First Day of School 2012

MY 1st Grader!

  She wanted to bring her teacher a flower on the first day (totally her idea).  She already knows what to do to get to "class pet" status!  Her teacher is Gloria Wood.

My MIDDLE SCHOOLER! 

6TH GRADE

He absolutely LOVES middle school!  He loves lockers, changing classes and having an aunt for a teacher!  Patti teaches him English.

 

MY HIGH SCHOOLER!



I still so vividly remember taking him to kindergarten on his first day (tear!)

I hate the way time flies so fast!  Haven  stayed at Indian Valley this year but Landon moved out of Pinecrest to Nichols Lawson Middle School.  Mason left Nichols Lawson and moved to Sylacauga High School where my brother Robby teaches Special Ed.  So far, Haven enjoys school the least.  She complains about all the work she has to do and desires to step back into Kindergarten.  Landon absolutely loves  6th grade and desires to be there when he's at home (crazy, right?)  However, he is in band this year and chose the saxophone to learn how to play.  He is not enjoying band and this really surprised me.  I am hoping it will get better for him.  Mason is on a block schedule and is in a computer class, honor's biology, athletics and Algebra.  His Algebra teacher does not give out homework which is awesome so pretty much he only has to deal with Honor's biology which is pretty time consuming.  He says that it is much easier here than in Colorado (his grades are reflecting that too).  Not sure that's a  good thing!  I am so proud of my kids and very thankful that they are fast learners!

Beach Trip 2012

This year I found a place to rent in Seagrove Beach, FL, located between Destin and Panama City Beach.  It was GREAT!  Look how close we were to beach and ocean......

 

This was a small condo complex but we loved it! It was called Beachside and it was perfect for a family of 5.  The owner lives in Inverness and if very nice so if you ever need a one bedroom for a good price, right on the beach, let me know and I'll give you the info!

This was the pool area...

 

We spent 3 nights there and had some fun in PCB along with some shopping in Destin!   Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought this last picture was hilarious!  It is the first picture I took of the them together and told them to sit down and pose.  Haven's just "one of the guys"!!

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Blessings

 Our biggest summer blessing of 2012......

Haven asked Jesus into her heart to be her Lord and Savior!!

This was such  special time for her daddy!

 Praise God for her decision. May God mold her and make her into the woman of God that she was created to be!

 
Her 2 precious grandmothers wouldn't have missed this special day of baptism for the world!  Thank you for sharing this special day with us Nuna and Mama Kaye!  7/8/12

 

Another summer blessing of 2012 is that I am the new, part-time secretary at our church.  When I was first approached about the position, I didn't quiet see it as a blessing.  This offer came around at the same time that school was letting out for summer and I had alllllll these summer plans that I was anticipating.  However, I could see God orchatrating all of this through different circumstances and now I praise Him for the blessing of work.  I can still do my computer job with Derrico in the afternoons and I work Monday-Thursday from 8am-Noon at the church.  They have been very flexible, allowing me to take off when needed to do things with the kids this summer.  And God did remind that back in the spring, I was actually praying to Him and asking Him to provide me with a part-time morning job.  I never considered that this would be His plan as many churches do not want the pastor's wife in a paid position as well.  So although my only full off day is on Saturday, I still have Tues and Wed afternoons off and Friday mornings off.  And both jobs allow some flexibility if something comes up that I really want to be at.  THANK YOU GOD FOR THIS BLESSING!





Backing Up to Baseball

 For the sake of this being my online recollection of the Owen family life, I must back up to Mason's 2012 baseball season.  In Alabama, they have middle school baseball teams but because we arrived at the end of February, tryouts had already taken place and being on the team was not an option for Mason.  So he had to wait around for Sylcauga Rec league to start up which was in May.  He was put on the Marlins team and knew several of his teammates from school.

I will confess that this season was a huge challenge for us.  As great of a pitcher as Mason is, they never gave him a chance to pitch until the 7th (out of 9 games total) game!  He pitched an awesome game and showed them what he had.  He started every game in center field and did  great job.  They had an ending tournament and he pitched another game but they took him out when we had a nice lead and then we lost lead and got beaten.  Up until then, we were tied with another team as 1st place for the season.

The season seemed very short but during this time, he was also trying out for basketball and practicing basketball, trying out for the high school baseball team, and doing football workouts!  Some days he had all 4 things going, one right after the other!

Mason is one tough kiddo but he sure misses the comradorey of his Bayfield teams.  It was the same group of boys on his football, baseball, and basketball team.  Here it's different kids on each team.  It will take a little getting use to.  I am so proud of how he's transitioned here (against his will) without the rebellious attitude that he could have had.  We're hoping one day he'll forgive us and embrace being a Sylacauga Aggie!

SUMMER 2012

WOW!  Summer 2012 is coming to a close next week and it has been a crazy busy yet wonderful summer!  We began the summer with VBS the first week of June as we did "Courage in Captivity: Babylon" as we studied how Daniel trusted God through all his trials.

This is a picture at the kick off.  I hate I didn't take a picture of how the gym was decorated as the Bablyon Marketplce but Jane did awesome job and Mike made a fantastic Daniel!

July hit and Mason traveled to Colorado...alone.  It's was a tough week on the ol' mom's heart but he made it back safely and I am so glad that is over and behind us. 

Then I got to spend a week with this crew at CENTRIFUGE!

Centrifuge is a discipleship youth camp and we attended the one in Jackson, TN.

  It was a very uplifting week and I was so proud to see how God worked and moved in this boy...

Then the next week we got spend time with this crew at Student Life for Kids.....



It was for children 3-6 grades and it was a fantastic week for the kids to grow and learn more about how BIG our God really is!

This kid loved every minute of it and I was proud to see God moving in his life as well!

If you get a chance to take your kid to camp, it is worth every minute you sacrifice to be there and every dime you sacrifice to get them there because it is an unforgettable life experience!

New Family Members

We had to leave behind our cat "Socks" when we left Colorado because I was not about to travel 3 days with a cat.  So we promised Haven a new kitten in Alabama but because I don't like for them to be lonely, we got 2...........

Meet Bama and BB......and meet a very happy little girl

Colton's Graduation

My brother Robby's oldest child, Colton, graduated from Sylacauga High School on May 22nd!
CONGRATULATIONS COLTON!

I was very thankful that we were here and could be a part of his special day.   Patti threw an awesome after graduation party at their house.  And we got to see Hannah, Haidee, Hallie, and Kerry!

 Nuna came up for the whole week to help out Patti and spend some time with her grandchildren....

 It was short visit with H, H, & H and I had to get these dramatic goodbyes on film!

We are very happy for you Colton and pray that your life will be full of happiness and success!