Yellowstone Expedition

It's early...... 4:50 a.m. to be exact.

Allie's bags are packed.....

Her friends are ready with smiles....

The food is ready to be loaded on the bus.....

Allie's 5th grade class spent 4 days in Yellowstone National Park as part of a school field trip. They did a lot of learning and exploring and also had a lot of fun at the same time. The weather was chilly, but clear. Allie actually came back with pink cheeks from all the time in the sun.

Some very large furry friends wander around their cabins.


A picture of the beautiful view.

Learning and journal time in the wilderness.

The kids had a GREAT expedition to Yellowstone!!

Mothers, mothers, everywhere!

My mom, Susan, and Phil's mom, Jeannine, were both here to celebrate Mother's Day this year. My 5 kiddos also gave me a great reason to feel loved and appreciated.

Sunday was great. We had a wonderful sermon at church on the book of Ruth, a nice Italian roast dinner, some rest time and finished the evening with Allie performing in the annual Mother's Day concert by the Casper Children's Chorale.

As always, trying to get the perfect picture is, um.... always interesting.

Take #1 - Savannah screaming.

Take #2 - remembering to take the sunglasses off. Savannah still screaming.

Take #3 - Sunglasses put away, Savannah not screaming, 4 out of 6 looking at the camera - GOOD ENOUGH!

Grammy joins in on the fun.

Taking this photo was not near as stressful as the earlier ones......


Allie is very proud of her roses and her Children's Chorale Certificate. There is one more group performance in June as part of the State Honor Coir. Allie was also selected to represent the Chorale in one of the six honor trios selected by the conductor, Marcia Patton. She will continue to practice in anticipation of this special event.

Silly Sarah

Here are some funny pictures of Sarah trying to pose next to our beautiful, blooming tulips.

Happy Spring!

Just hanging around........

The kids got a brand new bucket of sidewalk chalk. I now have a brightly colored driveway with lots of pretty pictures.

Here is a message from the kids as they wait for Grammy and Grandpa to arrive.

Savannah likes to show off her belly.

Timothy, Savannah and Jessi play doctor in Timothy's room. Savannah is a very compliant patient.

Busted -- Phil is playing Webkinz!!

Hero Day

Fort Caspar Academy celebrates an annual Hero Day. All of the classes participate in some kind of a hero report and a presentation during the last month of school.

On a designated day toward the end of the year, every student in the entire school dresses up as their hero and there is a huge parade through the school building.

Sarah recently presented her oral report on her hero -- Joni Eareckson Tada.

Here is a group picture of Mrs. Rapp's 3rd grade class.






Here is a video of Sarah's presentation.



Thanks to Todd for providing the wheel chair on such a short notice. We owe you a plate of caramel dream bars :).

It's not Barnum and Bailey's but there were TIGERS!

The traveling 3-ring circus came to Casper and my dear, kind, sweet friend Teresa invited us along. She in turn thanks her daughter Kayla for the small guilt trip that led us to the circus.

Little did we know the adventure that lay ahead.....

But first, the circus pictures:


Getting ready for the show.


Timothy and Teresa enjoy the show.


Timothy can't take his eyes off the tigers.


If you look closely, you can make out 2 of the tigers.

He can even eat cotton candy AND watch the tigers at the same time.

Kristy and Sarah enjoy the sugary treat also.

The 5 kids and I left at intermission for a few good reasons:

1. The elephant rides cost $40 for 5 people - we opted out -- to Timothy's dismay.

2. It was dinner time and the cotton candy was not providing the nutritional benefit we desired.

3. We had already seen the tigers, elephants, trapeze artists AND the pink and blue poodles.

AND the final straw,

4. Savannah's diaper leaked all over my lap.

As we loaded up the Yukon, we discovered that Kristy's backpack (with her unfinished homework) was in our vehicle. I called Teresa and we decided it would be fine to stick it under her car. Well, her little yellow car has NO room between the bottom and the ground, so I hung it on the side mirror.

Just as our family sat down to a nice steak dinner, Teresa called asking where the bag was. It didn't take me long to figure out that this was one of those few times she was not joking around with me.

The backpack was gone, along with the contents: 2 library books, a $80 Saxon math book, and the lunch box. To say Kristy was a bit concerned would be an understatement.

As Teresa and Kristy searched the fairgrounds to no avail, our family prayed. Something like this if I remember correctly:

Lord, please help them to find the backpack. Please make the heart of whoever took the bag hurt so bad that they cannot think or sleep because of the amount of guilt they have brought upon themself. Amen.

