Not Your Teenager's Spring Break

My Mom and Dad rented a house in Hill Country for the month of March. As they've done in the past, they share the rental with friends and bring their Harleys with them to take advantage of the beautiful scenery and weather. 

Not only was it a spring break for my retired parents but it was spring break for Will from college. He was home for a couple weeks in March and so we took part of a week to go visit Oma and Opa and explore a different part of Texas. 

No trip in Texas is complete without a stop at Buc-ees. This is a rest stop on drugs. Their logo is a spunky beaver highlighted on billboards and t-shirts all over the state. They have enough gas pumps per car and the cleanest and roomiest restroom stalls for everyone. It's a sight to behold and an experience to be had.

Our first full day of the trip was spent in San Antonio. The kids had never been before so we knew we should include a trip to the Alamo!

Will rolled his eyes and complained that too much learning was being expected from him. Mom kept wandering off the trail of the self guided tour and we'd find her looking confused and searching for landmarks she was no where near. I kept trying to remind everyone that we're supposed to remember the Alamo and in order to that we should probably pay attention to what we're expected to remember. We finally just went to lunch. 

The weather was misty on and off and overcast but we still managed a stroll on the Riverwalk. This was enjoyable to all!

The next day we ventured off to Fredericksburg, TX. We enjoyed wandering in and out of shops and strolling the main street with fellow tourists. We stopped for lunch at a German restaurant and met up with some friends.

Later that day we met up with Brent and Chantal and kids who were also staying in the area for their spring break. We enjoyed a taste testing at a local winery.

That night got pretty wild. There was beer, live music, and roosters. Welcome to Luckenbach, TX. 

Our last day in Hill Country turned out to be a beautiful sunny day! This was perfect since the guys were planning a ride on their bikes. Wayne was in heaven riding my Dad's beast of a motorcycle and he even managed to get sunburned on his wrists and hands. 

Meanwhile the ladies enjoyed shopping and exploring in Boerne. We cozied up to the locals;)

Our last evening was spent partying - retirement style. Apparently all the teenagers were drinking and half naked somewhere in South Padre, but the retirees were drinking, grilling meat, and two - stepping in Bandera at the 11th Street Cowboy Bar. 

The idea is that on Wednesday nights the place is open for business. They provide the live music, beer and wine, and sides of salad, baked potato and roll. You bring your meat. They provide the grills and seasonings. You can bring in anything they don't provide. The place was jammed packed and we were grateful the guys came early to get us a picnic table! 

We had such a fun time visiting this different part of Texas and we really enjoyed our spring break with my mom and dad. It was wonderful to be able to include Will and we made lots of fun family  memories. 

Confirmation Day!

We are so proud of our girl! Last week we celebrated her confirmation. She was the lone confirmand and answered all the questions by herself while wearing a microphone headset. Talk about pressure! She not only took the year long class (with her dad several times a week to shorten it to a year) seriously, but she worked hard to be prepared for the examination at church.  

I felt really torn about the occasion. It felt weird not being at Divine Word where she was baptized and grew up around our church family there. I know they would have been excited for her and would have celebrated with us. 

On the other hand, our Grace church family has fallen in love with her! They were so excited to share in this special day. They even went so far as to take all the Lenten purple down and put up all the red (gasp!! - in the middle of Lent!) so we could focus on confirmation and what it means. 

Her confirmation verse was 1 John 3:1, How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 

Because confirmation is intrinsically linked to our baptism, I really wanted to bring elements from her baptism into the celebration of the day. It helped to bridge the distance of Divine Word by including this aspect. 

Gabriele had made this banner for her for her baptism and it hung in her room for years over her bed. It's been tucked away in the cedar chest lately but it felt like an old friend was celebrating with us! 

Ellen has made the cross-stitch commemorating her baptism and I set this out next to the picture of that special day. Though no one from Divine Word was physically present that day, it felt like they were celebrating with us. 

I had help decorating the fellowship hall. My mom and dad were in town so mom was able to help a lot with the preparations both at church and at home.

Grace member, Kathie, was eager to put her special touches on the decor and brought in beautiful spring blooms of the season - dogwood, wild flowers, and azaleas. 

Zanna had her own cheerleaders with her that day - cousin Claire and friend Brooklyn. They helped her relax and have some fun!

We also had another reason to celebrate on that day. My parents became members of Grace!

The three of them were able to take their vows together. And in case you're wondering, my parents still live up north and don't intend to move anywhere at least at this point. This is something they wanted to do for their own reasons. 

As previously mentioned, the Halldo family was represented by cousin Claire and Uncle Brent. We appreciated the effort they made to come the night before and camp in pouring rain so they could attend for the day.

The dress she wore was actually my confirmation dress back in 1989. My godmother sewed it for the occasion. Since then my sister and my cousin have worn it for their confirmations! 

