Mother Daughter Retreat at Frontier Camp

Excited to get on the road!

 

Emma and I left with the Pendriches on Friday afternoon for Frontier Camp!  We had a great drive down and met the Bepkos at Fox's Pizza Den before heading to camp.  Look at the size of this pizza!  This is not what we ordered! :)

Friday night BINGO

Saturday was filled with lots of activities and delicious food!  The weather was absolutely perfect!

Ready for the giant swing!

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Emma had done the giant swing before, and of course took it look a pro, while I screamed!  After the first (terrifying) drop, it is such a fun ride! 

craft time!

This is the scavenger hunt Emma and I completed across the camp!  This was a lot of fun to complete together!  As a reward for finishing, we got a treat from the camp store.

nail painting

We also played laser tag in the woods and jumped on the Giant Pillow!

Lisa Black braided the girls' hair throughout the weekend, and she gave me great tips on how to braid better!  The girls all looked precious with their braids.

That evening, we had a square dance and then had a caramel apple bar with toppings!  It was so fun! 

Then, we loaded up on the hay wagons and rode to a huge field to see the stars. Hans told us all about the stars, and God's glory was on bright display!

Emma and I went on a long walk together on Sunday morning.  We missed the session to do this, but it was so special to have this time together and talk.  We rode the pipe slide, too!  We found this jawbone on our walk.  Hans said that they would keep it and put it in the Creation Station, though we wanted to take it home to Isaac!

We were sad to leave, but had a great stop at Collin Street Bakery.

We also stopped at Buc-ee's on the way home -- what is a road trip without Bus-ee's!?!  And, we saw Buc-ee himself!  Emma and Sophia got matching Buc-ee's socks for crazy sock night that evening at AWANA!

We arrived at home to find that the boys had switched ALL the beds in the house!  We had the king bed assembled in our room, Emma had a queen from Pop and Mom-o's, and our queen was up in Titus' room!  It was such a fun surprise!  I'll never forget Josiah acting so silly and trying to be "nonchalant" when I first came in - he was SO PROUD when I saw the king bed set up in our room!

So very thankful to the Lord for the gift of this time!

Branson - Thanksgiving 2023

We had such a special week in Branson over Thanksgiving!

pancakes by Isaac

movies, puzzles, and lots of snuggles

On Tuesday, we went to see Queen Esther at Sight and Sound Theater.  Dave and I took Emma and Josiah to the afternoon show, and Pop, Mom-o, and Isaac went to the evening show.  It was incredible and a highlight for all of us.  I will never forget the show being over and Emma immediately asking if she could have Isaac's ticket for the evening show or if we'd buy her another ticket.  

We had tickets for the Showboat Belle on Table Rock Lake on Wednesday.  The comedian had many hilarious jokes, especially centered around a Wal-Mart theme!  Isaac was chosen to participate on stage in a performance of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," and I don't think any of us will ever hear the lyrics "ten lords a leaping" the same ever again.

Thanksgiving Day lunch at Local Flavor - absolutely delicious!

Josiah played jingle bells for the musician who was performing.  Josiah really wanted to tip him, because he read his sign that said "musicians work for tips only."  

On Friday, we went to College of the Ozarks to explore and eat lunch.  The restaurant was delicious!  We found out that they don't have a football team (ha!), but do have a jazz band!  We also enjoyed ice cream made with milk from their dairy.  Titus loved visiting the cows.

That afternoon, we took the big kids and went to explore at Table Rock Lake.

Josiah started a game of Scrabble with us, and Isaac ended up taking his spot.  It ended very hilariously, and our matching sweatshirts made it even funnier!  Isaac was a great sport for playing with us.

**not pictured but happily remembered**

many games of pool both downstairs and across the street at the clubhouse

walks

watching "The Big Country" and "The Guns of Navarone" with lots of commentary, discussion, and questions

Pop sleeping in the bunk beds

playing "Chameleon" - how many times Pop was the chameleon!

lots of book reading

October 2023

Tuesdays at Mom-o's!

Tub time!

I was practicing piano for Titus 2, and Tex apparently wanted to be right beside me!

Josiah was proud to make it to the top of the viewing platform!

Pep band!

Vacuuming!

celebrating Nana's birthday at Babe's Chicken in Roanoke

We went to the Artisan to see our friend, Owen, perform in Oliver.

Emma wanted me to take her picture with Titus one Sunday morning!  She is wearing Emily's dress. 

Working on AWANA together

sweet friends in church on Sunday morning

post-Grapevine Faith Braum's time

another dress of Aunt Emily's!

The Pennington's 20th Anniversary Celebration - such a special evening at our church!

Last junior high football game!  It was a great season watching Isaac!

This is the closest we came to a pumpkin patch this year - Tom Thumb's "pumpkin patch" 

(the sign even said so!)

Family night for carving pumpkins: