Quiz Meet #3 @ Newberg Friends

We hit the road Friday morning for Quiz Meet #3. There were fewer people on the bus this time so we had some room to stretch out. We were a little concerned about the weather and the overnight stay in Pendelton during the last trip was still fresh in our minds.

Morgan got to ride the bus this trip!!!!

Corri. . .

We had a pretty uneventful trip over. The weather was OK and we only had about an hour delay while they righted an overturned semi just a few cars ahead of us. . . Thankfully, we didn't see any of it happen. We arrived in Newberg at a decent hour which gave us plenty of time to have dinner, get registered at Newberg Friends and, my favorite part: hang out with the Koskelas!!! Gloria and I had the privilege of staying in Talli's room and Gloria has decided to decorate her own room at home in much the same way. This is pretty close to the color of paint that we bought for her birthday but haven't done anything with yet:

The boys stayed with Jered's grandparents and we reunited first thing Saturday morning at Newberg Friends.

Corri has been so great about quizzing with a middle school team from Meridian. She found them first thing and went to sit close to her teammates.

Every meet starts with a time of worship as we all meet together in the sanctuary.

The quizzing rounds started by 10:00 a.m. and I didn't realize just how prepared my kids were until I saw them in action that very first round.

We won the first round with three of the kids quizzing out (answering 4 correct questions).

The second round was even better- 4 of my kids quizzed out which means. . . I have to dye my hair pink on Sunday!! When I made that deal with them, I really didn't think 4 people could quiz out in one round. When you think about the odds, it seems pretty slim. There are 8 people total (from two teams) and only 20 questions. . . but they did it!

The morning rounds continued to go well with only one loss. All of the teams did a great job and it was fun to watch the competition and the camaraderie between the teams.

After lunch, the Verse-Off was held in the sanctuary. Zach and Alyssa both memorized all of the verses so they felt pretty confident as they took the stage with the others.

There was a six-way tie when all was said and done and Alyssa completed her first Verse-Off!! Congrats to Zach and Alyssa!!

When the afternoon rounds started up, we seemed to struggle for a few rounds, but we still held our own. I'm amazed that the kids can stay upbeat for this long. Amazingly enough, Bible Quizzing can be pretty intense.

I'm always able to relax a little when I'm in Ken and Judy's room. They are really good at this and that makes it easier for everyone.

At the end of the 16 rounds, we found ourselves with 15 wins, 1 loss. (Four of them quizzed out again in the last round!) I was very proud of my kids. They worked really well together as a team as they supported and encouraged one another. The awards ceremony began after dinner and Zach and Alyssa collected their "I Survived The Memory Verse Challenge" certificates:

In the middle school division, Meridian Friends won first place!!!

Andrew's hard work paid off and he ended up in the top 8!!!

Zach also received a ribbon for finishing in the top 8!!

And most exciting of all. . . when the team awards for the high school division were handed out. . . Boise Friends took first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just couldn't be any prouder! Although, I was pretty proud when my team performed a skit for the talent show. (Long story short: there was going to be a talent show, so we prepared a skit but then only one other team responded so they canceled the talent show but they knew we were prepared so they told us to present it anyway and then they gave us a prize!) It was so funny, I had to put it on Youtube. I still laugh when I watch it!!

The entertainment for the evening was a drama group from George Fox. They were fun to watch.

I rarely saw Gloria during the meet since she has attached herself to the Newberg girls. She spent most of the day playing with Hailey and Aubrey Koskela, which made things so much easier for me, and then in the evening, she hung out with Talli, Jana, Stevie and Marissa. I think this is such a sweet picture:

After a short intermission and a yummy snack (hot fudge, brownie, ice cream sundaes!) a local band put on a concert complete with a light show. They did a really good job.

It was just really nice to be able to stay with the Koskelas. They have a very warm, inviting, comfortable place and we all felt very much at home there.

After what seemed like a very short night, we packed up the van and headed back to the church. I was ready to go home, but I could have stayed here longer:

Back on the bus:

This trip, Katrina caught a ride home after flying over on Friday. It was nice having Allison, Gary and Katrina along for company and moral support!!

The ride home was completely uneventful and every kid on the bus was well-behaved.

All in all it was a very good trip. I really enjoy working with this group of kids and I'm looking forward to meet #4 in March at Hayden Lake!!

