Prom Night

Can you believe that Bethany bought her prom dress for $5 on a clearance rack at JCPenny? She looks great and had a lot of fun at the prom. One of the moms who is a caterer cooked filet mignon for them with all the fancy fixins. They had a great time and proved that you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars to have a good evening. We had about 20 kids over after the prom for an after prom party. Bethany recovered in a day; it took Scott and I about three days to get back to normal. I'd never want to go back to the high school days again but to have that energy. . .

Spring Break 08

So now that you've been filled in on what's going on in the kids life, it's time to write about the Barber's spring break. The begining of the week turned out to be much like winter break - sleeping, playing guitar, watching tv, even a little bit of studying. On Thursday we embarked on our journey to - drum roll please - Alabama. We came mostly to visit with family, however, I must admit, there was a side motive.... The David Crowder Band.... phew, now that I've got that off my chest I'll tell you about the concert. It was held at Samford University, where my mother went to school - EXCITING! *cough* So anyways, the concert was pretty grand, though, rather than staffing the event with college students - the logical approach - they called in the fun police. Every usher looked pretty much the same: white shirt, black pants, white poofy hair, and wrinkles. Throughout the entire concert the 70 year old women were walking around kicking people out of the "pit" and the aisles. Aside from the fun police, the concert was great. Crowder is a great entertainer and, for lack of a better term, a goof-ball. He used various instruments including the keytar and a guitar hero controler. He wasn't kidding when he said he had too much spare time on the road....

Then on Friday we visited with my dad's brother's family. Sometime in the afternoon my mother and my aunt accompanied all of the kids on a hike through the woods and then an unexpected swim. The water was quite chilly, though it was still fun getting to goof around with my cousins.

Loafing around, jamming at Crowder, and chilly water all made this spring break one to remember!

bethany

A peek into Bethany's life

Now I know that as all of you were reading the blog about Brandon there were many questions that you had. Some of these may have been "Who is that kid?" "Was Scott like that when he was a child?" or possibly even "Does he realize that it's 2008, not 1988?" Well, I'm afraid I can't answer any of those questions for you, but I know there had to be one more questiong lingering in your minds - "What about Bethany?!?!?" Thankfully, your answer has arrived!

As many of you know, there are really only two school related activities which occupy most of my time - swimming and theatre. I suppose I'll start with swimming.... Last Monday (March 31) we had the Northgate swim team 07-08 banquet. It was a very nice banquet and we had some very yummy mexican food - I even managed not to look like a complete slob while eating! Though I had to dress up, not a common activity of mine, I had a lot of fun getting to hang out with the team one last time. I have to admit, it was pretty sad seeing all of our great seniors leave :(

And now for theatre.... Last Tuesday (April 1), the Backstage Players (Northgate's theatre group) put on a performance of student directed shows. The program included 2 skits, 2 songs, and 3 monologues. I directed a scene from Truman Capote's novel In Cold Blood (an absolutely splendid book I would highly recomend) which is about two men who murder an average family of four in Kansas. The scene I chose was the interrogation of the two murderers. I had a little difficulty in casting, considering the cast was made up of 6 men and the Northgate theatre department is prodominately women. After casting the show with 3 guys and 3 girls (2 of which were acting as men), one of my actors fell through, so I ended up performing (as a man) in my own scene. I must say, though the process was very frustrating with losing cast members and show dates constantly changing, it was a great experience for me and gave me a better understanding for directing.... oh and I learned how to be a man! Haha

Well, that's all I have for now.... iHasta luego!

by bethany

Access Retreat

As mentioned in the previous blog, Brandon and I were on a retreat with the High School ministry earlier this week. I figured that since I haven't blogged here yet, this would be a good way to start!


Se left the church around 1 p.m. on Monday and arrived at Covecrest (the place we were staying) around 4 p.m. We had a couple of hours to explore the place before we had dinner, so we ran around in the woods and took pictures.Then we had dinner followed by our first teaching session. Later that night, we played capture the flag and then went to bed.





Tuesday when we woke up we had an hour to spend for a quiet time: a time for us to spend alone with God. After that we had breakfast and our second teaching session. Then we had a while to take a blank canvas and create a piece of art that described where we thought we were spiritually at that time, our "now." This was a very unique way of expressing ourselves and praising God. After we finnished (though hardly anyone had really finnished, we just had run out of time) our artwork, we ate lunch and then headed out for the ropes courses. There was both a low ropes and a high ropes course, and we began with the low ropes. The low ropes course consisted of several challenges where we had to work together with our team to complete. In this picture the guys are trying to follow a large cable that is attached to several trees (without anyone touching the ground the entire time). After we completed the low ropes course, we moved onto the high ropes which had a zip line, rock wall and an obsical course which was suspended several feet. When we had finnished both the high and low rope courses, we came back and got ready for dinner and our third teaching session. Later that night we had a bon fire and then went to bed.

Wednesday morning was pretty much the same as Tuesday morning: we woke up, had our quiet time, ate breakfast, and had a teaching session. After the last teaching session we packed up the bus and came home.

Over all it was a great trip where God was able to really speak to us and grow our youth group closer together.

-Bethany

School's out for . . . Winter???

The kids are on break this week, and this pretty much sums up what they've been doing. Actually, Bethany and Brandon were on a mini-retreat from Monday through Wednesday. Brooke has been sick but fortunately does not have the flu or strep. (Yes, that is a giant remote in the picture. If you know Scott, he often loses things. This is hard to lose). Bethany is sleeping and writing a paper for AP lit. Brandon has been running in the rain this morning (a popular Barber saying is "If it's not raining, it's not training." Of course, I usually say this while sitting in my pjs by the fire sipping coffee) and playing the guitar. (He's currently playing the piano. It's all LOUD). I have been working this week but only went into the office on Tuesday. I may go in tomorrow for a little while. (Don't feel too sorry for me as I just spent nine days in Italy). We were going to go to AL for the day tomorrow but will have to pass since Brooke still has a fever.

Super Tuesday in Rome

Sorry we were unable to post yesterday. Our hotel room in Rome doesn't have internet like we had in Florence. Today we went to ancient Rome and saw the sites - the Colosseum, the Forum, Paletine Hill and the Pantheon. We also went to the Trevi Fountain which is not ancient but still older than our country. Lastly, we went to our own Piazza, the Piazza Barberini. (We're one step ahead of you, Bill.) Tomorrow we go to see the Pope (for real.) Still having fun, can't believe how fast time is going.

One last thing, props to our daughter Bethany who we just found out made the national honor society. We'll celebrate when we get home. We're proud of you!

Scott

Governor's Honor Nominee!

Bethany interview for Governor's Honors Program this past weekend. Ten rising juniors and seniors are chosen from each high school to interview. Students are nominated by teachers and must meet strict academic standards and show leadership abilities. To be nominated is an honor! We attended a county wide breakfast last week honoring the 30 students in the county who were nominated. She survived the interviews (very nerve wracking) and will find out the end of March if she's chosen. We are very proud of her regardless of the outcome! Good job, Bethany!