Graduating Class of 2009

I know our families and friends have been waiting to see some pictures of Ruth's graduation. We wish you all could have been here with us. We were blessed to have three family members from Chicago, some good friends from B.C., Damarise and Hannah, as well as church friends, many of Ruth's coworkers, and many friends from the mission here join us for Ruth's graduation. It meant so much to us and we know so many more would have loved to be here. Caleb, Kristina, Seth and a good friend Carly lead us in some singing. (They did an amazing job!) Ruth gave a speech and had a power point of pictures that recapped her life. (Vern and I needed Kleenex at that point.) It might look like I was giving Ruth flowers, but she was actually giving me a dozen roses. Vern was voted to be the class speaker. Imagine that! We had about 40 party blowers that we handed out to family and friends which we used as she was handed her diploma. WAY TO GO RUTH!!! We would like to thank all of you special people out there that have loved, supported, prayed, and encouraged our daughter through her journey thus far in life. As she will soon be moving into the next phase of her life please continue to remember her. There will be adjustments and hurdles along the way. We know she will continue to need your love, support, prayers, and words of encouragement.

Report Cards

Today marks the end of the third quarter in school, which means Titus doesn't have too much longer before he can enjoy his summer break. (YES!) It also means that report cards were handed out today. Ruth actually finished her last class two weeks ago. Although she did very well in applying herself to her studies throughout high school, she is enjoying being finished with high school. She is excited to be moving on to pursue a career in the medical field. We will wait until May for her graduation ceremony because some family and friends will be able to join us in recognizing this milestone in her life. At the academy here they do not celebrate 8th grade graduation. But Titus will be finishing up grade school and moving into high school in the fall. We are proud of Titus and how well he has done in school. Studies have never been easy for him, but he has really pushed himself and has done well. Way to be, Ruth and Titus!

School Days

Things are winding down here as the kids start theirs school their Christmas break tomorrow. Yesterday Ruth finished her English class and either tomorrow or Monday she will finish her anatomy course. Therefore after Christmas break she will only be working on her math course. I figured I needed to get into the school and take a few pictures of the school year since it is soon over for Ruth. I told the kids to look EXCITED in the pictures. (How did they do?) Titus has really been enjoying his school year. He is in class with his best friend Jake. They get along so well and enjoying hanging out together.

First Quarter Down, Three to go

It seems hard to believe that Ruth is done with her first quarter of school already. This semester she is having double periods of her classes so that she will be done in January. She has been working very hard and is learning a lot. The anatomy course she is taking is proving to be very helpful in preparing her for her studies next year in the medical field. Way to go Ruth, keep up the good work!

Happy First Day of School 2008-2009

Today was the first day of school for Ruth and Titus. When we were in Venezuela I home schooled our children. I always wanted to make the first day of school a little special so I would always decorate our school room, make a nice breakfast, and try to make the first day as fun as possible. So the tradition of decorating for the first day of school and having a special breakfast started many years ago. I did find it a little sad as I was decorating late last night that this will be the last time we have "children" going off for their first day of school. Next year it will be "one child" going off for the first day of school. Ruth and Zachary both hope to be starting college next fall but I will not be there to send them off for another "first day of school". So it was a bitter sweet celebration this morning as Ruth started her last year of high school and Titus started 8th grade.

School's Out For The Summer

Yesterday was Ruth and Titus' last day of school. They are both looking forward to enjoying a nice summer break. They both did well in their classes and we are proud of the effort they put into learning all they could this year. GREAT JOB RUTH AND TITUS!!!!

Bike-A-Thon

This morning the kids had another fun raiser which was a a Bike-A-Thon. There were a couple of courses that the younger children could do here on the campus and the older children biked to next town over. This is the first year Titus went off campus to the next town over. (Ruth did not participate as she had to work. But she did sponsor her brother.) It sounds like the kids all had a lot of fun and they worked hard helping raise money for the school. WAT TO BE KIDS!

Pizza, pizza!

The last three days the school has participated in another school fund raiser. This is one fund raiser my family enjoyed getting involved with. It is pretty cool that one of the locate pizza places in town donated 1/2 of the cost of pizzas sold on those three days to the school or day care of your choice. A person just needed to come in with one of those papers from their school and their school would get credit for the pizzas sold. So Monday Ruth started us off by ordering pizza for the family. Then another day Titus treated us, and last night Seth surprised us with pizza. It is a good thing our family LOVES pizza.

Academy Program

This afternoon the academy had their annual academy program. The different classes recited poems, sang songs, or did skits and several of the students played piano solos. There were also different displays set up around the room showing off art projects and other class work the children have worked on. All the children did very well and it was an enjoyable program. Titus' French class did a skit in French of "David and Goliath". Titus did very well and doesn't seem to mind getting up in front of people and hamming it up. Titus also did a couple of songs with the violin class. Ruth participated in a skit that her Spanish class did. She had originally planned on doing some live chemistry demonstrations since she is taking chemistry this year. But that was before she got sick and it would have taken more energy then she had. (It is day four of Ruth being back to school and she is feeling VERY tired.) Thank-you academy students for presenting a great program.

School Days

This week I have been helping out in the academy here on the campus. The 3rd & 4th grade teacher is away for the week. I have had a good time getting to know the children in the class and interacting with them. I try to come up with ideas to make learning fun. Yesterday I bought in some pull apart licorice. We pulled apart strips of licorice and then the children spelled out their spelling words with the licorice. It sure seemed to bring some life into spelling class but I think they had the most fun eating their spelling words when we were finished spelling them out. (smile)

TEE TIME

Yesterday the 7th-12th grade gym class went golfing. Titus was quite excited about it as he had never gone golfing before. They ended up getting rained on and I heard a few complaints of swore shoulders. But the kids had a GREAT time and were so glad for the opportunity to have some "Tee Time".

First Day of School 2007

Every family has family traditions. And we have a family tradition that we do with the first day of school. Ever since I started home schooling in the tribe many years ago, I always tried to make each first day of the new school year special. Most kids are not excited about going back to school after a nice summer break. So I have always hung up streamers, written the kids a note of encouragement, and had a special breakfast to start off the day. So this year was no different. I once again tried to get into the spirit of "Happy New School Year!" I bought the kids a little surprise. I found some really good backpacks with some awesome padding on the shoulders and up and down the back. Ruth has a lot of back trouble and often times Titus would carry her backpack to school as it was so heavy. We are hoping the better padding will help avoid those sore backs. The kids were up and ready to go and then 15 minutes before school started Ruth said to Titus, "We have 15 minutes of summer break left, what should we do?" Well, those minutes were taken getting out the door and walking down to school.

Field Day 2007

This past Thursday was the NTMC Academy Field Day. I was very disappointed to miss it as I love to be able to cheer my kids on in the events they are participating in. Vern says he cheered loud enough for both of us. The day was a bit chilly but there was no rain. (The Field Day was actually planned for Wednesday but due to bad weather it was rescheduled for Thursday. ) For the track events there was the: 50 meter, 100 meter, 200 meter, 400 meter and 800 meter. The field events were : standing broad jump, long jump, Discus, Shot Put, Javelin, triple jump, softball throw and the high jump. Here are a few snap shots of the day.