Wed. Night the 16th!

TONIGHT...BE THERE!!

BAND PRACTICE

SKIT REHEARSAL -yeah, I know you aren't in it yet -but you'll wanna be -so come out tonight.

PRESENTATION PLANNING -yeah, I know you aren't presenting -but you'll want to -so come out tonight.

SIGN, PROP MAKING -yeah -I know you aren't an artist -but you wanna be -so come out tonight.

SANCK EATER - OK you are all snack eaters -so come on out tonight and see if you can give us a hand. OK?

All-Nighter!

Kinda hard to imagine, I guess, but we played Murder in the Church all night long...save a few games of Hide and Seek, and Hide and Go Hide. I tried to explain to a few friends and it really sounds very bad that a bunch of church kids spend hours running all around their darkened church pretenting to kill one another. So NOT Ten-Commandments-ish, ya know?




Who me???

OH NO!!!

Sarah died a couple of times, but Amanda and Courtney by far died the most!

Not all deaths were photographed to protect the innocent.

Joe was the killer - finally... he'd been interviewing for the position all night long.

At one point -about 4am or so -everyone started to get weary.

OK, so not everyone -we played 4 Square, 4 Square Ping Pong, Pencils (which is a more daring version of the popular Spoons Game) and regular -or not so regular Ping Pong.

Love the "Don't take my picture or I'll kill you for real." look. Nice.

He's not dead -just snoozing at about 6am.

Them too -

Seth, too...

Service Projects -So much fun! Jordan, Meghan D., Emily, Hannah and Eden went to Light House Ministries to help stock shelves of food for the needy in our area.

Mr. Steve, Victoria, Travis & Noah visited Mrs. Craig at the Towers and took back over 400 pop cans and bottles.

All the while Mrs. Cindy, Sarah, Noelle, Nathan, Isaiah, Courtney & Amanda swept the church parking lot of about 5 large bags of pine needles. Who knew it was such a mess??

And since the church group had the camera -they get all the press. But all worked pretty hard that morning.

Grand Haven Adventures 09

Our Fearless Leader and his jerky & Arnold. Nice way to start a trip.

Our Fearless and ever cheerful co-pilot for the church van -Melanie.

OK, she was NOT supposed to have one of those, you guys!!!

Cute passengers...

More cute passengers...

Roomies -Rm. 217

Roomies -Rm. 218


Roomies -Rm. 214

and Roomies -Rm 216

The Pool...well it was wet and warm and we made it fun with Best Ever Pool Games with only a few Noodles and a Beach Ball that by the way, never saw the beach all weekend. Oh well...

Not the smartest game ever -but it was fun until we got hit in the face or head...

This was the ever popular how many times can you hit the beach ball without letting it drop in the pool, game. A fav of the boys...they played it what seemed hours on end.

Oh and there was the Hope Girls Syncronized Swim Team lead by Melanie...

The audience...



Noodle Competition

Peppino's!


As part of the Mystery Activity we hopped over to Peppinos in Coopersville right across from a cool looking train and kitty-corner from an old factory. Mr. Peppino was great -he even gave us FREE dessert -these yummy, warm little cinnamony fried dough balls drizzled with frosting. Honestly!!!

Yah -Aaron plans to open his very own Peppino's at 21 and Gratiot soon -we'll keep you posted.

Yah -and while Aaron and Travis finished up the little dough balls -Syd was practicint her straw blowing techniques. She's quite good! Really.

Then, off to the World's largest Musical Fountain! It played the Bohemian Rapsody -a Fav of Melanie...and probably Brad, too.

And speaking of Brad -we went to this really cute little Dairy Creme and Melaine just had to try "Brad's Special" made of icecream, hot fudge, and cookie dough with gobs of whipped cream and a cherry on top. It soon became her favorite, so we thought it only fitting to ask if Melanie could meet Bradley. Come to find out -he's a nice young Christian man (only 24) who is serving in the armed forces in Tampa as a Piolot (and Melanie likes to sky dive...see the connection?)and get this -he loves Jesus!!! (I asked, of course.) Seems like a match made in heaven? So, stay tuned...

And just look at the cool cotton candy twist they have there!

Then, there was another wonderful little find -SAM's!!!

We all ate some really amazing and fun food there -like this Walking Taco demonstrated here, by Jordan.

Yes, it really is that Yellow!!! in there -it's cheery -not angry, though.

And though it was quite breezy and chilly -some sat outside and could still feel the warmth of those yellow walls. Really.

Oh and we ran around town a bit. Literally.

And through the twirly doors...

And that's when it came to Stephen and I -let's play a best ever game right here in downtown Grand Haven. So, we gave three groups $5 each to try to buy the best possible something in 1 hour. And off they went...

Nice...

See that little staircase in the back? We went up there and wanted to go out on this little balcony -for a photo but it freaked everyone but Aaron and Travis out because it was a bit unstable.

Oh and check out this great store?

Illegal use of the cell phone -detected at the bottom right corner by...???

Oooh don't buy any patchouli -no matter what you do or what Lexi tells you...at least our group recommends you stay away from the insense...

But Aaron and Travis got 10 sticks for $2 -which came in handy after lunch at Sam's!

Not your average drug store!!!

OK so when the boys went to the Ball Game that got rained out -but they ate a really huge 5th/3rd Burger for entertainment with 5000 cal and 300 g of fat...actually Aaron & Jay split it...anyway -the girls do what is best on a rainy cold day -we went to the Mall.

Oops -where'd he come from?

Skunk BackPack -handy if you wanna people to stay away from you at school or at the park...

And while we were there we tried to moral-ize the Hollister. They were sporting "forms" with indecent exposure and when we tried to help hide the plastic flesh, we were repremended. So, later, we sent new recruits to help cover the little lady and they were successful. Our third batch of spies reported all was well and the "forms" were adequately covered.

Nice job, girls. Ao, mission accomplished, we headed back to the hotel and learned a thing or two about church vans and torrential rain -you gotta let the guy with the key go first -and preferably without a camera.

And the guys played cards until joining our "leader" game -and all was well.

We packed up and headed off to the Journey Church Sunday morning...but first found this smoldering in our room...Aaaaron...Traaaavis...good thing the people before us tied a bag around the smoke detector...wonder why?

Ok, so we get to this super modern, contemporary church and they have screens up behind the band like this. Whatcha think? It counts down...love it -it would keep Joe Delisle and Bob Vanscoy from yellin' at me every Sunday morning.

And they have ear plugs in a dispenser right outside the door -just in case. How's that???

All in all it was a really great weekend. We did not play best ever games at the beach as planned, we did not walk out to the light house, or go on a hike. The guys did not get to watch a minor league game...but we made memories, did things just outside ourcomfort zone -I ate a walking taco -sitting down! and even crossed some things off our bucket lists.

Oh and the ride home -outstanding...mini-van won the overpasses and truck honking competition, church van won overall speed of the trip -course look who was driving.

Not bad, we'd say. Loved it, actually...hope those of you who braved the weather with us did as well.

A HUGE thank you to Melanie, Jay and Alyson. They are soooo cool.