D Town...kind of

This year was my small group girl's last D-Town (Watermark's version of disciple now).  They all had a ton of stuff going on with being important seniors and stuff. :)  So none of them signed up for the weekend, but we ended up crashing Saturday night.  I was glad that I got to spend at least a little of the weekend with my girls.  And we took a few pictures of course...

 Karley, Megan, me, Maddie, Tori

 me & Maddie - I just love this girl!

Bode came back from Chicago to do program.  It was awesome.

Getaway

Every year we go on a retreat with all the girls who lead in student ministries.  It's always one of my favorite weekends.  It is always really chill and relaxing.  Without fail I get to spend time with people who I already know and love and also spend time getting to know new people.  There's something about the bond of people who serve in this ministry - it makes for great friends for sure.

This year we were out at Possum Kingdom lake staying in an amazing house of a Watermark family.  They are always so gracious.  Mel had us do a project with playdo describing where we were spiritually.  Really funny, but it does make you think.  I don't have many pictures, but it was a great weekend.

Photo taken by Jen.  It's pretty.

Senior Year Ski Trip

We left on ski trip the week before Christmas.  This year we went to Taos, NM which made for a shorter bus ride, which was amazing!  The snow was wonderful and I had such a great time with my girls.  I had three of my small group girls and two of their friends, who are now a part of my small group.  We had some great conversations and a whole lot of fun skiing.

 Fun on the bus.  Love me some Maddie!

 Me & Leanne

 Karley & Maddie helping out with some Power Point

 Megan, Karley, & Rachel

 Karley, Rachel, & Megan

 Maddie, Karley, & Rachel

Hayden, Megan, Karley, Maddie & Rachel. 

Small Group Christmas

I love my high school girls and our Christmas parties every year.  This year they requested that I make my enchiladas and that we do a gift exchange - easy enough!  We had a lot of fun eating and laughing at the crazy things that made an appearance at the gift exchange.  It's hard to believe that this was our last Christmas party with them being in high school.  But they did inform me that we'll be carrying on the tradition when they are home from college next year, so I do have that to look forward to! :)

 Who doesn't love a pirate pinata!?

 Tori, Karley, Maddie, Rachel, & Maddie

Leader Christmas Party

And the great blog catch up begins.  Back at the beginning of December (oh yes, this is how far behind I am) we had our student ministries leader Christmas party.  They went with the tacky Christmas theme this year, and it was really fun.  It was a fun night hanging out with friends and made for some great pictures. 

 Me & SarahBeth

 Game Time - love the ridiculousness!

 Jen, Leanne, Lindsay, and me

 Community Group - Jen, Leanne, Lindsay, Sarah, Katie, me, & Alex

 Roommates!

SarahBeth & Julie

Hideaway..the last one!

We had our fall retreat out at Pine Cove the last weekend in October.  I only had two of my small group girls, but we had a great cabin of senior girls.  Hard to believe this was our 7th retreat together.  I'm thankful I got to spend a weekend with the girls.

 Senior girls & leaders - Kyla, Rachel, Katie, Katherine, Tori, Amanda, Karla

 Tori, me & Rachel

 Me & Kyla

 Katherine & Rachel

 Spectating warball

 Announcers for kickball...I just love these two.

 Giant Jenga

 Three blind mice

 Oh how I love these girls...they are so much fun!

And perhaps my favorite part of the weekend...Josiah - one of my all time favorite skit characters - made an appearance.

Typical Wednesday Night

One night I was taking pictures at small group for an assignment for a photography workshop I've been taking. I thought I should post them to document what a typical Wednesday night in my living room looks like. 

 Karley and Tori

 Rachel, Karley and Tori

 Maddie and Rachel

My other Maddie.

Dancing it up!

My high school girls are senior.  We had our last Draw a couple of weeks ago.  There was lots of fun country dancing - mainly line dancing, as two-stepping requires a partner. :)  I always love this event.  And it was a great way to kick off senior year with my girls!  I can't believe it's the beginning of the end.

 Me & Melissa - I heart her.

 Leanne & Kyla!

 High school girls are rough on phones.

 They are seniors - craziness!  Tori, Maddie, me & Rachel.

 Jessica, Leanne, Katie & Shawn

Leanne, me & SarahBeth