He Leadeth Me

Today's Nana Camp was probably my favorite of all time. And, yes, I might say that a lot, but this time it is really true.   I came up with the theme several months ago when I found these cute little globe balls at Dollar Tree. We had two wonderful books to read. We also listened to Louis Armstrong's rendition of the song. Kelly had this book that she kindly volunteered for use.  We sang the song several times and all during the day, I would hear one or more of the kids singing, "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands." We talked about how God loves us all regardless of our skin color, our jobs, our background. Using ziplock bags, we filled bags with goodies, like a water bottle, small kleenex, hand-wipes, granola bars, cheese crackers, and cookies. I got this idea from the wonderful Children's Ministers at our church who did this earlier in the summer at our Family Bible Sessions. We then headed out to see if we could find...

As many of you know, David and I, along with  my siblings and their spouses  try to take a trip each year together.   This year the trip was to Alaska. Unfortunately, my brother Lynn and his wife Terry were not able to get away from jobs this year, so they didn't get to go with us. I am definitely not the pro-photographer of the trip.  That distinction goes to my brother-in-law, Randy. But here are a few of the highlights from my camera. Note:  The pictures loaded in a crazy order, so I will jump around with the highlights. A huge highlight that happened early in the trip was the actual sighting of Mt. Denali. I know it says Mt. McKinley on the sign, but the name has officially been changed to the Native American name of Denali. We were told that 70% of visitors never see the mountain because it is usually veiled in clouds. We felt blessed to be in the lucky 30%. This picture does not do it justice. It was an awe inspiring sig...

We had our first Nana Cousin Camp of the summer  last week.  We did a FAVORITE ANIMALS theme. Foods included: Kiwi/Grape turtles, Fruit Loop Butterflies Favorite Animal Fruit Cup Grape Caterpillars Animal Mix We had books from the library for each of the favorite animals. Please excuse the upside down picture. Caleb's Favorite Animal--Koala Aaron's Favorite Animal--Penguin David's Favorite Animal--Great White Shark Cora's Favorite Animal--Elephants We played the Matching Animal Game which was a huge hit. We thoroughly enjoyed the ocean punch where the white sharks were swimming. David Cora We sat in the zoo (hallway) and each child gave a report about their favorite animal. Caleb went first because he has lots of experience with recitation from school. The funniest part of the evening (so funny that I had tears rolling down my face from laughing) was Cora teaching about elephants. She had obviously observed the method...

My family usually visits in the summer or fall, but this year, they decided that it would be great to come in February. There were two purposes. #1 --to see snow #2 --to celebrate Uncle Terry's retirement. The snow came in buckets a few days before they arrived.  It was the largest single snowfall we have had since we moved here.   After they arrived, the sun shone the entire time they were here. DO WE KNOW HOW TO PLAN A PARTY, OR WHAT? We visited the Transportation in Denver. It is really a neat place.   This was at the scenic lookout as we were driving home from the airport. Kim and Randy at the Transportation Museum Aunt Gail, who grew up with snow in Arksasas was the most adventurous in the snow. Terry and Gail making a snowman Randy helped David to shovel We were a little lacking in the snowman making materials so the snowman had oreo cookies for eyes, a carrot for a nose, and a bell pepper slice for a mouth. We hiked at Garden ...