Anastasia's 8th Grade Graduation

As this day was approaching all I could keep thinking about was is that I only have 4 more years of schooling with Anastasia and I still remember sitting at the table so anxious to start preschool with her! (sigh)  She has grown into a beautiful young woman and I am so proud of her.

For the graduation the each graduate was to put together a poster board that depicted themselves and their interests or talents or hobbies.  Here is Anastasia's:  The picture of her on the left of the board is when she was in kindergarten.  :)

The graduation took place at the Phoenix convention center right after the home school conference on Saturday.  So Jay and I were at the conference all day and Jutem dropped Anastasia off to us for rehearsal and then everyone joined us later. 

Except my mom and dad weren't able to make it.  It was definitely a day of mixed emotions because earlier in the day my mom got a call that my grandma was not doing well and later that evening she died.  My grandma was 98 years old and I have such wonderful memories of her!  I am glad she is rejoicing in heaven with our Lord and Savior but she will truly be missed.


Chance has been in town for the graduation and she helped do Anastasia's hair.

The two graduates; my nephew Tyler and Anastasia

After the graduation ceremony we all went out for frozen yogurt.

MY BABY!!  :)

Discipleship Training School

I am so PROUD and AMAZED of my daughter, Anastasia!  She completed a 13 week discipleship course that was designed for 17-21 year olds.  Good friends of ours, Pastor James and his wife Tracy lead this course.  It is an intense course that required a lot of focus and dedication and Anastasia completed it (during our move and everything)  She asked to do this course and only wanted to do it if they wouldn't "dumb" it down because of her age.
At the end of the 13 weeks they had a graduation ceremony.  It was a beautiful dinner and each participant got a chance to get up and give their testimony and share some verses they had memorized.  Then they were presented with a beautiful new note taking Bible.

Who Am I?

I have the Holy Spirit power! I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed.  I have stepped over the line.  THE decision has been made.  I am HIS DISCIPLE.  I won't look back, let up, slow down, or back away.  My past is forgiven, my present makes sense and my future is secure.  I am finished with low-living, sight-walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talk, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.  I do not need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotion or popularity.  I do not feel the need to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded.  I now live by faith, live by prayer, lean on Him, walk in patience and labor by His power!  My face is set and my goal is the Kingdom of Heaven.  My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable and my mission clear.  I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, deluded or delayed.  I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of adversity.  I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.  I will never give up, shut up or let up.  I will pray, read God's Word, deny myself and preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.  I must go until He comes, give until I drop, preach until all know and work until He stops me.  When He comes or takes me home, may He have no problem recognizing me! I am a DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST!

Anastasia's Track Meet

Anastasia started her third year of track at the middle school but she wasn't able to complete the season due to us moving. She was able to compete in two of the meets and she did GREAT!!  Anastasia tried the hurdles more this year and she is getting quite good at them.  I love watching her run and am so proud of her accomplishments.  She hasn't decided yet though if she wants to continue or not in high school.  So we will see.  Here are some pics of her final meet.

Anastasia's Birthday

Anastasia is 14 and Fabulous!!! As a mom I could not ask for a better oldest daughter! I never cease to be amazed at the beautiful young woman Anastasia is becoming. I am in awe of her growth in her relationship and love for our Savior, Jesus Christ. If I only had that type of spiritual maturity at 14! She is amazing! She is such a blessing to our entire family and my heart swells with joy at what a great big sister she is!So how did we celebrate this special day? Well each year on the night of the 23rd when she is sleeping I decorate her room so when she wakes up in the morning she is greeted by balloons and streamers and well wishes. Well this year Savannah really wanted to help. So we told Anastasia she could sleep in in the morning so she put her headphones on and slept under her blankets while, Savannah, Alexa and I decorated. (Of course I forgot to take any pictures) :( We made her wait till after our her special dinner before she could open her gifts.

Part of her gift each year is her birthday dinner. When you hear the meal you will know why. ;) We had prime rib, shrimp, sauteed green beans, mashed potatoes, salad, sourdough bread and for dessert was German chocolate cake. YUMMY! After lunch/dinner it was finally time for presents. Well Anastasia has a very bad habit of shaking her gifts and guessing what they are....so I wrapped them very tricky this year.....

No, it is not a box of cereal but I put her gift in the cereal box so she couldn't guess! :)

It's a new pair of yoga/work out pants (little did she know that the next morning she would be getting an MP3 player and a really cool workout shirt that has a special holder for her MP3).

She has been wanting a new Bible cover and this one was perfect with lots of bling!

Later in the evening the Rogers' family came over for cake and ice cream.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!! We Love you but never forget who loves you the most!!! ;)

Track and Field

It's track season again and Anastasia was ready to join the team again at our local middle school. A couple of her friends were there from last year but she said there were mainly all new kids. She trains really hard as they have practice 5 days a week for one hour. The season lasted for about a month and a half. This year her events were going to be the hurdles and high jump. There are four meets in the season and unfortunately she only got to compete in the first two. Then she hurt her leg (we think possible shin splints) so she wasn't able to compete in the last two. Talk about a disappointment for her! But I was so proud she still wanted to go to the practices and the meets to support her team.




Here she is (below) doing the high jump. I didn't get any pictures of her doing the hurdles because I was video taping it.

I took this picture of Joshua and Jadon walking back to the car after one of the meets. I just thought it was cute! ;)

So Anastasia has one more year at the middle school and then she can move on and compete at the high school. She is going to work on strengthening her legs and might even do cross country in the fall.

Anastasia's Party

It's official we have a teenager in the house!!! And we couldn't be more blessed!!!
Anastasia decided to have a Christmas theme for her party and it works great since the house is all decorated. ;)
She made the cake herself. I know it sounds bad that she made her own cake but she really enjoys making them. And she does a great job!!


Happy Birthday to Anastasia!

Our family! Anastasia's brothers and sisters simple adore her!

Grandparents

The Girls.

Anastasia and I were talking and I need to post some of her pictures over the years side by side because she has been friends with some of these girls since she was four and five years old! They have all grown up so much!

The games for the party were all Christmas based. For goodie bags the girls did a white elephant gift exchange. (we provided all the gifts) They also had a snowball fight, Arizona style with marshmallows in the back yard. They played a Rudolph game which was great fun to watch and they had a cotton ball relay. I think everyone had a great time!