Next semester

Next semester I start Driving! Well... at least the hours... I'm doing D.E next week! I also start poetry. I am very exited to start my driving & slightly apprehensive to start poetry. THough I am very exited about Christmas break!
Billy :D

The pets are all settled in new homes

Well first if you didn't know we had three cats, two rabbits and two dogs. Only the dogs got to move with us to Fresno. It was a mess trying to find homes for the rest of them.

Kansas the boy, is a cool cat. He thinks he is a dog. He is really friendly to everyone. He went to live with someone just before Christmas. He was a present for someone. They got he without ever looking at him. They had heard so many amazing stories about him from our friends...his charm was famous.

Tulip, the stuck up girl cat, likes men. She went to go live in a house with a single dad and his two teen boys. They liked her name so much they just kept it. She likes it because they are quiet. I don't think the boys live there full time either.

Mama Kitty went to go live out at our Meme and Papa's place in Chowchilla. She is so sweet. She is working her charm on our Grandparents.

Eden and Denali, the bunnies went back to the bunny farm we got them from. We here they will be having babies soon.

Eddy my Dalmatian and Leroy the Chocolate Lab /German Shepherd mix are settling into city life more and more each week. They were raised in Coarsegold and so all the noises of city life are freaky to them. Mom says soon we will start walking them around the neighborhood one at a time.

Dave

Jogging

I have been trying to get good at jogging lately. Each day I go out & jog for around a half-hour. I do a mixture of walking and jogging, so that I can gradually work up to only jogging! I can jog for around three minutes right now & hope to increase this by the end of the week.
Billy :D

Yearbook & Newspaper

I am in two yearbook committees, & a home-school newspaper. I am part of the CHEFA yearbook & the BEST yearbook. My family is one of the most active contributors to the Mountain Flame. A newspaper that the school group MATCH is putting together.
Billy :D

Physics

Physics is over for the semester!!!! We did our last class for this year this Monday. We start back up on the 4th. While the class is out we have to do two labs, & a study guide.
Billy :D

The Orazems visit

Last Friday the Orazems came over to see the new house & to hang out for a little while. We played we hung out & showed them the house. We hope to have them over again soon!
Billy :D

Candy Cane Lane Walk & Party at Railroad Park.

last week Billy and I went to a Christmas shindig put on by our home school group BEST. We had a good time walking down Candy Cane Lane. They go there because Christmas Tree Lane has gotten so busy! We played soccer, football, I've never and other games. We also had hot cocoa and snacks. One cool thing that happened with the gift exchange that I ended getting the gift Billy brought, which was what I wanted a Starbucks gift card.


Eric David Vincent ;)

David's Surprise Party

A month ago we went to a surprise party for our friend David. Because we were in the middle of moving we missed out on the surprise part, but we still got to go to his b-day. We had a good time we played board games. We also played yard games like assassin, mafia and other games and of course we ATE!!! It was a good party



Rickydave ;)

Lazer Quest

Every year CHEFA holds a Lazer Quest Christmas party.

We play 3 or 4 games each, eat & hang out in the arcade. This year I did pretty good but not nearly as good as I usually do. Two people came who couldn't play because they were wounded. Jessie has a broken neck, and Richard has a hurt knee. So they hung out & ate.... without playing. Jessie took pics, & Richard just talked. I had a great time talking, eating & killing people!
Billy :D

Holiday Treats w/our Cousins

Last Saturday we got together with our cousins the Chavez's. We hung out & made a few holiday treats. We made peppermint bark & chocolate dipped pretzels. For peppermint bark you melt white chocolate & put extract of peppermint into the melted gloop. Then you mix in crushed peppermint candy(like candy canes)& pour everything into a cookie sheet! It tastes amazing; we had a great time making these winter delicacies!
Billy :D

