Easter Celebration

 We had a nice crowd of 20 for our Easter dinner and celebration this year, a fun combination of family and friends.

First we divided the kids into 3 teams and did an egg scavenger hunt all through town.  They had to go to 10 different destinations to find the clues and the first one to the end got the grand prize with gift certificates supplied by the Brown family.  The second-to-last destination was the college quad where each team had to find 8 eggs each.  All 3 teams were there at once and it was fun to watch them running all over trying to find the right ones!

After the spoils were won, we enjoyed a feast together. 

The kids' table is full of big people now!

And Strider ended up at a a Man table.  :)

It was a long, exhilarating kind of day....  We hope Jesus was pleased with our joy and excitement to be together.

Holy Week

 Holy Week at Grace Anglican is an intense experience.  We only attended a small fraction of the services offered, but they were impactful enough for us to appreciate the events of that Big Week in greater ways than we have before.

First there was Palm Sunday with the masses gathered in the church basement ready to process in with the palms.  Church is getting very crowded these days!

 

Then we did the Walk of the Cross on Friday morning and the Good Friday service that evening:

The big finale, Easter Sunday, was a culmination of joy with everyone ringing bells throughout the service (every time the word "alleluia" was sung or said).  We packed in every corner of that room -- even in the aisles, doorways and hallways -- and it was wonderful to be able to celebrate with everyone.  I kept getting teary as I reflected on how beautiful it was to have our whole family together and to be with so many friends, and then I would catch myself and remind myself that that wasn't the reason to celebrate.  But then I decided that Jesus rose so that we could be redeemed and given abundant life, and part of what makes a life abundant is sharing it with community.  So the reasons to rejoice are all intertwined, I think.

A small world story involving 4 states

 Once upon a time, a boy from North Carolina met a girl from New Hampshire in Colorado.  They essentially lost contact, until 3 years later they found themselves sitting across the table from each other at dinner in Pennsylvania.

This was the story Strider just told me this morning.  He met a girl named Sidney at Summit Ministries years ago -- she was assigned the seat next to his in their classroom all week.  Then she went home to attend UNH and he went home to attend Campbell.  A couple weeks ago Strider's fraternity had dinner with one of the sororities on campus and Strider realized she was sitting right across the table from him. They had both transferred to Grove City last year!

On the run

 Well we are knee-deep in RUNNING SEASON 'round here.  It seems like about 87% of the family conversations have something to do with PR's, shoes, energy/food, and/or when to go out for a run.  

Miles wowed his team and coach by going out for track for the first time and getting the fastest mile time on his team.  He has competed in a few meets so far and has placed in the top 3 in several races.

Colsen and his distance buddies continue to be obsessed (I have to interrupt this writing to announce that Cole just walked into the den to tell me he's going for a run) and the high school team continues to be one of the best in the region.  For a few weeks Cole was the fastest freshman in AA schools for the mile, and he has continued to get faster this season.

They both ran in a 5K race at Moraine this past weekend and Colsen came in 2nd of all the runners, and Miles came in 5th for the under-24 age group.

And speaking of that day at Moraine, Pete ran the HALF-MARATHON!  He's crazy.  But against all odds he's also very fast and actually PR-ed that day.  (As Colsen said, "I would have thought at your age that your PR days would have been well behind you!")  He won his age group.

Meanwhile Strider has been doing his own intense workouts this semester in the form of fraternity pledging.  We don't get many details, but we do know it has been a crazy and hard season, and the hardest thing he's ever done.  He's run the race well, though, and while 40% of this pledge class dropped out, he made it through and is now one of the full-fledged brothers.

Frank guys are tough!

Bathroom Reno

 Ever since we moved into this house the boys have had challenging times taking showers.  Their bathroom is on the third floor and the tub was tucked under the very low and slanted roof line, making it impossible for them to stand up in the shower.  They were generally good sports about having to kneel to shower, but we learned a few months ago that water was leaking out around the tub and causing mold to grow under the floor.  So it was time to redesign that bathroom.

Pete was quick to do the demo!

 

A few months later our friend Jeff came and reconstructed it with a new layout, and it is much improved!

 

Now we are just awaiting the glass door for the shower and it will be all done.  Miles says it's very exciting to now have the water hit his head.

Franks on stage

 This has been a big month for recognition around here... gotta get out the "Congratulations" glass!

Pete represented well in the Institute for Faith and Freedom's conference that was on campus this past week.  There was even a giant poster announcing his talk!  Jinna went to the session..... she had no idea what he was talking about and I only followed about 80%, but we were impressed nonetheless!

Miles was our next family representative on stage, as one of the class finalists for his school's geography bee.  After several rounds of questioning, he was one of the last ones standing and won 2nd place!

Jinna also had her turn in the spotlight as she finished her year of Classical Conversations.  Her teacher presented her an award for demonstrating JOY all year -- and that seemed appropriate.  She has memorized so much this year and is currently working on the Memory Master goal.

Way to represent, guys!

Playing around

 We've enjoyed going to several plays in town the last couple of weeks!  The Academy put on Little Women (and Miles worked behind the scenes for the show), the High School put on Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat (fun watching Justy sing and dance like Elvis!), and the college did How I Became a Pirate.  So fun to have these opportunities to expand our horizons.

Oh -- and we also got to hear a presentation by some college orchestra students at CC one week which was very informative.  We're getting so cultured.  :)