ruby's make-up attempt

today ruby got into emma's "make-up" and walked into the kitchen proudly showing off how beautiful she looked.. that was until daddy loudly exclaimed "what did you do?!" then she (literally) hung her head in shame.. it was so adorable that i had to steal a few pictures..

"take a picture of me sitting down, kaywa"

the glasses were her own idea.. very cute if i do say so myself..

JV (trek) and Varsity (journey) quizzing

i guess TECHNICALLY the junior high and high school age groups have changed their names to "Trek" and "Journey".. however.. its so weird to call them that since i grew up and was IN JVs and Varsity.. anyway.. that's beside the point.. :)

this past weekend we traveled up to NY for the older kid's quizzing.. as it was a 5+ hour drive.. we decided to drive up the night before and stay overnight.. even though it was an added expense it was loads of fun and brought back memories of the one time that MY team (faith, gabe, nick, and myself) had to stay over night before a quiz.. good times.. anyway.. our group drove up in 3 vehicles.. the Parkers left about 2 hours before us.. then we left.. and the Peretics left about 2 hours after us.. the Parker's trip was uneventful.. however the roads got worse as time went on and this is what we were driving through 75% of the time.. daddy said it was the worst weather he had ever driven through.. and as the roads just continually got worse.. the Peretics never made it in until 1:30am.. ugh..

here's our van.. and the Parker's van.. there is a Chevy emblem.. and a license plate under all the nasty stuff on the front of our van.. everyone laughed and said it was just proof that Fords are better than Chevys any day.. lol

in the hotel we stayed in.. there was this little room nestled at the top of the stairs.. conveniently located in the middle of our set of rooms.. i have no idea what the purpose of this room was.. but we took over it for the night as we all hung out in there and the teams studied.. i must say.. we had to have been quite a sight.. hehe but it was a blast !

we woke up to a beautiful morning.. and everyone was ready to go..

the Friendship Baptist Church girls.. Ashley.. Rachel.. and Ellen..

the Friendship Baptist Church guys.. Matt.. Brandon.. Philip.. and Josh.. they had their "game-faces" on.. lol

and of course being the guys they are.. they were very photogenic.. and very willing to pose and be silly.. trying to kill off the nervousness of the quiz that was about to start..

haha brandon as darth vadar..

and they knew exactly how to make me happy.. when they challenged me to take a picture of them all jumping.. mwaha i got it :)

goooo north huntingdon ! why not get excited?

i really really really wished i had the fish-eye lense everyone always talks about for this shot.. i had to piece it together.. but my dad found this really crazy steep staircase that led up to the sound booth (which no one was using) and so i climbed up and took some pictures.. it was soo cool being up above everyone..

part of the FBC cheering section..

the JVs.. (trek) boys went first.. they were spectacular.. had a perfect score coming out of the multiple choice paddle round..

getting encouragement from the coach.. Mrs. Parker..

the famed "half-way" point picture..

the second half is always the most nerving and causes the most nail-biting.. the teams must buzz in and go up to the microphone to give their answer.. it is a fast paced stressful 20-minutes.. but the boys were fabulous !! brandon gave all the other teams a run for their money on the buzzer and our team probably was first on the buzzer 75% of the time.. anyway.. that is matt up at the mic..

brandon..

josh ! maybe its just his blue eyes.. but i think he's the cutest thing ever :) too bad he's only 13..

sweet shot i got of josh walking back to his seat..

okay so after the JVs (trek) got done.. then it was the Varsity's (journey) turn.. the pre-quizzing team photo..

their multiple choice round seemed to last forever and was very hard.. they missed 2 questions..

but they smiled thru it all..

the "half-point" photo after i gave them their pep talk.. i posed as their coach since mrs. miller (who did most of their practices) could not attend..

just like brandon.. ellen proved just as fast on the buzzer and only gave up a few chances for other teams to give answers.. i'm sure the announcer got tired of saying "number 9.. north huntingdon" hehe.. philip was the first one up..

