VVA Festival Part 2
Remember how I said that I had more pictures from the VVA Festival that
we had several weeks ago? Well I’ve finally gotten around to posting
them. So here they are. Enjoy!
VVA Festival Part 1
A couple of
weeks ago, we hosted our first, annual VVA Festival. We handed out
invitations the week before, and quite a few people from our community
(and outside of it) ended up coming. We planned for months in advance,
and, to our delight, when the day came, everything worked out perfectly.
No glitches or problems or anything of that sort. We had several
different games, including a Ring Toss, Relay Race, Fishing Booth, Cake
Walk, a Face Painting station, and more. We even hired someone from in
town to bring his popcorn making machine and sell popcorn. After it was
over, we all agreed that it had been a great success.
As always, I took a ton of pictures:
I took a ton of pictures throughout the afternoon, and have so many more
to share (Hence the name, ‘Part 1’). Be on the lookout for another post
with even more pictures soon!
Gorilla's Nest
Sunshine after days of rain. Green grass and trees everywhere.
Volcanoes peeking intermittently out of the fluffy white clouds. Two or
three red leaves sprinkled here and there to remind me that fall really
does exist. Striped blankets to lay on. Books to read. Picnic lunches.
Wide open fields. Tiny purple flowers. Songs of praise and worship.
Silvery eucalyptus leaves sparkling in the sun and rustling in the wind…
These are just a few of the things that I loved about this past Sunday
morning.
Gorilla’s nest is an absolutely gorgeous place.
Gorilla’s nest is an absolutely gorgeous place.
Sixteen
Yesterday was my sixteenth birthday. That’s right. Sixteen.
We didn’t have a huge celebration. Our teachers and teammates came over to have cake after dinner. Angel Food cake with strawberry sauce, to be more specific. My favorite. My parents had everyone bring encouraging notes and scriptures that they had picked out for me, which was very special.
It was simple, but meaningful.
“What does it feel like to be sixteen years old?”, everyone around me asks. To be honest, I’m not really sure yet. I don’t feel like something has magically changed within me. I feel exactly the same as I did two days ago. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t changed since my last birthday or that I won’t change throughout the coming year. I look forward to the ways that I will grow and change within the next year. I pray that my sixteenth year will be one that is full of new adventures, beauty, smiles, belly laughs, sunshine, and all together wonderful things.
I’m so thankful for teammates, teachers, family, and friends that I got
to celebrate with, whether they were actually standing around me, or
oceans away.
We didn’t have a huge celebration. Our teachers and teammates came over to have cake after dinner. Angel Food cake with strawberry sauce, to be more specific. My favorite. My parents had everyone bring encouraging notes and scriptures that they had picked out for me, which was very special.
It was simple, but meaningful.
“What does it feel like to be sixteen years old?”, everyone around me asks. To be honest, I’m not really sure yet. I don’t feel like something has magically changed within me. I feel exactly the same as I did two days ago. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t changed since my last birthday or that I won’t change throughout the coming year. I look forward to the ways that I will grow and change within the next year. I pray that my sixteenth year will be one that is full of new adventures, beauty, smiles, belly laughs, sunshine, and all together wonderful things.
