Thursday, October 31, 2013

The Josties

Our family attended a concert and we were so glad to meet the Jost family!  They were such a nice family and we enjoyed spending time getting to know them.

 Judah and Judah!
Our Judah was quite surprised to find that there was another Judah in this world.

 Jordan and Joseph.

And I've said it before... when we take pictures, people just jump in until the group gets bigger and bigger!

We were very blessed by their family and how they minister to other Christians through their music.

Posted By:
~Bethany

Friday, October 25, 2013

Crazy Corn Maze

For a fun Fall activity, we spent the morning at the corn maze.  Unfortunately Daddy wasn't able to come along with us and neither was Jordan (due to Bible Bee study), so it was just us girls and the little ones (but us girls know how to have fun!).  The weather was perfect and sun was shinning brightly!  (And someone forgot their sunglasses... name withheld to protect the guilty.) 

Ready to go!
Okay, so you might not be able to read the rules posted on the left there... but don't worry.  We had a little too much fun bending the rules for some joke pictures.

Broken Rule #1:
 There will be no eating of the corn!

Broken Rule #2:
 There will be no cutting through of the corn maze!

Broken Rule #3:
There will be no running through the corn!

Broken Rule #4:
There will be no rude treatment of the other participants!
(Yes, I made Eden take her shoes off before posing this picture.)

 But seriously, we were very good (as I'm sure you can tell).

And we were lost too (well, sort of).

 "Happy Trails to you until we meet again!"
(That's rather comforting, don't you think?)

 Mommy doing the live Facebook updates along the way...

 My favorite cowboy!

 Emergency Exit in case of an emergency.
This probably happened because I developed a nice blister within a minute of our journey... somehow I made it out of the maze alive. 

 Things seem to be slightly out of proportion here...

 I think this bear just got back from aerobics class!

Judah found some corn...

Uh oh!  He led Havilah and Benjamin astray!

Whenever there is a mirror, girls take advantage of it... 

Um, well, I guess it depends on what kind of mirror...
(But I did take advantage of it!)

 "Hey, come up here!  The view is fantastic!"

 There is the spectacular Mt. Hood in the distance.

 Aha!  Now we can figure out where the paths go!

Hey, everyone!

We made it through!

It was my idea to take a picture like this, but my Shiloh and Eden thought it was silly.
Their reason: "Everyone is looking at us!"
Well, I guess they were right.  This picture is now on our blog!
(The Phantom hand on the left there is rather mysterious...)

Posted By:
~Bethany

Saturday, October 19, 2013

2013 Family Economics Conference Part 2

After collecting all the pictures from various cameras and locations (thanks to those who contributed!), I'm all ready to go on with Part 2 of our trip.  If you want to revisit Part 1, click HERE.

I must mention that it is very difficult to pick out the pictures for this post because there are so many good ones to choose from!  Wonderful memories caught on camera, right?

 Since Jordan qualified for the National Bible Bee, he had to cut out some time to study.
The first night we all found that if one person studies in a hotel room, no one else sleeps!  
And thus began a long night...

 There's nothing like Kevin Swanson waking you up in the morning!!!

Jordan and I back from a late night swim.
We only missed swimming one day!

 We enjoyed the V. family coming to have lunch with us every day.

 That evening we went out to dinner with some friends.
Ready to tackle this pizza?!

Someone's comment was, "Bethany, the pizza is almost as big as you!"

One very fun group.

I believe we are sitting "second row center behind Mrs. Howell."

One of the best part of conferences is getting to network with other like-minded families, meeting new friends, and catching up with the others you don't get to see much.  
Oh wait.  We're homeschoolers and we don't socialize!!!
(Yeah right.)

 
 Group picture!
Just as a warning: If you ever come near a picture with us in it, you might just be drafted to join!





It was really special seeing Grace and Madi A. again after so long!

 The conference hosted a big Pizza Party to close up the weekend.  It was a fantastic idea because everyone got to spend the last few hours together before heading home.

Hannah S, Madison C, and I brought our violins and had a great time jamming in the Service Corridor together.

It was great meeting the Hannah, Kaleigh, and Sarah S. who came all the way from Canada!

Tired out after a long day!

The next morning, we headed down to the beach for breakfast.  I had been wanting to swim for months and now was my big chance!  I got Daddy, Jordan, and Eden to do it with me... and the rest... well, they just missed out!
 It was so fun to have friends join us for breakfast!

 "I found a crab!"

Daddy and the three little ones.

The first thing we did was go for a mile run.  It felt great to be running on the beach with the sun shinning!
Ross and Paul L. joined us for the run and then Shiloh and Sarah L. followed us a bit later.

And then... then came the moment I was waiting for!!!!
 We all dashed out into the ocean for what someone called out "Polar Plunge!"
It was so amazing.  First the four of us held hands and sang the Doxology as we waded in ( during one of his sessions, Kevin Swanson mentioned that this was a wonderful family thing to do) and then we jumped and shouted "Praise the Lord!"
It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be and the waves were just perfect for body-surfing (which we did)!

It was great and I'm so happy we did it!
(Somehow Daddy didn't end up in the picture.)
And yes, I'll do it again next time I'm at the beach.

Shortly after, we jumped in the hotel jacuzzi to thaw out.

Heading back to the hotel, we packed up to leave.
"Sure, you can join us for dinner!"

All seven of us.

That evening we joined two other families for a wonderful meal and time of fellowship.
It was sad to say goodbye because we all had such a lovely time together!

We drove out on the beach for one last time before riding away in the light of the sunset.

A wonderful conference, special friends, and lasting memories.
The Lord blessed us in so many ways.  He is good!

"O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever."
~Psalm 30:12b

Posted By:
~Bethany