Ho Ho Ho! (He He He) =)

Well, it's been over a month this time, but I am writing this blog for Macey because she wanted a new one. And I'll even put pictures on here to make up for some time too Macey lol. So....

Christmas was super! Christmas Eve we had a family get-together at our great-aunt's house and some extended family came and stuff and it was fun. Then that evening we went to our Papaw's house and had a really good time there too.

(Three generations: My Papaw, My Dad, My Brother =] )

Oh, and that night was fun because our Aunt Chris wanted a kitten but she didn't want the rest of her family to know, so she had Randee and Mark pick it out and they left it at our house. So on Christmas Eve night after everyone was asleep but Aunt Chris, we took over the kitten and they had a big surprise waiting on them Christmas morning. It was so fun playing Santa!! :)

And Christmas morning was so wonderful too! My Nanny had spent the night for a few nights that week, so she was there too and it was really fun. Our Aunt Sandy in NC always sends us Christmas packages and we open those in Christmas Eve. So that's what we were doin here.

And usually on Christmas Day after we have Christmas at our house, all the family goes to Mimi and Papaw's, but this year our family in England moved back to the US and they flew in on Christmas Day!!! So that day Dad made a really great Christmas dinner at our house which was really really good.

Daddy reading us the Christmas story after dinner.

Christmas evening we went to meet our family at the airport which was exciting. Then on Sunday we had the family celebration at Mimi and Papaw's. It was so fun too. There's not a picture of us that evening with Mimi and Papaw, but here's one with us cousins and our great aunt that comes to the party too. =)

So in the meantime, while our family in England is moving back to the United States, some of our family living here are moving to Winchester. So a couple days last week we drove up loads of stuff to their new house and that was really cool.

And then New Year's was also very wonderful! We were hoping to go to a Ravenna concert (the band Chelsey and Mark are in) in Winchester, but it was supposed to snow that evening so we didn't get to go =( But things turned out good. And our family watched the ball drop and made New Year's resolutions together and stuff like that, so it was a cool evening.

So that has been a super quick abbreviated summary of my break (no, not even of Christmas break, just of the holidays). Ok, so it's not super quick, but it's shorter than what I usually do. I think. But when I don't write in over a month, I've got to catch up, right Macey? =) (do you like how I keep referring to your name this time?) =] lol

So this has been a really fantastic Christmas break. We made special family memories like stringing popcorn for the tree, watching many Hallmark Christmas movies, painting the kitchen cabinets white on New Year's Eve (that was mainly Mom's idea lol), pulling up the carpet in our living room to reveal the pretty hardwood underneath (another one of mom's house projects. But it all looks good! lol), driving back and forth to Winchester a couple days in a row delivering loads of our family's belongings from one house to their other, and making New Year's resolutions together in the living room while we watched the ball drop. So it was really a super great break.

And I know it's a little late, but...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! =)

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Well, once again, I haven't posted for like a month. Actually, it really almost has been. But I have realized that I don't have a lot of spare time, but that's ok, because I love my life just the way it is. : )

So... this past month has been good. I've done things like go to a Ravenna concert, the band my cousins Chelsey and Mark and some of their friends are in; play in a piano competition at KCU; go to a Thanksgiving/ Christmas parade (which was last night actually and was really fun), and spend time with my whole family because it seems like we're always having parties (and if it's not someone's birthday, we're celebrating like Columbus Day or something. Just kidding, we don't go that far, but we get together and have fun as often as we can lol). Which is why I'm sooo super excited about tomorrow, because...

It's Thanksgiving!!! I absolutely love the holidays and spending time with my family. So tomorrow, we go up to Nanny's (my dad's mom) and have a wonderful delicious meal (yum yum!). Then we go to Mimi and Papaw's (my mom's parents) and all the family comes in, and we have another yummy yummy meal. And by the end of the day, I am sooo stuffed. But it's ok, because the food is delicious and family is wonderful, and I just can't wait.

So some things I'm thankful for- oh goodness, the list could go on and on. I'm so blessed. But some of the top things are my amazing family, my great school, my wonderful church, my super good friends, my health (although... I do have a sinus infection right now. How ironic. But typically we're all very healthy lol) and my epic God! (Zane, I told you I'd use that sometime =] )
So I'm so blessed and thankful for all that, plus our freedom. We have freedom to worship Jesus whenever, wherever we want, and that is so awesome!

So anyway, everyone have very happy holidays, don't forget to be thankful for allllllllllll God's blessed us with, and happy turkey day!!! : )

Eighteen!!!

Today is my eighteenth birthday and it's been sooo great!!!

Well, for one thing, we don't have school on Mondays, so we got to be home today, and the school my mom teaches at is out for sickness, so she was home today with us too! So it was good bein with them today.

