Here are some quotes from the kids and their favorite things from the week:

"I liked painting" - Katherine, age 4

"Snack because I am always so hungry" - Alyda, age 5

"When we made silly putty and doing art" - Emmy, age 6

"Science because my mom teaches chemistry" - Sam, age 7

"Games because they were fun" - Carl, age 10

A few comments from the volunteers:

"Liked helping the 4th - 6th graders in art" - Hanna & Emily, 4th - 6th grade helpers

"Liked getting to know the kids" - Renee, 2nd-3rd grade helper

"Seeing the kids reaction and excitement in the different activities" - Michelle, 2nd-3rd grade helper

"Working with the kids.  They were very sincere and quickly bonded with one another" - Kevin, 4th - 6th grade shepherd

Group picture:

We had an absolute fantastic time this week Exploring the Wonders of the Word in our Desert Canyon!! Vacation Bible School 2009 proved to be another terrific year at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church!  Today is our last day and we learned about seeking, specifically how friends of a man who could not walk traveled a long way in order to seek the help of Jesus.   

DAILY THEME & VERSE:  SeekJesus Heals a Man Who Cannot Walk (Luke 5:17-26) 

MEMORY VERSE:  Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. (Psalm 105:3 NRSV) 

CANYON CRITTER & DAILY TRIVIA:  Felix the Fox        The safety and comfort we seek in Jesus is very similar to how foxes work hard to seek out a safe burrow. 

FOOD DRIVE:  Vacation Bible School is continuing the summer food drive until Sunday, August 2 as part of our outreach.  Thank you so much for the 201 donations that have come in.  If you would like to make additional donations, you can drop them by the church during office hours or on Sunday mornings.  We are truly grateful for your support. 

DEPARTING WORDS:

v  Thank you to everyone who helped make this week a success.  We are delighted you joined us in Discovery Canyon.

v  Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time at the Ice Cream Social on Thursday evening.  Thank you for coming and showing your support! 

DISCOVERY CANYON THEME SONG WORDS: 

Chorus:
Discovery Canyon, it’s here and there.  Explore the wonders of the Word.
Discovery Canyon, it’s everywhere.  The Word of God is heard.

Verse 1:
Just look at God’s creation, there’s so much to explore
We must tell the world so everyone knows that
Our God is wonderful, marvelous, awesome and more.

Verse 2:
Yes, we are God’s creation, variety galore.
We must show the world so everyone knows that
Our God is wonderful, marvelous, awesome and more. 

Some of the favorite things from VBS so far:

"Learning the songs and dance steps" - Tom, age 9

"Science because I can make fun stuff" - Tyler, age 6

"To play in the caves" - Quinn, age 4

"Games because they are so fun" - Kytarah, age 8

"Snack because they are really good" - Selina, age 8

Look at all the people:

Some of our faithful volunteers:

Lining up to go to our next activity:

Praying mantis:

We are nearing the end of a great week in the canyon!!  Today, we are going to learn about telling, specifically how the people couldn’t wait to tell others about Jesus’ miracle of healing the dying girl and the sick woman.   

DAILY THEME & VERSE:  TellA Dying Girl and a Sick Woman (Matthew 9:18-26) 

MEMORY VERSE:  Sing praises to the LORD!  Tell about his miracles. (Psalm 105:2)

CANYON CRITTER:  Blossom the Burro 

DAILY TRIVIA:  Burros have very loud voices and can be heard for nearly 2 miles!!  They can tell their news very quickly with their loud noises. 

PICK-UP:  When you return to pick-up your child, please sign your family out at the sign-out table in the narthex. Once you pick-up your child, you & your child will be checked at the exit doors to make sure the number tag matches the child’s wristband number.  Please keep the number tag easily accessible during this check-out process.  The safety of your child is very important to us!!  There will be tables with the Arts & Crafts projects on them in the narthex so you can pick up your child’s project on your way out.

