Black Belt Ceremony

Last day to wear his Jr. Black Belt.
Joseph was very sweaty at the end of the test session.

Joseph gets his 1st degree Black Belt.

It is a very nice embroidered belt.

He also got a framed copy of his Black Belt certificate.

Ferrum College

Mallory and I visited two colleges on Saturday.
Ferrum College and Virginia Tech.

I didn't get any pictures at Virginia Tech because I didn't have a memory card in my camera and only had room for about 20 pictures. Mallory though that Tech was waaaay too big.
We drove 5 1/2 hours on Friday night to Ferrum College in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The campus is small and beautiful.

The President of Ferrum College lives in Stratton House.
We wanted to thank her for keeping the house in good shape until Mallory can move in when she starts there in the fall. Ha ha ha!!!

Mallory also got a chance to play volleyball with some of the girls on the Ferrum volleyball team. The coach was very impressed with Mallory's skills and would like her to return in the fall to "tryout" for the team. They are in desperate need of a middle blocker/hitter which is the position Mallory plays most often.

The school is Division III so they cannot offer her any money to play, but Mallory is just not tall enough to play at most schools that can offer money. She is excited at the possibility of being able to play in college at all.

Off the Beaten Path

On the way home from the mountains, Mallory and I stopped to see the Natural Bridge. What we found out when we got there, was that it cost $12 each to take a tour of the bridge.

Looks nice, doesn't it. I scanned in a 37 cent postcard rather than spend $24.

On our way back to the Interstate, we came across this sign.
We had to stop and check it out.

This sign was at the top of the hill.

There was a full sized replica of Stonehenge made out of big foam blocks.

MVP

Mallory and Rachel attended the high school fall sports banquet.
Mallory was surprised when her coach selected her as MVP.

Doesn't they look nice.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Small Groups

Stratton Gang

Our Busy Day

Saturday was a very busy day for us. It started at 8:30am with Bailey's Tae Kwon Do belt test for her red advanced belt. I dropped her and Joseph off for the beginning of the test session which is always the lower belts and one part of the ceremony that I've seen a dozen times. I took this opportunity to do a little Christmas shopping since I had no other kids with me. In the afternoon, we attended the annual Down Syndrome holiday party where much fun was had by all. After we got home from there, we readied the house for a going away party for Mallory's boyfriend, Ryan. Lots of their friends came over for a fun filled night of Wii and S'mores.

Bailey earns Red Advanced Belt

Bailey earned her Red Advanced belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Here she waits for her turn to get her new belt.

Bailey gets her new belt.

Bailey didn't want to turn around for this picture.

This will be Bailey's last belt as she doesn't want to take Tae Kwon Do anymore.

Joseph will test for his 1st degree black belt next week.

Sunny Day

Everyone was hanging out in our very sunny kitchen.
Natalie and Mallory.

Rachel was chilling on the counter.

Taylor too.

Natalie loves to pose for the camera.

Santa Pictures

Annual picture with Santa
Natalie, Mallory, Rachel, Ryan
Bailey, Santa, Joseph, Taylor

Bailey got to talk to Santa by herself.
Natalie wouldn't go near him on her own.

This teenager really wanted his picture taken with Santa, but he was too shy to go up by himself so Mallory went with him. After that, he was very taken by Mallory and introduced her to all of his friends at the party.