Hunting Island, SC

                                         Hunting Island, SC

     If you ever are in costal South Carolina and are looking for a place to hike, spend a day at the beach, or camp, Hunting Island State Park is the place to go. Sure, there is not much there ( the state park, and that's it ) but, that is actually the beauty of the place. It's not polluted by tourists or urbanization. All that is on the beach, is beach, none of those cheap little stores that sell snow globes or beach toys (which always seem to wash away and add even more pollution). It's just you and nature. Land meeting sea.

     The waves are perfect for boogie boarding or surfing. Shell collecting is another wonderful thing to do while on the beach. Flying a kite in the gorgeous Carolina sky is great fun for all ages, and don't miss the hiking trails that wind through the beautiful coastal ecosystem.

     Hunting Island State Park is also home to the amazing Hunting Island Lighthouse. You can climb stairs straight to the top. The view from the balcony is breathtaking. You look out over miles and miles of island and Atlantic Ocean. Also, stop by the mini museums and learn about the history of the island.
 
     Having a family get together, party, or other event? Rent a picnic area, right on the beach.

     Greenery on the island is diverse. There is an abundance of palm trees and other semi-tropical plants, along with South Carolina's typical lush forest.

    Also, just a short drive away is Charleston, SC. This beautiful city is rich in history and culture, and is a wonderful vacation in itself. From its open-air market to its plantations, it has something for everyone.

   Many of our family's most cherished memories are at Hunting Island State Park. 
What memories will you and your loved ones make there?

 

  

Olivia's Brochure

By: Olivia Kent

                          My (Second) Favorite Vacation Spot 

                                 (After Pentwater MI.  Owosso is my favorite)

I like towns that aren’t too big and that have lots of fun things to do, that is why Owosso is one of my favorite vacation spots. My grandparents live in Owosso and my family gets to spend our summers there. Some of my favorite things to do in Owosso are walking downtown, riding my bike around, and going out for ice cream. There is lots to do in this small town.

Downtown Owosso is beautiful and fun, and there are many things to do downtown such as go to the bakery, the castle, and the farmers market. The bakery is a few blocks away from my grandparents’ house. We love going to the bakery.  Some of my favorite things to get there are long johns, peanut butter cinnamon rolls, and peanut butter frosting topped brownies! The Curwood Castle is located downtown and it is right on the Shiawassee River. James Oliver Curwood built this castle for his wife, but when she died James Curwood used the castle as his writing studio. He wrote books and had many of them published.  Another fun activity is going to the farmers market on Saturday mornings. Lots of farmers bring fresh produce from their farms every week, there are also people selling homemade jewelry, crafts, and baked goods!

Owosso is a great place to go for walks, runs, and bike rides. In summer we usually ride our bikes around the block, and in the big church parking lot right next to our grandparents’ house. We spend hours every day riding bikes. Sometimes we run around the block and time ourselves. This past summer Maya and I would go to the high school track and run hurdles! Summer is the perfect time to do these things, with temperatures usually in the 80s.  

Some other things to do in Owosso are go to parks. There are lots of parks and most of them are in walking distance! Summer concerts are a fun thing to go to. Every Thursday different bands will play in the amphitheater which is right across the river from the castle. You can also go on Sunday nights and there will be Christian groups singing.  Another cool thing about Owosso is that it is home to the Pier Marquette train. The special thing about this train is that it was used for the movie The Polar Express! The train you see in the movie was modeled after the Pier Marquette! All the sounds you hear from the train in the Polar Express are recorded from the Pier Marquette! At Christmas time you can take rides on this train. Also, every year Owosso holds the Curwood Festival.  It is a really fun thing to do with a big parade and they also have a 5k run.  On the fourth of July you can go to the Fourth of July parade which is a fun thing to do as well. Another thing you can do is see fireworks on the Fourth.

Owosso is such a fun little town with so much history, great activities, and so many things to go and see. You can go to the farmers market, go to concerts, and tour the Curwood Castle. That is why I love spending my summers in Owosso! It may not seem like much but there are so many cool things!

Tennessee

Tennessee

A vacation filled with mountains, cabins, waterfalls, shopping, museums and even water parks,Tennessee is the place for you! In Pigeon Forge Tennessee you can shop and eat in classic diners, find the Titanic sailing once again with a full museum inside, explore the upside down mansion and see a life sized King Kong climbing a sky scraper!

Up the mountains in the middle of the woods a small cabin built long ago.... this is what you will find in Cades Cove. A place lost in time, as you drive through the woods each second taking you back in history. Walk through ancient woods where towering trees create a green roof. We learned about these Appalachian people who sang with no music and lived a very difficult life. As we drove from cabin to cabin we saw two bears running across a field. It was very exciting.

I went to the Titanic museum and it was amazing! You are given a boarding pass of a real person that rode the titanic. Then you go through the museum and find out if you survived the Titanic. At the end of the museum you can play a game were you have to find the sunken Titanic. I also played a game where you had to learn morse code and read what the Titanic was sending and send a return code to tell them what to do. I really enjoyed going in a room where there was a huge iceberg that was as cold as the real iceberg.You could put your hand in water that was 20 degrees! I really liked the Titanic museum.

Another great learning experience was at the Aquarium Of The Smokies where unearthly sea creatures live. This place is filled with hidden wonders! From jellyfish to huge sharks this aquarium is an amazing place for all ages. There is a walkway under an aquarium filled with sharks and stingrays.  Around a corner and you find a huge eel! She has had many baby’s and she is twelve feet long. For the little ones they can ride big fake frogs and play on a jungle gym made to make you feel like an ant (by the way it really makes you feel small!). I had a lot of fun playing with my sister there. If you like getting close with wildlife then this aquarium is the perfect thing for you! There is a whole room filled with birds that love to land on your finger. I had a big parrot land on me. My sister got to feed a beautiful bird! This Aquarium is an amazing place to go!

