Disneyland

I can't believe that I forgot to post about our trip to Disneyland last month. Sandy and I were realizing that the boys and girl, especially the biggest boy, were getting to the age where the "magic" of Disneyland was disappearing. So we decided to spend a few days there for one last family vacation while they're all still "kids."

See what I mean? Our tween was going back and forth between "This is awesome!" and "I'm too old for this kid's stuff." Thankfully, it was mostly the former.

We got Emery an autograph book so most of her time was spent doing this. Princesses were the top choice, but she'd take any autograph!

Cinderella was a highlight for sure.

But the biggest prize of them all were the princesses from Frozen - Anna and Elsa. The line for them was 3-4 hours! Thankfully, we got up early on the last day and got 2nd in line at the entrance gate.

Then we ran up Main Street to get to the rope first. Do you see how no one is out in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle? The park hasn't opened up yet! Then, we speed walked (I got yelled at for running earlier) to Anna and Elsa and only had to wait about 20 minutes. The things a dad will do for his daughter!

Matt had fun at the Lego Store. He got himself a Lego watch.

He had fun with a little bumper car driving.

Until he saw me coming in for the kill!

For the first time, we stayed at a Disney hotel. It was so convenient to walk from the hotel to the parks every morning.

Mom's still got it. California cool.

Andrew tried to share the Gospel with a Storm Trooper. Ha!

The Storm Trooper tried to get Emery to join the dark side. Didn't work.

The World of Color show was fabuloso!

Thumbs up for Disneyland!

Meteors

Congrats to Emery! She graduated up to the next gymnastics class.

Emery just started in January, but she's already gotten promoted 2 classes. But now, things start to get real challenging.

She's worked on this one for a couple of months - the pull-over and back hip circle.

The back walk-over until took 1 day. Emery loves her gymnastics! We're glad she's having fun and working hard at it too.

Romans 6:12-14

I'm still amazed every time I see Andrew in a recording. Actually, it's not so much seeing him as hearing him. How is this happening?

I suppose it's a good thing he's growing up. And that he's hiding God's Word in his heart.

Philippians 3:1-8

Our Bible verse memorization has taken a hit the past year. I've managed to keep the boys and girl maintaining their verses but have not added too many for a while. But at our new church, Community Bible Church, the boys and girl go to a children's program where they have been memorizing the book of Philippians. With the move and all, we didn't really get into the program fully until this year. So we are now back in the swing of things and have been memorizing Philippians 3.

I really like that they are memorizing in the NAS which is what all of the boys and girls' other verses are too. They all have the first 8 verses down so far. Here's Matt.

Upward - Season 4

Another year, another basketball season for Andrew. This year, his team is the Trojans. We won't hold that against him. Go Bruins!

I did a horrible job behind the camera. I spent more time watching the game then actually filming it. So imagine all the incredible basketball that happened before he scored. This was an out of bounds play that worked to perfection.

Andrew's coach is really good this year. He's an actual coach with years of experience. And his team is quite good too. Most of the kids in his division are in 7th and 8th grades. So it's been good to see Andrew hold his own against older kids. Maybe it's the new prescription goggles that are giving him a boost!

Andrew plays pretty focused defense and manages to score almost 10 points a game. He's having a lot of fun with this new level of competition and intensity. I really enjoy talking with him after practices and games about his play.