Pictures of Alena

Here are some of the pictures that we have of Alena. Most of them are from when our homeschool group performed "Pride and Prejudice" with a script adapted by Alena herself. Practices were quite tiring, but in the end it was all worth it.

Here is a picture taken during one of our adult directors talks. Like Paige said, the practices were very intense and tiring, especially since Alena and I were the student directors. But in the end it was an amazing experience.

Here you have three of us on stage (with our scripts, it took awhile to get rid of them, being as some of the lines were over a paragraph long!). From left to right you have Alena as Elizabeth Bennet, Charne as Mrs. Bennet, and myself (Caitlin, with lots more hair:~) as Jane Bennet.

Here you have the lovely Alena trying on one of her costumes to see how it would work on stage. We were fortunate enough to find many dresses that actually looked like they came from that time period.

Here is another picture of Alena as Elizabeth Bennet. Doesn't she have one of the most "Lizzie" like looks on her face? One of the neat things about being in this play together was that Paige, Alena and I got to play sisters, as Paige was Mary Bennet. It brought us all very close together in a special way.

Happy Birthday Alena!

To our sister in Christ, loving friend, and fellow maiden and blogger, Alena. May she have a most wonderfuly blessed birthday with many more to come! We have been blessed to know her and her family for almost two years, and they are all such wonderful Godly people. Happy Birthday Alena! We love you!

Paige and Caitlin

Pictures from the Capitol

Homeschool Day at the Capitol

Today was a very interesting day. We got the opportunity to meet with over 600 (YES!) other home-educators and put our best foot forward for the staff at the Capitol. I thought I would give you a brief report. I do not have too many pictures though (which is not how I had planned it) as there were not many chances to take them.

We began the day by going to up to a main meeting place and dropping off our homemade desserts to have them labeled and handed out to the senators and legislatures. It seems that homeschooling families have very good baking skills. There were tables and tables full of cookies, bread, etc. I am sure that the staff that received it will be well-fed =)

Our support group had about 45-50 people there. We all met up and tried to get in to see a bill being discussed by some representatives, but due to the mass amounts of people, we were not able too. Then after some confusion (OK...a lot of confusion), we got to take a tour of the Capitol. That is what most of my pictures are from. I found out (much to my disappointment) that out of 100 Representatives, 75 of them are democrats, and the rest are republicans. Oy. But one of the encouragements was seeing "In God We Trust" in gold letters over the house of senate. I am not sure how many of them live by that, but it was still good to see that they hadn't take it out.

During the tour my sisters and I slipped out to get ready for our performance. There was a one hour block of time dedicated to home schooled children singing, praise dancing, playing instruments, etc. The acoustics in the rotunda were very interesting, being as it was round and marble. It traveled well, but almost killed the sound. The effect was one that caused everyone to lean in and listen a little bit closer. We began with "God of Our Fathers", a traditional hymn, and then closed with "The Price of Freedom". It went very nicely. We were glad to hear a young bluegrass group play, which inspired some foot-tapping (I love that!), and were awed by a beautiful arrangement of "How Great Thou Art" in which the young lady who sung it had all of us waiting for the chandelier to fall. I had goosebumps by the time she was done. A few others from our group performed also, and did a great job. Then at the end, our support group's young ladies closed the performance session with the National Anthem.

I am sad to say that we did not meet the Governor. Elizabeth accidentally bumped into him as we were leaving, but did realize that it was him until she heard everyone whispering "that's the Governor!". Even though it seemed that some of the staff was not pleased at our being there, the ones who spoke to us were pleased with the behavior of all of the children, and said they were encouraged because of what they saw. It was a good day. I hope that every year that we have more and more involvement and are able to show people the good fruits of home education. Have a blessed rest of the week!


Paige =)

(the pictures are coming soon!)

Cheers to Dr. King

A great man will be remembered on Monday. A man who changed his community, America, and the world. I would like to say that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most honorable men I have ever read about. His legacy is so powerful, how could he be anything less than honorable. Not only did he carry out God's command to "love your neighbor as yourself" but he also accomplished much academically. Reverend King was also a family man. He married Coretta Scott King, and they had four children who are still alive today. Probably the most amazing aspect of Dr. King's life is that he protested with peace, even when attempts were made on the lives of his colleagues and his family. I cannot even begin to imagine how hard his struggle must of been. But, Dr. King never wavered. He never changed his tune. Every march was carried out peacefully, and every speech was given peacefully. Here is a man of self discipline and solid morals. Dr. King has also done a great deal for me specifically. You see, if Dr. King hadn't fought for the right, my mom and her family would have never have immigrated from Jamaica to America. In short, I wouldn't be alive. I am deeply grateful to Dr. King, his family, and all other men and women who bled, sacrificed, and died for me. Cheers to the man who made my world what it is today. I honor you Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for everything you've done for me, my family, and my world.
In His Love,
Alena

HOME!!!!

I don't think I have ever been so glad to be out of the car. Ever. What a trip we had! Let me see...you can read all about our wonderful time in Montana (I miss it so much!) at thearkanbloggers.blogspot.com I will be posting some more pictures and videos up very soon (as soon as my camera battery charges so I can extract pictures). For now, I will do this short little post here.

The reason I was so happy to get out of the car was this: we left Montana on Saturday hoping to possibly get home on Sunday. We ended up in Rapid City (not the length we needed to go) because of weather. We left the next morning trying to get to Fayetville AR (I think that was a bit ambitious, maybe it was just me...) but we did not make it there either. We were in Council Bluffs Iowa (the middle of nowhere in my opinion) on New Years Eve. I was thankful for a hotel room at that point. We had been driving on black ice trying to find one with vacancy. We got the last room. The next day we FINALLY made it home. I think it was worth it though, being as our trip was so wonderful. We are truly blessed. Look for more posts coming soon. For now I must finish my work on the family blog.

God Bless,

Paige