Pet / Owner look alikes...

I just came across these pictures on the camera and couldn't resist sharing them...  You know what they say about pets looking like their owners, or is it vice versa???

Jenny and Callie

Callie looking rather stylish!

Posted by Pam

Bacon Pictures

So... Last January, as in nearly a year ago, Fine Linen Drama produced a play called, "You Can't Take It With You", affectionately known to the cast as Bacon.  It was wonderfully done with excellent casting, a phenomenal set, terrifically talented acting, outstanding costuming, cosmic comedy, and I could gush on and on.  Oh, and did I mention that Jenny was in it?  Jenny played the role of Alice Sycamore, who falls in love with her boss's son, but is afraid that their two families are too far different for a marriage between them to ever work.

Here are a few pictures...

Kholenkov greets Tony and Alice as they leave for the Monte  Carlo Ballet.

Alice admits what first attracted her to Tony ...

Donald can't seem to take the hint that three's a crowd!

The hilarious game that gets Mrs. Kirby in trouble. 

The Grand Duchess pays a visit.

The extremely talented cast.

Want to see more?  Go to Fine Linen Drama's website to browse the photo album:

Fine Linen Drama Bacon photo album


Oh, and guess what?  "Oliver! the Musical" is coming in March!

Fairgrounds 4-H Mural

Many hands make for light work!

 For the second year now, the Rolla Fairgrounds has asked our 4-H Club to paint a mural for them.  This year they gave them a prominent wall at the front entrance.  Desi and Jenny started out by mixing the colors for the background sunset.

We got the aid of the very talented artists, Tabitha and Zeke Gill, to help sketch out the ferris wheel.  Zeke is using a pencil tied to a string to achieve a circle effect.

Sketching begins

 Since the wall faced the west, we only had a few hours each morning to work in the shade during our 100+ degree weather.  The nice part about a mural is that there is room for many to work at the same time.

It's coming along!

The finished masterpiece!

For a first hand look, drive by the Rolla Fairgrounds anytime.  Way to go Lucky Duckies!

Missouri Youth Tour

Missouri Youth Tour
So, Jenny entered an essay contest with our local rural electric co-op this spring, and ended up winning an all expenses paid trip to Washington, DC.  She is on the trip now and it looks like she is having lots of fun, and seeing lots of great places.  You can click on the above link to follow her trip on facebook.  While I still wish I could go to DC, this has been a great way to almost feel like I am on the trip with her.  Another post on this later.
 Posted by Pam

Jenny at the Jefferson Memorial

New look for trashcans...

This past July our 4-H Club painted trash cans at the local fairgrounds. It was sure quite a transformation for the cans, which were previously so yucky and rusty I wish I had taken a picture before they started!

This is a hot air balloon trashcan. I was very impressed that someone had come up with this idea. Unfortunately, I don't remember now whose idea it was...

As you can tell, the name of our club is the Lucky Ducky 4-H Club, so painting a duck pond seemed perfect.

More duckies. Well, they were cute!

Again, I don't remember whose idea it was, but this was an Eye Spy trash can. It asks if you can find the ducky?

So, did you find the ducky? Look in the clock.

Here Jenn and Brooke are mixing paint.

Matthew and Cordell working on the rock wall trash can.

Mikayla working on the rainbow trashcan.

Jenn painting the ivy on the rock wall as Mikayla looks on.

Ryan adding something...

Desi prepping the duck pond.

We sure are lucky to have such talented and creative 4-Hers! This made for quite a fun activity, and so nice to see the results of hard work!

Camp.

Two weeks ago, I went to church camp. More specifically, Little Prairie Bible Camp. This is the same church camp that I have gone to for 8 years, and also where I worked as a lifeguard for 5 weeks this summer. But in all the years that I have been going there, this last week was, by far, the best I have ever been to. What made it the best you say? Well, I can't really narrow it down to any one particular thing. However, I will do my best to list and tell you a little bit about some of the things...

1. Spiritual growth! Our theme for this year was Matthew 5:16. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven."

We had so many great lessons based on this verse, and I definitely felt encouraged and challenged by them. And... we had 7 baptisms! It was awesome to see God working in so many lives!

2. The people.

The people I was around and the friendships that I built with them are... irreplaceable. All of them were such inspirations to me because of their obvious love for God and others. Gah, I just love my camp family! And yes, it really was like a family! We all made so many happy memories together and I can't wait until next year to see y'all again!

3. The slip and slide.

Yep. We used a giant piece of plastic and covered it with water and dish soap and ta da! slip and slide! Not only was it a BLAST, but we all got really clean. Albeit, bruised. =) Actually, we enjoyed it so much that we played on it 3 different evenings.

4. The singing.

This is probably one of my favorite things about camp in general. We do a lot of singing and the harmonies are always so beautiful. Even on the hippo song. =)

And I am running out of time, so now, it will just be a list. =)

5. Sleeping in the cabins with no air conditioning.

6. Fireside/poolside devos and singing.

7. Ultimate. Frisbee.

8. Dance parties in the cabin with the counselors.

9. Personal Bible time.

10. The mud run. It was epic and gross.

11. Team skits.

12. Willie - He is a cook, and he's awesome.

13. Camp food. It's delicious!

14. The blessing. It's powerful. If you know what it is, then you know what I mean.

15. Playing slime ball.

16. Serenading the boys.

17. Free time volleyball circles.

18. Singing in the shower house.

19. Kill-ball in the pool. A game loosely based on football...

20. Coming up with team cheers and parodies to impress the cooks before lunch.

21. Sharing our favorite memories of the week with everyone while we were waiting for a storm to blow over.

Can't wait until next year!