NOC’s Great Outdoors is a store filled with outdoor gear.  Amazing fur coats and boots, hats, gloves and hiking shoes! Also in the upstairs part of the store there is a rope bridge that swings almost 15 feet up in the air! Cool sayings carved into wood, stuffed toys for the little ones and bear pepper spray for the long hikes to stay safe are all found in this store. I almost fell asleep in a hammock! If you are tired of shopping you can sit and play checkers by a nice warm fireplace.

Tennessee is a place for anyone and everyone! It has just about anything you would want or need. A great place to shop, hike, eat or play. So, if you’re looking for a vacation spot then go to Tennessee. Walk down streets where live bands play country music with fiddles and banjos. It is a great place to go where all ages will find something fun to explore! Go to Tennessee were time stops and music plays!

The Best Vacation Spot

 The Best Vacation Spot, by Maya Kent

     Imagine a place that has beautiful beaches with blue water and warm sand, little shops lining the streets, rows of cottages near the beach and many other amazing sights and places. This place is the fabulous village of Pentwater, Michigan. The best vacationing spot there is! There are a great deal of fun things to do there. The beach and town are just a few of the reasons why Pentwater is such an amazing place.

     Every summer our family spends one perfect week in Pentwater. Our great grandparents started the tradition of going over 50 years ago. I look forward to it all year, and the beach is definitely one of my favorite parts. Pentwater is a tiny town located on the west side of Michigan right on Lake Michigan. The water is normally quite cold but it’s very refreshing to swim in, and it’s unsalted and shark free! There is also tons of sand and dunes.

     Right on the beach there is a little shop, where you can get food and ice cream, and there is a playground. Also right by the beach there is a campground. In the campground  there is one gigantic sand dune called Old Baldy. It takes almost ten minutes to climb up but it’s super fun to run down! They have blocks of cute little cottages that are only a couple blocks from the beach. And if you don’t want to stay as long they have some bed and breakfasts that you can stay at instead.

     The downtown is also an awesome part of Pentwater. There are lots of little shops that are on the street right by the beach. There are multiple ice cream shops and restaurants, clothing stores, mini golf and fudge. But my absolute favorite is the candy store. The whole store is filled with every kind of candy you can think of! They also have ice cream and their special popcorn with flavors like candy coated, fizzy candy coated, birthday cake and even dill pickle! (The dill pickle is surprisingly  good!) They also have a ton more flavors!  And twice a week they have a farmers market. So if you like shopping the town is a perfect place to go because it’s not crowded and they have the best shops.

     Anybody would pretty much love Pentwater if you like the outdoors. So since I love being outside I have lots of favorite things to do there. Like swimming and going for boat rides in Pentwater lake. Pentwater lake is really small but there are some cottages on it, too. And I love going for morning bike rides around the town and beautiful walks down the channel, and watching the boats. You can also stand on these huge boulders at the end of the pier which are called the mermaid rocks.  Pentwater also has the most beautiful sunsets over the water. We always go to the beach to watch them. You can also walk everywhere in the town.

     Pentwater really is a fantastic place. So if you are planning a vacation and want a place that is peaceful and has lots of wonderful things to do, you should pack your bags and head to Pentwater! There are so many things to do there, whether you want to spend some time shopping or relaxing on the beach or get some exercise climbing old baldy or just take a walk or bike ride and watch a sunset.  Pentwater is one spectacular vacationing spot you do not want to miss out on.  

Pentwater Brochure: Maya Kent

A Magical Experience: Olivia Lunsford's Favorite Vacation Spot

New Orleans Brochure

New Orleans

     I hear the sounds of jazz music in the distance. I see a mime on the corner, silver as the streetlight next to him. I am in New Orleans, LA, my favorite place to go on vacation. I mean New Orleans has stuff for EVERYONE. Like museums? Go to New Orleans! Like food and shopping? Go to New Orleans! Like parks? Go to New Orleans! It has all those things and much, much more.

    There is a museum for everyone in New Orleans. If you a kid, try the Children’s museum! It has a realistic looking store you can play in, and you can choose what you would like to be, a shopper or a check out person. Also there is a play restaurant you can cook, waiter, or “eat” at. You can also design the inside of a house, fix some plumbing, read under a paper mache tree, be an eye doctor, climb a rock wall, and do so much more! If you like learning about history, visit the WWII museum. The coolest thing is that each part of the museum you walk through looks like where the place it is talking about. There is an Africa, Italy, Northwest Europe, and Battle of Bulge scene. Also there is an Air war exhibit about the Tuskegee airmen, American air strikes, and the German Luftwaffe. And if you’re in LOVE with animals, go to the trio Audubon Museums, The insectarium, the aquarium, and the zoo.  You can eat bugs at the insectarium, see penguins at the aquarium, and say hi to monkeys at the zoo, which also has a water park.

    Who doesn’t like food or shopping, or both! New Orleans is famous for its spicy Cajun food and its sweet beignets. You can get seafood gumbo, a word for okra, which is rice soup with spicy flavor and plenty of okra, a po-boy, which is a roast beef sandwich, or jambalaya, which is spicy rice with sausage and bell pepper. Or head on down to the famous “Café du Monde” and grab a plate of beignets and a cup of café a lait, fried choux pastry ( the same stuff they make cream puffs with, just fried)  and coffee with hot milk. Don’t forget the powdered sugar for your beignets!

    Shopping. Most people’s faces light up when they hear the word. There are many little places in the French Quarter to shop at, but if you are really in to shopping, head over to the French Market. They have clothes, accessories, food, and stuff that would be good for Christmas presents. There are many other options in New Orleans for shopping if the French Market doesn’t float you boat (But I mean it’s awesome, so I hope it DOES float yours), there are countless stores along the streets of the French Quarter.

