Solar Eclipse

On April 8th, we got to observe the solar eclipse, and we had 88% eclipse of the sun. The kids wanted to stay at school for the eclipse viewing festivities, and Nathan and I were at home to watch the progression. 

Caleb came home at the peak and watched for the rest of the eclipse with us. The schools passed out glasses and gave the kids a safety lesson.  The middle school took the kids out to the football field and they laid in the grass to watch. Benjamin’s class went out multiple times during the eclipse for observations, and Eliza’s class went out to observe around dismissal.

It was neat to watch the coverage get more and more prominent and for the sky to get gradually dimmer. Benjamin and Eliza got home towards the end.

We all enjoyed the eclipse, and will look forward to the next one one in August 2044!
 

He is Risen!

Happy Easter! We had a fun day celebrating our risen Savior. The day started with our traditional Easter breakfast of egg casserole, cinnamon rolls, bacon, and fruit salad, then the kids explored what was in their Easter baskets.

We heard a great sermon message at church, and Benjamin and Eliza visited Jerusalem during kids church. They set up tents that depicted different parts of the Easter story, and the kids would go from tent to tent to hear the story. It was a creative way to share the gospel message and the kids enjoyed it a lot.

We were invited to an Easter potluck and egg hunt at Joe and Nadine’s house. We enjoyed spending the afternoon with them, meeting their neighbors, and the kids had fun playing with all the kids. 

Elle and Eliza

Wishing you a blessed Easter. He is Risen!
 

Spring Break

The kids were off for a week for Spring Break, and we are thankful we could enjoy the week home with them. Benjamin attended a soccer camp at Long Park each day from 9-12, and in the afternoon we would do different activities.  In the camp they focused on different technical skills and did lots of scrimmaging. He said he learned a lot and had fun playing hours of soccer each day.

Benjamin played goalie a few days too.

The first afternoon we visited Camp Highroad, which is a sleep away camp about 30 minutes from our house that the boys will be going to for a week this summer. They had an open house, where campers could come see the camp and participate in some of the activities. The kids fed horses, did a zip line, used a huge sling shot, did archery, and took a hayride to see the camp. It was a fun afternoon and they are looking forward to their week at camp this summer.

Zip line tower.

Caleb going down the zip line. I think this was the highlight for both boys.

Pond to canoe and kayak.

Archery area

We caught the last hayride of the day. The boys’ friend Oliver is also going to camp with them this summer. 

One of the cabin areas

Nathan did more landscaping during the week. He planted a few bushes at the front of the house and along the side of the back yard. He works hard to make the yard look nice, it has come a long way since we moved in.

Before 

After

The kids received bikes and were all really excited to take them for a ride. Eliza got a bike with training wheels. She is having fun riding around the pond and she getting more stable on her bike.

We got the boys mountain bikes, so they could ride on the trails near our house. Nathan got a mountain bike as well, and they did some riding on the Long Park trails throughout the week.

Another morning when Benjamin was at camp, Nathan took Caleb for a 5.5 mile hike on the Manassas Battlefield.

Benjamin and Eliza’s school is hosting a 5k color run at the end of April, and the boys and I are training for a race. One morning we ran the race course. It has been fun to train together, though the boys are quite a bit faster than me!

Eliza was invited to one of her good friend Leyla’s ice skating party at the Haymarket Iceplex. The ice hockey teams practice here, and they have open skating each day. It was Eliza’s second time skating, and she had a lot of fun!

We are lucky to see beautiful sunrises and sunsets each day from our home.

Enjoying a treat at cupcake heaven.

It was a fun week spending time together and being at home!
 

Jordan friend reunion

We had another opportunity to get together with friends from Jordan. Our good friend Roger, who we served with in Kuwait and Jordan, was in town for work so we invited everyone over.We had not seen Roger and his family since they left Amman in 2019, we had not seen Scott since he left Amman in 2017, we saw George about a year ago, and Nadine and Susie we fortunately get to see more regularly. It was a fun day sharing lots of laughter and memories with good friend.

When Nadine arrived in Jordan in 2016, her daughter Elle, on the left, was 6 weeks old. Now she is 8 and a sweet friend to Eliza and the girls enjoy when we get together.

It was a fun day gathering with friends from abroad.

Regional Wrestling Meet

Caleb wrestled in the Western Prince William County regional wrestling match at the end of the season. It was his first year wrestling, and he came a long way with the skills he learned and his level of confidence and aggressiveness since the beginning of the season. Nathan took him to the meet since I was at gymnastics with Eliza. We were bummed to miss the day, but Nathan cheered him on and talked to him in between matches. Caleb fought hard and was very aggressive, but he lost his first match, putting him in the consolation bracket. Because there were concurrent matches going on there was no buzzer, and the timekeeper is the person who would come hit the referee with the noodle when the round’s time was up.

He won his second match, pinning his opponent at the end of the second round. This was the first match that Caleb won during this season, and was a big confidence boost for him.

End of round 2, winning by a pin.

Caleb lost the remaining 2 matches, but he fought hard and felt good about his efforts that day. Wrestling was a good experience for Caleb, and he ended the season on a high note with a win at regionals and enhanced confidence in his abilities. We are really proud of Caleb for learning and growing in this sport, and he says he is looking forward to wrestling next year.

The end of the meet was the final championship matches. Nathan said they dimmed all the lights in the gym and put the spotlight on the wrestlers which gave it a neat feel for the big matches. Overall, three kids from Caleb’s school finished first place in their weight class and their school, Reagan Middle, placed 4th overall in the regional meet. 

Stay tuned for more wrestling next year…

Purcell visit to VA

Mark and Betty came to visit for a week when the kids had different events.  It was nice to have their help with the kids as well, since I ended up in late notice training half the week. This was one morning before school - Benjamin and Eliza enjoyed grandpa and grandma dropping them off in the mornings that week.

First event of the week was Caleb’s wrestling match against Bull Run Middle school on Monday evening. Caleb got pinned in the first round, but he is getting more aggressive and learning more about the sport. The matches are exciting to watch and it’s fun to watch his team as we get to know who the different wrestlers are. Each match starts with warms up, then they do 6-8 exhibition matches before the meet starts.

Caleb’s match.

The next event was Benjamin’s strings concert on Thursday evening, which was held at the middle school. The orchestra did a great job and came a long way since their fall concert. At the end of the content, the middle school orchestra performed as inspiration - only 3 years prior they were in the same seats as the elementary kids.

Eliza enjoys getting he hair done in the mornings, and was happy Grandma can braid and do fun hair styles. Eliza likes seeing pictures of what it looks like.

On Friday morning, Mark and Betty surprised Eliza in her class as the mystery reader. She said she was surprised and enjoyed sitting with them for the story time. 

On Friday evening, we had a belated bday celebration for Betty’s 70th birthday. Benjamin sneakily asked her a few weeks prior for her favorite color, to design her birthday cake.

One thing we love being back stateside is being able to order Walmart birthday cakes!

On Saturday morning, they saw Eliza’s gymnastics class then started heading back to Illinois.

It was quick but fun week, and we are glad we got to spend time together.