Bible Study Party

We love our Bible study. It meets at 6pm on Sunday nights, and we are always excited to hear the doorbell ring and have people enter our home. Each of the families in our group is so unique and special, and the children are precious. We learn so much from each other as we fellowship each week and study God's Word. However, if you, a stranger to our study, were to enter our home before study began or after it ended, you would think it was a meeting of chaos. Amongst 7 families we have 16 children, and these children can make some noise and movement! Thankfully, most of these sweet children are in the basement during our study and all we hear are occasional thuds. . .and if those thuds are not accompanied by crying, we ignore them completely (of course, there is supervision in the basement).

Ty and Ben enjoy a little movie as the adults eat burgers and hot dogs.

Nathan, Ry, and Jessica are glued to the TV. As an aside, Ry has a man crush on Nathan, who is a year older than him. The boy loves Nathan. Probably because they both love wii and they are both balls of activity. We love their little friendship.

Sweet friends. For those of you who don't know Jacob, he is the hugger friend. This sweet, yet masculine boy, loves doling out hugs. Jacob, Maddie, and Jessica pose for a picture.

For anyone reading this who has never been part of a Bible study, I encourage you to do it! Though it can be intimidating, the relationships are so special and deep. There is nothing like this community.

Kings Dominion 2009

As a way to celebrate Madeline's graduation from kindergarten, we took her to King's Dominion. This year we embarked on our homeschooling journey, and it was great. Madeline is a fantastic student. She learns quickly, works hard, and eagerly finishes her schoolwork. She is now an excellent reader and can add and subtract, and count monies. We are so proud of you, baby girl.

Maddie and Ry pose for a picture before the festivities begin. Daddy had the smart idea of dressing them alike so that it would be easy to spot them.

Mommy's sweet babies.

Maddie and her Daddy.

When are the doors going to open???

Madeline enjoys a sweet ride around a circle.

Madeline and Ryan LOVED running through the mister.

I wish I had video of the bumper cars. They both loved bumping into each other and other children. It would be so fun to have bumper cars in our back yard!

I have no idea who these characters are, and neither do Madeline and Ryan, but they loved having their picture taken with them.

How cool is this. . .Madeline and Ry actually got to drive cars around a little "town". Poor Ry had a hard time coordinating the gas and steering, but he eventually got it.

Ryan was so excited to meet all the characters. When he went up to Patrick he gave Patrick a big high five on his flipper. Yikes. . .we did not know that the down-ward facing flipper did not have someones hand underneath. Poor Patrick almost lost his fin, and we were asked not to give Patrick anymore high fives. :)

Check it out. Madeline got called up on stage. Though she said she was shy, she did a great job. She was all smiles up on stage.

Guess who has the roller coaster bug. . .Miss Madeline. Just like her daddy, she loves the excitement of a roller coaster ride.

This was the favorite ride of the day. After climbing a 7 story tower, Daddy, Ry and Madeline sat in a large tube and were whisked down a huge water slide. They were giddy and full of smiles after this ride. If Daddy was up for it (it was the very end of the day), they would have ridden this ride until the park closed.

Daddy and his love bugs.

Kings Dominion has an awesome water park.

Here, Madeline, Ry and Daddy await the fall of the huge bucket that is overhead, and filling with water.

Oops. . .a fountain got Ry's eye.

We had a wonderful time at Kings Dominion. I could not do any rides since my back surgery is still fresh, but I had a delightful time watching everyone and taking pictures. I do have a favorite story of the day. Of course, it was just wonderful to watch your children completely enjoy something. While that was a highlight, the highlight was an exchange between Madeline and Ryan. Ryan was really upset mid-day, as Madeline and Daddy got to ride a ride that Ry was too small for. Even though Ry got to meet Sponge Bob and Patrick, he was still really bummed that he did not get to ride the ride. So, after Daddy and Maddie returned, we decided to go back to the kids area where both Maddie and Ry could ride the Scooby Do roller coaster, a favorite of theirs from earlier in the day. Because I could not ride, Matt had to take the children on one by one, as this ride required an adult paired with a child. Madeline turned to Matt and me and said, "Please take Ry. He's really sad that he did not get to ride that ride and I want him to be able to ride this ride first". Then, we got a large dipping dots ice cream to share as a family. Since it was Madeline's special day, we let her pick the flavor. When we almost reached the bottom of the cup of ice cream, we told Madeline that she could have the rest all to her self. Instead of finishing it off, she alternated bites. . .one for her and one for Ry, until it was all done. Her heart is so tender and thoughtful.