    It’s a park, and so much more.  City Park. It has the usual playgrounds shaped like geometric figures, fields for ball games, (soccer, football, etc.)  and the train. Wait, a train? Yup. Oh, did I forget to mention all the other stuff? The storyland, the little amusement park, the mini golf. I did?! Oh, well I better tell you about those things! City Park has a StoryLand. What is a storyland? It is a playground for kids based off of Mother Goose stories. So there is a Rapunzel tower, a pumpkin carriage, and a dragon slide. And a bunch more. You can also try riding a cute little train around City Park, play a round of mini golf, or go to the little amusement park. It has a Ferris wheel, a rollercoaster, and of course rides. Or visit the art museum if you like, well, art. It does have a lot of art, and a cool gift shop (more Christmas presents). Or visit the café, a short walking distance from StoryLand. It has hot chocolate, beignets, and another gift shop (score!).

    I hope you consider visiting New Orleans (I mean how could you NOT after reading this essay…). Or better yet, visit! I’m sure you would have a great time exploring!

-Manna Robertson 

This weeks assignment is:

 A persuasive essay on your favorite vacation spot and why it is the best place to vacation.  You also will design a travel brochure to accompany your essay. You can use a program like Word to make your brochure. They have a couple of premade templates.

http://1bdwittle.wikispaces.com/D.+Persuasive+Essay+(Hawaii,+A+Super+Place)  Here is a link to a persuasive essay about Hawaii.

http://www.time4writing.com/writing-resources/writing-resourcespersuasive-essay/  Here are tips to get you started.

Please take a photo or screen shot of your brochure and attach it as a picture. You can find the tool under next to the link button. It will say insert image.

To view others brochures, just click on the pictures, and they should open up bigger.

Please finish and have it posted before Thanksgiving!

 

Wendy Robertson

Olivia Lunsford Interview: Great Grandma Magaret

Awesome Great Grandma

      Many people have done cool things in their lives, and my great grandma did some super cool things in her life. My great grandma's full name is Margaret Mae Hall Bedard. She is 90 years old, still has a job at a real estate office, and still drives a car. She even met a President of the United States of America! Great Grandma Margaret was alive during World War II and remembers many things.

    Grandma Margaret was born in Detroit, Michigan, on January 5, 1925. Her dad worked at a trailer manufacturing shop. When she was three years old, her family moved to Oscoda, Michigan, where her dad got a job as a commercial fisherman on Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes. Grandma Margaret's house in Oscoda had a front porch but no garage or car. Her family didn't have much money, but they had a hunting dog. She didn't have many toys as a kid, but she liked sports like baseball, basketball, and football. As Grandma Margaret got older, her
dad started setting traps for animals, and he taught her how to skin weasels, muskrats, and rabbits. She started going to school in Baldwin, Michigan. Grandma Margaret liked ancient history and played baseball in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Her best friend, June Moore, went to school with her. She graduated from high school in 1943. She never went to college.

     Grandma Margaret was 17 years old when the war started in 1939. She had to save lots of things like gas, food, tires, and tin foil for the war effort. She even had to save tin foil gum wrappers! Some people at school quit to become solders in the war. After school, Grandma Margaret started working at a war plant with a thread grinding machine that made bolts for B-24 bomber planes. "I was a Rosie the Riveter," said Grandma Margaret proudly, "Putting rivets on escape hatches for the bottoms of bomber planes." 
 

     On December 25, 1943, Grandma Margaret got engaged to John Frederick Bedard. One year later, she married him on January 1. She had four sons altogether. She named her oldest son John Craig after her husband. Her second son was named David George after her dad. Her
third son was named Michael Lynn because she really wanted a girl, and her last son was named William Richard after her husband's father and her brother. Grandpa Bedard worked as a seaman in the U.S. Merchant Marine, the fleet of ship that carried solders, ammunition, and supplies to different camps. He told a story of when he was on one of the boats; two ships beside him sank, and he thought his boat would sink, too! Grandma Margaret sent a letter to Grandpa Bedard every day. Sometimes her letters came to him all at once!

     The war ended on September 2, 1945. Grandpa Bedard lived through the war, but on October 25, 1997, he died two months and  six days before their 54th anniversary. They spent most of their married lives in Farwell, Michigan.

     Grandma Margaret is proud of many things she has done, but she said she is most proud of her boys. All her boys were in the military and grew up to be good men. Because of her boys, she was the national president of the Blue Star Mothers (mothers of sons and daughters in
the army) and traveled all over the United States. At one time she shook hands with President  Clinton and Vice President Gore, and she had breakfast in the White House!

     Now Grandma Margaret is having a happy and healthy life, even though she is ninety years old. Her boys take good care of her and check on her frequently. Her son, David George Bedard, is my grandpa. I love Great Grandma Margaret.

Libby Alley- Interview

The Trip to Hawaii Interview

    I interviewed my Aunt Becky. The topic I choose to interview her about is her trip to Hawaii. She visited 4 islands: Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the biggest island, which is usually called Hawaii, just like the state’s name. She went to Hawaii with her husband because it was their 25th anniversary. They traveled around Hawaii in a really pretty cruise ship.

   She also ate something new: pineapple ice cream! She said the pineapple that grew there was the best she’d ever tasted! She saw mongoose and tons of different types of tropical fish. But the most strange kind of animal she saw was chickens! Tons of different kinds and breeds of chickens waddling everywhere!

    She saw 10 different waterfalls! She said they were super pretty. She even saw a big canyon almost as big as the grand canyon! She saw so many different kinds of trees, flowers, and plants covering the bottom and sides of the canyon. She also saw a bamboo forest.

Hawaii is a great place. When my aunt told me about Hawaii it made me want to go there!

