30 Hour Famine

This weekend the youth group participated in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine. The purpose was twofold: to raise money to feed poor children of the world, and to increase awareness and understanding of poverty around the world.

The kids set a goal of $1200, but after the first week, they had already exceeded that goal, so they increased it. Lots of the kids worked hard, but Julianne really outdid herself. Her personal goal was $1500. Brad and I didn't want to discourage her high ambitions, but we thought that was an impossible goal and we gently suggested that she might consider changing it. She wouldn't hear of it.

She worked very hard, asking friends, neighbors, and people in the church to sponsor her. When that didn't bring her to her goal, she started going to businesses in Coquille, and eventually door-to-door. Every day after school, she'd head out--rain or shine--raising money. We are so proud of her determination and hard work. Brad and I were blown away when she announced that she had exceeded her goal. Wow!

Igor initially didn't want to ask for money (this simply isn't done in his culture), but once he tried it, he enjoyed the experience. He ended up raising around $240.

The event was this weekend. The kids were supposed to eat breakfast at home and be at the church by 7:00 a.m. They spent the time doing games and activities that taught them about living conditions and situations in other parts of the world. Each participant was given a card that described the role they would play during activities. It included age, background, and any physical disabilities the child they were portraying had. They also did some community service projects during their 30 hours together.

The group did a presentation at church this morning and announced that they raised over $3400--enough to feed nine children for a whole year! After church we had a potluck to help the kids break their 30 hour fast.

Basketball season continues. . .

Caleb has a small team (both in number and in stature) so it has been a challenging season, but the team is improving greatly and most importantly, the boys are having fun.

Caleb scored 10 points today. Here's one of his shots that went in. . .

 

And here's another. . .

 

Great job, Caleb! You are awesome!

Heading north

The morning started early--we left home at 6:20. Three of the exchange students from Coquille/Myrtle Point spent the night at my house so their host families wouldn't have to bring them so early. We loaded into the church van and headed to Coos Bay to pick up the rest of the group at 7:00.

Our first stop was Eugene, where we took a tour of the University of Oregon campus. The campus is beautiful and the kids really enjoyed the tour. When it was over, we ate lunch on campus and then traveled another hour north to Salem to tour the state Capitol.

First we met with our state Representative, Arnie Roblan. We had about 30 minutes with him, during which time he explained how our state government works, how bills are introduced and passed into law, and he took some time to answer questions.

After our time with Rep. Roblan we took a 1-hour tour of the Capitol. The building is beautiful and the tour is very interesting, with lots of opportunities for great photos. Here we are in the Governor's office. This is actually his ceremonial office, used for media photos.

Next we headed back to Eugene for some mall shopping. It always amazes me that no matter what sights are available for the kids to see, they always want to shop. Julianne had fun spending some of her birthday money on some cute clothes.

We arrived in Coos Bay at 9:45, so I got home a little after 10. It was a long day, but so much fun!

Field trip to the vet

This month's co-op field trip included a visit to the vet. Being in a rural area, Dr. Joe services all kinds of animals, big and small. First we toured the inside of the vet's office, including the exam room, the surgery room, and the boarding kennels. We then ventured outside to see where larger animals are taken care of. The kids enjoyed pretending to be cows, as they were herded down the shute and into the small corral used to hold a cow.Our group poses for a picture with Dr. Joe.



Once our tour of the vet's office was complete, we walked to the home of one of our co-op moms, who also happens to be a vet. Her family has baby lambs and a baby cow that we had the fun of feeding.

This baby cow was so adorable, and the kids enjoyed having her suck on their fingers.

What could be cuter than a baby lamb? Their bleating was so adorable...except when it was in protest to their tails being docked. That was sad...

Did I mention it was a rainy day? That didn't stop us from hiking through the fields in search of baby lambs--and we have the shoes to prove it!

THIRTEEN!

OK, I have absolutely no idea how this happened, but I am now the parent of a TEENAGER! I guess that's what everyone meant when they said, "Enjoy every minute of it--they grow up quickly!"

Julianne has been counting down for months and is thrilled to have reached this milestone. While I must admit it makes me feel older than I really feel (understand that?), even more than that I feel incredibly proud of the beautiful young lady Julianne is becoming. She is smart, responsible, and so much fun to be around. We are so blessed to have her in our family.

She chose to celebrate with just the family, so I made her favorite dinner (fettucine alfredo w/shrimp). After dinner she opened her presents, which was funny since she got the same thing from everyone--cash! She loves to shop and now has quite a spree ahead of her.

Happy 13th Birthday, Julianne! I love you!

Chinese New Year

Pico is from Hong Kong and is living with another famil here in Coquille. She is such a sweetie, and we all just love her. Julianne and Pico have become good friends, and Pico spent the night Friday night. Sunday was Chinese New Year, which is a huge holiday in most of Asia. Pico brought some special paper and taught all of us how to write our names in Chinese.

Whisked away

After Caleb's game we came home and Caleb took a quick shower. Pico (from Hong Kong) had spent the night with Julianne, so I had to take her home. When I pulled back into the driveway, Brad said, "Stay in the van..." Everybody else came out and loaded up (including Betsy) and off we went.

We drove to Gold Beach where we dropped off the kids. Then Brad surprised me by taking me to Crescent City for a little get-away--just the two of us. We had a wonderful, relaxing time going out to eat, watching a movie, sitting in the hot tub, and sleeping in as long we we wanted! We had so much fun....right up until Brad came down with a stomach virus. Fortunately we wasn't feeling completely miserable until Sunday morning, and by that time we were headed back to Gold Beach.

He spent most of Sunday napping and took it easy today too, so he is feeling much better now.

A big thanks to Grammy & Papa for keeping the kids and making our little whirlwind getaway possible.

A day of b-ball

Caleb had a double-header basketball game this morning. His first game was at 9:00, and by gametime only four guys from his team had shown up, so the game began with 4-on-4. Eventually one more kid showed up to make a full team, but they had nobody else to rotate in, so all five boys had to play the entire game. The other team, however, had nine boys. In addition to them being able to sub in and out and stay fresh, they were a good bit taller than our guys. Our guys really played hard and we are so proud of them, despite the rather embarrassing final score of 93-7.

The second game started at 11:30, so the boys left between games to get a little rest and a bite to eat. Apparently one of the boys had had enough basketball for one day because he didn't return for the second game. A kid from another team was happy to fill in, so we did have five, but again the guys had to play the whole game without a rest. They worked so hard, and succeeded in pulling out a win 24-21. Caleb scored 8 of his team's points.

Caleb has so much fun playing, and he gives 100% all the time. We are proud of his skills, and we're even more proud of his great attitude and sportsmanship. We love you, Caleb!