Just some random observations over the past few weeks... I'd love to hear your thoughts...
- Life is tough, but I could not ever imagine being a teenager again. As I hung out at Alive, I couldn't believe the randomness of teenagers. It seems that they are all searching and trying to fit in. Why can't life be simple again. Only a few pair of jeans to choose from... communicating by letter, or a phone that was attached to the wall of your house? I heard from someone at Alive that they are considering eliminating cursive writing in school curriculum. It's never used anyway, is it?
- One of the craziest sites at Alive was walking past some electrical outlets each morning and evening. It was "the place to be". I even heard one young lady say it was a great place to meet guys. Everyone had a cell phone and they all had to recharge a lot, I'm sure because of the thousands of text messages they send each day. Of course, I had to charge mine a few times, but at least I had a car to plug into! I wanted so badly to take a photo of all these kids huddled around the outlets, but I never did. Now I know why our Youth Pastor does not allow cell phones on mission trips or other events for our students. How would they ever get anything accomplished.
- Another Cell phone observation - I had to chuckle, as I looked out over the crowd of 15,000 people at Alive. Down in "the pit" (the place where you could go and stand, and be closer to the bands) you could just see all these little glowing boxes. It took me a while to figure out what it was. I've heard about performers saying light up your phones, in place of the old light up your lighters, but that wasn't what I was seeing. I slowly realized what I was seeing was hundreds of people, young and old, taking photos with their phones. It was the strangest thing to me.
- On an adoption note, I have recently realized how many people tell me how cute Toby is. Now, I know my children are all cute, and I often feel bad for Taylor and Drew, as people dote over Toby. But I am realizing that all too often, I think people are simply acknowledging that Toby must be adopted, and don't really know what to say, so they say he's cute. I've discussed this with the older two, and I hope they understand that their little brother is no cuter than they are. I just worry that it will cause jealousy. So far, I think they understand that people are just curious.
- Another recent observation is... Toby is TINY! We have VBS this week, and he is in a class with 3 and 4 year old children. I can not believe how much smaller he is than everyone else. Lately, people who are around him have been commenting on how much he is growing, and I agree. But he is still wearing 24 month clothes! (up from the 18month ones he was wearing when he came home almost a year ago) According to the doctor, he is doing well, just on the small end of the charts. In comparison to our nephew, who is 4 days YOUNGER than Toby, and what seems like twice as big! I guess I can't complain... it's just more proof that God intended for him to be a Mills! We are short!
Anyway, enough rambling! I just had these things in my head and had to get them out... and you lucky 5 people that read this, are the ones to hear it!
God is Good!
The story of the Mills' Family. Nate and Carol have been married since 1997. Taylor was born in 1998, Drew was born in 2001 and Toby was born in 2005 and joined our family forever in 2007. Here is our journey, where God leads us, we will go. That is my prayer.
Showing posts with label ALIVE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ALIVE. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Alive 08
Another fun filled week for the Mills. We attended the Alive Christian Music Festival in Canal Fulton for six out of the last seven years in some capacity. This year, like most, we camped (in a tent) for the entire week. It was a wonderful time with lots of stories and pictures. Nate worked security for the second year in a row, so the kids and I were alone much of the time, but we did get to have some great times with daddy as well.
I don't know proper Blogging procedures. Is it better to post one long post about an entire week of events, or make a separate post for each day, like I did for Kentucky? Anyone know? Well, I'm making this one long recap. Also all the bands/speakers have links to their websites if you'd like to check them out, just click on their names that are in yellow.
Nate went Tuesday night to set up our tent, and the kids and I joined him on Wednesday morning. Toby had not been camping before, so we were not sure what to expected. He was excited about the tent.
The kids also enjoyed Smores soon after we got there, no sense in waiting for the evening.
Once we got all situated, we headed up to the hill for the concerts. Wednesday night we were entertained by Red, Salvador, Jaci Valesquez and David Crowder Band to name a few. We always go with several families from church, and one family has a very large tarp that we take up and all sit on. It is really nice to have. the kids know they have "boundaries" and can't leave the tarp. The first night, Toby was real good about staying put, but he soon learned what his boundaries are. Here are the kids horsing around as we wait between concerts.
We did not get back to our campsite until around midnight, and Toby woke up around 12:30. It was cold the first night, and it didn't look like Toby was going to sleep any time soon, so I packed him up and brought him home. Nate and the others stayed the entire night. The next morning, they got the chance to hearing Brady Quinn, quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, share his testimony as one of the featured speakers. 
This year at Alive, they also had a SportsZone set up. The kids really enjoyed it. They had football drills, basket ball hoops, soccer goals, etc. set up for the kids to play, and people were at each station helping them, and timing them and keeping track of how well they did. I think throughout the week, Drew must have run this football drill at least 50 times. And he improved each time!
