This last month has been busy as usual. We finally when to get family pictures done. Michaela finished up her first Volleyball season ever at GCS and loved it! Grant finished his first Soccer season up at GCS! They both really enjoyed their sports teams. Michaela is in her basketball season right now. We are thankful for her aggressive ball skills. She is by no means an aggressive kid so to see her use proper aggression on the court is different yet a good thing for the team! Grant can not wait for his basketball season to start. He has never played organized basketball. He has been playing a lot out in the driveway since we have moved here. It looks like he has some moves :) so we'll see???!!!! Brooklyn is a happy camper going to the high school anytime she gets the chance. She seems to have lots of friends over there. Everyone knows her. She is definitely not afraid to meet people. High schoolers don't intimidate her at all. They are her best friends :) according to her.

Tomorrow Brooklyn is turning 7. I know I hear many people who say they can't believe how their kids are getting older and what not. It just hit me the other day that OUR YOUNGEST CHILD IS TURNING 7. That's CrAzY to me. Today I spent a good portion of the day making cake pops for her to take to school as her birthday treat for the class. I have made cake pops before and I know that they are not hard to make. Today I about messed them all up. First, the chocolate got burned. Then I tried again. I got busy doing something and burned it again. 3rd time was a charm thankfully. The cake balls would not stay on the sticks. Ughhhh, it was frustrating to say the least. They are done and they are what they are! Not making anything else at this point. Happy 7th birthday to Brooklyn Grace!

One of Ben's students gave him 2 Piston's tickets. He was pumped to take Michaela this time & Michaela was pumped to go to her first professional basketball game ever. I'm so glad that the kids get to do fun stuff like that every once in a while!

The next several weeks are filled with preparing for Christmas concerts, cantatas, etc. Ben is directing his school choirs on December 12, the church cantata is December 15 @ 6 pm. We are also looking forward to watching our kids in their program on December 15 @ 11 am. All three kids have solo's. Michaela has a key part in the drama as well. We are really looking forward to the Christmas season! We have many opportunities to reflect and be thankful for the real reason for the season - CHRIST!

Another day in the life of the Gonzo's...

Soccer and Volleyball are keep us running here and there everyday now. Soon Michaela will be in basketball as well. We are blessed to have talented young athletes! However, if their grades begin to slip that will be the first to go... sports. They have been warned and are actually handling academics and sports quite well so far. Late nights and early morning piano and flute practice is a norm around our house. Thankfully they enjoy this as well so it has not been a big deal to remind them.

Ben is thoroughly enjoying his academic teaching load this semester. He has been very excited to be teaching US Government this year along with his Choir, Music, and several P.E. classes. He has commented many times how he wishes he could be a student in his own Government class. He loves it that much! We are reminded daily how blessed we are to be apart of the GCS & North Flushing Baptist families. 2 completely separate ministries in which both are going great.

Tonight we are working on a Tree Project and a Mammal Project. Fun fun.... not my favorite thing to do, but we do enjoy the time we get to spend with them during this time. I think we need to invest in a large quantity of poster boards. The joys of 5th and 6th grade projects :)

The early mornings are starting  to take a toll on Brooklyn. She just begs to sleep a little longer when I wake her on most mornings. Tonight daddy offered to rub her back (we're hoping she can get to sleep earlier tonight), she LOVES it when we itch her back before bed. She requests that every single night. Most nights I do scratch it for a few minutes and she gets so relaxed and loves it.

I better get off of the computer for now. It's time for me to round up the older two for bed.

Deuteronomy 28:6
Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

Fall schedule is in full swing here for the Gonzos!

Day #4 is almost at a close.

Michaela is now in the Middle School for 6th grade. She loves the change of pace. Switching classes, hanging out with friends at their lockers, after school volleyball practices. She tried out for the Jr. High volleyball team. We will find out today if she made it. We heard that they are only taking two 6th graders on. So we'll see??? If not, she will survive. She is playing her flute again in the band. Very busy girl!

Grant is in the 5th grade. Big man on campus at the elementary building. I guess that's really cool. He decided to continue taking piano lessons because he really likes playing. He starts next week with a new piano teacher. He is excited to get back at it. He is also playing up on the Jr. High boys soccer team. They were lacking a couple players so they invited some of the younger guys to help out. He has been sleeping well this week after having tough Jr. high practices every day :)

Brooklyn is a proud 1st grader at GCS this year. She was excited to bring home 3 happy grams so far this week! If you know her at all you would know that we are very thankful for 3 of the HaPpy Grams :)

Ben is teaching once again a variety of classes involving 6th-12th grades. Last year was good but this year started off even better! He is thrilled at the number of students wanting to be in choir. Several have even made some changes in their class schedules to be in choir. That is very encouraging for him! He is currently busy coaching Jr. High boys soccer after school. Their first game is on Tuesday. We are looking forward to going down to Rochester Hills for that game.

