Abby, Caitlin, LeAnn, Roger, Amanda, Ella, Jerry, Josh, Kelsey, Justin, Mari all came to the Christmas party. It was our second week with double digit kids! We had a really good time but I wish I had been a little bit more organized.

After that we did "The Best..." where I went around the circle and asked "What was the best vacation (etc.) you ever had and why?" It went super well and really helped us to get to know each other better. The WHOLE night was full of laughing, cooperation, fun, unity...everything I intended! We planned the party for next week, too, and they're all excited to bring stuff. This was the night I've been waiting for. hehe (Nathan, Abby, Jerry, Josh, Amanda, Ella, Kelsey, Justin, Leann, and Roger)

Wow, did youth group go awesome last night! We originally planned on going to The Bethlehem Marketplace at Elmbrook Church (recreation of Bethlehem at Christ's birth) but they ran out of tickets. So at first I panicked and was really upset, but then I was determined to make the best of it. So I set up the N64 and Jenga for the first half hour, which was a hit. Jenga is our new tradition. :-) Then we played the Spoon Game (mind game) and they loved it. Took them a while to get it, though. The Knot game followed and it worked PERFECTLY. It was VERY hard at the beginning but once they started to listen to each other they undid it and the loud cheer rose to the Heavens. hehe We talked about Gal 6:2 and carrying each others burdens. We're a team and we need to help each other, look out for each other, etc.

Julie picked up/dropped off Mari which was incredible. Julie is amazing. I told them all God loves and cares about them which is what I wanted to make sure I did, but I forgot to talk to Kelsey. From what I hear, his home life hasn't been the best and I wanted to tell him I'm thinking about him and I'm here for him. Darnit. Oh, well. Positive things happened tonight and I'm thnakful for that.

Justin, Nathan, Abby, Caitlin, Jerry, Kelsey, Amanda, Ella, and Mari came tonight. We did a ton of stuff which was really cool. Watched VTs, played the Animal Game, reviewed EVERY Bible story we've covered in the last 2 months, and talked about next week. Next week we're going to the Bethlehem Marketplace at Elmbrook. I'm pretty excited about it because it'll be a field trip that they'll have fun at AND learn a ton. Tonight went really well overall. Pretty positive atmosphere and I only had to address a couple times when they were being negative or interupting.