Taylor got to play a little soccer.
Toby got in on the action posing with this Browns cut out thing. He had fun watching everyone as well.
Nate even got to have a little fun with this passing competition. He did pretty darn good, considering how long it's been since he did something like that. I believe he made about 33% or so!
We usually take food up with us to the hill for dinner. Toby enjoyed his oranges!
After all the playing around, two of my boys took a nap on the tarp while we waited for the show to begin.
We were going to be entertained by groups like Leeland, Hawk Nelson and Casting Crowns as well as a message from Tony Nolan
Toby took a liking to our friend Rob and his daughter Erika. He spent a lot of time hanging with Rob, giving him "the rock" handshake. He also spent a lot of time looking for hair on Rob's head. I think the bald look was new for Toby.
It is always amazing to me, to sit at these concerts, and just look out at all the people. It is hard to put into words, or pictures for that matter, but here is attempt at getting a shot of the crowd during the Casting Crowns show.
Thursday night, we stayed at the campsite, and Toby did great! He didn't get up until around 8 in the morning! It was a perfect night for sleeping in a tent!
On Friday, we made it out in time to see the family fun tent performers. They had a magician and balloon artist. The kids really enjoyed that (really they did, I know Drew doesn't look like it).
We also spent some time in the lake swimming. The kids had a lot of fun, especially when some of the high school kids came and played with them. Brandon had fun throwing the kids into the water.
Pete, Brandon and Jared had a lot of fun chasing Drew around in the water.
Adam helped Toby navigate the kiddie slide
And after a morning of swimming...
After we left the swimming area to have some lunch, I got a call from Nate's cousin Sara asking if I took all the kids with me. I told her yes, they were all three with me, and she went on to explain that a child was missing, and believe to be in the water. They had evacuated the water and were doing a search of the water with people lined up holding hands walking slowly through the water. Jared is a lifeguard, so he was one helping. It was horrible to watch. The kids and I went up there and just prayed, along with others, that they would find the boy safely. After finding nothing in the water, they allowed people to swim, and we found out several hours later that the missing child was found, safely, and had just wondered away. It was so scary, but God was faithful. I can't imagine what those parents were going through watching all of that unfold.
We then headed up the hill for an AMAZING night of concerts. the groups to perform included Family Force 5, Thousand Foot Krutch (TFK) and TOBY MAC!!! We also got to hear an amazing message from Reggie Dabbs. Hundreds of people gave their lives to Christ following his message.
Family Force 5 was entertaining, as usual! Drew's favorite band is TFK. I had to take this little video of him dancing during their show.
Toby and I waiting for Toby Mac!
I didn't get any photos of Toby Mac. I guess I was too busy enjoying the show! Let me just say it was INCREDIBLE. He may be over 40, but he's still got it! That man can dance. And I love the message of his music! That we are all God's people, Red, yellow, black or white!
Saturday we got to see Disciple, John Reuben, Sixpence None the Richer, Skillet and Chris Tomlin/Louie Giglio.
So the Disciple concert was great. John Reuben began to play and someone in our group announced, "There are tornado warnings to the West of us, heading our way". So we all began to watch the skies. During John Reuben's set (he was also the Alive Emcee, which was fun) the wind picked up and toward the end of his set, they asked us all to get under the huge tents they have set up. Here Taylor and Toby (and Lindsay in the background) try and make the most of being stuck in a tent with hundreds of other people
Here are Ken and Judy Gable and Rob Miller discussing what to do next... how long the storm would last, watching the storm on cell phones, etc. 
After about an hour or so, several of them decided to just head home. We had heavy rains and winds. I heard that the inflatable things for the kids blew into the lake. There was also a tree that fell on someones car (actually, this was before the storm even) We considered heading home, and even began walking back to our vehicles as Sixpence None The Richer played in the background. However, the skies began to clear and so we decided to turn around, and enjoy the rest of the festival. We stuck around for Skillet, which was an amazing show, and about half of Chris Tomlin. At that point, it was dark, and we were getting cold from being so wet from the rains, and the kids were falling asleep so we decided to call it a night. We left a little after 11 and were home, in our own beds around midnight!
Alive 09 tickets go on sale in less than a month!!! You all should consider going!
God is Good
I don't know proper Blogging procedures. Is it better to post one long post about an entire week of events, or make a separate post for each day, like I did for Kentucky? Anyone know? Well, I'm making this one long recap. Also all the bands/speakers have links to their websites if you'd like to check them out, just click on their names that are in yellow.
Nate went Tuesday night to set up our tent, and the kids and I joined him on Wednesday morning. Toby had not been camping before, so we were not sure what to expected. He was excited about the tent.