See, the day started out with us thinking we were going to get flu and pneumonia shots, but when we got to the health dept, the flu immunization things weren't even shots! They were just that mist stuff you spray in your nose, so that was no big deal. And then they told us they didn't give people our age pneumonia shots, even though we thought everything about that had been established on the phone earlier. But, I mean, hey, I was fine with not getting two shots today!

Then we went to Wal-Mart on the way home, and Mom bought some ingredients for quiche and other things for my bday. Then we came home and had a super fun day. It was gorgeous outside today, which made me sooo happy and surprised me since it's the end of October. So I spent time outside, and Jacqui, Gabriel (and even Mom for a while), jumped on the trampoline a lot, and we played football on it, which was really fun. Well, ok, football as in my brother had the ball, so I tried to tackle him and get it from him, but that didn't work so well. We just fell on the trampoline and were rolling all over the place, me trying to get the ball from him, and him keeping it from me, and then Jacqui tried to help too. We played that for a while, keeping the football away from the others, and the others like on top of you, trying to get it back. It was quite fun! lol :)

So now Mom's teaching her night class at the college, then when she gets home we're gonna have a little party. I was thinkin today that I'm sooo blessed. I'm surrounded by family and great friends who love me, and a God Who's crazy about each one of us, and He gave us this perfect weather and He made laughter which I love. I laugh a lot. I'm just so happy and thankful and, well, yeah, that's what I was gonna say. So anyway, I've had a super fun day. Oh, and my Nanny who has Alzeheimers just now called while I was typin this and she wished me a happy birthday, and it was so good talking to her. She still does pretty well right now. I mean, she's even still able to live by herself! But that's another reason that I'm so blessed: to still have my Nanny who's doin well, and for all of my wonderful grandparents; my Mimi just called too. :) So I'm just a very happy girl tonight. And I feel so blessed. :)

Fall Break!

Hey everyone-- it's fall outside!!!

Last week was my fall break and it was soooo wonderful. Just wonderful. I have a great school and great friends, and thankfully not a hard work load at all this year-- but I was ready for a break. The week was fun, but it started before that first Monday we got to sleep in. It began Friday evening for our middle/ high school spirit week banquet, or as we affectionately call it, "Formal Hangout." And see, formal hangout is the end to our wonderful spirit week, but I'll have to post about that later. I know I say that all the time, that I'll post later, but when something exciting happens, I want to put that right then. lol. So, oh yes! Formal Hangout...

We were dismissed at 2 on Friday after our fun and very messy olympics. We all had to go home, shower all the chocolate, oatmeal, etc. off of us (don't worry, I really will try to explain later). Then we got all dressed up and met at the picture studio in Sears to, well, get our pictures taken! Then finally, finally we got to go to Melini's. It's this delicious Italian Restaurant, and we were all very hungry. So we ate there (I got a wonderful portion of fettuccini chicken alfredo which was super yummy but also too much to eat. But no worries- I took it home and ate it for lunch the next day=] ) Then we headed back to school where we all got changed from our "formal clothes" into jeans and hoodies and played Keep-Away with a little ball, boys against girls, on the parking lot in the dark and the cold... it was so much fun! lol. We also had a little bonfire and we stood around that some, and we hung out in the gym and ate snacks and talked. It was really fun. We left about midnight and slept in on Saturday. It was so wonderful. That day I did absolutely nothing, and it made me very excited because I knew I was about to have a whole week of relaxation like that. So I'll give a quick over-view of my week. The funny thing is, the weekends encompassing fall break were actually some of the best parts of it, but the week was wonderful too.

Sunday afternoon we had a birthday party for our cousin, but we only got to stay a few minutes because I had choir practice at church, then I led worship, then we had youth. So after church Jacqui, Gabriel, and I went back over to our cousins' house, and we watched Bride Wars with Chelsey and Aunt Chris. It was a fun evening.

Monday- relaxtion. Completely. It was cool but sunshiny out, and I laid on the trampoline in the warm sunshine and was super happy that we were on break.

Tuesday- I had a piano lesson that evening, then we went to Mimi and Papaw's house and ate dinner and visited with them for a while, which is always really fun.

Wednesday- I went with Chelsey and Aunt Chris to help show Chelsey the course for her driving test, then we picked up Jacqui and Gabriel and we went back to Aunt Chris and Uncle Mark's house where we helped them move furniture and such. As we were moving Jesse into Randee's old room, we had House of Heroes playing really loud and we were eating runts candy from like 3 Christmases ago, and it was a blast! Then we ate dinner with them (Aunt Chris made a super yummy meal), then went to youth with Randee and Mark.

Thursday- We went to Mimi and Papaw's again. Fun! :)

Then Friday was the beginning of our fun weekend! We went down to Lexington to stay the night with Aunt Debbie and Leanndra because we were going to the Cincinnati Zoo the next day. But that evening I got to go to one of my best friends' football games in Bourbon Co, and I had a such a good time!!! And since we live like 2 and a half hours or so from there, I hardly ever get to see my friend, so it was really good to see him. Oh, and they won. Hooray!