We figured it couldn't hurt.....

The evening wore on. Kristy settled down and went to bed. Our kids settled in and went to bed. I settled in and went to bed. THEN, the phone rang (after 10!) and yep, Teresa reported the great news that the bag had been found and would be delivered to Fort Caspar Academy first thing in the morning!! Thank you God!!

Thanks again Kayla -- we had a fabulous time at the circus and learned some great life lessons along the way!

Who needs a mirror.....

...when you have a trash can nearby?



Savannah stops by the shiny trash can to admire herself.


Check out the tummy -- yep, it really is as big as it looks!

Trying to catch up................

I know, I know. The blog has been out of commission for a time. BUT, I have a good excuse, I mean, reason.

The True Woman Wyoming Conference was held on April 24 and 25 and LITERALLY, I ate, drank, slept and lived it for the couple weeks leading up to it. Whew - - so much time and preparation went into it by so many people. I was honored and blessed beyond measure to be a part of the planning process and then experiencing the "bringing to fruition" part.

BUT, this post is not about the conference. I will be posting some pictures and an update on the True Woman Blog in the next day or so. Make sure you check it out!

My goal for this post is to catch up on some random events and photos not associated with this conference.

Enjoy!


We've had several very warm days and the little ones love walking down to the park. Timothy is especially happy as he slides down the curvy slide.


Savannah is content to sit and watch Timothy act crazy.


This day was even hotter, but in Savannah's opinion not quite warm enough to swim......



Timothy disagreed! I told him we could put some water in the pool and put his feet in. However, I told him he could not put his swimming trunks on. Well, he DID obey.......

Here's the gang trying to figure out the equal distribution of weight on the teeter totter.

Our church recently did a play called It's Cool in the Furnace. The story is from the book of Daniel about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

The 'cool choir'.

The song in the furnace and the very cool special effects.

Spaghettios - yum!


Bath time!

An impromptu tea party in the hallway.

A homework assignment blessing!

A very important skill that is focused on at school is writing. All three girls, especially Allie and Sarah, are given periodic writing prompts. Their task is to write and edit a rough draft, proof the draft, and then present a final copy in their best handwriting. The kids are then graded on 6 point rubric to determine writing proficiency.

Sarah recently brought this letter home, and I wanted to share it with you all.

The prompt was to write a letter to the author of your favorite book. (Sarah said she picked this book instead of the Bible because the Bible had so many human authors.)

This is copied exactly as Sarah wrote it. Beautiful job, Sarah!


Dear Keys for Kids Company,
The best book I have ever read was Family Devotions in One Year. I really like all the stories. The stories go back to how to be a Christian. The kids in the stories are kind and loving to their parents.

Many verses in this book teach me to love the Lord whether I'm in school or at home. My sisters and I take turns reading the verses each day, and then my dad reads the story. When I listen to a verse, or read the verse myself, it always sinks into my brain, and when I do what the verse says it moves down in to my heart and stays there for eternity.

I have one story in my head at this time that I really liked. It was the story when a girl saw a car wreck and she had to be a witness to the police. She was frightened to do it, but she prayed to God to give her courage. The book, Family Devotions in One Year talks about Jesus Christ, so I know it is my favorite book.

Sincerely,
Sarah Hubert

Happy Easter

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter celebrating the

resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As Pastor Jack said in today's service, "The empty tomb is God's "Amen" to Christ's "It is finished."



Timothy especially enjoyed dipping the eggs.


Lindsay and Sarah


Savannah was very careful to look and not touch.


After a nice ham dinner, we made Resurrection Cookies.

Timothy is pounding the pecans that represent Jesus' beatings.



Allie reading about the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. (Luke 23:27)


Each of the kids tasted vinegar.


John 19:28-30 was read by Sarah.



All the ingredients getting mixed up together.


After folding in the chopped nuts, the "rocky tombs" were put into the oven for the night. It was sealed shut until morning.



Opening the oven and looking inside the tombs.



Allie getting ready to bite into one. They actually tasted VERY good.


Handsome boy practicing music with the praise team.


Timothy has a special microphone that he practices with. Today he was thrilled to be singing Mighty to Save with the praise team as they warmned up before the service.

And he got to play the guitar!

Beautiful baby leaving her hat on!

Lindsay showing off her new Easter dress.


Sarah by the lilies.




A brief photo opportunity -- We only had time for one try because a stray dog came running over to us and distracted everyone. Oh well, it is still a picture success if all 5 kids are in the same place looking approximately the same direction.