Sorry Everyone!

    Sorry it has been so long since the last post! We have been unbelievably busy over the past month (which has made me laugh at what I used to consider "busy", and makes me wonder what I did with all my time!!) Now that we are nearing Thanksgiving break, and all our major projects are done for now, we can take this time to update everyone on what's been going on.

First, here are some pictures of our nursing home ministry:

This is us in front of the nursing home.

The kids practising for a nursing home special. (the girl in the plaid skirt is a friend of mine. She leads the kids with their songs)

Outside the nursing home on the morning of our first snow.

Which leads me to the next event, our first snow:

It started after dinner that night.



By the next morning, this was the view from our balcony.

The snow was gone by the end of the day, and we even had a few 70 degree days since then. I think now it is just going to stay cold, though.

Next, here are some pictures from the make-a-wish foundation fundraiser we had at the daycare:

We all had to dress up, so I used what I found in my closet to dress like a hillbilly.

This is me, along with two of my co-workers/college-mates, Christina and Tiana.

We got Hannah to join us for this picture.

 Last, but CERTAINLY not least, here are some pictures from Empowered Youth Week ( a special week-long meeting where hundreds of teens come and hear preaching and play games and go on activities.):

This was the first night of the meeting. It opened with a play put on by the staff members, with the college choir providing the music. This is Miranda with her friends Catherine and Hannah.

The scenery being set up for the play.

Miranda waiting for the play to start.

During the week, they had two game times each day. The staff members all dressed up along with the Roman theme this year, except Luigi, the Italian pizza maker.

The game times were always loud and crazy, with balloons going off and constantly flying throughout the auditorium, cheering as the teams competed, and candy and prizes being (literally) thrown everywhere. This is a picture of Mr. Edwards in his Roman "dress" as he called it.

There were two services each day. This is a picture of the teen choir getting ready to sing in the evening service.

On Thursday, everyone went to a science museum in Chicago

This is a picture of a complete miniature city they had there.

Miranda said this was supposed to demonstrate an avalanche.

Another pic. from the museum.



Another pic. of gametime. You can see Mr. Edwards, Luigi (Mr. Tom Almanza), and Mr. Armacost in this picture.



One of the many hilarious and crazy stunts they did during gametime. Each gametime was always "interrupted" with some silly thing.



After the last day of Empowered Youth, we had cake and ice cream for Miranda's 13th birthday. She said she had the best birthday ever because she got to go to Empowered Youth.

Phew! Hopefully everyone is still alive after all those pictures! After E. Y. was over, we went back to the daily schedule of school and work. Emp. Youth was fun, and worth the effort because it sounds like God really moved in some lives that week, but it was also very tiring! We are so thankful that Thanksgiving is almost here!! I'll leave you with one final thought, and that is: what Dad and I both hope to get to do a little of during our break-