And Saturday, we went to the zoo! We had a really great time there too. I hadn't been to the zoo in a long time, but it was so much fun. I'm sorry I don't have any pics to post on here, because we saw some really cool animals, but I didn't take my camera in with me, and my brother did, but I don't have his pics on here. But anyway, we saw elephants and lions, rhinos and tigers, seals, bears, birds, gorillas, monkeys... so many pretty, cute animals (and some not so cute. But very entertaining.) I enjoy watching like all of the animals, but I think maybe the tigers were my favorite that day. There was a beautiful mommy tiger and four little cubs and they were sooo cute. But the cutest thing was that the momma was resting there, with her beautiful face and fur, and her big pretty paws crossed so delicately (if a huge tiger can be delicate), and one of her little cubs was behind her just kinda laying there too with its little paw on his momma, and it was so sweet!! They were really cute!!

Then Sunday was homecoming at the church where my Papaw pastors, so we went there and heard great music (from some of our family; 0ur second couins to be exact), heard my uncle (who's also a pastor at a different church) speak, and had a delicious meal. Church dinners are the best.

So my fall break was very, very wonderful. Everyone needs some down time and relaxation once in a while, and I think my week was just about perfect for that. :)

My Beautiful Creator

Oh wow, I can't even begin to put into words my wonderful experience with God last night. It was just way too cool. But I'll try to explain it a little. :)

Well see, lately I've been having my quiet time outside under this huge oak tree on the hill behind our house, and it's such a beautiful, quiet spot. Yesterday it had rained, so I decided I would have my quiet time in bed before I go to sleep like I used to always do. But I really needed to pray, but I just wanted to do it outside where I was alone with God. It was still wet and it was gettin dusky outside, but it had stopped raining, so I went up on our hill and was about to sit down under that special oak tree when I saw and remembered some beautiful honeysuckle growing on a fallen tree just a few yards away. But the beautiful thing about them was that they were white and pink! They were so gorgeous! And I was even more amazed because it's the end of September, and there they are growing! And let me mention a side-note really quick: The other day, on like Sept 21, I was kinda sad because it was like the last day of summer (even though I really like the fall too). It's just that it's been such a wonderful summer, I didn't want to see it go. But after I told God about that, I saw those gorgeous honeysuckle (which typically are summer plants, right?), and I think He was giving me a little hug. Or maybe a big hug, just because He's God and He does that sometimes. So I walked over there and looked at them, and I could smell them- maybe because of the fresh rain- and it was just so pretty. I wanted to get a good picture of them, so I tried to take some, but I just couldn't capture the way they looked as I was seeing them- they were just so beautiful! But here are a few of the pics I got:

This is just some of the beauty I was surrounded by. And this was just the beginning of everything I saw yesterday.

(Ok, in the first pic in this row, do you see the little tiny cluster of white a little to the left above my head? Well, that was the honeysuckle! Just those few little ones! And yet they were growing so prettily. And, well in the other one of me you can't necessarily see the nature around me, but I just thought it'd be a fun pic. lol )

Well, so after I saw these beautiful honeysuckle, I was already pretty much amazed with God and His beauty, so I decided I wanted to see more. So I just began walking. Now see, we don't live on a farm or anything, and we actually don't have many woods either, but there are some behind our house. So I just went walking, and I was praying and praising God for His beauty. That just kept popping into my mind (or it does now anyway). Beauty. God is a huge, mighty, powerful, awesome, star- breathing God (see Louie Giglio speak of this on the How Great is Our God tour), and yet He cares enough about the little things- like us- to make us happy. To excited us. To exhilarate us. We're so blessed to have a creative God. A God of beauty.

Next I went up a little ways to this tree that had fallen and been pulled up out of the ground, and it's roots and everything were so huge, it made a little crevice in the earth. Again, a camera obviously can't capture everything the way I was seeing it, but it helps. A lot. So here's this, well, root...

This might not seem very beautiful to you. Actually it didn't really strike me as beautiful either. But it was soo cool and I just really liked it.

I was in a very wonderful mood by now. Actually I was when I began with the honeysuckle. But I was getting more excited now. I decided to walk around some more. I mean, I had no idea where exactly our property line ended, but our neighbors are all so nice and wonderful, I'm sure they wouldn't mind me walking around in their woods too. I mean, after all, they're woods, right? And plus, who would I be bothering? It's not like most people go hiking around in the rainy woods behind their houses. Well, besides me maybe. So anyway, I walked on, more and more amazed at the beauty and creation around me. And Iwas thinking "Why haven't I done this before? Why don't I do this all the time?? I have an awesome God!" And I realized my problems were very, very small and insignificant compared to our huge amazing God. Yet He cares about them anyway! He cares about me! I was just swept off my feet, and I realized that God was saying "Everything will be ok" and I was just like "God, You are so amazing." He really is. I hope you know that. Because after I came inside, I knew I couldnt keep this to myself. We're supposed to share about what God does for us. We're supposed to tell of His mighty acts, even if that's just a little walk through the woods. So I hope I'm getting my point across. Our God is amazing. I want you to know that OUR GOD IS AMAZING!!!