Church continues to go very well. We count it a privilege to serve God at North Flushing Baptist Church! When we are not at school or home you will find us at the church. There is always music to file or find along with making calls on our youth. We have some exciting activities planned for the teens in September. We are looking forward to: Round Up Day on the 8th (which includes Burst the Balcony for the teens), Comic Book wars on the 14th, Harvest Fest on the 28th.

Finally! Yay! It has taken me forever trying to figure out how to sign in to this blog. I don't know why but I have been having trouble with Google accounts. Anybody else not get it either? So I finally had a few minutes to figure out my old email address and passwords.
     Ahhhh, it's summer and we're still so busy! Although my working schedule has slowed a little bit as of the beginning of May. I am only working at the salon every other week. Still at the church every Monday & cleaning some houses here and there. Kids just started up on new soccer teams with the Flint Olympian program. Games start this week & it's been so hot out. Not to the 90's yet, but close.
     Michaela turned 11 last month and Grant turned 10 this month. They both had some friends over for a party this past weekend. It was fun! They are both such good kids with great friends too. I love how they always want to have friends over here. They do like to go as often as they get the chance but they also are constantly asking to have friends over here.
     Brooklyn can not wait to turn 7 in the fall. She is as busy as ever! If you know Brooklyn you know that she keeps us busy and on our toes. So much fun! She still has 2 very wiggly teeth and refuses to eat her favorite corn on the cob. We are anxious to see what she looks like with 2 front teeth :) as we haven't had that opportunity for 3 years now. Should be soon.
     When we aren't working or at soccer you can usually find the kids playing basketball in the driveway or learning new tricks to do on their Rip sticks. Their new favorite thing to do is to map out an obstacle course with chalk in the driveway and time each other on how fast they can get through it.
     Ben was enjoying his time off from teaching for only a few weeks then GM called him and offered him a summer job. We were thrilled at the opportunity. So he started last Monday. He's really liking it. No stress whatsoever. It is nice for him to go back and see his coworkers again. He was thrilled to get such a warm welcome back!
     Our work at the church is also keeping us busy. The youth group has been showing signs of great growth these past few months. We have been encouraged! If you want to follow us on facebook we are NFBC - TEENS. We are looking forward to taking all the 3rd-12th graders to camp very soon for a whole week up north. It is always such a great time for them to get away and have a ton of fun and to experience great godly speakers to challenge them along in their faith. They love it!
     Ben and I will be celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary on July 14th. Time sure does fly when you're having fun!
     As always we have so much to be thankful for. God continues to keep us protected!

We are all moved!!

We had been anticipating the move since before Christmas. From Christmas til now has been a long wait let me tell you. We are pretty much unpacked (except for the garage "catch all"). The house is very cute and suits us well. The kids all have their own bedroom. Brooklyn was very nervous about not having Michaela to sleep with. She even stated that she wanted to get rid of her bed (wanted it burned) so she'd be able to sleep with me or Michaela. I'm thankful for the long busy days that we had last week, as it helped her to fall asleep quickly! I'd say she has aleady adjusted to having her own room. Michaela is taking it a bit too far and doesn't want Brooklyn in her room AT ALL. So we are still dealing with some sibling war over their rooms. Grant has been riding his bike and learning to do jumps. Both Grant and Brooklyn have spent a lot of time outside riding bikes. We live on such a quiet street that they can ride pretty much all day long if they want to. That is one more thing that we gain (paved driveway & quiet subdivision) that we didn't previously have. Oh and I almost forgot about all the games of HORSE that Ben and Grant have already played in the driveway! Some of you may be thinking "wow, these people really had no life". We came from living in the country and had many more other experiences that I am thankful to have experienced, but I am also glad to have moved on to new things like paved roads & quiet neighborhood. Oh and we are close to every store I would ever need!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have been so blessed as a family in this move. God has allowed us to share things with the kids on how He has provided. We have met and began friendships with some wonderful people already.

