KWAC with Mercedes and Rochelle

This past week our cousins were over for the week and participated with Starla and Robyn in Kids Worship Arts Camp (KWAC). KWAC is a weeklong camp where kids learn music and drama for a production at the end of the week. They choose an elective like cooking, crafts, dance, drama, sign language, photography, set painting, etc. This year the theme was "Happily Forever After". The storyline was that an ordinary girl gets transported back to medieval times. There, she and a group of knights and princesses lead by "the carpenter" evacuate their castle which is built upon sand and cannot withstand the approaching storm. They must find their way to the Shinning Kingdom to be saved. The carpenter represented Jesus in the allegorical story. Starla and Rochelle were in crafts together and had a blast. Robyn and Mercedes had two electives. They were together in sign language. Robyn also had photography while Mercedes had dance. I (Lily)was gone on a church missions trip that week but I was home in time to see the performance. I will tell about my trip in another post. Have a happy end of July!

Snapshots of June

This year, we'll try the photo journal method to share snapshots from our "northern" life. As the years go by, gratitude comes more naturally for God's blessings in both lives--midwest and southwest. The melding back into the culture and landscape of West Michigan happens so effortlessly for me because it's "home". I imagine it's that way for natives of anyplace. We're loving it all--friends, family, neighbors, critters (including pet chipmunks and deer), Lake Michigan, our favorite restaurants, church...

We'll try to post pics monthly that give you a taste of our days. If you double click on the photo, it will enlarge to fill the screen.

Our Summer Summary :)

Hello!!! This is a brief summary of our summer. We started out visiting mommy's college roommate and her family in Alabama. We stayed in a house on a lake. They had a pontoon boat, a speed boat and a paddle boat. We fished, water skied, knee boarded and walked up and down 6 flights of stairs. One morning Robyn said, "I'm going to get my blood moving by going down and up the stairs!" Then we went to Gatlinburg, TN for our annual Webster family reunion. We played games, celebrated my 12th birthday, went to an aquarium, hiked (and found a chimney in the woods with the name Webster on one of the bricks), went swimming and took a lot of pictures. After the reunion we went to Ohio to celebrate my Grandma and Pop-pop's 50th Wedding Anniversary Party. Grandma sisters came to the party from Illinois and Minnesota but she didn't know it and she was really surprised! After that we went and toured two colleges Bryan and Covenant Collage. (I personally liked Bryan Collage better.) Then we finally went to Michigan. We had a lovely time as usual. We swam at Lake Michigan. I got baptized. Angela's friends Hope and Grace visited us from Texas and Mommy had her birthday. We also went to Virgina for my cousin Jared's wedding. Then back to MI and more beach days and that kind of thing. And then Daddy and I went on a really awesome trip called Total Impact with our church youth group. It was so much fun. And then it was sadly time to come back to TX... And back to school, ending another glorious summer.

Hope, Grace and Angela in Lake Michigan.

A sand lighthouse that I built. Though the sea gulls seemed to think of it as a resting place.

Me and my friend Savannah on my Total Impact trip.

This is of our family at Grandma and Pop-pop have their 50th Wedding Anniversary Party.

This is me just before I am baptized.

This is when Angela's friends from TX visited us in Michigan.

This is Mommy and Mrs. Peden on the Seadoo.

This is Robyn jumping into the lake in Alabama.

This is a picture of Jared's wedding.

Starla Lost Her First Two Teeth!

Starla lost her first two teeth! Starla's first tooth was missing. We couldn't find it. (I think she accidentally swallowed it.) And her second tooth was hanging by a strand, so while she "directed" my hand, I (Lily) pushed it out. We only do the tooth fairy for the first tooth, but Starla got double the loot for losing two teeth on the same day. Her she is showing her holes.

Lily's first Texas Birthday Party

This year for the first time I had a Texas birthday party. I invited seven girls but only four could come. We all had a great time. First, we played some ice breaker games. Then we went to the neighborhood pool and swam. Afterwards we had cake and ice cream and ended with a game of water balloon pass and, of course, a water balloon battle. I got some great gifts that I'll get a lot of good use out of too. Down below are some pics. (Notice the cow in the picture of the backyard.)

Brian's Birthday

Another year already? We made Brian his favorite meat--an old swiss steakish sort of recipe with lots of onions and worcestershire sauce, mashed potatoes and corn. The girls baked a german chocolate cake and we made merry.

Mother's Day

I walked by the Mother's Day card displays with a sigh this year processing the reality that I won't be sending any more cards to my mom. My mom's birthday was May 7 so historically we often celebrated the two special days together. "Firsts" after the death of a loved one often insight a deep sense of loss and I felt that as I roused that morning. But, my girls are so creative and they gave me such a beautiful gift. God used it to salve my spirit. That afternoon, I took a comfortable seat in the recliner relaxing to the quiet lull of relaxation music and aromatherapy while they soaked and washed my feet in warm water then dried them and put lotion on. After that, they gave me a foot massage. It was such a sweet, innocent act of service and so timely as it brought to mind my own childhood and a particular way I pampered my mom. She used to love to get a facial. I would soak washcloths in warm/hot water while slathering her face with Ponds cold cream. Then I would lay one hot washcloth after another over the cream on her face. She was convinced that the warm compresses melted the cream into her pores. I don't know if our facials actually moisturized her skin but she sure had lovely skin even in the last years of her life. As the girls pampered me, I told them how I had pampered Grandma when I was a girl and we laughed and celebrated the unique and precious gift of being a daughter and being a mother.

Another Soccer Season Winds Down

Finishing up another soccer season just before the summer heat sets in. We had another fun season with a great group of girls on the team. Spring soccer is especially fun because the end of season celebration is at a local water park.

Our New Friend Zhen Zhen

One of the choir families we know adopted a daughter from China this spring. Lily has a new special friend!

Youth Group End of Year Celebration

What a fantastic bunch of students at LCCC! It was a good year of learning, serving and growing. We studied the messy lives of the patriarchs and learned that God was writing His story in and through their imperfect lives just like He is doing in ours. We raised $750 to buy Bibles for christians in an oppressed nation. We made friends with and brought encouragement to the elderly every month by visiting and doing a music program at a nursing home, we watched movies about heroes of the faith and we finished off the year with a guys sleepover and a girls sleepover. I had the privilege of hosting the girls and we had a fun night together, eating, playing and praying with one another. We even took an after dark swim in the neighborhood pool.