Gettin' Dirty!

I participated in the GoDirtyGirl 5k today with a super group of girls, partly to have a muddy fun time and partly to celebrate this wonderful friend.

Heather's bravely battled breast cancer and now we're on to more fun and better days!!

The "before" team photo of the H3 girls

...and a little bit of during*

*meaning...mud flying everywhere!

At the finish line - dirty, muddy, & happy

And our shoes.....

TOAST!

Photos courtesy of our talented team photographer and Heather's proud husband....Paul. :)

Awana Awards

Tonight we wrapped up another great year of Awana with awards night.  Rachel received her Sparks 2nd year book award.  Dusty and I are glad we survived another year of helping.  :)

Whirlwind weekend

We're barrelling into May at full speed.  Weather is warmer and the weekends are getting busier!  No exception this weekend.  I spent my Saturday morning photographing a lovely family from my church.  While wading around in the creek in the park to get some shots I glanced to the side and saw this little guy.

So I decided to move on and give him his space.  But sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do to get your shots....like this one. :)

Thanks Wilder family!

Aaron was supposed to go flying with some of the guys from his youth group as part of the Young Eagles program.  Unfortunately sketchy weather canceled the fun for the day.  Another time.

And then there was something about the "Super Moon"

Sunday morning was the performance of "That's So Daniel".  The kids choir had been working on this musical since the beginning of the year.  They did a fabulous job and we were proud of all of them.  In addition to singing in the choir, Rachel had the role of Assistant Royal Cook.  She got all of her lines in right on cue.

It was fun to see how much Rachel gets into her singing. :)

Sunday evening was the Princess Banquet at church.  This is one of my favorite events to photograph.  This is an event just for the girls.  The Jr. and Sr. high youth girls get to dress up in their best and are served dinner by the boys....tie required. :)

After dinner the boys hit the road and it's a lot of fun including fun photos and music and dancing.  This year's event had a fashion theme.  So there was a runway that was built extending off the stage.  After the boys returned to help clean up this kind of stuff happened....

Just a lot of fun of kids being kids.

There you go; a jam packed weekend...and next weekend looks to be about the same!

An organized pantry is a happy pantry!

Decided to clean out my pantry so I could reorganize.  After I had cleared out everything, I decided that the walls were looking pretty sad from years of use.

So on a whim I got out the can of paint from the garage that was leftover from the entryway.  After an hour of painting it was looking much better.

Some new bins and reorganization and the pantry is looking good and functional.

While in this process I decided that the kitchen "junk" drawer was doing nothing for me either. 

So a short time later...the junk drawer is junky no more!

Whoo Hoo....can't stop me now...laundry room cabinet...I'm coming for you next!

This CAN be done!

As I'm sure you're well aware, I have been blogging about Compassion a lot lately.  We were given 25 sponsorship packets last month for our emphasis at church.  I'm so happy to report that 22 of them have found sponsors!  I only have 3 packets left....and I REALLY don't want to send them back to Compassion without sponsors.  So if you will indulge me for a moment I'd like to tell you more about these three precious children.

This is Brandon Enrique Az Hernandez.  His birthday is February 15, 2003 and he lives in Guatemala.  Brandon makes his home with his father and his mother.  Gathering firewood, running errands and cleaning are his household duties.  His father is employed as a laborer and his mother is employed as a laborer.  There are 6 children in the family.  As part of Compassion's ministry, Brandon participates in church activities and Vacation Bible School.  He is also in primary school where his performance is average.  Soccer, playing with cars and art are his favorite activities.

This is Andrea Victoria Gaspar Mendez.  Her birthday is June 15, 2003 and she lives in Ecuador.  She lives with her father and her mother.  Her duties at home include making beds and cleaning.  There are 4 children in the family.  Her fatehr is sometimes employed as a laborer and her mother maintains the home.  Andrea participates in church activities.  She is also in primary school where her performance is average.  Playing house, playing with dolls and hide-and-seek are her favorite activities.