The Transiberian Orchestra

Last week my drum teacher emailed me & asked if I could come too the Transiberian orchestra. She had an extra ticket & I had some free time. So I said yes; not expecting what I was about to see! I had heard a few songs from the group, but I didn't know that I was listening to their songs when I heard them. The show they put on was AMAZING!!! There were lights, flame & all kinds of craziness. I enjoyed their performance very much and hope to go again next year.
Billy :D

Citizenship Merit Badge

I am working on this badge with my troop this month. We have worked on skill areas for earning this merit badge at our meetings. We watched Davy Crockett and discussed the ways he helped his community. We have had a member of the Clovis City Council come and talk to us, we also visited the Clovis City Hall. I am gathering information for a slide show I need to present for this badge as well planning some volunteer hours.

Ricky

Bunko w/ BEST

We played a really fun dice game called Bunko.

I had great time learning a new game and basically just hanging out with a bunch of my friends....and eating junk food!

Ricky

Jr. High Guys Night Out

Riverpark has guys night out for Jr High about once a month. They they have a girls nights out too, but that's another journey. Anyway the guys had a great time once again eating junk food and playing Ultimate Frisbee! We get to hit grown ups with frisbees, which is cool, this is because we play youth-against-grown ups.

Ricky

The Recue Mission

In The Bembe Worship Project we play at many different places and in many different styles. One of the places we play at is the Fresno Rescue Mission. We have played there several times & always enjoy it! This time we incorporated a few Spanish songs. We played a more Latin type style to these songs which for me was a trip to nostalgitopia! This is the type of music I was playing a few years ago.

Billy

MOVING!!!

O.K so we finally moved into Fresno. It has been amazingly hectic for the last three weeks. School has been difficult, we have had to let some of our activities go & we have been traveling in-between houses like crazy! We are almost completely done with cleaning the old house, so we can give the owners back their keys and move on with life.

Billy

Riverpark Mystery Dinner

This November the Riverpark Sophomore Class had a Mystery Dinner. It was kind of like the board game Clue except we had to act out the parts we were assigned. Everyone was given their character ahead of time so that they could prepare to act them out as well as gather what we needed to "dress in character". It was a fun night. We ate and hung out in-between each act. It was fun trying to figure out this who-dune-it!

Billy

Woodward Park, long time no see........

Last Sat. we went to Woodward Park with some very old friends of ours. They have been around so long we call them our family. We are more like cousins really. We hung out and ate lunch together. Then Ricky, CJ and I walked around the park....for hours. We were pretty much just catching up on stuff happening in each others lives. We have known the Shugerts for 13 years. It was really cool to get together with them! I hope it doesn't take so long to see them again. It probably will though because their schedule and ours are VERY opposite from each other.

Billy

Moonlight Madness!

I went to the Moonlight Madness this year with Riverparks high school youth group. We played CTF & we went down the zip line. We also played the all famous egg blow! This interesting game consists of putting a cracked egg into a short plastic tube & putting a person on either side. The person who stops blowing first........ well they get a little egg in their face! A lot of the people had glow sticks as necklaces , bracelets, head bands etc.. all over themselves. The youth leaders were giving them away. It was an awesome night! We had a ton of fun!
Billy

Chefa Bonfire

This years Bonfire was held at the Goosen Ranch. Hosted by CHEFA as it is every autumn. We hung out, played link tag. We tried to see who could go the farthest in the bungee run. We also had a bounce house. There was a time of teen lead worship etc..yet we mostly ate & generally hang out around the bonfires and food tables. This year I forgot to eat while I was standing right there with the forbidden world of junk food at my finger tips! I was so busy talking and taking pictures for the yearbook that I forgot about "food"!

