VBS was only 4 hours/day (although my mind was occupied with thoughts or preparations for many more hours), so there was still plenty of time to watch Sophia and Avery on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. Avery built a transformer Lego with wheels and wings. He demonstrated all its many functions.
Carson is now able to roll over! 
Sophia created this sign so you don’t have to lock the bathroom door. When you go in, just pull in the sign with you. It hangs outside when no one is inside. 
Author Archives: arletelouise
Barnyard Roundup – day 5
Jesus Appears to Mary in the Garden. Mary discovered the rock no longer covered the entrance to the tomb.
Mary went to tell John the Apostle and Simon Peter. John arrived at the tomb first,
looked in and saw the cloths that wrapped Jesus’ body but didn’t go inside.
Simon Peter arrived,
went inside the tomb and found the folded cloth that covered Jesus’ face.
When Mary went inside the tomb, she saw two angels who spoke to her.
Mary spoke to a man she thought was the gardener until he spoke her name, then she knew He is risen!
This week was so busy and a lot of work, but turned out quite well. I heard later that one of the youngest children who participated acted out this story with her Barbie’s at home in the evening. Cool!
Barnyard Roundup – day 4
Yesterday’s story was Jesus Tells about a Sower. We sowed seeds in a path where people walked but birds ate the seed, rocky ground (rocks laying on a dark brown towel), ground that also grew vines, and finally good soil. Managing all the birds, seeds, vines, and plants must have been overwhelming – I took no pictures.
Today’s story was Jesus Tells about a Lost Son. Note: two boys wanted to be the wayward son, so we had two sons. Here the father is giving his sons money to go out into the world:
The sons spent the money foolishly including buying pizza and soda for two party girls:
The sons are hungry and desperate and find work on a farm. One son took care of the pigs while the other intently raked the green grass.
The father welcomes home his lost son:
A few pictures from the other groups I worked with:
Thinking about eating the pig food:
The older brother was unhappy as the father greeted the son:
Isabella and the horse became immediate and fast friends. She named him Hot Cocoa and gave him a hug before she left each day.
As a little break from storytelling/acting, we used the props from the party scene to take group photos.
Lunch served by the lunch crew. Deena Nickel (at right taking a picture) organized Vacation Bible School this year.
Barnyard Roundup – day 2
Tu – Day 2: Jesus feeds 5000 people. 
The miracle produced small cups of goldfish crackers and wheat thins (bread) for snacking. Then everyone took different parts, we did the 15-minute skit again, and we had a little snack. Repeat.
From Psalm 23: He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters.
Barnyard Roundup – day 1
I said I would help with Vacation Bible School, but missed the first organizational meeting. As it turned out, I was in charge of the Bible part (Uh-oh). The storytelling part – that I might be able to pull off. Barnyard Roundup was the theme.
The Man:
The day began with an opening led by Pastor Kirsten.
Then there were three 45-minute rotations: crafts, games, and Bible storytelling. Today’s story, The Good Shepherd who takes his sheep to good pastures and fresh water.
The sheep won’t go with the robber
or the stranger.
Then the wolf scared off the farmhand and scattered the sheep. The kids loved this part, running away and hiding in the pews.
The Good Shepherd found all the sheep and called them by name.
As soon as the story was over, everyone wanted to do it again but take a different part. We probably repeated each story 2-3 times. The closing at the end of the day:
From the sewing cave
In between everything else, I made a few masks.
Not from the sewing cave, but created – seven hay bales! Ice chests covered with “straw” plastic table covers. It was like wrapping the large heavy gifts – lots of clear postal tape holding everything together.
All for next week’s events!
Golf lessons
Meanwhile Dad practiced his chipping for tomorrow’s golf tournament.
The cheering section:
Funderland
We rode the Yuba Mundo to Funderland in Land Park today. A quick stop at the turtle log:
On the way back, Avery fell asleep!
A stop for ice cream at Turtles in Old Sac. We had to leave Funderland a bit early due to a scratch Avery got while waiting for our second turn on the Flying Dragon. Despite the smallness of the wound and lack of blood, it was important to go home right away so he could rest and he had to hold up the hem of his shorts and he limped a bit. LOL!
Thursday at Merrilyn’s
A beautiful afternoon with good friends and good food.
Bacon-wrapped pineapple and cherry cream cheese spread for crackers or fruit:
For dessert: peach cobbler a la mode:
Wild blackberries
One of Justin’s neighbors, Jack Montgomery, has been gathering the tiny wild blackberries for the past 2 weeks or so. The amazing part is he also just had arthroscopic surgery to open a 90%-blocked artery. Doctors went in through small incisions in his wrist and groin, kept him overnight, sent him home and told him to rest. But Jack has a hard time sitting still, so he gathered the blackberries for short periods of time every day. His slow-but-steady method has yielded 100 pounds so far. Next on Jack’s agenda: jams, jellies, and pies! And he wanted me to know, he does all the canning and baking, not his wife.
arletelouise 