The kids also enjoyed Smores soon after we got there, no sense in waiting for the evening.
Once we got all situated, we headed up to the hill for the concerts. Wednesday night we were entertained by Red, Salvador, Jaci Valesquez and David Crowder Band to name a few. We always go with several families from church, and one family has a very large tarp that we take up and all sit on. It is really nice to have. the kids know they have "boundaries" and can't leave the tarp. The first night, Toby was real good about staying put, but he soon learned what his boundaries are. Here are the kids horsing around as we wait between concerts.
We did not get back to our campsite until around midnight, and Toby woke up around 12:30. It was cold the first night, and it didn't look like Toby was going to sleep any time soon, so I packed him up and brought him home. Nate and the others stayed the entire night. The next morning, they got the chance to hearing Brady Quinn, quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, share his testimony as one of the featured speakers. 
This year at Alive, they also had a SportsZone set up. The kids really enjoyed it. They had football drills, basket ball hoops, soccer goals, etc. set up for the kids to play, and people were at each station helping them, and timing them and keeping track of how well they did. I think throughout the week, Drew must have run this football drill at least 50 times. And he improved each time!
Taylor got to play a little soccer.
Toby got in on the action posing with this Browns cut out thing. He had fun watching everyone as well.
Nate even got to have a little fun with this passing competition. He did pretty darn good, considering how long it's been since he did something like that. I believe he made about 33% or so!
We usually take food up with us to the hill for dinner. Toby enjoyed his oranges!
After all the playing around, two of my boys took a nap on the tarp while we waited for the show to begin.
We were going to be entertained by groups like Leeland, Hawk Nelson and Casting Crowns as well as a message from Tony NolanToby took a liking to our friend Rob and his daughter Erika. He spent a lot of time hanging with Rob, giving him "the rock" handshake. He also spent a lot of time looking for hair on Rob's head. I think the bald look was new for Toby.
It is always amazing to me, to sit at these concerts, and just look out at all the people. It is hard to put into words, or pictures for that matter, but here is attempt at getting a shot of the crowd during the Casting Crowns show.
Thursday night, we stayed at the campsite, and Toby did great! He didn't get up until around 8 in the morning! It was a perfect night for sleeping in a tent!On Friday, we made it out in time to see the family fun tent performers. They had a magician and balloon artist. The kids really enjoyed that (really they did, I know Drew doesn't look like it).
We also spent some time in the lake swimming. The kids had a lot of fun, especially when some of the high school kids came and played with them. Brandon had fun throwing the kids into the water.
Pete, Brandon and Jared had a lot of fun chasing Drew around in the water.
Adam helped Toby navigate the kiddie slide
And after a morning of swimming...
After we left the swimming area to have some lunch, I got a call from Nate's cousin Sara asking if I took all the kids with me. I told her yes, they were all three with me, and she went on to explain that a child was missing, and believe to be in the water. They had evacuated the water and were doing a search of the water with people lined up holding hands walking slowly through the water. Jared is a lifeguard, so he was one helping. It was horrible to watch. The kids and I went up there and just prayed, along with others, that they would find the boy safely. After finding nothing in the water, they allowed people to swim, and we found out several hours later that the missing child was found, safely, and had just wondered away. It was so scary, but God was faithful. I can't imagine what those parents were going through watching all of that unfold.We then headed up the hill for an AMAZING night of concerts. the groups to perform included Family Force 5, Thousand Foot Krutch (TFK) and TOBY MAC!!! We also got to hear an amazing message from Reggie Dabbs. Hundreds of people gave their lives to Christ following his message.
Family Force 5 was entertaining, as usual! Drew's favorite band is TFK. I had to take this little video of him dancing during their show.
Toby and I waiting for Toby Mac!
I didn't get any photos of Toby Mac. I guess I was too busy enjoying the show! Let me just say it was INCREDIBLE. He may be over 40, but he's still got it! That man can dance. And I love the message of his music! That we are all God's people, Red, yellow, black or white!Saturday we got to see Disciple, John Reuben, Sixpence None the Richer, Skillet and Chris Tomlin/Louie Giglio.
So the Disciple concert was great. John Reuben began to play and someone in our group announced, "There are tornado warnings to the West of us, heading our way". So we all began to watch the skies. During John Reuben's set (he was also the Alive Emcee, which was fun) the wind picked up and toward the end of his set, they asked us all to get under the huge tents they have set up. Here Taylor and Toby (and Lindsay in the background) try and make the most of being stuck in a tent with hundreds of other people
Here are Ken and Judy Gable and Rob Miller discussing what to do next... how long the storm would last, watching the storm on cell phones, etc. 