Billy

Fun in Fresno

This week started out busy. The rest of the week is all about work work work! Monday Our homeschool group went to Color me Mine. There were so many people who signed up that we had to be split into two classes. Since I'm on the yearbook committee I had to be there for both classes. I had to take pictures of the first class. Then I painted a bowl in the second class. After that we went to Rubio's for lunch with our friends the Orazem's. We were glad to be going there because we have been hearing about how good the food is. Their Dad wanted to meet us at the restaurant and also to go see the movie. Yep, We went to Edwards next. We watched "where the wild things are" it was more depressing then I remember the book being, o well we got lots of popcorn and soda. After we refilled our popcorn and soda, you get a free refill, we went to hang just outside of the bookstore to visit with the Orazems some more. Mom say's I was on a soda high. Then I went to Boys Scouts and Billy went to Bembe. Tuesday I went to Choir and then we went to lunch at our favorite stand by Robertitos. I had an eye exam and got some new glasses ordered. See I'm special, so I need super special lenses. You know you are jealous of my awesomeness. We also had some houses we needed to check out. Before heading home we tried out this Chicago style pizza parlor that we have been wanting to try out for a LOOONG time. Man we never get to eat out this much. Yeah. Like I said now the rest of the week is work work work! Oh well it was fun while it lasted.

David

The Famous Schramm's Campout (well at least at our church)

With Riverpark Jr. High I went on this camp out that happens every year. This party always has a theme. This years theme was Mascot Mania. The person with the best costume won. People dressed up as a cheer leader, monkey eagle etc.. I don't really have a favorite mascot, so this was kinda hard for me. I ended up just wearing my Chitudo gee. My Dad and the other adults in the Black Belt club called me the Black Belt mascot because I was the only one sooo young in there fighting along with them. We got to ride on a giant zipline. We had a good time around the campfire. They had the guys in tents on one side of the property and girls way on the other side. We played some wild crazy games which resulted in some kids puking. Anyway it was awesome, too bad I will be in High School next fall.

Rickydave

Update on Boys Scouts

I have enjoyed Boy Scouts a LOT! Every Monday I go to the meeting from 7:00-8:30. We talk about different things each week. We also plan our next activities. These are the things that help us to earn badges. Then we play games and that changes every time too. We have played capture the flag. Sometimes we play infection. Other times we play ultimate tag, ultimate hide and seek or soccer. I really like Boy Scouts. One of the best parts is the things I get to be a part of. This last weekend we "volunteered" at the peoples church sports extravaganza. We had a booth of our own. When other people needed help at their booths we helped them too. I like helping people, so that was fun. Besides we get free food as Boys Scouts. One girl I know said "you and your stickin uniform" when she found out we didn't have to pay!!

Eric

The Five Browns

Last week we went to the five Browns concert at the philharmonic. These five siblings were home-schooled & all play the piano very well. They play classical music on five grand pianos. Most of the songs they play together, but they play some separately. I was very impressed by their skill, & would recommend them to anyone who appreciates the classics!

Billy :D

The Cornfield Maze

This year my family went with our cousins to the cornfield maze. It was a lot of fun! For the first time in ten years my mom actually won. So she was mas grande happy! I saw many people I knew while in the maze( mostly home- schoolers!). I hadn't seen my cousins for awhile so it was cool to see them again.

Billy :D

Graffiti Removal etc...

Last week I went to a volunteer graffiti removal. We went with BEST ( one of the homeschool support groups we're in). We finished a wall within an hour & a half!
Later that day I walked to my friend Justin's house & we hung out until we needed to leave. We were going to another friends house to play some football. We played for around four hours! After the game we had pizza & I taught Josh some self-defense "moves". After that we went to Cameron's house for a "sleep-less over"! That night we played 4 risk games! :D

Billy

BBQ @ The Goodbars

After church last Sunday we went to our friends the Goodbars house. Mr Goodbar and Brannen are in my Boy Scout troop and of course all of the go to church with us. Brannen and I had a nerf gun war. Brenna his sister and Billy ran into her room and slammed the door because we snuck up and attacked them. Then we went outside and played soccer. We aslo played with Brennas whip. Lastly we walked to a lake close to where they live and rode around in a paddle boat. First Brenna and Billy paddled. Then Brannen and I climed over them and they went into the back of the boat and we paddled. It was awesome.
Ricky Dave

