Evvie and Catrina participated in their piano teacher's (Mrs. Dianne Wilson)recital and performed very well indeed! Evvie played "Midnight Rhapsody", Catrina played "Fondest Memories", and together they played a duet arrangement of "God Bless America".

Recitals, and more recitals!

Opus 11 presented their student recital on Tuesday, and we all settled down to hear some music. All the students played very well and their playing showed great improvement! Of the Marshall clan, Annick played "Medley on the Cross" on cello, and Evvie played "Rhiwadon" on harp. Tom, Hannah, Esther, Sam, and Jon DeL showed excellence in their playing, and Miss Theresa Eddy played "A Mighty Fortress", and we were all impressed with her beautifully fluid arpeggios!

Annick on Cello

Evvie on Harp

Hannah on Violin.

Esther on Harp 

Thomas on Viola 

Opus 11 playing Vivaldi 

Trip to Tennesee

Actually, the whole adventure started on the night we heard Mr. Ford. The transmission of our blue Windstar conked out 2 blocks from the church where he spoke, and we ended up getting some cardiovascular exercise that evening. The next day, Papa and Mama left in the morning to get it towed, and when they arrived at the unfortunate spot, there was no van! The police had had it towed to a transmission shop (thankfully) and had not yet told us. Anyway, the whole problem was straightened out, and the trip to the yearly reigonal ATI conference was still on the agenda. Things became a little hairy on Tuesday as we prepared for the 11 hr. trip, but we finally left around noon that day, the renters of a tan Ford Freestar (the next step up from a Windstar). We sailed through the states of Ohio and Kentucky, avid listeners to The Chronicles of Narnia, dramatized by Radio Theatre, and eventually reached Fairview, Tennesee, the home of our friends the Kurcab family. Even though it was late, we chatted for awhile and then headed off to bed. Out the door we trudged early Wednesday morning, and drove to Two Rivers Baptist Church, all revved up for an exhilerating conference! We heard several dynamic speakers including: Dr. Bill Gothard, Dr. Karl Coke, Chris and Ann Hogan, and Ralph Meloon.
Annick helped out with WINGS (Wonderful IN God's Sight) a program that instructs special needs children at their own levels. Evvie attended COMMIT (Cultivating Obediance, Ministering Mercy, Internalizing Truth), and Catrina attended EXCEL, programs which instruct young ladies in ways to serve the Lord and their families. In the afternoon, Evvie and I practised with the student choir and listened to Dr. Gothard speak.

Dr.Karl Coke

Leading the singing

Playing the piano

Trina and her team leader Michelle Eng.

Trina's EXCEL friends.

Gabe, Sam, Annick, and Catrina on the deck.

Evvie and Joel.

Thursday and Friday were spent in the same manner, up early, listening with rapt attention, and creeping into bed late at night, etc. On Friday, the conference ended early in the evening instead of 9 p.m. and we headed back to the Kurcab residence for a delicious, relaxing supper! (We were so relieved to be able to get a full nights' sleep that we nearly flipped our chickens!) Saturday found we Marshalls and the Kurcabs at a homeschool picnic in the nearby area. We actually had to drive through a river to park near the house! Catrina had fun playing in the river, and hunting for salamanders and wee snakes in the water with Sam Kurcab (an avid critter-keeper!) I enjoyed taking pictures of the landscape.
When we all returned to the Kurcab house, Sam and Joel showed us some of the Tai-Kwon-Do forms they've learned in their weekly classes (they have taken Tai-Kwon-Do as a family), it was very impressive!
We left Tennesee the next morning, and arrived home around 10 p.m. that evening. The conference was a wonderful experience as always and we enjoyed it immensely!

Yours truly,
Allison

P.S. Annick was fixin' to pitch a hissy fit if she saw more than 20 of those Waffle Houses we saw on the Georgia trip!

A Tennesse phenomenon: you have to drive through the river to get to the house!

Hickman Homestead Kitchen

The Ol' Back Porch

Sam and Joel performing Tai-Kwon-Do!

Sarah and Annick

Memorial Day 2005

Memorial Day was spent at the Bullinger residence, celebrating the adoption of Elizabeth, Willie, and James Swartzendruber! We helped Mrs. Bullinger prepare for the event, and enjoyed the food and fellowship (the chicken legs David grilled were the biggest I have ever seen! They must have been enormous chickens!).

Elizabeth Swartzendruber

Abby and Milly

Fresh corn cooked by Rep. John Stahl himself!

Sunday at the DeLs

Our church potluck on Sunday was eaten at the DeLdurantey farm this week due to the great weather and our out-of-town friends the Vinecki family, and the Wisconsin DeL branch: Nathan, Jeanine, and their baby daughter Corrine. Activities and conversation continued throughout the day, and everyone voted 'yes' on pizza for the evening meal. Volleyball and 'playing army' were the order of the day for the energetic people, and everyone had a great time.

Sarah and her niece, Corrine.

Kathryn

Carol and Nicholas

North Branch Militia eating their pizza rations.