Annah's last Velocity

We came back home today just in time for the kids to go to youth group--Annah's last one!  

Velocity Loves Our City

Friends Owen and Eliza are in the village the next several days visiting their grandparents and friends in the area.  We were so happy to get to have them with us today!  We picked them up and they went to Super Sunday at church with us.  Then we went out to lunch at Meatheads and Noodles.

Owen and Eliza joined our kids for Velocity Loves Our City this afternoon too!  They pulled weeds around the church grounds.

Then they helped our friends Dave and Nora clean and pack up their awesome art ministry Threshold To Hope, as they're moving to a new location.

After youth group, they all came back to our house for a bit and the boys played Wii.

The girls had fun playing Tenzi.

They played through a lot of the deck of silly versions of Tenzi, and giggled and even danced.

It had been about 3 years since we had seen Eliza and Owen, and it was so wonderful to spend the day with them!!!

Randoms of the week

Just some random photos telling the story of our week...

Annah had to give up taking Art for her senior year, but this semester she is taking Yearbook with the Art teacher.  She gets to decorate a senior ceiling tile, and decided she wanted to do it with heat embossing with some of my old supplies.  She got to teach her art teacher about heat embossing today, and made this little fingerprint caterpillar to demonstrate.  

2/5/19 - It just makes me happy that we have 3 teenagers who love each other enough to sit together on the couch and enjoy having conversations!  I love them all so much.  My 3 hearts.

Musical auditions were this week, and the cast list was posted.  The show is Mama Mia (much to Annah's excitement!), and Annah has been cast as Donna and Sylvia as Tanya.  They will have lots of fun putting it together!

Caeden and I served the preschoolers in THRIVE at church this morning.  Our story was the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine, and we did a fun activity with food coloring and water!

Also, the kids played "basketball"--Caeden vs. team "Everyone Else."  Haha!

The girls, sitting in the sanctuary with friends at church...

Sylvia has a cold this week, and is thankful for the wonders of Robitussin and NyQuil. 

Velocity was canceled this afternoon due to snow and ice, so Sylvia and Caeden went to youth group with Jacob in Colfax this evening!

National Honor Society Induction Ceremony

Annah and 16 of her classmates were inducted into Ridgeview's chapter of the National Honor Society this evening!

Principal Campbell lighting the center candle to begin the ceremony

Current members explain the 4 Qualities of NHS and light the 4 candles to represent them: Scholarship, Service, Leadership, and Character

VIDEO: I missed the beginning of Katie's words about Annah, but she shared some very nice sentiments about our girl.

We are so proud of our young lady. 

All members reciting the NHS Pledge:

I pledge to uphold the high purpose of the National Honor Society to which I have been selected;
I will be true to the principles for which it stands;
I will be loyal to my school,
and will maintain and encourage high standards
of scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

Mr. Riggins and Mr. Snell--NHS sponsors, and Mr. Campbell--principal

2018 Ridgeview Chapter of NHS

New Inductees/Members

Shelby and Annah

Congratulations, Annah Christine.

Enjoying some cake!

Chatting with friends and teachers

Buddies!

What a special ceremony and honor!

Blessing Ceremony

This evening I had the privilege of playing piano for a Blessing Ceremony for the Faith In Action ministry in Bloomington.  Jessica, who is the mother of one of my piano students works for FIA, and was in charge of planning the ceremony/banquet at Calvary United Methodist Church, and asked me to play.

I played a prelude, 2 worship songs, and a postlude on their gorgeous Steinway piano, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. 

The mission of FIA is so beautiful:

Faith in Action provides spiritual, physical, and emotional support to seniors 60 years and over and their caregivers to maintain independence, dignity, and improved quality of life. We accomplish this through an interfaith network of volunteers, congregations and community organizations.

And the purpose of this evening's Blessing Ceremony was to thank and pray over the FIA volunteers. About 20+ churches in town have FIA volunteers who make up this ministry. After the worship music, some of the pastors of those churches read scripture about service, then many pastors came to the front of the sanctuary and welcomed all of the volunteers to come forward to have their hands blessed.  It was a short ceremony, but such a beautiful one.  

I'm thankful for this ministry in our community, and for the opportunity to witness these blessings!

Pivot Service Project

This evening the youth group had a Christmas service project planned at the food bank, but it fell through.  So, they did a service project right in our own church.  They tore down the sanctuary.  This is usually done immediately following Sunday morning service by a team of adults.  Many of the teens help regularly, but today they did it all on their own.  It's not an easy job; there is a system to follow, and the items are awkward, some heavy, and they have to be safely transported clear to the other end of the building.  Their work is much appreciated!

tearing down the stage...

stacking the pieces of the stage on their card and securing them...

stacking the crates that hold up the stage...

 hauling the concrete-filled buckets that hold the curtain rods upright...

preparing the curtains for transport down the halls...

They were stacked the wrong way and had to be turned around...

Pastor Scott made a game out of some of the PoC stats to remind the teens why the work of the church is important and fruitful.

 youth group friends

These kids are a great example of how to have joy in their work, which happens to be what our current sermon series is about!