and ashley.. its always a wonderful sign to see someone laughing while standing up at the mic in front of all those people.. :)

rachel..

ellen..

well.. the boys did fantastically and turned out a first place.. we were all so proud :)

and.. our varsity team also did fantastically and they also turned out in first place.. GOOO friendship baptist !! another year that we've taken first place in our region.. glad to see that they are holding up the high standard the nick, gabe, faith, & kara team set all those years.. :) (btw.. i'm the little short one at the end holding the plaque.. lol i hate how all these people are taller than me.. grr)

our winning varsity (journey) team ! and.. idk what was wrong with me.. i didn't get a winning photo of the JV (trek) team ! if you look in the background.. you can see them posing for someone.. don't know where my head was.. >.<

so.. after a very successful bible quiz.. we headed home.. unlike the drive up.. the roads were fine and we could actually see the beautiful mountains all around us.. as the sun was setting.. the sky was absolutely gorgeous.. even tho' i had a wicked headache and wasn't feeling well at all.. i did pull out my camera and snap some pictures.. i couldn't resist.. :)

soo a big congratulations goes out to all of the Friendship Baptist teams that competed this year.. altogether we brought home 5 more first place plaques to hang on our wall of fame and the kids proved that they had studied extremely hard..

but the main point of the whole thing isn't that we brought home 5 more plaques to hang on the wall downstairs.. or that all the kids got really awesome looking medals and ribbons.. but that the kids spent HOURS studying and memorizing God's Word.. and now it is hidden in their hearts and prayerfully it will stick with them forever..

it was incredible to me how.. the material that the Varsity did this year.. i did 4 years ago.. and it was cool to me how as the questions were being asked.. the verses and lessons came back to my memory even though i haven't really thought about that material in 4 years.. it was cool how it all came back to my memory..

God is true to His Word.. and it will not return void..

T&T Bible Quizzing

today was the T&T Bible Quizzing.. when i registered my team: Amy and Nathaniel.. you have to write down how many years you have been to Quizzing.. this is Amy's 3rd year and Nathaniel's 2nd.. then I looked up at the lady and i said "am i supposed to include all the years *i* quizzed?" and she shrugged and says "why not?" hehe so i counted it up and wrote down "9".. shocked she looks from my paper to me and goes "well.. we don't have a patch for 9 years.." lol oh well..

but.. it was so cool seeing the kids up on stage doing the multiple choice oral round.. and then takin' em downstairs to do their written tests.. i did it so many times myself.. and i've been to watch multiple T&T quizzes since i moved out of that group.. but something about today.. and i think what triggered it was seeing emma doing it all.. just brought back all the memories.. my first year.. quizzing with Faith and Jenn was our coach.. and before the quiz she bought us both something to eat and she said that we had to get some sort of award or we'd have to pay her back.. by the end of the day Faith and i had earned first place and i had won highest honors.. haha i didn't even know what highest honors WAS !! (then after winning it every other year i quizzed in that group.. i soon realized what it meant) but.. man.. i remember being nervous.. having to sit up in front of all those people.. worrying over the written tests.. and now after 9 years i can finally sit back and watch it all as a coach instead of a participant.. and let me tell you.. its a totally different feeling when the team you coached wins.. than when you as a participant wins.. totally different.. but totally the same..

justin and nate were ready to go.. they don't look nervous do they? but they were.. hehe nate was so nervous.. he forgot to comb his hair this morning.. hehe !

max got the honor of being part of flag ceremony.. very cool..

justin..

justin and nate sat in the PERFECT spot.. there were a whole mass of other kids sitting right next to them.. but the two of them got to sit on the right side all by themselves.. perfect for pictures !

amy and nathaniel (my team) were another story.. oh well..

here they are.. downstairs.. anxiously awaiting their written tests !!

here's emma.. my little sister who reminded me of me up there.. this was her first year.. and she really didn't want to do it.. it totally paid off tho' as you will see..