Bible Quizzing Spoof

Unabashed Love

In my understanding, cats aren't supposed to acknowledge the existence of their owners, much less show any form of affection. This cat, who came in through the kitchen window one day a couple of years ago and stayed, loves everyone in the family deeply and devotedly. And she's not ashamed to show it.

Ramblings On A Very Good Day

Today was a good, if unusual, day. I woke up to snow again this morning and it continued to fall in big, fat, yummy flakes all day long. I had no where to go and no intention of leaving the house so the day seemed to stretch endlessly before me. I had a quiet house all to myself for a couple of hours in the morning before the rest of the family stirred and interrupted my solitude. I really enjoy the time before everyone else wakes up and I tiptoe around to ensure they sleep a little longer even though a herd of buffalo would have to come through to really make a difference. When I was good and ready to have company, I decided to make pancakes, from scratch, which I never, ever do, so the kids actually came running when I told them I had fixed breakfast. You'd think I was giving them silver dollars instead of pancakes the way they reacted! Gloria even told me I was the best mommy in the world! The day continued along this vein all day long. Both kids had good attitudes about school and we accomplished quite a bit. Zach's Algebra lessons are becoming increasingly difficult and it took me awhile to wrap my mind around this story problem: "The number of bacteria in the petri dish quadrupled every hour. There were 1000 bacteria at t=0. Write an exponential equation that expresses the number of bacteria as a function of time. Using this equation, find how many bacteria there were at t=24 hours." It wasn't as hard as it looked and I not only figured it out, but I explained it to Zach in a way he could understand it. I felt smart for a good 10 minutes afterwards! The day went so smoothly that I just kept expecting something to mess it up. AND for the second time in one day, I cooked from scratch!! Hard to believe if you know me very well, but for lunch I made mashed potatoes and gravy with oven baked fried chicken. The kids were in awe. I felt like a good cook for a good 10 minutes. Gloria told me, again, that I was the best mommy in the world. We finished all of our schoolwork, including a science experiment that required a 9 volt battery and Epsom salt, and the kids had time to play in the snow with their neighborhood friends. They built a HUGE snowman. When they came home we played a game and had leftovers for dinner (I just can't cook three times in one day, it would cause all kinds of unrealistic expectations!) It's 10:00 p.m. as I write this and the kids are already in bed watching a movie, so the house is quiet, again. It's been a nice break from our usual, crazy routine. I'm sure things will be back to "normal" by morning!

First Family Party of the Year

My mother-in-law is very good at bringing the family together. We are all incredibly busy and it would be easy to let that get in the way of getting together but Jeanie seems to make it work and we're always glad we took the time to be a part of the celebration. My sister-in-law, Colleen, has a December birthday but it almost always gets celebrated in January.

Gloria had fun helping Colleen open the presents. . .

. . . and even got to try on the fancy-schmancy new snowmobile helmet:

McKenna took Kelsey's nose. . .

. . . but thankfully, she put it back:

McKenna and "Go-wee" share a deep mutual admiration:

After dinner, presents and dessert, we all relaxed around the table chatting. Swiss Miss Tony always cracks us up with his dry wit.

I'm not sure who started it, but it wasn't long before a few arm wrestling matches broke out. Kelsey was a little surprised that Gloria is tougher than she looks. The two of them were fairly evenly matched and Gloria even beat her a few times.

Colleen took on Rob. . . and lost.

Tony tried to defend her honor (not really, but it sounds good) but this match ended in a draw:

These parties usually break up early enough for everyone to get home to bed so they can rise early and live normal lives. We don't live a normal life, so we tend to stay later and keep Dick and Jeanie from turning in at their usual time. We played a fast moving, hand slapping game of "Swap" until after 10:00 and had a screaming good time (literally!). The next family get-together will be for Rob's 40th birthday!!!!

I Love Snow. . . and Babies

We woke up Sunday morning with about 2 inches of fresh snow. We've had more snow this year than I remember having for quite a few years and I'm actually enjoying it. I used to dread the snow because I always seem to slide into something while driving- a stop sign, a power pole, another car, a fence. It's all happened before. But for some reason, this year, I see the beauty of it rather than the danger. I couldn't help but pull over on the way to church to take a few pictures. Besides using a couple of different settings on my camera, I didn't retouch these photos at all. This is really how the sky and the trees looked. It was gorgeous! I love the snow!

Something even more beautiful happened at church. Aaron and Carrie had their baby last Sunday and they brought little Eva Grace to church today. She's a little beauty. I love babies!