Cookie Baking Night 12/17/18

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Carissa, Allison, Rylar, and Enzo. It was Rylar's birthday choice (he turned 7 years old earlier this month). For supper he chose tacos and for his cookie he chose Molasses Cookies.

Rylar said his favorite part is rolling the dough balls in sugar before you bake them. 

We're grateful to God for Rylar and his 7 years on this earth (and his 4 years at Cookie Baking Nights). 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Niece and Nephew Christmast Party 12/01/2018

Today was our 15th annual Niece and Nephew Christmas Party. We decided the ages were just right to return to Bunker Hills Stables for a hayride. We opened it up to the whole family this year, so in addition to the kids, Diana (Greg's sister), Dan (Greg's brother), and Larry and Monica (Greg's uncle and aunt) were able to join us. It was a balmy 34 degrees today. 

One of the favorite parts of the ride for the kids is the stop we make halfway through the trip to climb up and roll or slide down the "big hill". 

Awww

We also enjoyed a little jumping off the back of the wagon

and our favorite hayride game "cover Uncle Greg in hay"

This year we did something a little different than usual and had the whole party at the stables. 

We used the party room for lunch. Rylar nicely arranged all of the drinks for us. 

We played the dice game again this year with a little twist this time. Each kid had a bundle of small toys and candies wrapped in plastic wrap. Whenever they rolled doubles, they got to unwrap a layer of plastic until they reached a prize (each kid had an adult helping them out with rolling doubles). I think it was a hit. 

We ended the day by roasting marshmallows by the campfire. 

It was a fun time. A lot of memories were made. We're grateful to God for the wonderful day. 

Cookie Baking Night 11/19/18

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Carissa, Allison, Rylar, and Enzo. 

With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, tonight we made turkey cookies. It's a lot of candy, a lot of frosting, and a lot of fun!

Uncle Greg enjoys a good decorated cookie so he stuck around to join in the fun. 

The finished products

Trust me, he was having a good time. Really.

Tonight we finished learning about the book of Numbers. We read Numbers 22:1-35. We read about Balaam and his donkey and recognized that we were all made to listen to, obey, and enjoy God and when we don't do it, God will use the rest of his creation (land, animals, stars, moon, sunsets, sunrises) to do it for Him, and they happily do so. 

The kids (young and old alike) were captivated by this true biblical account. There was complete silence when I got to verses 28-34. They were captivated by what they heard (as I am, every time). 

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.”

I'm amazed every time I read this account at how long it took Balaam to figure out he was having a conversation with a donkey. It's testimony to me to just how real the situation was.

So, far we've learned about the first four books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers), and through it we're starting to piece together the character and nature of our Great God.

Another Cookie Baking Night has come and gone, another turkey cookie successfully completed AND, as usual, a fun time was had by all.

Cookie Baking Night 11/05/2018

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Ethan, Carissa, Allison, Rylar, and Enzo. The whole gang was here tonight.

After the evening was over, I realized I didn't take many pictures tonight. We were busy hanging out together instead.  We made apple crisp, started learning about the book of Numbers in the Bible, and ended the evening with a lively game of Pit. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 10/22/2018

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Allison, Rylar, and Enzo. Special guest this evening: Uncle Greg. (This is the first time he's been able to join us at Cookie Baking Night since early July. Oh, how we missed him so).

Tonight we made pumpkin patch brownies. It's one of our Cookie Baking Night traditions and a crowd favorite.

Warm days and sunlight after 5:00 will not be around much longer, so after supper we took our last walk of the season to the local gas station for a treat. 

After the walk, we started in on decorating our "pumpkin patch brownies"

Tonight we continued learning about the book of Leviticus in the Bible. Our memory verse for Leviticus is: "I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore, be holy, because I am holy." Leviticus 1l:45

We ended the evening playing with some toys and hanging out with Uncle Greg. 

Enzo spent most of his time "fixing a wire" under this chair. Eventually, he said, "Hey, Uncle Greg, do you want to be a wire guy?" To which Greg replied, "Sure". (I have no idea what that means, but I found it amusing). 

As usual, a fun time was had by all.