So I was just thinking all this stuff, and I couldn't really stop smiling. I'm sure it probably was a sight- some 17 year old girl walking around in the woods on a rainy evening with my boots on, my camera in hand, and a smile I couldn't wipe off my face. The good thing is- no one saw me! haha. So anyway, I was seeing all this beautiful stuff, but I obviously couldn't get pictures of it all. But I saw pretty leaves and tiny lavendar flowers and just all kinds of stuff. But this next thing I'm about to show you actually made me smile so much. I don't remember, I may've even laughed or made some exclamation or a gasp or something. Again, a camera can't portray the amazing thing I was seeing. I mean, the whole tree looked like this! But here's a little portion of it:

I did these pics extra big because I wanted you to see how awesome they looked. Like, all this fungi stuff is growing from them and it's absolutely amazing!

Well, then I went on, amazed all the while, and then I saw a maple tree, and I was like "We have a maple tree?!"- I think I said that aloud. So then I got a picture of one of its pretty, wet leaves.

Then I also saw this really cool lookin stump that was pretty and had more of that cool fungi stuff growin on it, along with leaves and other green things. So here's a picture of that too. (Ok, here I was practically in a neighbor's back yard. Well, I guess you wouldn't call it yard, but you know what I mean. I'm sure he wouldn't mind, but after I took the pic, I scurried back into "our" woods for a little while.)

Well, so that is the last picture I took while I was on my little walk with God, although I still saw some cool stuff. But I was (and still am) just so wowed at His creation. At His majesty and His power. His compassion and His creativity. His beauty. I felt so in love with Him. When I came in, I was just so happy- like I still couldn't stop smiling. I took my Bible and went up on our hill to have a prayer time with God, but I didnt even open it up. He ended up not speaking to me throught His Word that day- but through His creation. Through His creativity. And through His beauty.

Hope for Africa Children's Choir

Well, it's been another good week of my senior year. I'll begin by explaining the fun things we did last weekend. Well, actually after I finished typing this, I realized all I wrote about was the African Children's Choir, so I'm gonna leave it at that and write more later, because it was such an amazing time, and I wrote more than I thought I would. :)

Well, first of all, I slept in very late on Saturday morning, and it felt so wonderful because I was very tired. Then that evening we went to Central Park where the Hope for Africa Children's Choir was performing. The spring before this last one, they had come to our church and we were a host family to three beautiful girls and one of their chaperones, and it was really amazing. But let me back up to that Saturday over a year ago.....

Well, when our church found out the children's choir was coming, they asked us (my brother, my sister, and myself) to come entertain the children a couple hours before the host families for our church would come pick them up. So we agreed, but when that Saturday came, I was very excited about hosting some little African girls in our home, but I was not too excited about entertaining thirty or so kids for two hours. Yet we went to church anyway, and my thoughts were immediately changed when we got there. We walked into the building, and a few little African children greeted us w/ "Hi, Auntie!" and w/ large hugs. I was shocked. These children had never met us before. Their smiling teachers told us they had just finished their schooling for the day, so they were free to go play w/ us. So we took them outside, and the first thing we did was sing. I had brought my guitar, and we stood outside on the breezy, spring evening and sang w/ the children. And let me tell you- those African kids can dance. We did the song "Cast Your Burdens," and they sang along, and even the kids who didn't know the song danced. It was so wonderful to see such young hearts dance, sing, and be joyful before Jesus. It was so great.

After we sang a couple songs, we played a game w/ them- elbow tag. That lasted for a while, the children being so thrilled and happy and smiley. I don't think I could wipe the smile off my own face the whole evening.
Then the children just played on the playground and laughed and talked. They talked so quickly, and even though they were speaking English, it was still hard to understand them. The children had been taken from the streets of Uganda not even a year before, and been brought to a refuge, and were schooled and taught English, and some got the opportunity to visit America w/ the traveling children's choir. They were so precious.
All the children had short, black hair- even the girls. So when the girls noticed that my sister and I had long, blonde hair, they rushed over and asked if they could play w/ it. So we sat down and they gathered around us and began to play w/ our hair, and tie it and braid it and do whatever they could w/ it, and they were chattering so quickly to each other as they worked that I had no idea what they were even saying. But they were happy, so we were happy.

Then the host families came to pick them up. After all the children got to the places they were supposed to go, we took home our three. And we had such a fun evening. We went home and w/ the girls in our front yard, we played catch w/ a ball, and played tag until it was time to go in and eat. My mom and dad had made spaghetti- the girls had never eaten it before.

