St. Paddy's Day
I hope everyone enjoyed their St. Patrick's Day on Saturday and represented the Irish well by wearing your green. We had a great time with the festivities here. Our first big thing was the parade. We were with Erin's dad and a number of students from the Taylor group over here. The parade was quite bizarre to say the least (monsters, sea creatures, and several American marching bands), but it was a very fun atmosphere nonetheless. Afterwards, we made our way to Croke Parks for the club finals for gaelic football and hurling, two very entertaining All-Irish sports. We ended the day with a nice meal at Vance's favorite Italian restaurant back in Greystones and even got to watch some of the NCAA Tourney. It was a great day!
The night before, we had a nice St. Paddy's Day party at youth group. It was a lot of fun and included contests to see who could most creatively act out famous Irish legends and who could create the best Irish dance. The students also enjoyed their Green milkshakes and Pin the Tail on the Donkey using cut-out body parts and a life size painting of St. Patrick himself. We had a number of our regular students bring friends, which is always great.
Next week, I will be traveling to Boston with Dan and our basketball team of Freshman students. While there, we will be playing matches against American opponents, promoting the ministry in an area where a large amount of our support originates, and just having a really fun time. Dan and I are really looking forward to the extended time with the guys. Please pray for safe travel, good interactions with the guys, and that they would all get along also.
Thanks and have a great week!
Tyler and Erin
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Upward Basketball Ends With a Bang!
This past Sunday, we finished up our Upward basketball seasons with a fun and entertaining end of the season party. The afternoon started off with each of the eight teams getting to play their parents. This was quite the hoot as most of the adults had no idea how to play basketball. But what they lacked in skill they more than made up for in their competitiveness. Erin put her artistic skills to work as the official facepainter for the afternoon. After the games, we had pizza and pop, which was then followed by a short program. Each of us coaches were able to publicly praise our players in front of their parents, a basketball entertainer performed some amazing tricks, and a short presentation of the Gospel was given. It was a fine day and was enjoyed by parents and players alike.
It really was an amazing privilege for us to work with these basketball leagues. Youth sports in this rough neighborhood are a necessity to the growth and development of these kids. They need activities that keep them involved and working towards something bigger than themselves. I have definitely been impressed with how important these programs are and how cool it is to do it all with the backdrop of Christianity.
A few other notes this week:
- We had a All-Worship night at youth group last Friday and it was received well. This Friday, we will be having an outreach emphasis as we will be having a St. Patty's Day party.
- Erin's dad is back over on business for a week, starting today. We are looking forward to some time with him and will be taking in some of the many festivities surrounding St. Patrick's Day this Saturday.
With love,
Tyler and Erin
This past Sunday, we finished up our Upward basketball seasons with a fun and entertaining end of the season party. The afternoon started off with each of the eight teams getting to play their parents. This was quite the hoot as most of the adults had no idea how to play basketball. But what they lacked in skill they more than made up for in their competitiveness. Erin put her artistic skills to work as the official facepainter for the afternoon. After the games, we had pizza and pop, which was then followed by a short program. Each of us coaches were able to publicly praise our players in front of their parents, a basketball entertainer performed some amazing tricks, and a short presentation of the Gospel was given. It was a fine day and was enjoyed by parents and players alike.
It really was an amazing privilege for us to work with these basketball leagues. Youth sports in this rough neighborhood are a necessity to the growth and development of these kids. They need activities that keep them involved and working towards something bigger than themselves. I have definitely been impressed with how important these programs are and how cool it is to do it all with the backdrop of Christianity.
A few other notes this week:
- We had a All-Worship night at youth group last Friday and it was received well. This Friday, we will be having an outreach emphasis as we will be having a St. Patty's Day party.
- Erin's dad is back over on business for a week, starting today. We are looking forward to some time with him and will be taking in some of the many festivities surrounding St. Patrick's Day this Saturday.
With love,
Tyler and Erin
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Yesterday was Erin's 23rd birthday! It was a fine day indeed. We celebrated by having tea and dessert at a nice hotel in Dubin (owned by members of U2), taking in an art exhibit, and watching a couple movies over Chinese food back at home. Thanks for the calls, emails, and cards. They were appreciated very much.
The Upward basketball leagues concluded their seasons on Sunday. The girls capped off a great season with another win while the guys couldn't quite get it going, but played extremely hard. This coming Sunday, the whole family is invited as we will have players vs. parents games and a pizza party, followed by a celebratory program. It should be a lot of fun as many of the parents have not touched a basketball before. Please pray for a great day with the families.
Erin continues to enjoy teaching. She really is building some good friendships with her fellow art teachers and enjoys the comaraderie that she has with them. Also, she is really enjoying teaching junior high aged students, which she hadn't done yet before the first of the year.
We are barely starting to see evidence of the baby now. The week before we return home will be when we have our first scan. Will it be a boy or a girl? We'll see!
Have a great week!
Tyler and Erin
The Upward basketball leagues concluded their seasons on Sunday. The girls capped off a great season with another win while the guys couldn't quite get it going, but played extremely hard. This coming Sunday, the whole family is invited as we will have players vs. parents games and a pizza party, followed by a celebratory program. It should be a lot of fun as many of the parents have not touched a basketball before. Please pray for a great day with the families.
Erin continues to enjoy teaching. She really is building some good friendships with her fellow art teachers and enjoys the comaraderie that she has with them. Also, she is really enjoying teaching junior high aged students, which she hadn't done yet before the first of the year.
We are barely starting to see evidence of the baby now. The week before we return home will be when we have our first scan. Will it be a boy or a girl? We'll see!
Have a great week!
Tyler and Erin
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