... for Christmas programs and parties! On Thursday we attended the program "Christmas in the Country" put together by the students in the Horseman in Ministry (?) class. The equine program at Asbury has exploded in the past 5 years and it's now the 3rd largest major on campus. Thus we knew a lot of students involved and wanted to support them with our presence. (Plus it was free and included activities for kids, so now that Ellie's past her fear of horses, it's a fun diversion for the kids to take them to the barn).
Reni and Ellie are petting a horse (new to them) which is used for vaulting. If you are unfamiliar with this sport, it's basically gymnastics on the back of a moving horse. This horse was a BEAST! Gentle, but HUGE. I could easily see why he is used by the vaulting team, especially after watching the program with up to four girls at one time on his back while he walked around the arena.
Ellie had so little fear, that we had to keep a close eye on her not to get too close. While the horses at the farm are quite acclimated to crowds and kids, with her frequent toe jumping, we have to be sure she doesn't inadvertently startle a creature or make it unusually nervous as her jumping increases in correlation with her level of excitement.
Yes, Reni is alternately chewing on cookies and using the same hand to pet animals. We didn't plan the order of our circuit through the barn too well.
At 7 we all entered the arena, donned gloves and pulled out blankets (aluminum bleachers are cold!) and settled in for the performance.
From horseback, the students delivered the story of the fall of man to the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ (the reason for Christmas). The kids loved it and it made for a fun evening!
On Friday night we hosted our student cabinet for an overnight Christmas party with a photobooth, games, and movies. We were up 'til nearly 3 and then up again at 8 to make breakfast (and in those 5 hours of sleep there were a few crawls out of bed to attend kids -- yes, we're feeling our age, but it was so worth it).
Saturday night we had Wilmore Old Fashioned Christmas but I didn't bring my camera (still recovering from the short night of sleep, I suppose). It's always fun to stroll main street and see so many of our friends and neighbors. The kids were excited to see and crawl into some real fire trucks, and we were excited to see some old friends that we hadn't seen in years (hi, Allie and Sarah!).
Our schedule hasn't seemed to slow down in spite of the semester winding down, but I hope to make some time for a good update on the kids and their development (if for my own journaling's sake, if nothing else)! Thanks for checking in!
No comments:
Post a Comment