9th Birthday

Rachel celebrated her 9th birthday on November 19th. She had a fun slumber party that weekend. She also decided that she was ready to get her ears pierced this year and asked for that for her birthday. She was very brave and is enjoying wearing earrings. The following photos show (1) before; (2) during; and (3) after the ear piercing.

Philly

We left town this morning for a day trip to Philadelphia with Jason and Rachel. We took in some sights like the Liberty Bell; Independence Hall; the National Mint; and Ben Franklin's home site, printing press, and grave site. We also ate a famous Philly Cheesesteak at Jim's. Pretty tasty.

Thanksgiving

We missed being with our family again this year for Thanksgiving, but enjoyed the company of some great friends here in Maryland. About 7 families got together this year to share an incredible meal. Lance says it looked like a scene from The Village when most of us were seated around the massive dining room table.

LifePoint Gardens

The garden themed nursery area in the new building is so much fun. Each of the four rooms has its own "mascot" insect. Each room also has a wall of built-ins with pass through cubbies. The photos show the nursery hallway and the rooms: Caterpillars - infants and crawlers; Ladybugs - walkers; Dragonflies - toddlers; Bumblebees - older toddlers/2 year olds. It is such a priveledge to get to work in children's ministry here, and I am really enjoying directing the nursery ministry. I look forward to seeing what God has in store for us now that we are in our own space.

A quick poll: Which insect is your favorite?

Sunday

The first Sunday at the new place was incredible. What a celebration! The photos above show the LifePoint campus and the stage set up for Sunday.

Sullivan's Flaw

Sullivan's Flaw was presented this weekend by the Underground Student Movement of LifePoint Church. Thursday night about 80 people showed up for the invited dress rehearsal. Friday night, Saturday night, and tonight the show was performed dinner theater style. The tickets all sold out (over 300 of them) and people have shown up each night to sit and stand around the room and watch, as well. Hannah, Rachel, and I went Friday, opening night, and the show was great. I went again last night and it was even better. The students, musicians, food crew, and everyone else involved have done an incredible job. Lance is really tired, but he's enjoying the performance weekend so much. As I write this tonight, the final show should be coming to an end and the cast party will begin shortly.

Trick or Treat?

We had fun last night in our neighborhood. The girls collected so much candy that they could barely carry their bags home.