Girl on a Mission's Interview: Kelsey Engle

     Kelsey Engel- Going Where God Leads                             

  When you graduate, what do you dream of doing? Becoming a doctor? Joining the army? Being a vet? My dream is to be a missionary. I think it is always good to get first hand advice, and lucky for me, I knew just the person.
 Kelsey Engel graduated from Houston Baptist University in December of 2014 with a degree in Biology. She received the Miss HBU Award, the Christian Action Award, and the President's Award.
 Her favorite Bible verse is Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
 Currently, Kelsey is the Missions Intern at Kingsland Baptist Church, in Katy, TX. She first felt called to missions at a young age. During her freshmen year of high school, she attended a Student Life Camp at San Angelo State University. One night, while they were preaching from the book of Acts, she heard God say Africa and felt Him place it on her heart to go there. At the time, Kelsey didn't know what that looked like, or where to begin, but soon she  became interested in learning about different cultures.
 So far, Kelsey has been on mission trips to: Germany, Chile, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, and, right here in America. Ms. Engel is also planning on going to India and Cambodia this spring.
 The people she comes in contact with are Kelsey's favorite part of mission. There is a special place in her heart for the orphans of Kenya.  She finds it amazing that there are so many different cultures and people groups in the world, and that they were all created by the same, amazing God.
 When asked about the growing persecution of the global church, Kelsey replied, "The Enemy has his hand wrapped around it. The message of Christ is so powerful, that unbelievers feel threatened by it.
 The advice she would give to someone considering missions is: "When God says go- go! The experiences serving Him where you are now, and the experiences you will have on global missions will grow you and allow you to fall more in love with Jesus."
       

        Until Next Time,
                  Girl on a Mission,
                       Anna Palazzolo

Chris Robertson

Chris Robertson

I chose my Uncle Chris to interview because he has a life very different than mine. He is a cinematographer, which is a director of photography, for movies and commercials.

            Chris Robertson was born on April 26, 1967.  He was the second youngest in his family. He had one older and three younger siblings. They grew up in the small town of Abita Springs, Louisiana. He mainly grew up with his two brothers, his first sister was born when he was a freshmen in high school.

            For fun, Chris rode his bike with his brothers all over the town. He had different routes his friends and he would use code names for, like Banana. They would have pine-cone wars in the backyard or make forts and spaceships, using only cardboard boxes. He also really liked making model airplanes.

            Chris and his two brothers, Shawn and Kevin (my dad), liked to annoy each other during long car trips. They were not allowed to touch each other in the car because their parents would get tired of hearing “He touched me! “ So they would do the next best thing, which was putting their fingers an inch from each other’s face until their brother got frustrated. The other way they would annoy each other was by whispering taunts under their breaths, so that they all could hear it, but their parents could not.

                                                                                                                                       

            When they were young, they didn’t eat any soda or candy. In the morning there were two choices of cereal, Cheerios and Raisin Bran. Chris hated Raisin Bran, so Cheerios it was. Lunch was usually a baloney sandwich. They usually repeated dinners, a cycle of pork chops and rice a roni, hamburger, spaghetti and chicken casserole, stewed chicken, and sometimes tacos. Chris did not like to eat his veggies and had to sit at the table for a long time until he finished. They never went out to eat at a restaurant.

            Chris hated school, even though he got good grades. He went to a school that went from kindergarten through ninth grade. He didn’t like school because there were older bullies, so he pretended to be sick a lot. He remembers being amazed at the end of the year at the kids who had perfect attendance. He thought it was “crazy and weird” they hadn’t missed a single day.

           When Chris was little he wanted to be an international diamond thief. He wanted a castle on an island in the middle of the ocean where he could live and a cool leather outfit to use when he stole from museums. He didn’t know his current job, cinematographer, existed when he was little.

             Now, Chris mainly works on commercials. His favorite commercial is one for flood insurance. They had to actually build part of a home over a tank of water and lowered it into the water when it was time to film. Chris had to get a scuba diving license and film underwater! It was hard because when light hit the water it refracted as the water rose. That meant where the light hit kept on moving.  When the commercial was finished, he thought it looked really cool.

            Chris’ job is fun, but challenging. The cameras he has to hold are 40 pounds each! Also some of his work days are up to 26 hours long, but rarely shorter than 12 hours. He has to run a big crew of people, be responsible for all the technical things, and always be creative. He also has to make sure the director is pleased.

  

             Chris thinks that the hardest thing about his job is pleasing people with big egos. He has to get them all on the same page and make sure they all feel happy about how things are going. He says it’s challenging when you are tired to stay calm and keep everything working smoothly and everyone satisfied.

             Chris does a lot of cool thing for his job. He has travelled all over the world, met famous people, and been on navy ships. The thing that struck him the most was when he was working on a film and they had to shoot in a state prison. He got to meet inmates on death row and see thing “absolutely no one sees”. He says it gave him a lot to think about.

             My uncle Chris has a very different life than mine. I really liked interviewing him and learning about his childhood and his current job.

-Manna Robertson

My Grandma

                                                 My Grandma, By Olivia Kent

My grandma, Patricia, thinks she is not very interesting, but really she has done many interesting things and has many stories to tell.  Like when she worked at a pickle factory, or when she drove over the royal gorge.  She has been through good and bad times, and there are a lot of things I learned about by interviewing her.

Patricia ( I call her Mammy) was born in 1944 at the hospital in Flint, MI, for there was no hopital in the little town of Lapeer, MI where her family lived.  Mammy’s grandparents were from Denmark, and when her mom started school she did not know English!  My Grandma had four siblings, two brothers and two sisters.  But her younger brother sadly died at the age of four.  Growing up her hobbies were playing softball with friends, reading, and baking. Her favorite books were the Nancy Drew series. Up until 6^th grade Mammy attended a one room schoolhouse, and she had to walk one mile each way everyday.

