Photos From Sunday Evening

       Last Sunday, after the afternoon church service, I went to someone's house for their son's first birthday party.  Here are some pictures-

Playing volleyball

Watching the flight of the ball.

Jonathan Stanley, hitting the ball.

Michael Stanley preparing for a hit.

Me preparing to hit.

Cheering after a play.  (Either a good one on our team's part, or a bad one on the other team's part.  Either way, it was a good play!)

Is that ball ever coming down?

Here are some of the little tykes with Ivan, the birthday boy, who is trying out his new wheels!

 It looks like Ivan enjoyed his cake!  (And in more ways than one, if you know what I mean!)

       In addition to playing volleyball, we played catch with a football.  (It was more physical, though, than just "catch"!)  Plus, we roasted hotdogs and marsh-mellows.  I had a great time; everyone here at Friendship Baptist Church has been so friendly, and I am going to miss them a lot when I head home next week!

Spring 2014 in Photos

       Here are some of the highlights of my spring-

The Our Time youth conference that our church hosts each year is always a highlight.  This year, Carson, Joshua, and I got to help with the games.  Here we are with the rest of the game crew.

 Here is a picture from our joint concert with the Wilsons at the ATI conference in Big Sandy, TX.  We had a blast; my favorite part was making jokes about Levi Wilson!

My highlight of the conference was being a teacher in the Children's Institute.  

 My assistant (Hope Baker) and I had twelve children on our team- eleven girls and one boy!  Needless to say, me and little Daniel Swanson became pretty good buddies by the time the week was over!

 The week before I left for Arkansas, our whole family went to our local coffee-shop for an evening.  We had a blast playing take-one and rook.

I never have liked coffee, so I generally get ice-cream at the coffee-shop!

Brotherly love (At least, in between rounds.  During the game, it's business!)

Me and Hudson are big buds; I considered putting him in my suitcase and bringing him to AR with me, but I decided not to.  (JK:)  I miss you, Hudson!

2013 In Review (Photos)

       Now that 2013 is over, here is our year in photos......

Fishing in Alaska

This is our wonderful guide, Jay Yoder.  Seriously, this guy is so good that under his guidance, we caught fish faster than a lot of the native fisherman!  Thanks, Mr. Yoder!

Our church Christmas play

This is one of my favorite pictures of all-time!  Chelsy was shooting pictures of other people, when she turned around and saw Carson in this interesting position!

Home-made donuts!

I'm sure glad that I don't pay the grocery bill for these two!

One of the "not-so-good" days on the farm.  

I love wildlife!

The only thing better than seeing a turkey is shooting one.  (Which, of course, leads to turkey on my  dinner-plate......)

A herd of mountain goats, with Hudson in hot pursuit!

Brothers are so much fun!

 Axis and Allies has become one of my favorite games.  This past year, my brothers and I learned how to play while at the house of our good friends, the Pauls.  This game is a blast!

Had a long day, honey?

Chocolate covered almonds.  Speaking of chocolate, did you know that studies have shown that 11 out of 10 people like chocolate?  Now THAT'S something for you math majors to ponder.

If I could pick any group of guys to go hiking with, I would pick my brothers hands-down.  This picture was taken in Alaska, where our family (most of us, anyhow) hiked a mountain in Skagway.  It was three miles up and three miles back down (that is six miles total, for all of you who AREN'T math majors), there was snow and rain and wind at the top, and Hudson (who was seven at the time) did the whole thing- in crocks!  So much for all those expensive hiking shoes and boots; Hudson prefers his "old faithfuls"!

Bontragers are EXTREMELY competitive!  "Now, did he make it safely home or not?"

But as the saying goes, "All's well that ends well."

Or maybe it didn't end well.......

    

 I love puns!

And rubber band fights!  This picture was from our family battle, which was a walk in the park compared to our war when the Wilsons came to our house in December!  The older boys slept in the bus, and one night us guys had an all-out war.  I'm talking, no shirts (it hurts more that way!), and no blankets for cover, either!  We didn't take any photos, but let me tell you, some of the guys (I won't mention any names) had some major welts by the time the fight was over!  It was a blast!  I know that any girls reading my blog probably won't understand, but guys get a really big charge out of inflicting pain on other guys!  (All in fun, of course!)

        Just imagine eight of these guys, confined in a small bunk-room, with one goal in mind- shoot somebody else hard enough with a rubber band, that you inflict pain.  Yeah, it sure was wild!

 Ah, yes-food! 

I had a lot of highlights this year, but one of the biggest was preaching at our church's New Year's Eve service.  From left to right- our pastor and the eight preacher boys.  

     "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."

Thanks to Chelsy for the great photos!

Christmas Eve

   I know my blog has been lying dormant for a LONG time, so I am going to give ya'll a bunch of pictures to make up!  These photos are from our Christmas Eve dinner, which is my favorite meal of the year.  Our family has a tradition of making appetizers for Christmas Eve, and it's a blast having everyone in the kitchen at the same time!  Here are some photos......

Bean Dip by Joshua (He ALWAYS makes this for Christmas Eve, and we ALWAYS enjoy it!)

Jalepeno poppers (by Chels)

Allison and Liz made the chocolates.  In case I've never told ya'll before, chocolate is my FAVORITE "food group"!

Taylor made twice baked potatoes

The fried mozzarella sticks turned out to be a "fried mozzarella blob," but it tasted good nonetheless! 

Veggies (Arranged by our dear mother)

Mushroom/Jalapeno Quesadillas (Made by Denver)

Stuffed mushrooms(Also by Denver)

Spinach/Artichoke dip (Hudson and I are big buds, so we help each other make a dish on Christmas Eve!)

Carson's usual dish is fried shrimp.  By the way, if you've never done so, you really should study about the health benefits of eating shrimp!  (JUST KIDDING!!!)

       Allison made delicious kabobs with mozzarella, salami, tomatoes, and pesto.  Yum!

       And a couple of my favorite pictures from the day.....

Elizabeth manages to get into more than her share of messes!

A good reminder to check what your clothes say BEFORE you put them on.  You never know who might take you literally!

We may all look peaceful in this picture, but some of us men were running out of patience (I mean, seriously, the food was getting cold and we decided THIS would be a good time for a family portrait?  But then again, that's what happens when your sister is a photographer!) 

       Praise the Lord for family, and most of all for the gift of His Son!