Civil War Reenactment

I joined Boy Scouts about a month ago. Last week we went to Kearney Park for a camp-out. W hen we got there we put up tents and set up camp. Then we played games (assassin, flashlight tag and mafia) Apparently the group does something random on each camp out. This time it was taking our shirts off while playing the games. The next morning we went around Kearney park and picked up trash. After that we directed traffic and handed out programs. When we were done we grabbed some lunch and watched the battle. Then the parents arrived to pick us up. My family and I walked around and checked things out. We also toured Kearney Mansion.
Ricky V.

Choir Update

The Jr. High boys had the option, and I signed up for it, to sing in a program called "Real Men CAN Sing!" Yes we can sing, wow! Who would've guessed it? Well it's very hard to get guys my age to sing well because our voices are changing. I give credit to the people who have to run this program. Anyway we will sing at Fresno State later this month. We are practicing hard for this and also for the Christmas concert.

Rickydave

Riverpark Jr. High Youth Group

River Park Bible Church has an awesome Jr. High Youth Group. In it we play some crazy games. For example we play a wild game of dodge ball. In the Jr. high room we play ping pong, fooseball and air hockey. These are available if you come early or stay a little late. We have a lot of goofy fun but we also really get into studying God's word. I really like it all.

Eric David Vincent

The Annual all Church Picnic

We had a blast at the All Church Fall Picnic last weekend. They held it at Woodward Park on Sunday right after church. It was crazy hot and just the day before we were at the same park for our homeschool groups Kick-off. Anyway it was cool. We played volleyball, yes again, football, ultimate frisbee, and the extremely messy egg toss. We go to a huge church, so you can imagine what a mess that was. Dad teased that he didn't want me to ride in the car on the way home because I got egg junk thrown at my back. After the egg toss we got ice cream bars. We saw a lot of our friends that we got to church with, duh. But also friends that are in Boy Scouts and that we homeschool with.
Eric David Vincent

Art

We are in a art co-op with BEST. We have been drawing for the last few weeks. It was interesting seeing what my friends chose to draw. Some of them are really good. The co-op only meets twice a month for 2 hours each time. So we do other art stuff on our own at home. We also go to museums. Basically we are learning Art History and Art Appreciation in an Art Survey unit, well that's how it was explained to me anyway.

Dave

Yearbook Committee & Newspaper Staff

This year my brother and I joined the yearbook committee in one of the school groups we're in. We had our first meeting Monday, we discussed the plan for the year & decided who would do what. We signed up for quite a few different pages. We are also part of a community homeschool newspaper called Flame. We have regular columns we write for that. So we will have a busy schedule in that regard. :D
Billy

Beth David Messianic Congregation

For the last two weeks I have played at a messianic congregation! It has been really interesting, I got to see many different Jewish traditions. We played for the two feasts of Rosh Hasshanna & Yom Kippur! Otherwise known as the Feast of Trumpets & the Day of Atonement. I learned Hebrew songs and played Hebrew style music on world percussion instruments. As a bonus this synagogue has a "potluck" every night after service!
Billy

CHEFA Kickoff

Every year CHEFA has a back-to-school Kickoff. We sign yearbooks, play volleyball and badmitten, eat food, hang out, & race "rubber ducks" in the creek that runs through the park. (Woodward Park) Our ducks didn't do too well. This year was cool because I got a yearbook (because I'm in high school)so I could get people to sign it! CHEFA gives out yearbooks from the previous school year in the fall of the next school year. I got to see people I haven't seen all summer so that was also fun :D

Billy

Riverpark Bible Church

My family has started going to Riverpark again! We used to go but then we moved to Coarsegold. So now that we are trying to move to Fresno we decided to go back. This church has major ADD. I am in the high-school group & there are activities every week! They also teach a lot, its not watered down. I am enjoying the youth group & the sunday school. I plan to join the high school band called project 100 :D

