Saturday, December 31, 2011

Images From Christmas

It's hard to believe that the Christmas season has come and gone already. This year it seemed that we were especially busy with stuff for the kids and things that were going on within our church family. It's definitely different when you're in ministry and you try and celebrate while "working." Scott did have more time off from preaching this year, but it seemed like so much was still going on that he was busy with. We enjoyed a couple days away after Christmas and do feel blessed as a family. It's hard to believe that this is the last year Katie will be home. Next year she'll be coming back from her first semester at Calvin! She was complaining about our beautiful 75 degree weather on Christmas Day. (She thought it was too warm!) I think next year she'll be thankful to come home to great weather. This year we squeezed in some presents after church on Christmas Eve. Here are some highlights.









Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Legos

Troy asked Scott to help him build with legos the other afternoon. They had a great time building together. I think the end result was a catapult. (Think punkin' chunkin'!) Not sure whose idea that was. I love their expressions in these pictures. Scott is in deep concentration with his tongue out and I think Troy has given up and is singing in his! :)


Friday, December 23, 2011

Kam Turns 12

Kamryn Elise is 12! Our December baby, middle child, Y2K pregnancy (remember that?) is growing up. Kamryn has always been her own person. As a toddler she was kind of a wild child with hair that liked to stick straight up. Kamryn still has her own opinions, but is much more on the mellow side. She loves sports and comfortable clothes. She's a great student and has a giving personality. Everybody likes Kam. She thought it was funny that the whole class sent her out of the room so they could set up a little surprise (they all yelled "happy birthday") for her before she passed out her birthday treat. (She requested homemade brownies with chocolate frosting.) Anyway, we are thankful for Kamryn and enjoyed celebrating with her friend Emily. We drove out to Riverside, ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory, walked around Mission Inn to see the lights and got a birthday cupcake at Casey's Cupcakes.










Playing her new "Just Dance III" one morning.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Monday, December 19, 2011

Shoot-Out

The Rotary Club hosted a shooting contest for students who were chosen to represent their schools last Saturday morning. We were happily surprised that Kamryn made a good showing with 10 out of 25 baskets. (Last year was a little rough with a total of 3!) It was fun to watch the kids do well under a little pressure. These are most of the RCS kids who were in the contest. Some had already left. Kam got second in her age group. As you can imagine, the tall girl got first.




Mini Choir Tour

Katie's choir took a mini-tour around Redlands the other day. They stopped about 5 different places to share their musical talents. I got to drop in at the middle school chapel where they performed first at RCS. I didn't want to use my flash, so the pictures are a little dark, but it still shows the group. They sounded great!


RCS Christmas Concert

Last week was concert week as we got to hear lots of Christmas music at the different levels. Tuesday evening was the RCS concert at the beautiful U of Redlands Chapel. I had my super-duper zoom lens on, so got lots of nice close-ups, but could not get the whole hall from where we were sitting. (The architecture is beautiful.) Kamryn played her clarinet in the band and sang in the sixth grade choir and Troy sang his little heart out with the other second graders. Scott was again "chosen" to be part of the stage crew. This year's theme was angels. So Scott got to help move stage equipment during the intermission wearing angels' wings and a halo. (Too fun!) We are so thankful for our wonderful band and choir directors, Mrs. Leonard and Mr. Mercer. They are so awesome! (Sorry about the red-eye. I'm not going to take the time now to fix it.)








Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Christmas Programs Continued...

We had our church Christmas program last Sunday evening. We had a great turnout (amazing how full church is when you involve cute little kids on the stage!). There were contributions from the little guys all the way up to the high school group. The middle schoolers didn't have anything, so Kam was off the hook this time. It was a neat time of celebration and joy. Troy had a speaking part for the younger kids. Katie helped direct the 4th and 5th graders and also was part of the high school dramatic production. (It's difficult to describe.) Also, a sidenote: Our amazing creative arts team designed and made this backdrop to go along with Scott's sermon series this month. It's incredible! We are blessed!
A good looking group!
Katie and the high school group. (She's in the back on a chair.)

Troy reading his part from the Children's Story Book Bible.
The Club 4-5ers looking cool.
More high school. (They were supposed to be serious!)

Surprise!

Scott surprised me with a night away for my birthday last weekend. We were able to stay at a nice place by the beach. (My favorite!) We ate great food and were refreshed by the cool ocean breezes. The weather was beautiful. We also enjoyed a lights tour in Newport. After a busy few weeks, it was great just to have time to spend together!