It's Time To Be Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope here, reminding you to be thankful for everything we are blessed with. Sorry for not posting much, but I couldn't come up with anything to post. Then, yesterday, I was talking to Natalia on the phone. I said, "I My Family can't think of anything to put on my blog!", and she said, "Why don't you list things that you are thankful for, since Thanksgiving is coming up?" Then I said, "Natalia, that's a great idea!" So, here are a few things I am extremely thankful for:

1. My Family
2. My Friends 
3. My Dogs
4. Food & Water
5. My House
6. The Bible Bee
7. God & Jesus
8. My Clothes
9. My Church
10. The Telephone (So I Can Call Natalia!)

The Bible says that we are to be thankful to God for the good and the bad things that he brings upon us. I know it's hard to be thankful for the bad things in life, but remember that whatever happens, God always has a plan. I think it important to thank God everyday, so today when I woke up, I thanked Him for everything I had to be thankful for! My favorite part of Thanksgiving is definitely the food. My mama is a GENIUS in the kitchen! I sure am hungry- and is that turkey I smell? I think I better go try some, just to be sure it's not poison or anything. Haha. :-) That's all for now! Happy Thanksgiving, and don't let your stomach pop!
Hope :-)

Continuing to Memorize

Hello, Natalia here with a blog post.

A few people have asked me if I am going to memorize more outside of the Bible Bee. I thought about it, and I've decided to memorize Matthew. And yes, I mean the whole book of Matthew. I know that it's going to be a challenge, but I know that God has the strength to do it, and with his guidance, I am feeling more confident about it. Since October 30th, I have memorized the first two chapters, and some of the third. One of the reasons I chose Matthew was because there are really only 4 books (The Gospels), that give an account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. If anyone asked me about him or my faith, I need to be ready. And that's when I decided that was what I wanted to do. Our family has also been working on memorizing the catechism for the same reasons.  I also look forward to participating in the Bible Bee again in the Summer. So there's the latest report!

Natalia

A Few Announcements...

Hope here with a few announcements to make!

• Just because the National Bible Bee is over, doesn't mean we won't continue this blog!
• Natalia and I are going to start a Bible Study on the book of Matthew, similar to the one we did on Colossians for Bible Bee, so we will keep you updated on that.
• Have you seen our sweet new music? That's just mine though. Maybe Talia will make one of her own!
• The scores for Nationals will be posted on or before December 15, so I will find out what I ranked.
• Natalia, Maddie, and Harrison all have new blogs! Here are the links.

Natalia: Natalia's Book Nook
Maddie (and family): Love At Least 1 Person
Harrison HaHa Harrison

That is all! Have a great day!
Hope :-)

Where To Start......

Hope here. Well, we are in Chicago, as we have been for a few days. But unfortunately, I didn't make it to the Semi-Final Bible Bee Round. I don't know what to think. I really thought I had it this year. I got over the urge to cry pretty fast, but now it's like a low cloud that hangs over me.

Fortunately, I have great friends to get me through this tough time. True friends stick with you through the ups and the downs, and I have been blessed with many of them. I honestly don't know what I would do or where I would be without them (especially Natalia).

Right now I am just praying for the other kids, and trying to think of the positives. I mean, I don't have to worry about messing up anymore, and I have some fun things coming up in Chicago. Like watching finals, the formal celebration dinner swimming with my new Bible Bee Friends, the American Girl Store, Navy Pier, and a lunch at Ed Debevic's Restaurant.

Today my Aunt Kimbra is coming down to the hotel, and then driving to Chicago with us tomorrow (we have a seperate hotel). That's another good thing- I haven't seen her in almost 2 years. I have to go to Finals now, which you can watch on the Bible Bee Website, but I will finish this post when we get back. For now I will publish what I have.

I'm back, and congrats to all the finalists. My aunt is here now, and I'm trying to be thankful for what I have. New friends, a great family, a nice hotel. The list could go on and on. But none of them really make up for the thrill of being in finals. Later we have the formal celebration dinner, so that is exciting. That's all for now.
Hope