Thursday, February 12, 2009

Tubing!!

In January 2008, I had my first opportunity to go tubing with the youth group. We have a ski resort just north of Kansas City called Snow Creek where they create their own snow. They have ski lifts and runs for skiers and snowboarders but the very best part is the tubing! I had no idea how much fun it would be! I can't believe I wasted so many years NOT taking them tubing! What was I thinking???
So once again, we went tubing! This year we did it right. We went on a Thursday night when you get four hours of tubing for the price of 2 and we packed a picnic supper of hotdogs, chips, smores and hot chocolate. They have a large bonfire next to the tubing slopes where you can get warm but we figured it would be a fun place to cook supper!

We would break long enough to roast a hotdog and then we'd hit the slopes again! We would ride the moving sidewalk up the hill carrying our tube and then get as many people together as we could to try to go down together. I kept ending up on the side closest to the barrier and a couple of times I went across the barrier and had to let go of the group before I snagged my ski pants on a giant chunk of ice!
It was exhilarating! My favorite part of the entire evening was when a lady sitting near the bonfire asked if we were a church group. She said she could tell by how kind we were to one another and to strangers. Apparently, several members of the group had invited them to share in our feast. I have never been more proud! I can't wait to go again next year!

(note: we were so busy having fun this year that nobody took any pictures so these pictures were from tubing in 2008. The faces may be different but the looks of joy & excitement are the same!)

Sunday, February 01, 2009

TAG Super Bowl Party

The senior highs had a fabulous time at our annual super bowl party. Jessica was kind enough to serve as our host and her mom outdid herself!! We usually have everyone bring something to share but Mary made some awesome additions to the normal stuff we bring.

I actually watched more of the game than I normally do - but I still managed to play a bit, as well.
They had this cool "bean bag" chair which didn't have beans in it. Instead, it had a complete queen size mattress hidden inside the bag!

Of course, I figured if it could hold a queen size mattress, maybe it could hold me!! I'm not exactly sure why Amy looks like a spider who just caught a bug in her web but I did feel a bit like a caterpillar in a cocoon. I really need to get me one of those - it's not only practical for company but it's a heck of a lot of fun!

We were cheering right up until the very end - when our team lost. Only Amy was happy about the outcome but she picked it just to be different from the rest of us. It was a wonderful evening in a lovely home full of very cool youth! I believe there were even a few upstairs playing video games - what's up with that? :)