Max...

Madison and Nathan have so much fun with Max!  Even if he is a depressed, bump on a log dog...they make it fun!  Max came in the kitchen today wearing Madison's shirt and band visor.  He was very cooperative, and it brought back so many memories of me and my sister doing this to our dog!

We put the tree up, and now he thinks this is HIS spot to sleep.  Wonder what he'll do once we start putting presents underneath!

Youth retreat!

Nathan is now part of the older youth, so he can attend most of the fun trips and events!  They had a youth retreat this weekend at Camp Akiva, and both kids had a lot of fun.  The theme was Love and Light and they studied 1 John.  They learned a lot and got much closer to their church friends!

These girls.  They love pictures!  I have a lot more of Madison because that's all they did during free time (and I'm not even posting a quarter of them)!

Madison said circle devo was her favorite part of the weekend, and Nathan said the food was his favorite part.  Boys!  I guess that's a good thing because I was worried he wouldn't eat anything with his pickiness.  I'm so glad these two got to go on this retreat, and I'm SO thankful for our church.  Love these friendships they've made!

Six Flags!

The day Nathan most looks forward to all year long....Six Flags!  Last year, Madison was sick and had to cancel with her friend.  This year they were both able to go, so they were happy!  Nathan brought Chance (who has the same love for thrill rides as Nathan!) and Madison brought Kaylie.  I had to miss out this year because of my pinched nerve pain, but Papa went in my place!

They rode so many rides with hardly any lines, screamed and laughed a lot, had ice cream, and came home a very tired family!  I'm not sure how much longer Mary Kay will do this and rent out the park for us, but we're thankful we've had so many years of fun!  Especially this no-fear-thrill-seeker-boy of ours!

Birthday sleepover and paintball!

Matias invited Nathan over to celebrate his birthday with a sleepover last night, and then to a party at Gatsplat (paintball) today!  He had a great time, but he did say that paintball hurt and he mainly just hid from everyone and stayed away from the action!  I love that these two have been friends since kindergarten.  They are good buddies!

Last performance!

Marching season is officially over.  We made it!  As crazy and stressful as it is, it really is such a great experience.  She absolutely loves it and has made some great friends in band!  It's always better looking back on something (when you aren't having to get up early every day and stay late at night), but it was a great season and we loved watching her perform this year!  We are proud of our girl....she has been so responsible and has handled these early mornings, late nights, and no time for homework so well!  She's on the upper left hand side of this picture...the clarinet section.

BOA - San Antonio

Madison's last competition of her sophomore year marching season was in San Antonio.  She headed to school bright and early (4 am) Saturday morning, and got back late tonight!  She had a blast.  They had the actual competition and made 18th out of 84 really good bands!  Then they had a lot of free time for shopping, eating, taking pictures and they also had a banquet at a ranch.  She said, "I forgot how much fun BOA was!"  These are the memories that will stick with her forever about high school, and I love it.