Round Up!

A couple of weeks ago Ashlee, Sydney, James and I volunteered for Vacation Bible School at our church.  If you have ever been to Second Baptist's VBS before, you know what a huge production it is.  They go all out reaching 1,000's of kids with the gospel of Christ. At our South campus we had over 1,200 children and volunteers that attended for the week. 

This year's theme was Round Up!  We transformed the church into a Rodeo Town.  We had a bank, jail, barn, animals, even a town store.  For a couple of weeks before hand, we volunteers spent many hours designing, painting, cutting, and assembling it all. Check out the bank sign...yes, that's my creative artwork. Ha!

Now volunteering isn't just all about the decorations. Ashlee was able to serve in a different way. She is a member of the GIGL (Growing In God's Love) dance team.  The GIGL dance team makes learning about Jesus fun for the children through dancing and singing. James loves to watch his big sis on stage and feels so loved when she comes down to the audience to dance with him.

They had many practices and dress rehearsals leading up to VBS to learn the choreography. The members have all become really good friends. And they love, love, love! their leader Mrs. Brigette.  She is a beautiful lady inside and out and we are blessed that God put her in our lives. She is such a sweet, positive influence for Ashlee.

Then there is the big show. This is a play put on by volunteers and staff members. Every day they would perform the next piece or act.  The plot this year involved Miss Georgia Peach, the school teacher, was kidnapped by the bad Renegades and tied to the train tracks.  The good Sheriff had to rescue her before the train came.  In the end, with God's help the Sheriff is able to save the day and the Renegades change their hearts and become Christians.

Meanwhile Sydney and I were apart of VBX. VBX is VBS on steroids. Ha! No really...while VBS is about Jesus, little kids, decorating the rooms, singing, dancing and the big show. VBX is about Jesus, big kids, decorating the kids, team spirit, recreation games, singing and dancing. 

I volunteered as a team leader. My team was the "Yellow Clue" team.  Each team was a color and a board game name.  Sydney's team was the "Orange Twister." Throughout the morning the teams would break into small groups where we as team leaders would reinforce the lesson of the day in the smaller environment.

Every day was a chance to win the spirit stick. High energy, team chants, color and lot's of screaming earned you this stick. My team won it the first day...we decorated it all up in yellow and carried it around proudly all day. 

 

But that wasn't the only part to VBX.  Every morning after we decorated ourselves up and checked in we went for worship. The kids sang, praised God and had a blast playing silly games like eating baby food or throwing a pie in their leader's face.

Then we would get serious and here God's powerful message through our Youth Pastor Terry. Each day he taught about the fruit of the Spirit. The kids love Pastor Terry and God works miracles through him because on the last day, several of these kids turned their life over to Christ. The following Sunday, a total of 23 children were baptized during our church service.

And let's not forget the little tots. All of the Baughman cousins came to VBS including Ava, Andrew, Aidan, Megan, Katherine,  and Berkley. Mimi Pat, Alyssa, and Shelby came to help volunteer in the classrooms.

Here the kids are watching the big show after their time learning about the fruits of the Spirit in their classrooms.

July 4th Austin Vacation with the Hoenerhoff's!

This year we took a July 4th mini vacation to Austin to visit Mom and Dad. Wendy and Bill took some time off from work and were able to make it too. The kids were ecstatic! Ashlee and Sydney were angels as usual while James...well let's just say it's hard being the only 3 year old boy in the house! Ha!

 James and Papa spent quality time creating masterpieces out of the building blocks that I used to play with when I was James' age. Mom still kept some of my toys after all of these years. It's so fun to see my kids enjoying the exact same things as I did so many years ago.

Mexican train is huge in the Hoenerhoff house. Sydney and Ashlee beg us every evening to play. When we do finally give in we have a hilarious time.  This time the girls got the giggles and I don't think any of us could of stopped them. I remember when Wendy and I would get the same way when we were their ages. Mom and Dad would tell us to stop after hours of annoyance but as hard as we tried...we just couldn't. We would hold our breath and noses trying to stop only to end up exploding in laughter.