My grandma’s family raised chickens, and at times they could have up to 3,000 chickens! They also had cats, a dog, and occasionally cows or horses. They had to collect many, many eggs everyday!  They would sell eggs to the hospital. One time Mammy was bringing in 30 dozen eggs to the hospital and dropped them all!  Her family would eat chickens for Sunday dinner and her mother had to chop the heads off, and they would watch the chickens run around headless! Mammy and her siblings had to pluck the feathers off the chickens, and clean out the insides.   

Mammy started babysitting when she was 11, and worked at a dime store when she was 15.  She had a job in a office at the Vlasic pickle factory once! Even though she hates pickles!  Mammy attended Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, MI.  While she was in college Mammy needed a job to help pay for everything, and she got a job with a  family who had eight kids! Their father was away for a year and needed help. After that Mammy was a teacher and taught in Colorado, Virginia, and California. During her time in Long Beach, CA. my grandma met my grandpa Max at a picnic!  They married in Lapeer MI, 1971.  They had 4 children, my two uncles, my mom, and my aunt.  My grandma was a teacher most of her life and she retired in 2005 when I was three. My grandparents have lived in Owosso, MI. since 1980. 

The Royal Gorge

Some cool things my grandma has had the oppurtunity to do are to attend Easter service at Arlington National cemetary, and at the Airforce Base. She has gone to Pikes Peak, Hawaii, and once she even drove over the Royal Gorge in CO., and she doesn’t even like bridges! Most of the traveling has done is visiting grandkids, in Texas, Arizona, and Florida.

My grandma has gone many places, and done lots of things. From going to a one room school house to teaching in California. Mammy says the things she is most proud of are having four kids, and having been married for 44 years now.  I loved learning more about my grandma, and hearing her stories. 

Texas Ed

 Texas Ed, By Maya Kent

 I wanted to interview someone who is a true Texan, so that’s why I picked Ed, my new neighbor. Although he was not born there, Ed considers himself a Texan. Ed was born in Louisville, Kentucky on the banks of the Ohio river in 1937.  It was very different than now. Nobody traveled much outside of their town. His mom had many brothers and sisters and everybody lived within two miles of one another. Kids would play outside all day instead of being inside on electronics all of the time, like they are now. He would  also make up games and play in the mud a lot. Some of his hobbies were sports, riding bikes, building model airplanes and puzzles.

When he was young his nickname was Eddie Joe because his name is Edward Joseph. He has one brother who is four years younger than him who he liked to tease. They didn’t get along very well then,  but now they have a closer relationship.  He went to one school all the way up to eighth grade.  In high school he remembers going to lots of dances and parties.  He also played football, basketball and baseball.  In his opinion the 50's were the best time to live and grow up in.

Ed went to the University of  Louisville in Kentucky. Then when he was twenty-two he moved to Texas City, and then to Galveston, Texas. While living in Galveston he met his wife, Minda. It was when he was at a Halloween party.  At the stroke of midnight she walked in.  That was the first time he ever saw her. He went up to her and found out her name and phone number. The next week they had their first date, and the next year they were married. Minda was born in the Philippines. She was a nurse, and had come to the United States so she could get paid better. When they first met she had only been in the United States for three weeks.

Ed was an engineer. He had many different positions, and worked for Monsano, Van Leer and Exxon chemical. He then lived in Spring Branch, Texas before moving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He moved from there to Houston, Texas and has now lived there for thirty-three years. If you would like to know why he thinks Texas is such a great state he could tell you in one song, Oh beautiful Texas, which you can listen to right here. He is also a huge Notre Dame fan.  He grew up listening to all of their games on the radio, because they did not have a TV.

Ed and Minda have traveled all of other the world. The countries he has been to are Canada, Mexico, England, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Finland, Sweden, Croatia, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Serbia, Russia, Japan, China and  Columbia! He has also been to 49 out of the 50 states. The only one he has not been to is North Dakota. His favorite place he has ever traveled to is Hawaii, and he would love to visit New Zealand someday. They have three boys, and now have 11 grandchildren.  They have been married for almost 55 years. Ed says he is most proud of getting married and raising his family. He would describe himself as inquisitive, outgoing, extrovert and interested in new things.

He has interesting  advice for us on how to become true Texans, like if you see a cockroach you have to step on it and kill it with your bare feet! Ed is a very friendly person, which is great because when you move to a new place you never know what your neighbors are going to be like. So, when we moved to Houston, Texas, Ed was there to welcome us in and make us feel at home in our new neighborhood. That is why Ed is such a great neighbor.

A Very Special Grandma

She grew up in Newaygo MI in a country house on a farm with two sisters and two brothers. Her name is Connie Ann Johnson, my Grandma. She married my Grandpa almost 50 years ago. And she still lives in Newaygo in a small house by a big pond. Connie loves to serve in the church, go out and shop in town and hang out with her friends. 

When she was little she loved the “thrashing”.  It was a big get together for harvest time. Other farmers would come to her farm and they had lots of food. Her favorite food was and still is strawberries. When she was little she used to pick them fresh out of her Grandmas garden. She loves corn on the cob fresh out of her garden.

My grandma’s saddest memories were of losing two of her siblings. When she was 4 her brother died of pneumonia. It was a very sad time for her whole family. She doesn’t remember it a lot and didn’t understand it. When she was older and her baby sister was just 16 she got hit by a drunk driver and was killed. This was very hard for her.  She is close to her other brother and sister who are still alive.

She said her happiest memory was when her cousins came over on Sundays. They always played kick the can, tag or some other chase game. They would have dinner and picnics together. When she was a little girl she loved to play outside with her sister (maybe thats why I love to play outside). She would play tag and swing and (get ready this is going to get gross) they would step in cow poop! She said that she liked to put in between toes! When she was playing with her siblings she loved to jump from the high beams in their barn and land into the hay pile. One time she jumped and fell between the barn wall and the hay pile. She said that it was very scary.  Connie’s favorite game was kick the can.  She never had board games.  One time her dad made a board game that was very much like the game now called “Sorry”.