God Bless!

~Jenny

Summer Job & Road Trip!

1. Summer Job

Well, it's official. I am now a certified lifeguard! =D I have been taking a class at the Rec centre in town for the past couple of weekends, and passed the tests this morning. I am pretty happy. =) The class was difficult, but definitely "do-able". Actually, the most painful part for me was warming up at the beginning of class every day. We would swim 300 meters (a little over 3 football fields) using a breast stroke/front stroke combination without stopping. And for someone who hadn't swam since last summer, and who has never been "taught" how to swim using the different strokes, this was a slight challenge. However, I learned the strokes quickly and it became easier each time we did it. =)
I decided to become certified when I heard that Little Prairie Bible Camp was looking for a girl's lifeguard, and since I was looking for a summer job at the time... it seemed like a good option. So, I will be working as a lifeguard Monday-Thursday for most of June, part of July, and possibly part of August out at Little Prairie! Which, is great because one, the camp is within walking distance of my house, and two, because I will be getting paid to be at one of my favorite places on earth for the whole summer! It's a win-win situation. They get a lifeguard, I get a great job. So, yeah. =)




2. Trip to Indiana
We are heading up to visit my mom's side of the family in Indiana and I am pumped. They are such a crazy bunch and I just love them all so much! Be looking for a post about it soon. (Although knowing my sporadic blogging habits, that's not a guarantee. )

God Bless!

~Jennifer Renee

Seussical!

Hello Dear Friends!
Sorry that I haven't posted in so long! So much has been happening lately that I just couldn't keep up with blogging about it all. The list of things that I wanted to blog about just kept growing and growing until I was rather intimidated by it. However, my mother has consistantly been dropping reminders that I really should update you all. So, without further adu, a partial update! (I am going to do it in parts because it would be a really long post otherwise. =)

So firstly, the play.

I think that it is safe to say that the one event that has occupied most of our thoughts (and weekends!) since January is "Seussical the Musical". It was Fine Linen Drama's spring production, and Cordell & I both had roles in it. Cordell was a one of the cadets at General Shmitz's Military school and a clown fish. I was in the jungle ensemble, a beach boy singer, and a dancer in a tap & black lights number. It. was. a. blast! I love the Fine Linen Drama group so much! They are all such talented people with a love for Christ that is so uplifting to be around! I feel so blessed to be a part of it.

Here is the group out of costume and in their normal character. These are the real characters who I have gotten to know and become good friends with.

The jungle crowd.

The wonderful little whos from Whoville.

Mr. and Mrs. Mayor with their son, Jojo.

These three did such a fantastic job!

Sour Kangaroo & Young Kangaroo.

They both rocked my socks.

I love them.

The End.

General Ghengis Khan Shmitz and his cadets.

(Cordell is on the far right)

Mr. Steele, who played General Shmitz, is someone who I really enjoy being around.

He has such a positive perspective and is almost always wearing a smile.

He is awesome. For example:

Once while we were building/painting the set, he walks up to me and says, "You know what I used to say? I used to say, God is so good. But, not anymore. Now I say, God is so good to ME. It makes it so much more personal."

See why he's awesome?

Mayzie La Bird and the Bird Girls

All with beautiful smiles, voices, and costumes.

Which, speaking of costumes, aren't they fantastic? Amy and her team of seamstresses did such a wonderful job bringing the Seuss characters to life!

The act 1 finale.

"It's Possible" was a really fun number that included fish dancers doing ballet, beach boys dancing... beach boy-ish?, and clown fish with fish faces.

The Wickersham Brothers.

All of them smooth, cool, and mischievous.

Horton and Gertrude

Amanda and Mr. Goff are fantastic! They are both so incredibly talented in acting and singing.

I can only hope to one day have as great facial expressions as Amanda.

Horten, Gertrude, and the Elephant Bird.

Glory pretty much stole the show every performance.

Hunches! This was one of my favorite scenes! Learning to tap was sooooo much fun, albeit a bit of a challenge! Since most of us were beginners it took a lot of practice to learn the steps. Or, at least it did for me. =)

The crew! Where would we be without them! Oh, yeah. In the dark, not able to hear anybody, and tripping over the props that hadn't been moved... The world would be a scary place without these guys.

And of course, some backstage photos! Here we have Jorin and Cordell just hanging out in the basement.

Jeni & I

(Or Penelope & Petunia) (Or Charlotte & Gail) (Or Clementine & AM) (Or Tanzy & the Sour Kangaroo) (Or the shama and the baboon...) (The list goes on and on...)

I love these goyles. A LOT.

Laura graciously pinned/curled my hair every performance! I don't what I would have done without her! She actually did many of the girls' hair and all of them were very pretty. Thanks, Laura! :)

Jeni & Kelsey

(I think Jeni might be the influence here...)

Miss Clarissa Michelle and I =)

Me and Jenna <3

Well, that's all for now. I really will try harder to keep the blog updated!

God Bless!

~Jennifer Renee