This is Francis Kokou Alosse.  His birthday is February 2, 2006 and he lives in Togo in Western Africa.  Francis lives with his father and his grandmother.  He is responsible for helping in the kitchen, running errands and cleaning.  His father is sometimes employed as a farmer and his grandmother is sometimes employed as a farmer.  There are 5 children in the family.  For fun, Francis enjoys soccer, bicycling and playing games.  He attends church activities and Bible class regularly and is in primary school where his performance is average.

Through sponsorship these children will have new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually.  If any of you (not just Hope Community members) would like more information about sponsoring any of these kids or more information about sponsorship through Compassion in general, please contact me. 

April Wrap-up

Last day of the month....on to May!  First off I am very happy to report that Milagros (the little girl from Peru that I mentioned in the previous post) has a new sponsor family!  Before Compassion Sunday I had purchased the national flags from all of the countries that our church members sponsor kids from.  After our sponsorship emphasis Sunday, I will need to purchase 10 more!  A big THANK YOU to all of the Hope Community members who sponsor kids or who became new sponsors!  I can't tell you how blessed I am to be part of such a wonderful church family.  If you would like to know more about Compassion and the work that they do to help release children from poverty all over the world, please contact me.  I would love to tell you more

Last week I had the opportunity to attend Connect 2012.  This is the national conference for Operation Christmas Child volunteers.  Along with Compassion, Operation Christmas Child is one of the organizations that I am most passionate about.  It was a great time to be able to learn how to serve better in the position that I hold.  It was also a wonderful experience to hear from the National Leadership team from Zambia.  To hear first hand how the shoeboxes that we pack with gifts are impacting the lives of children in Africa was very inspiring.  I was fortunate enough to be able to spend some time with one of the team members over breakfast.  The photo is of me and Rev. Ernest Mangamu.  Rev. Mangamu told of the work that goes into training Zambian leaders and teachers that work with the children who receive boxes.  I even got to hear the story of how he got up close and personal with some lions. :)

This is some of our Central Indiana team members with the Zambian national team.  I got to hear from Ted who grew up in an orphanage in Russia.  He received a shoebox and the impact it had on him was life-altering.  I can't say enough for Operation Christmas Child and the work they do.

Sunday was jam-packed as well!  It was time to update the band photos for Reality 3:16.  Armed with 2 cameras, 4 lenses, a reflector, 6 band members, their 2 leaders and a dog, Paul and I got the job done!  Actually Paul got the job done....I managed to get tripped up and scrape up my hand and knee.  After the long weekend in Chicago I was happy to work the reflector, straighten up collars, move people around, do a little shooting, and basically let Paul do the hard work....which he does well.  A preview...

Paul's shot...my photoshop work :)

On a Mission

Today was Compassion Sunday at Hope Community.  My friend Aubree and I had the priviledge of sharing with our congregation about sponsoring children through Compassion International.  What a joy to tell our story and see families selecting children to begin sponsoring.  Thank you to Hope Community for helping to "Change the Story" for these children all around the world.  Of the 25 packets that Compassion sent to us I only have 10 left. 

I will have all of the packets available at our church on Wednesday and Sunday, but I'm taking it upon myself to find a sponsor for this little one.

It must have been that cute little 3 year old smile, but this sweet little girl grabbed my attention from the start.  This is Milagros Juarez Diaz from Peru.  Her birthday is June 11, 2008.  In her home, Milagros helps by running errands.  She lives with her mother.   Her mother is sometimes employed.  Milagros is not presently attending school.  Playing house and playing with dolls are her favorite activities.  She also attends church activities regularly.  If you choose to sponsor Milagros, she will have new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Perhaps you are like Dusty and I were 4 years ago.  We had said for years that sponsoring a child was something that we thought was a good idea and we would like to do that someday.  Someday turned into weeks, months and then years.  Four years ago we quit waiting and God brought Mwajuma into our lives.  Earlier this year we were blessed to begin sponsoring Wannaporn as well.  If sponsoring a child has been on your heart and mind, I would love to talk to you about Compassion.  Perhaps you are the person to help change the story for Milagros.

To see more children waiting for sponsors, you can also visit http://www.compassion.com/