Billy

Physics

This year I am taking a physics class. Its hard but its not crazy hard! The weird thing for me is it's like taking two math courses instead of a science & a math course. I like taking the class because I like doing the labs in a group setting.
Billy

Sentinel Dome

We went to Yosemite with our homeschool group. We hiked Sentinel Dome. It was a good hike. We had a great time with our friends. We saw a few deer and a badger den. My family loves to go and see God's handy work...so this hike did two things. We got to enjoy God's play ground and the friends he gave us.

Dave

Boy Scouts

I am joining Boy Scouts this year! I went to my first meeting Monday night. I saw three people I know there, so that's cool. I'm very happy because I have wanted to join for a long time. I already do a lot of the things that they do in Boy Scouts, but now I will get badges for things like throwing knives and archery which I do in my back yard. I will also be shooting like I did a few weekends ago on my Grandparent's property with our friend CJ and his dad Nathan.

-Dave

Bembe!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!! Bembe started again!!!!! Poor me, I had to take the summer off...feel my pain. Anyway I'm happy that I get to start playin my djembe on a regular basis. The day I came back my teacher gave me 6 new parts to learn, yikes! Luckily none of the parts were crazy hard, so I learned them by the next day. Friday we play in a Synagoge...its always some new angle with my instructor!!

Billy :D

BEST Parties

Ok so I am in a school group called BEST. The youth group had a school is starting swim thingamajig. It was lots of fun! I got to see some friends that I hadn't seen for the entire summer! We ate, swam, played fooseball, and other games but generally just hung out!!!Then three days later they had another party for every grade in the school, babies all the way up to alumni and of course parents too. At this party we played volleyball and had a giant slip and slide, which my parents made.

Billy :D

A Day in Yosemite

We went to Yosemite on Sunday. We were invited to swinging bridge. We were with two other families. Its an awesome swim hole!!! After that we went up to Glacier Point. I only have one word. WOW! While we were there we saw a Mama Doe and her two little fawns. That was sooooo cool! You typically don't get to see the little guys.

Eric

PSCA Choir

I started back in choir after being out about four years. It's good to see all the people I haven't seen in a long time. I am relearning what kind of singer I am. My friends are varied in their voices, but I think I'm Bass and so do all of my friends. We will see where the choir teacher sticks me. I am also relearning my music reading homework. Anyway I am enjoying choir and visiting with my friends very much.

Eric

Another party summary....

O.k so here's the deal, I haven't been able to write for a while so I am doing another party summary. All of the parties on this entry I planned, which was an enlightening experience all by itself! So anyways first we went to pizza with my cousins in Fresno and we messed around in the arcade, then we had a swim party @ bass lake we played games, and hung out. One of the families brought a kayak for everyone to share. I didn't even know they were going to bring that, so it was a nice surprise. I planned two swim parties @ Granny's house we went swimming ate a lot of food and played games! We played Capture the Flag and Marco Polo as well as the usual Apples to Apples and games like that. We also blew up tons of floats for the lake and pools parties. These parties were all really fun, & I enjoyed being with my friends very much!

Billy

parties!!!

This summer I have gone to many parties! Here are a two more that I have been able to attend! I went to Emily tiptons 15th b-day party @ bass lake. We boated and swam & generally hung out! The second party is Weston's movie night. We watched Dudley-do-right. Which of course gave us many fits of laughter!!!
Billy :D

Hannah's Batmitsfah at Bass Lake

This is a girl turning 13, coming of age thingy. We made her something for a memory box or something like that. We got her a frame with four real butterflies in it because our Mom calls her a butterfly. Well anyway I had a lot of fun. There was a lot of food, very important, and friends, also important. The rafts we brought were really fun, we left them at the lake to be used by everyone when we left. Before we left something crazy happened. While I was swimming one of my friends was drowning. I swam over and carried him back to shore.
-Dave

"digefest"!!!!!!!