Connie’s favorite book series when she was a kid was the “Bobbsey Twins”. She read all of them. She didn’t have money of her own, just think about that. You wouldn’t be able to buy candy at the store or new toys or gum or a new drawing book. I know it would be hard to have no money of my own. When Connie and her sister were little they were in a store and found candy on the floor. They took it. But the clerk found out and he ran after them!  They were so scared that they never stole anything ever again. Also she didn’t have TV until she was sixteen. Can you imagine not having TV! No TV, no Food Network and no video games!

  They didn’t vacation much during her childhood. She does remember camping once. Her sister dumped eggs and bacon all over her. I don’t think she had much fun camping. She has always wanted to go to Hawaii to see all the beautiful flowers. She is still hoping to go someday.

As a teenager she wanted to play volleyball but never got the chance. She did have a chance to go to school dances. In 10th grade she went to prom. She wore a white dress with tiny red bows on it, red high heels and red jewelry. Her favorite song that night was called “Stardust”.

So many things happened in her life good, bad and ugly. But she is the best grandma and always laughs and makes me laugh. I look up to her for pushing through those hard times when all seems to be bad. She can still laugh and smile.

 By Natalie Hawkins

  A Very Special Grandma  

About Me, Olivia Lunsford

Hi, my name is Olivia Grace Lunsford.

I am 11 almost 12 years old. My birthday is December 30, 2003. I like books and video games. I am the oldest of four children. I have two sisters named Abigail (age 8), Dorothy(age 1), and I have one brother named Jeremy (age 5). Abby is my playmate when I get my way. She has long, straight, brown hair, and is almost as big as me! Jeremy REALLY likes to share and has brownish yellow hair, and Dorothy is the sweetest little angel you could get your hands on with slightly strawberry hair.

I have short, curly brown hair that is SOOOO easy to control. My favorite stuffed animal is a super old, ripped up, pile of junk shaped like a brown dog, and for some weird reason I named her Little Puppy. I have a dog named Callie who is 3 years old. You can know more about her in my story, "Big Bundle of Fur".

I live in Tallahassee, Florida. I share a room with Abby and have the bottom bunk. I am not considered a "Neat Freak" and I am forced to clean up my room.

I go to Freedom Church First Assembly of God. I am a part of a game called Junior Bible Quiz (JBQ) and I'm very good at it. I have traveled to many places including Washington, D.C., the states from Florida to the center of Michigan, and maybe more that I can't think of right now.

My favorite book of the Bible is Revelation. My most favorite memory verse is,

John 3:16-17 "For God so love the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son to condemn the world, but to save the world, through Him." (JBQ quotation!)

I am homeschooled and have more vacations than the average middle schooler. (yippie!)

Down below are some pictures of my family and me.

Thank you for reading a bit of things about me.
~Olivia Lunsford ;-)

Girl on a Mission's Personal Experience Narative

                     Hey guys! This is Girl on a Mission! So sorry about the delay on publishing this post. I had it partially done, but my grandparents were visiting from out of state. They left today, and I wanted to spend time with them yesterday. Thanks for understanding :-)

                   My Family's  Battle With Cancer 

 Valentines Day, 2013. It starts off as a normal day.  
  Dad goes to work like normal. 
  I do my school work.
  Then, I get a special treat! Mom and I get to go on a field trip to a candy, peanut, and popcorn factory! There was a boat load of tasty samples, a demonstration on how to make cotton candy, a lesson on popcorn varieties, and a behind the scenes tour. I was in my glory! When we were all finished and had gone to the car, my mom checked her phone ( it was noisy on the tour and she didn't hear it ring). She had a voice mail from her doctor.
  Let me back up a little. She had just hit the age mark where doctors recommend getting yearly mammograms. So, just out of precaution, she decided to get the mammogram done right away. A lot of people even wait a few years after the recommended age to start testing. Some people never even get them done! But my mom always errs on the side of caution. She had her mammogram done, and when the images came back, they said that there was something that they wanted to look at. The doctor told her that there was a good chance that the lump was just benign, but that they still were going to do a biopsy to make sure. It was scheduled for a few days later. The procedure consisted of the doctors taking another mammogram, but this time they made an incision and took a small tissue sample of the lump. Also, they inserted clips and wires marking the area of the lump in question. The tissue sample was sent to a lab, and my family spent an anxious week waiting for the results.
  Back to the voice mail. The nurse told mom that she should call her back as soon as she had the chance so they could give her the results. My mom knew as soon as she listened to the voice mail. Something was wrong. Why else wouldn't they have just told her the results through the message?
  We arrived at our house, and I went up stairs and played in the tent that I had recently built. It was huge, covering our entire bonus room. The sheet, chair, clothes-pin labyrinth had multiple chambers, with a rather intricate tunnel system in between. While I was enjoying what I thought at the time to be an architectural wonder, my mom was in her closet talking on the phone to the doctor.
  When she came upstairs, I knew that something was wrong. I asked her, and her reply was, "It's cancer." 
  When you hear news like that, you expect yourself to cry, to feel like your whole world has fallen apart. But it was strange. My mom and I just kind of looked at each other. We were both shocked, but really, that was it. Mom called my dad and he came home from work. We all just crawled in the tent that my dad and I had built and looked and each other. The three of us dug into the candy and popcorn that we had bought that day and then my mom said, "Well, at least we don't have to wait for the results any more!" We all giggled and decided that we would just have to get used to the word. If you were a fly on the wall, you probably would have thought that we were all insane: we were just saying it over and over "cancer" "I have cancer" "my mom has cancer." There was a weird peace that came over us. At the time, I don't think any of us really knew what it was or why we weren't all freaking out, but I believe that it was God's peace that brought us through those first few days of realizing what the road ahead looked like.
  My mom's doctor scheduled an appointment with an oncologist. He made a treatment plan, and told her that the next step was a lumpectomy. She was referred to a surgeon that specialized in breast cancer. They also lined up appointments with a radiologist that would begin after her first surgery.
  We couldn't have been blessed with better doctors. They would all get  together weekly and discus how the treatment plan was working and if any changes needed to be made.
  The lumpectomy was scheduled about a week later. The tumor was larger than they expected; it had grown all the way to the muscle wall of her chest. Luckily, however, it had not spread to her lymph nodes. She recovered as well as could be expected, and after her incision was healed, she began radiation. Mom went every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for a total of 37 treatments. I think that God has a definite sense of humor, because mom ( who was about as much of a morning lover as a troll ) had been praying that she would wake up earlier and be cheerful in the morning for a long time. What time was her appointment? 7:30 in the morning, fifteen minutes away from our house! We all had a laugh over that one!
   After radiation, she had a test to see if her margins (areas around where the lump was) were clear. They were!
   She was put on medication (Tamoxifen) to decrease the return rate, and went to the oncologist every three months.  Now she only has to go every six months, and will be on her medication for seven more years.
   Her response when asked if she would take back her cancer (if she could ) is, "I have grown so much from the experience, and I would never take it back. God granted us a peace that truly surpasses all understanding.  I used to worry about everything, but once you come so close to losing it all, you realize just how unimportant the little things are. We are never truly in control, God is. "
 I know that without the prayers of our family and friends and the mighty, loving God that answered them, our family would have never made it through.
   
