Wordless Wednesday - Snow in April?

And a few pictures of Jon Felipe with his new stuffed monkey. You can tell that he really liked this gift!

Prom 2011

Luke is attending his first prom tonight. He looks so handsome in his fancy duds. His date looks just beautiful and I love the dress she chose. I hope they have a good time together. Of course, we'll get to check in on them later. Unity has an after-prom party and Dwight and I are working the 11:30-3:30 shift. Staying up half the night is not my thing, but it sounds like the kids will have lots of fun things to do.

I hope her parents got better pictures. If they did, I'll post more later.

Wordless Wednesday - Signs of Spring

Beauty and the Beast

Maria was in the junior high production of Beauty and the Beast this weekend. She was the old woman who is really an enchantress and puts a curse on the beast. She was also a villager and a servant, so she got to be in all the big singing and dancing numbers. It was all great fun and she loved being involved and we loved watching it. The kids did a great job. You'd never guess they were only 7th and 8th graders!

My beautiful daughter

The enchantress Disguised as an old woman A villager

A servant singing "Be our Guest"

Thanks to everyone who helped with the production and to those who came to see it!

New Orleans Pictures

I was asked to post a few more pictures from my trip to New Orleans. These are ones that a friend took and sent to me because I am in them. I thought I'd post those just to show that I really did go to New Orleans. You'll notice that food plays a center role in half of these pictures, which was more or less the proportion of time we spent eating. I will say the food was very yummy and I got to eat shrimp every day that I was there.

New Orleans Tour

The conference didn't start until lunch time today so this morning we took a tour a New Orleans. Our guide was very personable as well as knowledgeable and I learned many new things.

The tour included a stop at a cemetery to learn about burial practices in New Orleans. I knew that they had to bury the bodies above ground, but that was just the beginning of what we learned about this topic.

We also drove through the lower 9th ward. It is one thing to see the devastation on the news and another to see it in person. I have vivid memories of our flooding in Holland, so minor in comparison to this. I kept thinking about how these people must have felt - the ones that made it out alive. There were so many that didn't.

We went from the devastation of the 9th ward to the mansions of the garden district. New Orleans is a city of contrasts. Our hotel is centrally located. We can walk to the French Quarter, but we can also see the tall buildings of the city.

We are enjoying getting to know just a little bit about this city. Incidentally, the conference this afternoon was also very worthwhile and I am looking forward to day 2 tomorrow.

New Orleans

I left Sioux Center this morning with 10 other people from Dordt, Sioux Center Public School, and Sioux Center Christian School to attend a conference here in New Orleans. It is a fun group and it should be a good conference. We walked a few blocks from our hotel to Olivier's for dinner. Very yummy.

Walking down the street, it almost feels unreal, like you're in Disney or someplace like that. Lots of lights and people everywhere.

These pictures are for my son Jon Felipe. I thought he would enjoy seeing these signs for Felipe's.