Teacher in service for Ben starts next Wednesday! He can't wait to start. School starts the last week of August. I think we are all ready to begin. I know the kids have a little bit of nervousness about starting a new school. They are all outgoing and will do just fine.

Our new church is awesome too! All 5 of us look forward to each Sunday. Tonight is our first Wednesday. The teens are having an activity to welcome us into the Youth Group on the 18th. It sounds more like an initiation :) but we are looking forward to it anyway! We appreciate your prayers as we all continue to adjust to all new surroundings.

Update on my grandpa: today is day #10 - it won't be long. He was told that he only had 4-8 days to live initially. He had a great 5-7 days and was very active with my mom in his workshop. He has since slowed down and sleeping most of the time but a bit disoriented when he does wake up. Please pray for my family as they are helping my grandma cope with the loss. It seems like everyone has their "plan" for her of what they think she should do. I am praying that she will make good choices for what is best for her. I was able to give my grandpa the plan of Salvation last week. He was not open to it previously. I pray he made the right choice. My heart is heavy not knowing.

It's June 11th already?!?!

Well, it's been a while... today I have no big excuse why not to update everyone. I just dropped the kids off at our friends church for vbs, so I have about 3 hours until I have to be back to get them! It's too far to go home. So as I am sitting here at McD's sipping on my sweet tea. I'm way over in the corner on my laptop. You'd think nobody would notice me... but Noooo, I've had 4 people already stop and talk to me. Nice older people showing concern for me because this is what they are seeing

I can't blame them for stopping to inquire as I am pecking away over in the corner with this massive thumb! What did I do? Well, let me just say that all those jokes about being old before Ben and I went out to the soccer field for a nice friendly competition with Michaela's U12 team is overrated!!!! I literally was only playing for less than 8 minutes when her teammate was coming toward me with the ball. So naturally I challenged her. I was doing well blocking her shots but then... her big kick connected with my thumb/hand. She went down immediately crying. I thought "oh no, last year I accidentally took out a different player, not again". They wisked her off the field immediately. Her big toe was in a lot of pain. AND so was my thumb, but I didn't want to say anything. Finally someone said, "well what did she kick?". So more ice was passed around. Unfortunately her foot is broken. As for my thumb, I'm not sure. Dr. thinks it's a big possibility that it is too. We haven't met our large deductable yet & really don't want to spend the money on xrays etc. So she's got me in this for now and wants to cast it later today. So that's the story!!!!
     We are anxiously waiting for Friday to get here! Ben will be giving his work his resignation notice. This is something that couldn't come at a better time! The Lord sure knows when to work!! He will begin in August as the Fine Arts Director at Genesee Christian School. I believe there are a few classes he will be teaching as well. He is very excited as this has been what he has dreamed of doing for so long now. We are still searching for a home, but plan on moving sometime during Ben's month off before school starts. Such an exciting time for our family right now!
     Amongst all of that I have been planning an open house for Ben's graduation. If you are reading this then you are officially invited!!! It's Saturday, June 16th from 3-5 pm @ Bates Scout Park in Laingsburg. The address to the park is: 900 West Street, Laingsburg, MI  48848. As many of you know Ben has been on and off taking classes for the past 12 years. One road block or another along the way. Well he finally set his mind to finish it up 2 years ago. He was done in December!!!!! So that is why we are
C E L E B R A T I N G :) & please join us if you can!
   Lots have happened in May-June already. Brooklyn graduated Kindergarten on May 18, Michaela turned 10 on May 3rd, Grant turns 9 in a couple weeks. Kids are growing like weeds!

I know this isn't the best picture but I've been trying to send random pictures to Ben while we've been away from him. So this day I was trying to get them all to smile, Brooklyn was mad about something so was crying. Finally after a threat or two she "smiled" for a pic for daddy. She tried... :)





When I got up the other morning she had already re-claimed her leftover oreo shake for breakfast from the previous nights dessert at Mels Diner.





We went to The Hatfield & Mccoy's Dinner Show last night. It was a very fun dinner show! I would recommend it to anyone.









Tonight after dinner at the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge.



We are having such a nice time on Spring Break! We've taken advantage of the beautiful warm weather. Only had to use the indoor pool once while it was raining. The rest of the time we've spent outside in the warm outdoor pool. I'm so thankful we were able to take this much needed trip away. I was tempted to   "re-purpose" the money that we had saved for this trip. I'm so thankful that Ben saw the real need for us to get away and gave me no choice but to go!