Women's Retreat A Big Success

The PVN Women's Retreat went very well. The women loved it! They loved getting to know new women, praising God, and learning more while studying His Word. There is much that could be said, but you probably don't care about too many details, so I'll leave you with the picture of the leadership team. Pictured left-to-right: Linda, Andrea, Carol, Sylvia, Joan, Cathy, Joan. Sylvia and Joan (both at center) were the coordinators and session leaders, and the others led the boutiques and singing. Praise God for the impact this weekend made on some of our women!

While Mom's Away...

Well, Syl is away coordinating the Women's Retreat, and the four of us are here at home. We did a lot of work (laundry, sticks in yard, cleaned rooms, washed table, and more). Of course, we had fun, too. We played outside. (See the beautiful day out the window?) And we played inside, where Syndi shared "jewelry" with the boys.

It's Stephen's birthday today, and Stephen is now 2 years old! What a way to party - wearing his sister's jewelry. Happy Birthday Stevie Boy!

Junior is quite the party animal, too. Everybody put your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care...or something like that.

Syndi, the instigator, got this party going. She doesn't want to wait for Mommy to get home to open some of Stephen's gifts. Neither does Junior, but Stephen really doesn't care, because he doesn't really understand. He keeps saying "mine" (a new word he's picked up, and he uses it on whatever he can, like an explorer staking a claim on something he likes), laying across the tricycle Aunt Chris and Uncle Brent shipped over for his birthday.

Ah, the things we do when Mommy is away.

Women's Retreat Spring 2007

Sylvia has been working for months on preparing a spring Women's Retreat at our church, Pleasant Valley North Baptisit Church. She and a few other women have been rather busy the last few weeks, getting supplies, signing women up, preparing the lessons, etc. And in the last few days, Sylvia has turned into a human tornado, always busy running from place to place, getting last-minute supplies, hoping late orders come in, getting it all done.

Two weeks ago 29 women were coming, but this past Sunday morning they'd pushed past 40 women. By Sunday night the count had crossed 50, so some last-minute adjustments had to be made. But it has all come together, and tomorrow night, many women from our church and community will come together to study God's Word, fellowship, encourage each other and be encouraged, and of course to eat chocolate (hence the name).

Whether you see this before tomorrow, before the retreat finishes Saturday afternoon, after the retreat finishes, or way after the retreat finishes, your prayers would be appreciated. Please pray that these women will strenghten their relationships with God and develop bonds with other godly women, and that the impact after the retreat won't fade. Please also pray for Sylvia as she leads the group of women overseeing this event, and as she prepares other retreats in the future. Pray that these women will taste and see the goodness of God.

Atlanta Zoo (Part 4)

Syndi and Junior went ape over the statue of the gorilla. (Sorry, I couldn't help it.) Junior is getting SO big.
Again, it was feeding time for the animals. Seemed to be so at every exhibit. I guess they have nothing else to do all day...no predators to hide from, no food to hunt down, no prey to track, no habitat to build. The silver platter seems to be just outside the picture here.
Syndi and Junior loved watching these guys chase down the food the zookeepers were throwing to them.
Lots of exhibits = Lots of walking.
Sylvia, Syndi and Junior stand before the Asian Bamboo Forest.
An orangutan strikes a humorous pose. Speak no evil, maybe? This guy was a real character. He knew he had an audience, and he played up to it.

LuLu and JuneBug with Mr. Speak No Evil beyond.
Syndi strikes a relaxed pose like the Lioness.
Junior looks fierce like the Lion.
Syndi with outstretched claw like another Lioness.

At the end of a long day, our kids sat with some lion statues not far from the entrance to the Atlanta Zoo.

Syndi and Junior scampered from the statues to a nearby glen of bamboo trees. Soon after we were on our way home. It was a fun but tiring day.

Atlanta Zoo (Part 3)

In the African exhibits, we saw elephants. It was feeding time when we stopped by, and this guy had quite the mouthful. Elephants are so impressive...and so BIG.

We went on to see zebras as well.
Here is Junior standing in the forefront of the zebra exhibit. You can see the zebras in the distance at the top of the picture.
Right in front of us was the rhino exhibit. This guy gave us stern look as he turned our way. Notice the rhino is actually a Georgian Rhino (Rhinoceros Atlantas), having shed his normal coloring for a coat of good old Georgia red clay. I guess Red rhino likes to roll in the mud a little.
Syndi posing with the rhino in the distance.

Did I mention the rhino exhibit was RIGHT in front of us? A fish-faced Junior stands with the rhino no far beyond him. Fortunately there was a huge pit between Junior and the beast.
Syndi stands with the zebras in the distance.
It was feeding time for the giraffes also.
As we were leaving the rhino-zebra-giraffe area, Red Rhino and his gray rhino companion got into a little tiff, with lots of snorting, scraping the dirt, and charging at one another. By the time I snapped this shot, they had separated, and Red Rhino was turning the other cheek.
Herein lies our disappointment. Before we came to the zoo, we'd gone online to the Atlanta Zoo web site and downloaded some kids educational packets. One form Syndi enjoyed filling out was a page that asked what animal she would like to learn about, asking what she already knew and what she wanted to learn. Syndi has been fascinated by cats, and was eager to see the king of cats - the lion - and tigers at the zoo. Unfortunately both exhibits were closed. What a disappointment. Jon loves tiugers and was eager to see them as well. This is a picture of the empty lions den, closed for habitat repairs.
Grandma passed along this photo she took of the family on the train. What a happy group! In the final installment, Part 4, we'll see the kids going ape!