catching up on 2015 adventures

we had snow again.  it was cold but beautiful!

a lot of our kids were in the musical at the school – Oklahoma.  it was really cute and we have really talented youth!

my grandmother got the presidents away at the college.  so we got to play hide and seek with her.  except we were hiding and she didn’t know.  we avoided her until the award was presented to her.

jay and julian came stopped on their way through town.  (andy got a chest slap for old times sake)

the silipigni’s came to visit.

mom’s cats ashes and UT (the orange one) were cute like normal (they are getting older, but still just as fat and sweet as ever).

we have been to chorus concerts, shopping trips, date nights and so much more that wasn’t captured with our cameras.

now that I am getting organized with my photos and thoughts I can say that hopefully this will be the last “catch up” post.  my goal is to keep it caught up (but I have said that before I know).

something I don’t have photos of that I am thrilled about and so very proud of is that andy has decided to go back to school.  that means that he is traveling on most weekends, but we will survive the next few years.  I have been able to catch up on reading and sewing so it has been ok – for now.  I am looking forward to his graduation gift – which I am already mentally planning – a cruise!  i really am so proud of him.

gcpc happenings

RESURRECTION

where we sit in the back, eat pizza, role their eyes at me and all the photos, go to the arcade, get a lecture on shot glasses, and make andy feel uncomfortable.

MISSION TRIP 2015 – OKLAHOMA

this year I went on the mission trip.  I don’t know why but I went.  we went to oklahoma and spent a day in texas.  we missed our first flight.  we got a quick flight to Houston where I thought we were going to be stuck until we died.  they split our group and sent me and 4 kids to new orleans (to connect to dallas) and as we were getting off the plane we heard the last call for that flight.  we made it and got to dallas.  I asked the lady at the counter where andy and the rest of the kids were and she said what do you mean they are in Houston.  I told her no.  because andy told me they were on a plane about to take off (I just didn’t know where to and when they would get to dallas with us).  she looked and said what is your name…I told her…and she said oh it looks like you are still in Houston too!  so apparently there was a black hole in Houston (I believe it) but she finally found that andy and one youth was on a plane to Tulsa (I knew he was with the rest).  we were reunited and the rest of the trip was very go with the flow.

while my group was stuck in dallas we were sure we would never see our friends again.  we knew we would be stuck forever.  we made plans to get jobs while we waited when we ran out of money.  we planned our meals.  we found with outlets a corner and hunkered down.

waiting to load the rental van.  it was so hot.

we did yard work and some minor building repairs at a church (associated with the Choctaw tribe).  there were some down times, so we did a lot of random photos (trying to do best impressions of band cover photos, awkward family photo, or just weird photos)

we saw some wild life a toad that went to sleep.  and a snake.  not a rattle snake but let’s be honest any snake is pretty much a cobra.

in some of the down time I got to walk around the church campus and down the road to get pictures.

we explored the town a little bit.

the people there were wonderful to be around and fed us amazing food.  at the end of our time there they gave us handmade gifts.  on the last day while two of the youth were helping finish up a project the rest of them played volley ball.  you could tell how happy that made the church members.  they talked a lot about the hope that our youth gave them.

putting up with group photo shoot

our cabins were nice.

on our free day we went to a lake (that was still flooded from a few weeks before).  we went to the casino for lunch.  we were told that there was a lot to do at the casino for kids (but that part wasn’t open yet).  we went to a durant.  there wasn’t much to do there.  but we made the most of it.

we went to texas to the childrens home.  we helped with some yard work.  pulling weeds and trimming trees and bushes.  it was miserably hot and humid.  but we were able to work slow and take a lot of breaks.

we celebrated with a night on the town in denton, tx.  it was a wonderful little town.  we had a blast.  we shopped.  had dinner.  had ice cream.  listened to music.  and at 9:19 it was still 94 degrees outside.

we made it to the airport early just to be sure we didn’t miss another flight…only to have that flight delayed.  it didn’t matter.  we made it and I survived.

MONTREAT

this year we had a bigger group so we had two houses.  we had a blast.  it was a very fun dynamic group of kids.  one of the houses (our main house) was close enough to events to where kids came and went.  we had a great porch that over looked people walking to and from different places and so our kids would yell “hey” as people walked by.  we became known as the “hey porch house.”  I will say I was very proud of my kids.  one of our youth got stung so I asked if anyone had any tobacco products to put on the sting (no punishment or questions asked – and everyone said no)!  we had tent city next to our porch.  at the girls house we had a cut out of a coyote and it kept moving around the house.  it was pretty funny.

HIGH SCHOOL LAWN PARTY

kick off the school year right!