We had neighbors and friends and church family come to the service to support her. The music included many of our family favourite hymns, My Hope is Built on Nothing Less (my confirmation hymn), God's Word is Our Great Heritage (requested by her), I am Jesus' Little Lamb, There Is a Higher Throne, The Lamb, and Go, My Children, with My Blessing (my high school graduation class hymn).

We celebrated with cake afterwards in the beautifully decorated fellowship area.

Afterwards we invited everyone out to our place for lunch. Mom helped me with making salads, set up, etc the day before and it made entertaining so much easier! Wayne picked up BBQ brisket the day before to add the Texas touch. 

Her godparents couldn't be here but again, I included their past gifts and memories made from their hands making it feel like they were included in the day. I had her baptism gown that her godmother, Karen, had made on display along with a handmade book filled with artistic thoughts and prayers based on the church year. 

It had been raining all weekend and I was disappointed that it would keep our open house IN the house. But God is good and the rain lifted long enough for people to enjoy the screened in porch and the picnic table outside.  Thank you, Lord! 

It was such a special day and we made so many wonderful memories. We have so much to be thankful for: 

*First and foremost faith in Jesus given to Hosanna as a baby in the waters of Baptism and her continued spiritual growth and understanding of Christian doctrine as she's matured and been taught. 

*The friends and church family that supported her in her Christian upbringing back in Ottawa

*The new friends and church family that have willingly stepped up to continue encouraging this young lady and loving her with their support, friendship, and prayers

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare to make no other claim, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand. 

CW 382

February Fun

This is a very late post now that it's the end of March. I'm still going back to revisit February however, since it was so much fun. It was full of a baptism birthday, multiple 13th birthday celebrations, Chinese New Year, basketball tournament in Ft Worth, Valentine's Day, school days, and sewing days. 

First up - baptism birthday. In retrospect I wish I would have started more meaningful traditions to mark my children's baptismal birthdays but I sort of dropped the ball on that one. So Zanna took matters into her own hands and declared that we were going to take her out to Golden Chick for lunch. Because nothing says baptism birthday like eating fried chicken;)

We also attended a chili supper at the local fireman's hall. It was pretty impressive as I had never seen so much chili in one place. They had giant vats of the stuff that people manned and stirred. It was good too! Especially when eaten with Fritos. 

We celebrated Chinese New Year which was a little tricky this year not having a local Chinese grocery store to shop at - or better yet, go out to Mandarin for lunch! But I had a stock pile of ingredients in my pantry and freezer and came up with my own version of authentic (boy, does that sound like the times we live in). 

Then there was the Quilter's Mystery Weekend that Zanna was a part of too. The sewing group at our church worked on quilts for the Comforter Ministry. The design on several of them are "Texas windmills" and they are gorgeous! 

Wayne and I also had a trip to Houston tucked in there somewhere. I don't have any pictures from it but the purpose was to attend the Grow Conference at Abiding Word. It was fun to go together and spiritually uplifting too! Zanna had a great time staying with friends from church. 

Then it was Zanna's birthday. Her thirteenth birthday, to be exact. Actually, it wasn't even her birth day - it was the day before and she had party/cake #1 as a surprise! It was a sewing day at church so I snuck in earlier and had the surprise ready to go for her arrival. The sewing ladies got her the first cake.

There was live music and everything! And to make her REALLY embarrassed, the song Amanda was rewritten to be Hosanna. Your welcome, honey ;)

On her actual birthday, we had to drive to Ft. Worth for her basketball tournament. My parents were in town that week so my mom came along with us on the adventure. 

We got cupcakes to share with her teammates for that evening. She had such a good time hanging out with her friends in the hotel lobby. I admit to hovering over her that first night but then I got tired and realized (after she reminded me, "Mom, I am 13") that the hotel was practically full of Hawks (our team) and was seemingly safe to let her have some freedom. Mom and I unapologetically found ourselves propped up in our individuals hotel beds, drinking wine, and watching cable while my new 13 year old daughter partied it up with her girlfriends in the lobby. And so it begins...

This was serious basketball stuff. Even the name denotes bigness: Big South. Between all the girls' and boys' levels, varsity, junior, varsity, etc - it took two huge sport complexes to hold this event. The complex we were at had 9 courts alone. All participants were homeschoolers. Wow! So much for weird, unsocialized homeschoolers ... these kids are awesome!!! 

Upon our return from Ft. Worth, it was time to properly celebrate as a family and that can only be done with a Dairy Queen cake. 

She requested a basketball themed cake but feminine (hence the purple trim). Oma helped put up some purple streamers and it was party time! 

But wait! One more cake to be eaten! When we picked up Will from Auntie and Uncle's in Ft Worth the next week, cousin Sarah had made this beautiful and yummy cake for us all to enjoy! 

Yes, February was fun. Add to that no snow shoveling or frostbite and it was very enjoyable! I still have to post about our March. That was fun too! (yes, we work, school, and generally live productive lives just with copious amounts of cake apparently).