emma and then made a beautiful arrangement with the remaining flowers.  She is amazing.  Emma did a wonderful job with memorizing her questions.  Here are some photos.




Another amazing Hannah creation-the cake















Katie took us to her gym to play around.  We had lots of fun there too.

On Monday it was the 4th.  The day began by going to the Irving Parade.





















This day began as a really fun day.  Later we stopped at the best thrift store before getting home.  But what happened in the afternoon would change our stay and the direction of our son David.

Spring Recital 2016~by Beth


Okay, so I missed May in this blog.  But, it has been an awfully long time since we posted any videos.  The children had a recital in June which was actually planned by our piano teacher's husband.  We love Mrs. VanderPol and will miss her when they move to Kansas City.  This will be our last recital.  We normally do not take lessons during the Summer, but we wanted to get in as much time with this wonderful lady as we could.  Plus, Stephen and Abigail have not had a chance to be taught by her, so they began lessons this month as well.  This is the group that came up first.  Mr. Morosco lead the event.
Stephen and Abigail are in the center

I wanted to upload videos but this site doesn't seem to want to let me.  When Jon handled the blog years ago he did upload them, but I have not quite figured it out. But the children played so beautifully.
Here is a group photo of our children and Mrs. VanderPol
Emma, Johanna, Christiana, Abigail, Marcia VanderPol, Stephen and David

Some of Mrs. VanderPol's students
 We will miss you our dear friend and teacher.





Monday, June 13, 2016

May 2016~by Beth

May, May, what can I say about May except it was jam packed with loads of events.  It began with Christiana's graduation party on the first.  We needed to schedule it ahead of the actual graduation because that was the only time we could fit it in.

some of our guests playing a game

Her grad board, table and decorations










Next came Charity's 16th birthday on May 4th.





















Following that was the soccer tournament.  We had games several days during the week, but it culminated on Saturday May 7th.
Emma and teammate Ben in a game

Abigail running in play

Johanna watching

Emma

2016 LCHS team took 3rd place


Coach David talks to the team after the last game

 Christiana slipped in a dance just before her graduation.  We found this lovely dress the day before at a thrift store for $1.  Score!!
Best date ever (actually he just dropped her off)
















Graduation morning, May 14, 2016, we took pictures before heading over to the church.
Dad giving Christiana her card from us

Smile

Happy grad, proud parents

Sibs and the grad

Ready to leave for graduation

 CHESF class of 2016
Christiana walks down the aisle

Christiana plays at grad

Stephen and his buddy Emily

Stephen, Emily, and Benji, former kindergarten grads

Kelsey, Joel and Christiana after grad

Charity, Amanda, Paige, and Emma


Cynthia, Donna and Beth, home school mamas together for 2 decades













Mother's day gifts for Beth, Yea!!




















Mother's day was the next day so it was a treat to get taken out to my favorite spot to eat, especially since graduation was a long day, and also included going to a grad party that evening.
The very next day we left for a week at our ATI home school conference.  We were able to get David to his program on time Tuesday because we left Monday and stayed with Caleb in Gainesville for the night.  We certainly enjoyed the pool at his apartment that evening.
Johanna and Abigail

All the girls swam, along with Stephen

Caleb joined the fun

One, two, ready, JUMP!





















Caleb was a nice host and had ample room as he has no room mates at the moment.

I taped the presentations of all the programs our children were involved in.  But one of the pictures that I snapped turned out okay.  Wish my camera took better photos.
Emma is in the center with the chevron scarf, and Christiana is behind her with her eyes closed
We drove through the night to arrive home on Saturday, exhausted, but none the worse for wear.  The jv girls had a party that afternoon and Christiana was in a play and had practice that day.  More on that at the end of this long post.  Tired of reading?  Well we were tired doing all these things!  But we enjoyed every minute.
Christiana had her birthday on the 24th so here is her 18th birthday photo.  She made her own cake and it was very good.  The last day of May she also got her driver's license.  What a year of milestones for her!
Christiana's 18th birthday
At the end of the month, yes we are getting there, was the production of Neverland by One Room School, which is a private umbrella school for home schooled students.  Though Christiana was not in the school she was allowed to participate as a pirate.  She had the time of her life and I am so glad she had the opportunity to do it.  The play was loads of fun and the student actors were so very talented.  We were impressed.
Christiana is the pirate in the striped skirt

The cast of Neverland, written and produced by Sarah Ascol
One other thing happened this month:  Stephen learned to tie his shoes.  NOT.  Can someone please teach that boy?  He is almost 8 and he still has not gotten the hang of it.  But he can tie them this way!

Next month is the children's recital.  I have been attempting to upload the videos of them here, and haven't been successful doing that yet.  Hopefully I can add them.  They are so precious.