Summer Softball Tournament

We had an excellent turnout for our August softball game at North Baker Elementary. It was a little damp in the outfield due to some unexpected sprinkler activity which several adults rectified at peril to their own dryness. Kids of all ages came to play ball, eat, and cheer on the home team (of which there were two!). Good eats followed the softball game and everybody went home satisfied.

Hoofing and Hiking

September found us happily hiking and riding horses under a clear blue sky through the pine-covered mountains south of town. Four horses, a mule, and a colt joined our hike this year and really added to the excitement. There were enough horses for all the kids to ride (several riding double) while the adults “hoofed it” on their own. We rode up a forest road leaving from the Powder River Recreation Area to a dry rocky slope with a good view of the Powder River Valley from Mason Dam to Stices Gulch. A huge pine that stood by itself for many years in this place was struck by lightning this spring and served as a point of interest for climbers and natural history buffs. After the return trip we ate homemade M&M cookies and Pastor Susan provided a grand finale by shooting off a shower of diet coke fueled by Mento candies. It was a fun event with good company and many pleasant reminders of the beauty of God's creation.

October Harvest Party

The Young Families Group was treated to a fabulous Harvest Party by the creative PYGs and their leaders. Nineteen children dressed as ghouls, clowns, princesses, bumblebees, doctors, pioneer women, superheroes, and pirates descended on the Halloween-decorated PYGpen at 4pm . They rotated among 4 stations where they played Boo Bingo, bobbed for apples and had their faces painted, listened to spooky stories, and created their own English muffin pizzas.

A big clown kept us entertained with balloon toys and order was kept by a “knight in not-so-shining armor”. Awards were presented to all participants for their fine costumes. The grand finale was to tour the haunted furnace room and crawl through the maze in the Ingram room. Many blood-curdling screams came from the furnace room so it was undoubtedly a success! Many thanks to the PYGs and their leaders for a very fun time!!

November Holiday Craft Event

Talent abounded in Rogers Fellowship Hall on Sunday, November 19 from 2:00 -4:00p! Wherever glue, paint, and crayons abound, there will always be lots of fun and this event was no exception!! The Young Families Group gathered to create “stained glass” window hangings, colorful paper turkeys, red and green potato stamp tablecloths, “stained glass” memory jars, and our annual chrismon ornaments. There was serious crafting going on for almost 2 hours by 12 children and several adults. Popcorn, pretzel mix, banana and zucchini breads, and raspberry drink fueled our creative efforts.

Christmas Pageant

In December the children of the Young Families Group led the congregation in witnessing the beloved manger scene, complete with sheep, sheep dogs, shepherds, and angels. They sang a verse of "Away in the Manger" all by themselves and left behind an enchanted audience. Great job participants!!

Winter Fun

Imagine a steep, packed snow track, many different types of sleds, saucers, and toboggans, and 11 kids (plus numerous kid-like adults) that are full of energy. Does this sound like a recipe for fun? Oh, and did I mention a nice fire, marshmallows, popcorn, and hot chocolate? And cross-country skiing opportunities for those so inclined?

Blue skies and sunshine made for great weather to enjoy being outdoors and out of control on the sledding hill during our January gathering. There were a few unscheduled trips off the sledding track into trees, rocks, and a nearby ravine but no lasting injuries were incurred.

 

Valentine's Swim Party

The Young Families Group had a splashingly good time at Sam-O-Swim on February 11 at their Valentine's Swim Party. There were heated (sometimes dangerously so!) games of Keep Away, Water Basketball, and Dunk- (or Splash)-Your-Valentine. The Kiddie Pool was a great place for our younger members to learn about blowing bubbles, keeping water out of your nose, and floating on foam noodles. It was also the place to warm up! There was no let up of activity during the entire time we were in the pool, which put us in good shape to eat the Valentine goodie spread in the lobby afterwards. There was quite a feeding frenzy in the lobby for a while.

Bowling Party

Pins were falling left and right (when our bowling balls weren't rolling down the gutters) at the Elkhorn lanes on Sunday, March 18. The Young Families Group wreaked havoc on 7 pizzas, 6 liters of pop, and 4 bowling lanes for 2 hours. We learned some new things: 1) the lanes are incredibly slick just beyond the throw line, 2) the light balls for the youngest kids aren't heavy enough to get levered onto the bowling rack and can cause multiple balls to roll back down the return track, and 3) the pizzas made at the bowling alley are quite good and 7 are just enough for 25 people! Everyone had a fun time and looked stylish in their bowling shoes.

Spring Fling

The Young Families Group celebrated spring with a Spring Fling event on Sunday, April 22. We painted wooden flowers, whirligigs and many hands and fingers for our first activity. Then there were plastic egg races. Have you ever been in a race where you pushed an egg with your head? It isn't as easy as you think! Or raced with an egg on a spoon? There were lots of laughs and side races to recover lost eggs. The bubblegum race was quite fun too—team members had to dress in gardening gear (hat, sunglasses, and gloves), unwrap and chew a piece of bubblegum, remove the gardening gear and race back to tag their next team member. Unwrapping bubblegum with oversized gardening gloves is difficult for small hands but fun to watch for the rest of us!

We then went on a treasure hunt looking for signs of spring. Since it was a cool and cloudy day, we didn't see many of the human signs of spring—the sound of lawnmowers, babies in strollers, or bicyclists, but we found God at work in the trees budding, flowers blooming, and dogs shedding. We had a terrific snack smorgasbord which included the popular “dirt” cups complete with “worms”.