O.k so last night my family went to the north fork digefest. Now you're probably scratching you're head and saying what is a digefest? A digefest is short for a didgeridoo festival! So now you're thinking why in the world would you want to go to something as boring as that! This digefest opened my eyes to how cool a dige is! I had previously though that a dige only made one sound ( a deep and strange bellow). I was sadly mistaken.... these instruments are amazing!!!! They are so fun to play and you can make hundreds of different sounds! I saw many amazing players throughout the night. I was even taught by several players who were both very good and very friendly! So I now know and can do the basics of playin the dige! While I was learning to play a dige Ricky was busy swinging of a rock into the pond that was behind the festival!!!So the entire family had fun at this amazing festival!
Billy :D

Woodward Park with my cousins & Day at Lucas's house

On Thursday I went to my friend Lucas's house and spent the day shooting air soft guns and playing video games. They dropped me off at Chitudo at the end of the day. Then on Friday we met our cousins, the Chavez family, at Woodward park. We had a good time playing baseball and other stuff, and just having fun.
Ricky

Huntington Lake and Rancheria Falls

Once a year we go to Huntington Lake with Mr. & Mrs. Bell , Papa and sometimes Dad. We go out on their sail boat. We stop at the same restaurant every time. Then we go swimming before we start heading back to the other side of the lake to go home. This time we went on a hike to Rancheria Falls. It was an easy hike with a good view of the falls. I sat beneath the falls with it pounding on my back. I also went behind the falls.

Ricky

Chitudo Goodbye & House Shopping

We are moving to Fresno that means we are leaving Chitudo. Which I am very sad about. We don't know when or where, but we know its happening. We have been looking at houses. We know the neighborhood we like best now. So I'm pretty sure we will end up somewhere by Fresno State and Peoples church. It will be nice to be closer to family and valley friends. Its just that I will be moving away from mountain friends and Chitudo. I hope we move soon though. I will get to come to special Chitudo events and also we will come the first Thursday of each month. Please pray that we find the right house for us soon.

Ricky

What I did this summer

I spent a lot of time reading and watching movies. I also got a cold, which was a bummer to have when you are on vacation. I did get to see a lot of friends, so that made the summer better after the cold, for instance I saw Bowen for a movie and pizza and another time I spent the night at his house. I went to the Orazem's for movies and BBQ. I went down to Ranchos & Fresno to visit my friends there. We walked to the Pizza parlor, Pete's and a few other places with Austin & Kayleen. My friends from Tennessee came to visit for a few weeks. We have not seen them for a loooonnnggg time. We also went to Granny's house for swimming a lot. One of the times that we were there we got to try the new BBQ place in Ranchos and she also made a homemade cherry pie. We also made jam from white nectarines and white peaches with Granny. My Mom says we are going to go ride horses at Meme's house soon. We went school shopping a few weeks ago and again last week. We have an appointment to get our hair cut this week. I look like a rag-a-muffin. That means summer vacation is almost over. Although I did go shooting a few times, sit in a waterfall, jump off a cliff side and lots of other fun things like going to Black Beards, Boomers, Island Water Park and Johns Inc pizza, movie theaters in Oakhurst and in Fresno, I'm not ready for summer to be over yet. Its a good thing I have a few more weeks to go!!
Ricky

Dinkey Creek

We went to Dinkey Creek on July 26th. It was my first time there. It was really cool!! We went to a bunch of pools, which were really awesome!! I hope we go again soon!!
Ricky

Ok I'm feeling dumb...........

The reason for this post is because I forgot to post one very important event of the Kings canyon trip....! Anyway When we were looking at the lost grove we saw a "BLACK BEAR" !!!!!!!!!!! It was tearing at a log in the attempt to scrounge some termites! So now that I feel better about the state of my mind I will leave with only one one more word.



WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW



Billy :D

Kings Canyon camping!!!!!!

O.K so I lied we camped in Sequoia.... but we explored the Kings canyon. So with that I'm not changing the title! Anyway we camped in a beautiful pine forest & hiked to see the quiet & secluded Muir grove! The next day we drove to grants grove and walked this crowded but amazing path! After this we drove down the side of the canyon & saw the roaring river ( a branch of the kings river) & many other cool parts of the river. We also saw a beautiful meadow that bordered the river!
Billy :D

summer party summary :)

This summer I have gone to several parties. They include a going-away party for some old friends.......(the Biggs) & a welcome back party for some other old friends(the Winters)! I have also gone to two b-day parties. Probably the oldest friend I have had his sixteenth b-day party/sleepover ( C.J ). Also a new but good friend had his sixteenth b-day party/sleepover
(Cameron)! Finally I went to a just because party hosted by the Delfins!

Morro Bay camping trip!!!

This weekend we camped on the beach! It was amazing... we woke up to the sound of waves crashing against the shore! There was only one drawback.... the campsite. It was a parking lot with a strip of dirt on both sides of the road! Anyway during our trip we saw morro rock, montana de oro, los osos, & went to pismo beach! Yes; it was amazing!!
Billy :D

Bass lake fireworks!!!

On the fourth of July we decided to go to Bass lake to see the fireworks. On the way to the lake, there was heavy traffic. It was difficult to find parking , but after a long and tiring search we finally found a spot! Then we hiked to a spot near the beach & firework platform. We had a relaxing day of swimming, eating & reading! After that we had a great time watching the fireworks!
Ricky

Jr. Black Belt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This year I tested for my jr. black belt! Only four or five jr. black belts have been promoted in our martial art. I'm very happy about my promotion! Since my last test I have gained both skill & strength! The night I tested I didn't even know I was going to test! So when Appo told me to preform a kata I was confused, he said you're test will depend on how well you do this kata! I was pretty scared; so when I did the kata I froze up & did badly. Appo gave me one more chance & that time I did really well & passed the test!
Ricky

Hetch-Hetchy

We went off in the morning, to go to Yosemite. While we were going through Yosemite a fire started, so we knew wouldn't be going back the same way! As we continued along to Hetch-Hetchy we saw the beautiful sights of Yosemite! We finally got to Hetch-Hetchy , & saw what we could see. Then we went to cascade rest stop & had dinner & went swimming! We exited through the arch gateway!
Ricky

Big Sur camping trip

This is another Congressional award trip that i planned. This is part of the exploration/expedition section of the award. So I planned the food, activities, & schedule of this trip!
Big Sur is a forest on the California coast about an hour from Monteray. It is a staggeringly beautiful place, with huge trees & rugged coastlines along with calmly running streams!
On Sat. we had strawberry pancakes for breakfast! Then we hiked to Mcway falls( a waterfall that runs directly into a beach)! After the tiny fourth mile hike we went on to do a very rugged hike called the Mt. Manuel peak hike. This hike in places was no wider than two feet.It was a very difficult hike! For dinner we had chili cheese dogs, with fire roasted hot dogs!
                                                                                                                                                  Billy :D

Channel Islands Trip

This year I started a program called the congressional award. The basic principles of this award are that the participant needs to set his/her goals & fulfill them. For the fitness section of the award I chose scuba diving! My goal was to get certified. I have fulfilled that goal now.
For my certification trip I went to the channel islands with bobs dive shop. We left Thursday & got there around 8:30. At 9:00 we had orientation which gave us a basic knowledge of what was going to happen and also the rules of the boat. The boat left the dock around three in the morning & arrived at the channel islands around 8:30 in the morning.
On Friday we had pancakes, eggs, sausage, and bacon for breakfast! It was a well made, good tasting breakfast. During the day we went on several dives which was an amazing experience! We saw some urchins the size of a soccer ball!
I saw a lot more life Saturday including a California sea hare ( a type of sea slug ) & a sea cucumber! We also completed the necessary 5 dives for certification & I did one dive without my instructor, which was very exciting!
Billy :D

Westons movie night!!!!!!!!

