Senior Breakfast

So we have now officially begun the end of Sr. year festivities. I have mixed emotions, but we are excited for Katie and she is ready for the next step. We are again discovering the traditions of a new school and how it all works here in Redlands. There is a tradition of a Sr. breakfast for the students and their parents. It was a nice time of gathering. It's a little different for us, only having known these families for less than two years. We feel blessed, though, as Katie has made such good friends here. Looking at these pictures brings back the tiredness I felt that morning as we had just returned from the choir trip the night before. The Seniors from choir had to sing one more time for the group. There was lots of picture taking, good food and chatting.

San Fran

Scott and I chaperoned Katie's choir trip to the city by the bay last week. After finding kid sitters and a dog sitter, and making sure all other details were covered, we were ready to go. (Thanks again to the In't Houts and the Mulders for covering kids and Cobi!) We made our way up the state from Redlands to Petaluma and gave 10 concerts along the way! The kids did great, the scenery was spectacular, and thankfully we all made it safely there and back. I was impressed with our students as they interacted with other students, residents of nursing homes, and each other. There was little drama until the last day when everyone had just had enough of each other... :) Two nights we stayed in an incredible home overlooking the SF Bay. Awesome! We were thankful for this opportunity, especially as Katie's high school career is winding down. Here are some highlights.

Katie was in charge of checking everyone in. :)

Packing up Tuesday morning.

First concert.

The kids got really good at unloading and reloading the vans.

Katie at the park in Ripon on our first evening.

A concert in Pacifica, I think.

Katie trying to play a Japanese video game with two of the international students who are a part of the group. Too funny!

We toured Alcatraz.

This was a fun stop at a Christian High School where the students performed for other High School kids.

Marin Headlands-a great spot.

One of the clearest days we've seen on the bay. A group shot by the Golden Gate Bridge.

We dared to drive the school vans down Lombard St.!

A partial view of the home where we stayed.

The dining room where we shared some great meals.

Group shot on the last morning.

A view from the back patio of the house. I could handle that every day!

The whole group after their last concert at a nursing home in SF. The kids sounded great!

Update

Life continues to be busy. There's a lot I could say about what life has been like lately, but I'll just keep it simple. We are enjoying the kids' activities, keeping on track with Katie in her Senior year of high school...("You need money for what now?!"), washing sports uniforms ("what do you mean you can only find one baseball sock?!"), and trying to squeeze in some fun stuff along the way to "make memories" as Kamryn would say. Through it all, we are blessed to see that God is good and guides and protects us along the way.

Kamryn is playing on the 6th grade co-ed basketball team. Highlights-Nick and Mr. DeBoer are her coaches, they call themselves the "Blue-gers" (blue Cougers), the boys don't pass enough to her(in her opinion), and, yes, these are the same uniforms as some of you observed RCS teams wearing in the 80's.

Another Redlands tradition, the Cadet pine wood derby...This year Troy came in 7th out of everyone. Very exciting as he then was part of the top 7 who got to pick prizes. (He picked out a sweet slip and slide.) The fact that his car did so well is a bit humorous because Troy's car was as plain as they come. He did all the work himself, where in some cases the dads get too involved. (Yes, that's my opinion.) It was a fun night with popcorn, blue cupcakes and lots of boys running around.

Troy and Trev

Thankfully the weather has been warm enough to try out the slip and slide. It works great and has provided much sibling fun in the backyard.

Easter 2012

Today we had a wonderful celebration of our risen Lord! We continue to be blessed by our River Family with worship and fellowship. I snapped some photos before church because Katie's team was leading worship this morning. She even had a solo part and did great! I always think that the worship we have in this talented church is a glimpse of what heaven will be like. It's wonderful! After church we enjoyed lunch at home and then had dessert with some friends. Holidays in a new place are a challenge as we don't quite know what our traditions will be and who they will include. We were blessed to have Scott's mom visiting here this Easter. She enjoyed hiding eggs for a sibling egg hunt in the backyard. Katie came out the winner with the most eggs, but there were some accusations of foul play during the hunt. :)

Back to the Beach

During the last part of our spring break, we had Scott's mom here to visit. We decided her visit to Southern CA would not be complete without a trip to the beach. Saturday we took a quick ride out to Newport and took in the beautiful fresh sea air. We were craving a hamburger from Ruby's for lunch so we set out to find it. It ended up being quite a ways from where we had parked. The kids were not convinced that a hamburger was worth this much work, but we were determined. We eventually made it and enjoyed a wonderful lunch out on the Balboa Pier.