Bowling!

Easter Photo Blast

We enjoyed a wonderful Easter!  Our church service was beautiful and meaningful. We had time with family.  The weather was beautiful.  And now, better late than never, I have photos to share...

My Easter Eve

Memories in Photos

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning we saw this in our neighborhood...

See it? 

I got all excited and Mike was a good sport to follow it a bit so I could get photos.

We both laughed about it as we used to see hot air balloons frequently when we lived in New Mexico. In fact, about once a year we would wake up on a Saturday morning hearing the WHOOSH sound they make as the local balloon festival often blew many over our neighborhood. I capitalized that WHOOSH sound as it can actually be a really loud noise, not a gentle sound at all.

Can you see the flame shooting up inside the balloon?  

That is, of course, how the air gets hot. Otherwise it would be a cool air balloon and it wouldn't rise. Still, who first thought it would be a good idea to shoot a flame up inside a flammable balloon as it held your life in its basket?  

We actually got to ride in a hot air balloon in New Mexico, thanks to our friend, Jim, and our friends, Bob and Marcia. Jim owns a balloon and Bob and Marcia were the chase crew. We got our turn to be a chase crew as well. That was kind of fun and a bit scary.

Did you know a balloon can't really be steered?. The pilot just makes it go up or down until finding a breeze going the way he wants to go. Sometimes there is not a breeze going exactly where planned.  Sometimes the balloon take an unexpected route. That is why a chase crew is called a chase crew. 

Sometimes there isn't much of a breeze at all. Sam and I had our ride together. Although he is 6'4" now, he could barely see over the top of the basket then. I couldn't bring myself to hold him up very far as I had wild worries of dropping him over the edge if we hit a bump.... An air bump.  That wasn't really a worry. Our friend, Jim, kept piloting us higher and higher, trying to find a good breeze. Sam and I went very, very high!  I don't remember how long our ride was, maybe 30-40 minutes. When we landed, we'd only gone about one block.  Nevertheless, it was a wonderful experience. Thank you, Jim! 

The part I did not know was that those graceful balloons do not always land so gracefully. They bounce!. The chase crew has to grab onto the basket and be human anchors. Sometimes the anchors get bounced around a bit as well.  Who knew? 

Anyway, blue skies, no clouds and a hot air balloon made for a lovely drive to church.

Communion Class

Saturday morning I taught a communion class at our church. A few years ago I wrote a little curriculum for this purpose. I wrote it to be done in four different lesions. The first three lessons are to be done at home with parents, and then we all get together for the final class.

In this class we start off learning about the Hebrew People being slaves to the Egyptians. I teach a bit about Moses and the plagues in order to teach what the Jewish Passover Celebration is all about. 

Then, we fast forward to the New Testament and talk about Palm Sunday and Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. We move on to the Last Supper and talk about how it ties in with the Passover. I love when it seems the kids are catching on. We talk a lot about Jesus taking on our sins, forgiveness, grace...

We talk about baptism being a time when God is initiating our faith and that communion ia a time when our faith is nourished. Both are times when God has used something physical, water and bread and wine, in his plan to draw us to him.

After all that history lesson we talk about the meaning of communing with each other. Living in community is sometimes difficult but they learn we are taught to worship together and to serve Good together. We aren't to be long ranger Christians.

We take time for crafts as well. Each year I try to search for a craft that will leave the students with something to remind them of what they learn. This year I brought clay, that pick like thing that is meant to pick the meat of nuts out of the shell, and some cross do-dads. Take a look at the cool results! 

When I am done, Mike spends some time giving further instruction. He lets them see and taste the elements of communion. He tells them about different ways communion might be served in other churches. He gets right down to the nitty gritty kind of advice that can be so useful. You know, advice like sitting near the back when at a new church, giving you a chance to observe their traditions so you know what to do. It is really kind of a fun class and I always enjoy teaching it.