     Until Next Time,
               Anna Palazzolo,
               Girl on a Mission
  

Our Next Assignment: The Interview

Do you like asking questions and digging deeply into the heart of a story? Then you're going to love our next assignment! (I'm trying to make my opening as great as some of your personal narrative openings, but I think you beat me...)

My name is Renee Lunsford, and I am Olivia Lunsford's mom. Here is your new writing assignment: The Interview!

1. Find an interesting person to interview. I suggest that you try to make it someone whose life is very different than yours, a person who is much older than you (like over 65), or someone who has done something interesting or unique.

2. Write out a list of questions you'd like to ask that person. See the links below if you'd like some help thinking of questions.

3. Contact the subject of your interview and request permission to ask some questions and write a paper about his or her life or experiences.

4. Meet with or call the person. Use good manners! It might be helpful to record the conversation, but if you can't do that, at least take good notes. If you can, write down a few direct quotes you can use in your paper. Make sure you thank the person you interviewed when you are done.

5. After the interview, write an essay using some of the information you gained from that person. Write it in narrative style; do not include the questions you asked. It could be a biography, a description of a certain meaningful event in that person's life, or it could focus on a certain part of his or her life, like early childhood, young adulthood, or even what it feels like to be an older person.

6. Post your essay to this blog and enjoy reading about all the fascinating people in everyone's lives!



Parents, I suggest we make "posting window" due date like we did last time during October 23-26. Let me know if you disagree. That will give the students over two weeks to fulfill all the steps in this assignment. It may take a little time to work with other people's schedules and get those interviews done.

I couldn't find middle-school-aged samples of the finished interview essays. I did a lot of searching and didn't find quite what I was looking for. However, the following links may be helpful:

Tips for turning an interview into an essay:
http://writingwithsharonwatson.com/interview-into-narrative-essay/

Fifty questions for family history interviews:
http://genealogy.about.com/cs/oralhistory/a/interview.htm

More interview questions:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgwkidz/query2.htm

Big Bundle of Fur

My name is Olivia Lunsford. I am 11 almost 12. I love books like Big Nate books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, Animorphs and mysteries. I like video games and movies. Legos are my passion. Here is my experience with dogs.

Big Bundle of Fur

Do you have a dog? Do you want a dog? I wanted a dog because I could imagine having a soft, fluffy companion to snuggle with. However, some of my experiences with dogs didn’t end well. For example, my neighbors had a dog named Cody. Cody was one of those dogs that jumped on everyone and everything like a hyper squirrel. He jumped on me like a crazy thing, and that made me a bit afraid of dogs.

On December 19, 2012, Daddy said we should get a dog.I was surprised because Daddy never really like dogs. But how thrilling! We raced to the car and drove to an animal shelter in Bainbridge, Georgia. I felt both anxious and afraid because, though I wanted a dog, I was worried that Daddy would buy a jumpy one that would knock me down.

When we got there, we jumped out of the car and asked to look at the dogs. We looked at many, but they were not right for us. Then the shelter employee carried in a female snow white lab. She would not stand up at all. She was more frightened of me than I of her! She was a medium sized dog with a sturdy body. She looked at us with deep brown eyes and barely flicked the light, cream colored tip of her tail. She was 10 months old, and her name was Calla. We all said she was the one for us, but we wanted to change her name. So we changed it to Callie. We bought her, carried her to the car, and drove her home. 

At first she was very scared. She wouldn’t come when I called her, but after a few months Callie got used to us. Now she is hyper and jumps on us a little, but I’m not afraid. When we go outside, there’s a big, happy bundle of fur waiting for us. Callie helped me overcome my fear of dogs, and I’m thankful for that.

China

I stepped out of the airplane doors and walked slowly down the long terminal with my sisters and my parents. We had just landed in Beijing, China. It had been a tiring 13 hour trip filled I had filled with movies and books. My family was pretty alert, considering it was 2 o’clock am. Because of the 12 hour time change, my body felt like it was only 2 o’clock in the afternoon, not late in the night. I just wanted to get some food and go to the hotel, but things didn’t quite go our way. For starters, our guide did not show up, and secondly, that meant we could not go to the hotel. We were stuck in the airport. We ended up spending the rest of the night trying to sleep on blue plastic chairs that were as hard as, well, rock. And that was the beginning of my trip to China.