My friend Weston threw a movie party potluck thingy. The movie we watched was 12th night. So we got there and chatted until everyone showed up. Then we tried to play volleyball.......( not a success)! After our volleyball experience we went inside to eat! When we finished eating we played a few boardgames & then watched the movie!:D
Billy

SCUBA!!!!!!!!

For the past five weeks I have been taking a SCUBA class from Bob's dive shop! I has been amazing! I have had tons of fun! The class is easy to follow and learn from. First we read a chapter in the textbook. Then we go to the class and discuss the material, and finally we practice in the pool. I highly recommend taking SCUBA, it's lots of fun!

Billy:D

A Simple Biosphere

Supplies

• A large jar with a lid ( make sure the lid fits tightly)
• A small plant that can fit inside jar with some room to spare
• An area in your house that gets lots of sun-light
• Water
• Masking tape or a marker

Since plants produce their own food they need not get it from an outside source. Under the right conditions, a plant is self sustaining.

A. Water the plant so the soil is moist
B. Put the potted plant into the jar, so that the plant is enclosed.
C. Mark the height of the plant on the side of your jar. Use the masking tape or a marker.
D. Put it in the sun. Check on its progress from time to time. You can keep it as long as you want
E. DO NOT WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ricky Vincent

Drama!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the past 6 months I've been part of a drama class. I had lots of fun! Drama is just like any of the arts. It takes lots of practice to pull off a performance. In the class we did everything from mimes to a six person spoken skit! For our last performance we met at northpark community church at 1:00 and practiced untill 6:30. Then we finnaly could perform our long practiced skits!
Everyone loved our skits! All our practice paid off! I highly reccommend taking a drama class. It builds cordination and concentration, and it's lots of fun! :D
Billy

Do Hard Things!!!!!!!!!

This is an amazing book! My family read it as a morning devotional. We really liked it! It challenges teens to "rebel" against low expectations. In America we have very low expectations of teens. If a teen does something even "above average" we freak out and call him/her exceptional! What does " exceptional" mean if we use it so easily? We as a country need to raise our expectations! When we do we will see amazing results!!!!! :D
Billy

Everyone should own a dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I say this because I love my two dogs & I know you would too! Dogs are protectors, they guard you. Such as my old dog Larry who watched over my brother & I when we were little! He would never leave our side either. Which brings me to my next point. Dogs are loyal; they will always be on your side! Another reason you should own a dog is is because they're funny! Both Eddie my Dalmatian, and Leroy my chocolate lab have they're own personality. They have made me cry from laughing so hard! They may be messy ,or destroy things, but you'll forgive them!!!!!!!!!!!
Ricky

mission fest pref.

I have been practicing a lot. My drumming teacher had me go into Fresno 2 times one week, and three the next!!! Plus the normal practices! It was all for a pref. that the "Bembe worship project"
did for northwest church's "mission fest"! In Bembe we try to take current songs and mix them with traditional African and, Cuban rhythms! For the mission fest pref. we did several well known songs. It was a fun performance, we got to worship God in a way not many people can! By mixing traditional with the new! It was a blast!!!!!! :D
Billy

The Tech Museum

This year for Easter my family & I went to San Jose & visited several museums. One of the museums we went to was the Tech museum. When my parents told me we were going to Tech I was nervous. I thought that it would be row after row of computer parts. I was mistaken. It was one of the coolest museums I've ever been to!
It was very interactive,and fun! It had robots and games that explained in a fun way all the technology stuff. IT had a sound room, an Internet room, a earthquake room,& a astronaut simulation machine!It was a great museum and I highly recommend it! :D

Billy