emma and emily..

this is max's last year in T&T.. and hehe this picture makes me think of his older brother nick.. this is EXACTLY how nick would sit and STARE into his box.. hehe

yeah.. he knows the answers..

omigosh.. this was the cutest thing ever.. while they grade the tests and count up the scores.. they have a short Bible teaching.. and they had special music by the King family.. they were absolutely adorable.. the little kids sang their hearts out.. especially the little one who is looking up at his daddy so sweetly.. they sang in harmony and it was just gorgeous.. from the introduction that was given for them by mr. berks.. he hadn't scheduled anyone to do the special music this year.. and this family walked up to him this morning and asked him if he needed someone to fill that spot.. it is so cool how God works.. i would TOTALLY love to do this someday.. have a family who is ready at any moment to sing a special and who are prepared and willing to do it.. it was so sweet and such a blessing.. that's something i would love to have one day..

waiting for the results.. ellen.. bethany.. ashley.. and joanna.. ellen and ashley will be quizzing next week up in NY.. THEIR quizzing is MUCH harder.. i should know.. even tho' i only quizzed in the T&T group for 3 years.. i quizzed in the older group for 5 years.. its hard stuff..

yeah.. they're anxious to see who won.. :)

the awards ARE really cool..

but they are definitely different than when i quizzed..

so.. the results came in.. and i could only think that the guy announcing the results must get tired of saying "in first place.. friendship baptist church from irwin!" hehe all of the kids who went did EXCELLENTLY.. all of our teams won first place.. a lot of the kids took highest honors with perfect scores.. and poor max.. he didn't have a teammate.. but he did get 3rd place all by himself which is really impressive.. if he would have had a good teammate he would have gotten first place :)

emma was very excited.. as you can imagine.. being her first year.. being crazy nervous.. not even really wanting to do it.. and getting a perfect score and winning first place !! yes.. we all cried :)

amy has quizzed so many times.. but she has never really had a teammate.. like max this year.. she has always quizzed on her own.. and the only way to win first place is to have a team of 2 people.. b/c they take the score of those 2 people and add it together.. so a team of 1 person has literally no chance of placing.. however.. highest honors is given on an individual level.. and so every year amy has gone she has received highest honors.. but she has never won first place.. until this year when she paired up with nathaniel and they BOTH had perfect scores..

the book 1.. emma and emily team.. (emily also had a perfect score)

the book 2.. justin and nate team.. (nate also had a perfect score) justin was one question off of perfect.. and his mom saw the test and he had written the correct answer.. but he had also written a wrong answer but failed to erase it.. so they had to count it as wrong..

the book 3.. amy and nathaniel team.. both having perfect scores..

the T&T Friendship Baptist Church Team 2008.. bringing home 3 more 1st place plaques for the wall of fame downstairs.. hopefully there is room :)

these are all the kids who got highest honors.. from the left there is a little girl.. then emma and emily.. then a young man.. then nate.. amy.. and nathaniel.. hehe more than half of the highest honors receivees were from Friendship Baptist Church.. oh yeah..

they took a BIG group picture.. this is every single one of the clubbers who quizzed today..

soo.. next weekend we are heading to NY for the JV and Varsity.. err.. i guess its now called Trek and Journey 24/7.. but we still call em JV and Varsity.. ANYWAY.. the junior high and highschoolers will be traveling up to have their quiz.. it is much more exciting and nerve-wracking because it is so much harder !! it will be SO nice to go and not participate this year tho'.. especially remembering that last year our team consisted of only me and nick.. and the 2 of us were up against teams of 5-6 more teens.. hehe we cut it close too.. had to be taken into sudden death round.. oo.. too close for our coach.. she couldn't watch.. BUT mr. balega DID get it on video.. and we did win.. but.. that's all over.. and next week it will be Brandon, Matt, Josh, Philip, Ellen, Ashley, and Rachel's job to uphold the Friendship Baptist Church name and do the best they can !!!