AWANA Summit--Greensboro, NC (April 2009)

JDS & AMS just hangin' with their peeps...

At b'fast the morning of games with some

from our group.  Can you spot JDS & AMS?

JDS and 4 of his fellow AWANA peeps

were generous enough to play on another

church's team so that they could participate.

What good attitudes!

JDS during one of the games.

AMS practicing her social skills during games.

Lunch on game day.

AMS entered the photography contest...

and not only won BEST OF SHOW for

the above photo, but a gold metal, to boot!

A new friend both JDS and AMS made at Summit.

Simon said she was a VERY SWEET GIRL from NC.

Chillin' in First Class with Dad, the only

photo of him the entire 6 days, en route home.

Meanwhile, in another part of the country (ours!)

JSS and COS enjoyed a camp out with Mom.

We watched two movies on Friday night in our tents.

The only rule was that we could not use electricity.

That means, once it got dark, it was flashlights

all the way...they LOVED it!  :)

JSS created a special dish for the evening...

spaghetti tacos (with rotisserie chicken).

COS concocted a VERY sweet dessert of 

blueberry yogurt, canned pears, giant 

marshmallows & ice cream.  WHEW!

This was us the rest of the night once it

got completely dark outside.

Sweet memories!

TBN Field Trip

These are some of the photos on our recent field trip to TBN to see 

behind-the-scenes of a real television studio.  

Very enlightening.

Celebrating My Sweet Sister

My beloved sister, Angie, celebrated

her 29th birthday again yesterday

by having her birthday lunch at 

a local Indian restaurant with me.

Indian food being new to her, she dove

right in and ended up finding new favorites!

This first pic is quite literally her first bite

of Indian food...samosas!   mmmmmmm!!!

We shared a sampling of both northern

and southern favorites.  She even had

two to-go boxes left over to take home with her!

Who doesn't get a hearty laugh out of

a Hoops & Yoyo card???

Cherry cheesecake from Sprouts rounded

out our meal with style.

Does she have the most beautiful skin or what?!

Unfair gene-pool distribution, man!

Right of Passage

Of the literally HUNDREDS of photos we took 

of JDS getting ready for Prom,

here are a select few that we chose to share with you,

our viewing audience.  :)

and now...

the POST-Prom pics

J . D . S .

(and friends)

at the

Christian Home School Prom

April 3, 2009

(Jr. Year)

Treasuring the Small Stuff...

At AWANA on Sunday night, March 30, 2009, when COS went forward to receive the awards she had won last week, her leaders presented US (her adoring parents) with an extra little something...

...a cute little treasure chest with her FIRST TOOTH inside of it!

She lost it during AWANA that night!

BIRTHDAYS!!!

Daddy and daughter--the b'day duo!

(This was taken immediately upon AMS

opening her new iPod from her Daddy.)

Here are some of the highlights from our March b'days...

:)

JSS, COS and Mom took Dad out for a b'day breakfast

to start his special day out right.

JDS, AMS and Mom took Dad out for an afternoon 

on the town.  We rode the light rail to downtown, stopping

at this fabulous Mexican restaurant for lunch.

Most memorable moment?  The waiter stating to 

us in a low whisper that he was willing to serve

Abigail (who had not even turned 15 yet!) a margarita!

Next, we rode the light rail to the museum,

where we saw a traveling exhibit that Dad

has been wanting to see desperately for MONTHS!

It was FABULOUS!!!!

Great Aunt PJ was in cahoots with us, so

while the big kids and I were galavanting around town

with Dad, she was at the house with JSS & COS

making and fully decorating his cake for his

special b'day dinner that night!  He LOVED IT!

(top and bottom photos)

AMS hosted a big spend-the-night party for 

her closest friends, all of whom I promised not

to post photos of on my blog.  Sorry.

Here are their likenesses on cupcakes, though.

Can you guess which is AMS and which is COS?

While the girls were at home having AMS's party,

the guys went on a weekend camping trip with 

JSS's cub scout troop!  They had a STELLAR time

and Simon was glad to use that as an excuse to buy

more camping gear.  :)

The following weekend, on AMS's actual

birthdate, we had all the local family over that

could make it to celebrate both of them over dinner.

(Above, Amanda forms AMS's initials in tea lights for dinner decor.

Below, everyone squeezed around the table for a fried chicken dinner.)

JDS got to make AMS's b'day cake this year.

Needless to say, it was very artsy looking.

(It's a big deal in our family to have this honor.)