MIDDLE SCHOOL LOCK-IN AND BON FIRE

COLOR WARS NIGHT

we made our own color chalk and did games with the chalk….it didn’t work out as well.  next time we will just buy the stuff.  it smelled funny, was the consistency of weird jello, and the kids spread it on the ground and rolled in it to try to get it to stick.

CORN MAZE

I think that catches me up from church activities.  I know there were a lot of things I didn’t have my camera for, but this is a taste of the past year thus far!

gcpc 2014 recap

it seems only fitting that on a sunday i do a recap of the youth group from 2014.

a look back at our youth group.  a lot of the middle school events aren’t captured because I am mostly with the high school youth.  it is always fun to look back and see how the youth have changed physically, but also to remember the events and see how they have changed on the inside as well.

we went to resurrection in january.  it was cold.

youth sunday happened.  cleo our 2014 senior gave the message.

lawn part to kick off the school year

church picnic at locust springs.  there were two donkeys that wondered in to say hello.

we had a high school lock in on Halloween night…it snowed.  the next morning i woke up at 5 and took a picture.  luckily it didn’t stick around long.

we went to montreat in july.  i love montreat (it is a thin place – we have been told).  i am sure the kids hate my camera…but i enjoy it and so they put up with it.  i know that in a lot of the pictures they kids aren’t smiling…apparently it is a game that we play.  they act like they are miserable and i allow it (they do have to smile for a few photos).  they really are having fun – i promise.  bob retired.  we miss bob!

took a group of kids to charlotte to carowinds.  andy got sick (didn’t puke – but pretty sure he wanted to).  i road boo blaster and shot some monsters.  it was a short but fun trip.

high school progressive dinner.  i enjoy taking group photos, but just start taking the pictures and keep taking them and see how long they will put up with it.  sometimes i act like i am taking pictures but am really doing a video.  they are always such good sports.

middle school bon fire at the farm.  it was huge.  it was a hot fire.

we went and helped at gifts for kids (and played a little too).

just a taste of 2014.

our 2014 seniors

since we work with youth we have a lot of kids (spanning all of the churches we have attended).  we get to spend time with them in their best and sometimes worst moments/years/days.  we get to be there for the hard questions about faith and life.  we get to see them laugh at themselves and at each other during stupid youth group games.  we might send them home at the end of the day (or week), but they are our kids.  we are proud of them when they accomplish something they feel is great/huge and we are proud of them when something small happens and they don’t even know that they should feel proud.  we try to be there for them when they need us and a lot of times they are there for us when we didn’t even know that we needed them.

one of the things that stresses me out the most about working with youth is what if i am wasting their time?  what if what i am telling them isn’t deep enough to make them claim their faith as their own?  what if our discussions are only on the surface and what the youth needs is to go more in-depth?  what if on the weeks we have serious conversation, the youth really needed to play stupid games to get their mind out of a dark place?  what if what we are trying to do and say never sinks in?

it is at graduation time that i look at our kids growing up and see that they are moving on.  they have not only graduated from school, but from youth as well.  i can only hope that they have gotten something from our time together because the time i had with them (held captive on sunday/wednesday evenings) is gone.  there may be a short conversation in person or through social media, there might be a phone conversation, but the dynamic has changed forever.

as we watch them go across the stage at graduation or talk with them afterwards i look for glimpses that they got something from our time together.  that even if they got nothing else from youth that they at least understand that we are proud of them, that we will always be here at a moments notice and that we love them so very much as if they were our own.

a little late – but congrats class of 2014.

cleo was our senior class for gcpc

(with her brother (wyatt) and bff (emma) at church for graduation cleo sunday)

i love going to graduation here.  it is a little more fun and laid back.  they actually talk about God (at our graduation that was a no-no).  they get to go crazy at the end throwing their caps and having silly sting (at ours they threatened to hold us through summer school).  it is great to watch the kids having fun and celebrating their graduation.

we were also lucky enough to be able to attend morgan’s graduation (a former youth that moved to VA right up from where we live now).  luckily we didn’t have anything else going on that day of her graduation so we were able to attend.  while she was walking across the stage she did a selfie with the administrative staff on the stage – it was funny.  not only did we get to see morgan we got to see travis (another former youth who happens to date morgan).

unfortunately jackson (another former youth) graduated on a thursday that we already had stuff going on.  so we missed him walking across the stage and the big graduation party, but we made a point to stop in and see him and celebrate a little late with him.

we couldn’t be any more proud of our kids and of all of their accomplishments.  we are so glad that we get to be a part of their lives and to celebrate these milestones with them.