After the meal, which the girls were so grateful to us- "Thank you Auntie; Thank you Uncle- they immediately began taking up our plates doing the dishes in the kitchen. We told them they were guests and they didn't have to, but they insisted and quietly and humbly cleaned up the kitchen.

They got their baths, but before they went to bed, they came in and said they would like to do devotion w/ us. They sang a beautiful song and prayed a beautiful, heart-felt prayer, w/ their arms lifted to our Father above, and I was in awe that children so young- our girls were 9, 11, and 13- could have hearts so pure and sincere.

The next morning we took them to church, and the service was to be the children's performance. It began w/ the praise team leading a worship song, and one or two of the African men w/ the children's group helped lead worhip too. It was so cool. And then, they dimmed the lights, the sanctuary got completely silent, and suddenly the entire front row of the little children in their matching African attire, rushed onto the stage in an excited whoop and constant yell, as the first four ran and banged on the bongos while the other children got to their places. And then they began their songs. Oh my goodness, it was incredible. Those children could dance and sing and they were so joyful the whole time they did it! And it was really cute, because in one of the first songs, the smallest little boy, Derek, who was only 5, lost his shoe while they were dancing, so he went off the stage and got it, but instead of going back up, he just stayed and sat in the back row. So my brother motioned for him to come over and sit with us, so little Derek came and sat on my brother's lap. A few minutes later I almost cried when I saw Derek's little brown hand in Gabriel's larger white one. This is the kind of thing Jesus intended- and I know God was happy.

I don't remember exactly what the last song was that they did, but when they finished, everyone was crying. It was an absolutely amazing service.


Afterward, the host families went over to the family life center where breakfast was served to the children. Here is a picture of us w/ our three girls:

And before they left, they sang us another last song. It was so sweet. Here it is:

Then it was so sad because as the children were hugging us all good- bye, some of them started crying, and it made us cry, and when we walked them out to their bus we cried some more. But it was a wonderful experience, and we were soo blessed by it.

We missed them because they weren't coming to the churches around here this year- they trvel around to different places- so we were so excited when we found out they were coming to the park. It was a whole different group of kids because they try to give many more African children a chance to come to the US each year, and they were just as good. It was really cool, and it made me so happy.

And I realized that that's how we are supposed to be- so grateful and joyful and pure in heart, and overflowing with love for our Jesus- just like the African children.

Campfires and Break Dancing

Well, it sure seems like a long time since I last posted- that was the first day of school. Today I just finished my third week. And thankfully it's not been hard, I'm just tired.

Well to begin, I'll just explain the title of this post. And if you're wondering how campfires and break dancing go together... well, they don't except for the fact that those were the highlights of my weekend a couple weekends ago. (As I said, I'm a little behind =])

So on that Saturday night, my dad and brother came home w/ hotdogs and marshmallows, and they built a campfire! It was so much fun. My dad came in and un-bent a couple wire hangers to use as the things to roast our food w/ (I can't remember what they're called), and we did just that. We brought out some lawn chairs and sat around the little fire and roasted our hotdogs and then made s'mores. They were sooo yummy. I ate three of them.

Then we just sat there under the beautiful stars and talked and I played my guitar some, and we just had a cozy little family time. It was really fun.

Then Sunday evening was the annual talent show at our church. I sang and played a song on the piano. It was Beloved by Tenth Avenue North. I had just pretty much learned it that day, but I really wanted to share it w/ the church because it's such an incredible song- it's like Jesus is singing to us, to me, and He's pursuing us, and it's such a cool song. But then......

Break Dancing!!! Yep, that's what we did. See, our youth group did a skit like "America's Got Talent," and the act our friend Hannah and my sister and I did was break dancing. It was really fun. See, we really don't know the first thing about it, which made it sooo much more fun and funny. We were in costume and everything- I was wearing my chucks, jeans w/ a hole in them, my brother's shorts over those, a big hoodie, and a sideways ballcap. I have to admit, I felt pretty gangsta. haha. And I would have a couple pictures, but we never could get them on here. So anyway, I think we had a TobyMac song playing, and we walked out on the stage then just like dropped to the floor and started spinning and flopping and acting like we knew what we were doing. It was sooo much fun.

But that was two weeks ago, and now it's the weekend again, and I'm very happy. School has been good, and I don't hardly have homework so far this yr, which has been nice. But weekends are always so wonderful, and this is gonna be another good one. Last weekend our parents were out of town, and I ran my brother around everywhere. Friday night we took him to a birthday party. Saturday morning he had a car wash because their class is raising money for as fieldtrip. Then Jacqui and I bought groceries, pet food, recycled, picked up my brother, got his allergy shot, then came home and relaxed. Then Sunday was Mark Walz Sr.'s funeral. Even though it was very sad, it was very good too because he was a great man who God had really used to reach other people's lives. The church was packed, there was worhip and there was laughter, and it was cool to see a huge body of believers who had gathered for a funeral be able to sing our praise to God.

