January Misc

 Some assorted photos and events from January...

Christmas Gifts

January is always a great month to play with new toys. All of the kids got some project-based gifts this year that took some time to create-- Jaden's diamond art,

Jaden's puzzle,

and Adley's sewing kit. She even learned to thread a needle!

Cody enjoyed receiving his new soccer goals for his "stuffie soccer" game with Jaden. Their stuffed snakes serve well as boundary lines too!

Cousin Time

In early January, my sister Kim had to return to school for teacher inservice, so we had the pleasure of hanging out with cousins for a day. These kiddos all get along so well, so they are easy to entertain! We swung by the donut shop in the morning for a special treat,

played for a while at the tire park,

and were entertained the rest of the afternoon with musical performances and skits! These cousins are so creative!

Nathan and Adley took turns with who played the guitar and who sang. They even included an opening prayer before their song medley. So precious!

For one of their songs, they got their big brothers to be their "lighting directors." Ha!

The four older boys wrote and performed a skit entitled, "The Beauty of Blood," that involved a king, his guard, and some evil assassins. The skit had a creative plot, lots of action, and even some good humor. One thing is for sure-- these kids are never bored together!

Connect Group Outing

Also in January, Jason and I convinced some members of our connect group to join us at an escape room. It was a fun circus-themed room that gave us some good challenges, but we made it out! We also took advantage of our couple-time together and went out for dinner afterwards. We enjoy spending time with these fun people!

School Events

Jaden's class led the school chapel in the middle of the month. Their skit involved one of Jaden's classmates trying to hide the fact that he was a Christian. He even, at one point, hid in a trash can (hence the photo below!). Jaden was a narrator for the skit and did a great job of saying his parts clearly. These kids did a nice job of sharing Jesus' love through their acting.

Jaden and Cody also participated in the 3rd-8th grade school spelling bee this month. They were given a list to study ahead of time and reviewed some really tough words!! Both of them were nervous to participate but stayed calm and spelled their words slowly and carefully.

Cody and Jaden lasted 3-4 rounds and were the only 4th graders to participate. We were proud of them!

Both sets of grandparents (plus Andrew and Sarah's family) were awesome supporters.