After about an hour or so, several of them decided to just head home. We had heavy rains and winds. I heard that the inflatable things for the kids blew into the lake. There was also a tree that fell on someones car (actually, this was before the storm even) We considered heading home, and even began walking back to our vehicles as Sixpence None The Richer played in the background. However, the skies began to clear and so we decided to turn around, and enjoy the rest of the festival. We stuck around for Skillet, which was an amazing show, and about half of Chris Tomlin. At that point, it was dark, and we were getting cold from being so wet from the rains, and the kids were falling asleep so we decided to call it a night. We left a little after 11 and were home, in our own beds around midnight!Alive 09 tickets go on sale in less than a month!!! You all should consider going!
God is Good
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
This and That...
Well, I haven't posted in a while, so here's an update..
Toby... we had a meeting before his birthday about Preschool. He will be attending our Tri-County preschool through the public school system on an IEP for his speech. This simply means that he will attend a preschool that will assist him with his speech and communication delays. He has a vocabulary of about 50 - 75 words or so, and will "mimic" anything we say, but putting everything together is a whole other thing. He is improving every day, but this preschool will really get the ball rolling. Right now we have been doing speech, every other week for an hour. It just hasn't been enough to get him going.
Drew... is just enjoying being Drew right now! He spends every spare moment "shooting hoops" and just loves being outside. I think he's ready for Kindergarten to be over... I know I am! We have had some struggles with some kids in the classroom and on the bus, and we are working through them, but I have started to pray about who will be in his class next year!
Taylor... still going strong in Soccer! She scored a goal again last weekend, nearly scored a second but the halftime whistle blew, darn it! She is improving each week, and just loves to play! She is looking forward to summer. June is already completely booked with church camp, family vacation and the Alive Festival. She is going to be a busy girl... and a 5th grader before we know it! There will be no Ohio Light Opera this year, as they have no kids parts, but surprisingly she was okay with that... that means she can go to church camp!
Nate...Judgment Come did their recording in studio a few weeks ago. It will be several more weeks until we get copies. School is going well. He is considering taking the summer off. I think he should just plow through and get it done, but I'm not the one doing all that he is doing right now, so I have no say, as it should be!
Me... I'm just looking forward to a few days away, as I go to Women of Faith this weekend with a group from church. We always go down early Friday and spend the day at Easton. While I am not a shopper... I have saved up some spare change this time around, and hope to get a few new things. But whenever I go shopping, and actually HAVE MONEY, I can never find anything. My girlfriend Cher insists that she can help me spend the money... and I know she can!
We are all enjoying this beautiful weather, as a Cardinal flies past our window!! I LOVE SPRING! I've been out in the flower beds and yard a lot, and look forward to doing some more planting in the coming weeks!
God is Good!
Toby... we had a meeting before his birthday about Preschool. He will be attending our Tri-County preschool through the public school system on an IEP for his speech. This simply means that he will attend a preschool that will assist him with his speech and communication delays. He has a vocabulary of about 50 - 75 words or so, and will "mimic" anything we say, but putting everything together is a whole other thing. He is improving every day, but this preschool will really get the ball rolling. Right now we have been doing speech, every other week for an hour. It just hasn't been enough to get him going.
Drew... is just enjoying being Drew right now! He spends every spare moment "shooting hoops" and just loves being outside. I think he's ready for Kindergarten to be over... I know I am! We have had some struggles with some kids in the classroom and on the bus, and we are working through them, but I have started to pray about who will be in his class next year!
Taylor... still going strong in Soccer! She scored a goal again last weekend, nearly scored a second but the halftime whistle blew, darn it! She is improving each week, and just loves to play! She is looking forward to summer. June is already completely booked with church camp, family vacation and the Alive Festival. She is going to be a busy girl... and a 5th grader before we know it! There will be no Ohio Light Opera this year, as they have no kids parts, but surprisingly she was okay with that... that means she can go to church camp!
Nate...Judgment Come did their recording in studio a few weeks ago. It will be several more weeks until we get copies. School is going well. He is considering taking the summer off. I think he should just plow through and get it done, but I'm not the one doing all that he is doing right now, so I have no say, as it should be!
Me... I'm just looking forward to a few days away, as I go to Women of Faith this weekend with a group from church. We always go down early Friday and spend the day at Easton. While I am not a shopper... I have saved up some spare change this time around, and hope to get a few new things. But whenever I go shopping, and actually HAVE MONEY, I can never find anything. My girlfriend Cher insists that she can help me spend the money... and I know she can!
We are all enjoying this beautiful weather, as a Cardinal flies past our window!! I LOVE SPRING! I've been out in the flower beds and yard a lot, and look forward to doing some more planting in the coming weeks!
God is Good!
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