So I know this weekend will be very wonderful too. Well, tomorrow I have to take Gabriel to another car wash, but that's always fine. Then Sunday and Monday we're doing a bunch of stuff w/ our whole family, and I'm really excited, so I'll have to write about that later. But so far it's been a great yr, and I'm sure I'll have much to tell as it goes on. :)

Senior Year!

Well, today was my last first day of school. Ever. (I mean, there's college, but I mean actual school.) It was our first day, and I still can't really believe that I'm a senior! It's happened so fast! I've loved high school, and it seems like it's flown by so fast, so I really plan to enjoy this year super much.

There are only three seniors at Calvary this year- David, Brandi, and me. And that's the biggest graduating class yet. (I know, right?! lol) So we are very excited.

Today we didn't actually do any work, which was nice, and kinda got us back into the swing of things. Well, actually, as nice and wonderful as our teachers are, I don't actually think they were trying not to give us work, us seniors just haven't started our math class yet because we're going to do an online college one. So while the other high schoolers did math, we went to another room and got the middle school quiz packets ready for Mrs. Harris. It was a nice day.

So now I'm officially a senior, and I'm still taking it in. That hit me last year, when I knew that the next year I'd be a senior, but now that it's actually here, I'm still a little in shock. Like this year I have to get in college applications, take the ACT a couple more times, la de da de da...... and I'm a little sad it's my last year. But actually I'm much more excited than sad. Actually, I don't even feel sad. It's just that the thought of this being my last year of high school is a little overwhelming to me, but very exciting too. Very very exciting! :)

Oh, here is a picture my mom took this morning of Gabriel, Jacqui, and me before we left for school. I still don't have a car, but yesterday evening we went up to my Papaw Johns' house, which is in Louisa, and we borrowed his bronco so my dad could drvie that and I would drive his truck this week. So that was all very nice and wonderful. But anyway, this is before my mom left for work and us for school. I think she got this because it's a pretty big year for all of us- my brother started middle school, my sister started high school, and I started my senior year. I think my mom is a little overwhelmed too. But she's happy for us. Very very happy.

So I am looking forward to this school year and to see what all it (and God, precisely) has in store for me.

Girls' Grandcamp!

Well, as some of you may know, each summer Aldersgate does a camp called grandcamp, where grandparents and their grandkids can go and hang out for a couple days. So it's been a tradition in our family for my Mimi and Papaw to take us to grandcamp each year. But as many of you also know, we are like, many years too old for grandcamp now, obviously (lol) but when we first were too old, Mimi and Papaw didn't want to end the tradition. So the next few years we would go on our own retreat to Aldersgate (just Mimi and Papaw and us girl cousins) and stay in the cottages a couple days, and have like our own schedule. It was a lot of fun. Then these past couple years we realized it'd be just as much fun to do it at our Mimi and Papaw's house in Grayson. So the beginning of this week, that's where we've been, and we've had a blast.

It started on Sunday when our little cousins Anna Keren and Joseph had their birthday party. So after we celebrated and ate cake and such, Aunt Barbie and Uncle Kevin (Anna Keren and Joseph's parents) told us they'd rented a pontoon, and we were all going to go out to Grayson Lake. So we did and we had such a fun time. We and Anna Keren would laugh so hard when we went over the waves from other boats because water would splash up on us, and we managed to get pretty wet, actually, even though we never got out of the boat. It was really fun.

Then we went back to Mimi and Papaw's house and were going to pick out a movie. We had about decided on The Last Sin Eater when we realized we'd better choose something Anna Keren could watch too. The Aristocats is was! :) Mimi made us popcorn and peanut butter fudge, and we watched the classic disney movie and laughed and had a good time. Then we got out a bunch of blankets and pillows, and all camped out on Mimi and Papaw's living room floor. It was great.

Monday morning we woke up around eight o'clock to the sound of Joseph's talking/ laughing/ baby noises. haha. We tried to doze a while longer, then got up to Mimi's delicious pancakes. They are seriously the best ones I've ever eaten. They're so good! So I ate three of those, then we went on a nature walk outside on the quiet little streets of the neighborhood behind Mimi and Papw's house. Then we decided we'd go and help Randee and Mark in their apartment, cause they still had a lot to do in it. And Kentucky Christian University (where they both go to school) is only 5 mins away from Mimi and Papaw's, so we drove over there, washed dishes and such for around two hours, then went back to Mimi and Papaw's house and got ready to go to the fair! We try to go to the Carter County Fair each year we can, and we have so much fun! The only problem was, when we got there, very dark clouds were overhead an quickly traveling our way. So we waited a few minutes, then decided we'd do it anyway. It didn't look like they were going to close down the rides, so off we went! We did the scrambler, the pirate ship (my personal favorite =]) the superman, and quasar, or something like that, and that one was not cool. It made a couple of the cousins sick, so we took a break for a couple minutes (it's been raining for a while now, and it's beginning to lightning too), did a few more rides, then decided we were ready to go. It was dark, pouring the rain, and lightning hugely! So we went back to Mimi and Papaw's, got into warm, dry clothes, and just relaxed a little before heading off to bed.