Well, to be honest, the trip wasn’t really that bad. Besides the horrible Airborne drink my mom made my sister, Lily, and I take. It was like lemonade, yum! But, this lemonade was weak and had no sugar in it at all. It sounds a little less appetizing now, right? Anyway,the reason we were in China for a mission trip. We were going to have a party for kids in the orphanage my sister and I were adopted from, then volunteer at a camp for some kids from orphanages all over China.

So, after we finally made it to the hotel we had a great breakfast, and headed out. We walked around the city looking at all the colorful things up for display at various shops. I stopped to look at copper fish swimming around it a bowl on the ground and to see all the rows of colorful candy for sale. Later, we got in a taxi as bright as the sun and winded through the busy streets and down a road to the orphanage. We got out, stretched our legs, and walked up to the orphanage. We were given a tour of the orphanage by the director, who led us through the various rooms around the orphanage. Then, in one of the bigger rooms, we started setting up supplies so that the kids could draw some pictures. Next, we set up a table and brought a cake we had bought for a party for the kids. Then a little boy who looked about four came up to my mom and showed her his picture he had drawn. My mom picked him up and started talking to him, but the director told us he was deaf. The director said his name was Yu Le. She asked the director if  this little boy was listed for adoption and he said, "no". My mom told him that he should be on the list because someone in America would want him! Finally, we left to go to the camp where we were helping in Yunnan, China.

One week later:

After we got home from the long plane ride and the drive back to our house from the airport , we all collapsed on our beds and slept for the next week! Later that month, my mom remembered the little boy in the corner we had met at the orphanage. My parents got in contact with the director and started sending money to school him. One year later, we adopted again, and I had another sister, Shana! Then, just two weeks after Shana cam home, someone from China called my dad and told him they had found a file for adoption with our family's name attached! My dad asked him if the file was Yu Le's and the man said yes! My dad told my mom, but they decided that they had were too overwhelmed at the moment. Then, in 2014, my parents started considering adopting the little boy we had met. They found his file again and started praying.  Finally, this past July, my dad flew to China. Two weeks later, I had a new brother!

That trip to China really changed my life. We met my brother, Asher, who now is part of my family. Though it has been hard work, learning sign, getting his room ready, and getting used to having a deaf person in our house, I am very thankful that I have a new brother.

-Manna Robertson

Libby Alley Personal Narrative

Hi, I’m Libby.  I’m eleven and I like drawing and babysitting.  I also play piano and I like writing stories.  I have five siblings and I never get tired of them.  Well, maybe sometimes.

The Best Part of 2014

It had been seven months since I first found out and I still couldn’t believe it.  We parked in the parking lot and everyone got out of our van.  My grandpa (we call him “Pop-Pop”) brought us to the doors.  I couldn’t stop smiling.  We went in and it took a while to get to my mom’s room, but we finally got there.  She looked exhausted but happy to see us.

I felt breathless.  It felt like I had found out I was going to have a sister only days ago.  “Hi guys!” Mom said, “Come see the baby!”  Everyone rushed to the crib and peeked in.  And there she was.  Our newest and smallest addition.  Violet.  She was really small, but we all had a big feeling of love when we laid our eyes on her.

When I held her for the first time, it was like holding a little angel as soft as a cloud.  I stroked her hair, kissed her little face, and held her hand.  We had to go home, but I got to come back two or three times after that.  Both times I didn’t want to leave.

Waiting for mom and dad to come home for two whole days was hard because we missed them so much and wanted to show Violet her new house.  When they got here and Dad parked the car everyone surrounded the doors.  Since then Violet has been wonderful and all of us are so happy to have a new little sister in the family.  To me, it was definitely the best part of 2014.

Grand Catastrophe at the Grand Canyon

My name is Jackson Alley,  I am 14.  I like music, computers, and video games.  I currently play the guitar and the video game Destiny. Also, if you want read more about stuff that I like and do, go check out my personal blog right here. That's a little bit about me, Jackson Alley.

This is my writing for Assignment One.⬇️⬇️⬇️

Two summers ago in the year 2014, the men in my family took a road trip out west. Now there was a lot of us, so we had to get a Recreational Vehicle. Or just an RV as most people call it. We spent most of the trip driving, and driving almost brought our trip to an end. Here is that exciting story told from my perspective.

Our mishap in this clunky, bulky, machine took place in the Grand Canyon. Now to get to our campsite in the national park, we had to drive up the side of the canyon! While driving up the road, we started to hear something strange coming form the RV. Before we knew it, we were on the side of the road and everything was off. Looking over the RV we realized that our engine had died, and we could not start the car at all. Because we were on a steep hill, we were able to put the car in neutral and roll back down the road.

The closest place place from our accident was a small inn called Jacob's Lake. We were devastated from our engine failure and sitting in this inn's parking lot for the next 18 hours was pretty rough. I thought our trip was completely over. Me and my cousins were all speculating on what would happen next. Most of us thought that we would have to head home, but I still held hope during our setback.
With my grandfathers insurance, we were able to call a tow truck for the RV. The next day we were greeted by a huge semi-truck ready to take our RV to the nearest city.

We finally got back to civilization in St. George, Utah which was three hours away from the inn's parking lot. We were dropped off at a mechanic who said he could have a new engine built into the RV in three days! Everybody was overjoyed at this news and could not wait to get back on the road. But the next question we asked was, what are we going to do for three days? So while the RV was being fixed, we were able to stay in a nice hotel during our short delay. The hotel was a lot of fun and we ate fast food for every meal. We also got to go see the Grand Canyon during the three days, which was one of the most spectacular sights I've ever seen. After our luxurious hotel stay was up, we successfully got back on the road to continue our trip.

After getting back on the road, our trip was a major success. We saw lots of cool things and didn't have anymore problems for the rest of the trip. I had a great experience during our misfortune, and learned a lot about patience.