James' favorite part of the vacation was the pool. He has turned into a regular fish lately.  He enjoyed showing off his swimming abilities to his audience...floating on his back to the count of 23! Wendy joked (and she is probably right) that this was the most still he was for the entire visit!

On Sunday, we all took a trip to Georgetown to visit Oma and Opa. We had a beautiful visit at their Lutheran Church. It brought back memories of my childhood church that I grew up in. I enjoyed the traditional service and was able to show my kids the Lutheran way. The picture above turned out great but it was missing 3 important people so below I inserted a picture of these wonderful people. 

Dad took this picture over Mother's Day at Oma and Opa Carter's house and I thought it was such beautiful picture! So I'm glad I got to use it here!!!

The three muskateer's!  Ha!  And NO we didn't plan the outfits...really!  We all woke up, got dressed for church, drove in separate cars, arrived in Georgetown matching like we were high school girls at a party. Haha! But in all honesty, it doesn't surprise me...and I'm happy about it!  I love my Mom and Sister so much!!!

Lakeway has a big July 4th parade every year and this year was superb!  The kids, Papa and Gma had a blast standing in the hot sun taking pictures, catching candy and watching all the floats. Me and Darrell...well, it's HOT in Austin! We wimpy Houstonian's had to find shade...did I mention it's HOT in Austin?!

 But thanks to Gma, we caught some precious moments on camera.  James checking out his loot!  Happy July 4th!!!

What's Austin without a little Oasis?!  Since the Oasis restaurant burned down a few years ago, the owners have been working hard and in my opinion...rebuilt it bigger and better. There is this overlook walkway that extends far out over the cliff and above Lake Travis. Wendy and Bill look like Top Model's over the beautiful oasis. Of course my fear of heights got the best of me but I still was able to pose for a quick picture...(even though the thing was SWAYING!)

If you take a close enough look, you can see Darrell is talking...yes, in the moment he was trying to comfort me by assuring that we did not put our entire family in danger and that we were not going to die.  He is such a good husband.

 After lunch at the Oasis we headed back to Houston...except for the girls. Lucky ducks got to stay with Gma and Papa for an extended vacation. First stop...the Sea Ray!

 This was the last stay on the much loved Sea Ray!  As just a week ago Mom and Dad finally  sold it (it had been on the market for some time) to a couple from San Antonio. Many good memories made on the beloved boat...hopefully mom finds the time to make a scrap book!

After the boat trip, Gma and the girls got busy sewing!  This is a favorite thing to do with Gma!

 This time the project was making banner bracelets. The girls each picked out their own fabrics and Gma taught them how to cut, piece, fit, sew, and whatever else it all entailed.

 They even sewed buttons by hand!  They each brought home several for their friends, me, and James.

I love my Sis!

Wow! I can't believe its already August! Temperatures are soaring in the 100's, kids are hard at play and everyone is facing reality that school is just around the corner.  I actually start back full time next week while the kiddoes have a little over 3 weeks left of summer. So I decided I better catch up on blogging before the hussle and bussle starts!

In June I took a trip to Fort Worth for a training I needed for work. The training took place just minutes from my sister and hubby's house!  So I was fortunate enough to stay with them and catch up on some much needed sister time. Wendy and I went to work during the day and hung out in the evenings. I loved going shopping with her for our Dad together for Father's Day. We found a beautiful silk shirt that we knew he would love.

When we got home Bill surprised us with tickets to a concert at the House of Blues. He knew the singer of the group personally because he had helped her through many spinal surgeries enabling her to walk and not be permanently stuck in a wheel chair. She was up there on stage doing what she loved to do because of Bill and the doctor Bill is a PA for. The story just blew my mind away.  I am so proud of my BIL!