Tuesday morning (again we awoke to Joseph! lol) Mimi made us cinnamon rolls, cherry turn- overs, and bacon for breakfast, then we just chilled and watched tv until Anna Keren got back from her dentist appointment. Then we went swimming in the neighbors' pool, and it was sooo super duper fun. We had a good time. After over an hour of that, we came back and did music. I played the guitar and we sang for a long time, then Leanndra got out her fiddle, and we did a few more songs. Then we went in, and Mimi and Aunt Barbie wanted to hear some of our songs, so then we did some for them, and little Joseph played along by doing percussion w/ whatever he could. And he'd bounce up and down and clap to the music. It was very cute. Then Papaw brought us all pizza, and we ate and visited, then said our good-byes. It was so much fun, though. It was a very relaxing, happy time together with family. My cousins are like my best friends ever, and my Mimi and Papaw are the greatest! I'm so glad we still keep up the tradition of "grandcamp." :)

Aldersgate, Wedding, Cooking... : )

Well, I'm still kinda behind on here, so I'm just going to try to squeeze in everything I've done these past couple wks. So to begin...

Well, the week after dance camp, I just stayed home and relaxed. Well, actually Sunday- Wednesday, because Thursday we went down to Aldersgate again! Hooray! We went down to my Uncle Lee and Aunt Debbie's house, and we stayed the night there, and Friday, my cousin Leanndra came home from GSP! We were sooo excited to see her! So we hung out w/ her at Aldersgate that whole day, then late that night, we (this being my mom, sister, brother, and myself) headed to Aunt Debbie and Uncle Lee's house in Lexington, the one where they stay during the school year since Aunt Debbie pastors a church there. So we took Andrew back w/ us and dropped him off at a friend's birthday party (and it was like 1 in the morning, but his friends were spending the night), then we went on to our couins' house and crashed out. We stayed there the weekend, then Monday morning we went back to Aldersgate to drop off Gabriel for camp, then my mom, Jacqui, and I hurried back to Ashland where my cousin Randee was having a bridal shower. It was a really great, spiritual, fun time, and the food was really great too.

Tuesday we went over to my Mimi and Papaw's house to see our cousins who are in visiting from England. We spent the day w/ Anna Keren (5 yrs.) and Joseph (11 months), and they are so cute. Then that evening we went to Ironton to have Randee's bachelorette party at Buffalo Wild Wings, and that was fun too.

Wednesday we pretty much just chilled at home. Thursday, on the other hand, was quite eventful. My sister and I got up, went w/ my dad to meet my Nanny at the doctor, then dropped him off there and went to the mall to shop for school clothes- polos and khakis. We found a few polos, but didn't have as great luck on the khakis. Anyway, I'll move on, cause I don't really want to talk about school right now. So after we shopped a couple hours, we drove to Grayson where Randee and Mark (her fiance) were moving into their KCU apartment, because their wedding would be that Saturday! So them, Chelsey (Randee's sister) and their dad, Jacob (one of Mark's friends), Will (one of Jacob's friends), and Jacqui and I helped move all their stuff in. Mark and Randee both go to KCU, so they are going to live in the married- student housing. Their apartment was actually really nice, and they were very excited about it. Then Randee and Chelsey's mom and some of their family from Florida brought us pizza, and we ate that on the floor of their apartment, since there was no furniture set up yet or anything. It was fun.

After being there for a few hours, we went over to my Mimi and Papaw's house (just 5 mins. away) and visited Anna Keren and Joseph for a couple hours, then went home. That was a fun but busy day! : )

Friday afternoon my sister and I just relaxed at home, then that evening my mom and us went up to Louisa to my Nanny's house where my Aunt Sandy (visiting from NC) was staying for a couple days, and my dad was up there visiting too. So we went up and had a very fun time, and we laughed a lot, and it was good too see my Nanny and her two kids- my Aunt Sandy and Dad- having such a happy time together. It was a lot of fun.

We headed back home late that evening, then I had to pack because I was going to spend the next wk at Aldersgate as a cook, because even though that wk was actually the last wk of camp, there was still a retreat and a football camp coming. And since Saturday was the wedding at Aldersgate, I was just going to stay that weekend w/ Uncle Lee, Aunt Debbie, Leanndra, and Andrew, since I had to be back at Aldersgate on Monday anyway. So...

Saturday was the wedding!!! We got up early, packed up our dad's truck w/ folding chairs, ferns, and coffee pots for the wedding, and we headed down to Aldersgate. When we got there, we (being the families of both Mark and Randee) hurriedly set up. We decorated and prepared food, and set up all the stuff, and by the time we were done and got to get ready (the music for the wedding started at 4:30, btw), it was 4:00! Ahh!!! So everyone had to get ready super super quick, but we made it!

And oh, the wedding was splendid! It was sooo beautiful and sweet, and Randee was a gorgeous bride, and Mark's dad (who has stage four colon cancer and has been very very very sick) was able to stand up and preach some of the wedding and do the vows. It was so wonderful and such an answer to prayer. Also at the wedding, Mark and Randee served Communion, which was super cool too. It was just perfect.

A lot of people got pictures, but Aaron, one of Randee's cousins from Pennsylvania, took some good pictures and put them on facebook, so I put a few on here. So here is a picture of the beautiful bride and groom:

Here is the wedding party: The bridesmaids from left to right are Sarah, my cousin Lauren, Katie (Mark's sister), and the maid of honor, Chelsey, Randee's sister. Then of course there are Randee and Mark, and the little flower girl is our cousin Anna Keren from England, and the ring bearer is Matt, Mark's brother. Then the groomsmen from right to left are Matthew, Jacob, Josh (the best man) and Michael.

This is a picture of all us girl cousins: from left to right it's me, Bethany, Lauren, Randee, Chelsey, Jacqui, Leanndra, and Anna Keren in the front. They are like my best friends in the whole world!!!

And here is a picture of our family. I won't try to name everybody cause that could take a little while, but that's all of us. I love them very, very much.

After the wedding, we (who had been setting up earlier) hurried up to the chapel where the reception was going to be, and we served food (well, punch actually), and I got to see my friends, then we went back down to the field in front of the covered bridge where the wedding took place, and we got family pictures. Then, back up to the reception, then: clean-up. Wow, I thought setting up for a wedding was hard! But it was so worth it. And at the end of the day (like 11 pm or so), everything was great. Super. Perfect.

I spent the night w/ Leanndra, then Sunday morning we got up and went to their church in Lexinton, stayed the day there, went to Leanndra and Andrew's youth group that night (and I even got a free t- shirt), then went back to Aldersgate. We spent the night here, then Monday morning-

Clean-up!!! The Hyde Park retreat would be there that afternoon, and we had to finish cleaning the chapel from the wedding, the cottages, the lodge, and cook dinner. But everything worked great. Actually there were only two other summer staff members there, but Tuesday morning three more came, and we've had such a super fun week. Actually, I'm here right now while I'm writing this. Everyday between lunch and dinner I have like a three hour break, so today Leanndra is cleaning her room, and I decided I needed to catch up on here. But this wk-

Oh, it's been so fun! I've loved it all! I stay the night w/ Leanndra each night, then at 7:15 each morning I go cook! But once I'm up, it's so fun. Since summer camp is over, the summer staff could go home, but there were five helping here this wk. Thom, Zac, and I were the cooks, Zach works w/ the horses, and Daniel and Josiah help out w/ whatever they're asked to do. Working in the kitchen has been a blast, and it's been really funny too. I can't even begin to explain everything that's gone on, so I won't even try. But it's been really good. And remember there's been a football camp (consisting of like at least 60 some high school football players or something) going on, so that's made this wk quite, umm, interesting. They eat a bunch of food, and get concussions and broken ankles, and use up all the water..... haha jk, it's ok. It's been a great wk.

So that's been these past three weeks, and they've all been wonderful. And this one has been soooo much fun!

But for now, I'm gonna go cook soon, and after dinner Leanndra, Andrew, David, and I are gonna go on a hike up to a cave, then maybe go for a night swim. We did that last night too, and it was really fun. Well, I'll tell about that really quick before I get off. So Andrew had been really wanting to go up to this cave that's been found recently, and Leanndra, David (he's been lifeguarding here this wk), and I were gonna go w/ him cause there have to be four people. But it's been hard to fit our schedules together because David has so many hours he works at the pool, and I'm usually cooking or cleaning, so by the time we got things worked out last night, it was like 8:30. So we began the hike, but then realized it would be quite dark on the way back, so we decided to go tomorrow (which is today, now) and came back and went swimming. So when I got to the pool, it was David, Daniel, Zac, Thom, Josiah, and Andrew, and the water was kinda cold at first. So I just sat at the edge of the pool w/ my feet in, but they kept saying I had to get in, and I said I would, but I just like to work my way in slowly. But I guess I was going a little too slow because Thom and Josiah came over and picked me up and were about to throw me into the water, but thankfully they were kind and didn't (although they had counted to three and everything!), but then Leanndra got there, and I got in the pool, and everything was fine and dandy. But anyway, I really will get off here now. Jacqui, if you read this, I love you and I'll see you tomorrow, and I've got a lot of funny stories to tell you! So... good-bye for now! : )