FOOD DRIVE:  Vacation Bible School is conducting a summer food drive until Sunday, August 2 as part of our outreach.  To date, we have collected 201 items for Hopelink.  We are requesting each family to make a donation of food that school-age children would especially like.   

ICE CREAM SOCIAL:  Tonight is our Ice Cream Social in the Fellowship Hall starting at 7pm.  It is a great way to see what the kids have been doing in the canyon all week.  Please bring your family and come to Discovery Canyon!!! 

GENERAL REMINDERS:

v  Please sign your child in and out each day.  If the person dropping the child off in the morning between 8:45-9:00 am is different than the person picking the child up at 12:00 noon, please note that on the sign-in sheet.  We are unable to release the child if the signatures do not match and there is no note.

v  Your child is to keep the bracelet on the entire week of VBS, once it is removed the only way to put it back on is to get a new one with a new number.  Please keep the number tag in a safe place because you will need to show the tag when you pick-up your child.

v  Please have your child wear their VBS shirt every day.  This is one of the ways we can easily identify which children are part of our Vacation Bible School experience. 

What is your favorite part of VBS:

"I like the music becuase mom is helping" - Rachel, age 9

"I like art because I can create things and use new and different supplies" - Duncan, age 8

"Free time because we get to play" - Stephanie, age 7

"Playing outside with the bubbles and chalk" - Maya, age 4

"I like playing with the bean table" - Zander, age 3 (nursery)

"Music because you get to sing nice songs" - Kiara, age 6

"I like the water breaks [water fountain]" - Joshua, age 3 (nursery)

"Science becuase I can make cool stuff" - Eric, age 4

Our friends in the nursery:

Singing with Pr. Katy:

The puppets introducing the theme of the day during the opening:

Arts & Crafts:

Hearing the story in drama with the puppets:

Bubbles & Chalk for our preschoolers:

Another fabulous day in the canyon!!  Today, we learned about asking, specifically how Jesus’ disciples asked “Who is this” when Jesus calmed the storm.  They were curious to know who was powerful enough to stop the storm!! 

DAILY THEME & VERSE:    Ask               A Storm (Matthew 8:23-27) 

MEMORY VERSE:  I ask for your help, LORD God, and you will keep me safe.  (Psalm 55:16) 

CANYON CRITTER & DAILY TRIVIA:  Olivia the Owl.  An owl says “hoo hoo” which resembles the word “Who” which reminds us of how the disciples were asking “Who is this?” 

PICK-UP:  When you return to pick-up your child, please sign your family out at the sign-out table in the narthex. Once you pick-up your child, you & your child will be checked at the exit doors to make sure the number tag matches the child’s wristband number.  Please keep the number tag easily accessible during this check-out process.  The safety of your child is very important to us!!  There will be tables with the Arts & Crafts projects on them in the narthex so you can pick up your child’s project on your way out.

FOOD DRIVE:  Vacation Bible School is conducting a summer food drive until Sunday, August 2 as part of our outreach.  We are requesting each family to make a donation of food that school-age children would especially like.   

ICE CREAM SOCIAL:  Thursday, July 16^th will be our Ice Cream Social in the Fellowship Hall starting at 7pm.  It is a great way to see what the kids have been doing in the canyon all week.  Please bring your family and come to Discovery Canyon!!! 

GENERAL REMINDERS:

v  Please sign your child in and out each day.  If the person dropping the child off in the morning between 8:45-9:00 am is different than the person picking the child up at 12:00 noon, please note that on the sign-in sheet.  We are unable to release the child if the signatures do not match and there is no note.

v  Your child is to keep the bracelet on the entire week of VBS, once it is removed the only way to put it back on is to get a new one with a new number.  Please keep the number tag in a safe place because you will need to show the tag when you pick-up your child.

v  Please have your child wear their VBS shirt every day.  This is one of the ways we can easily identify which children are part of our Vacation Bible School experience. 

Vacation Bible School is conducting a summer food drive until Sunday, August 2 as part of our outreach.  To date, we have collected 111 items for Hopelink.  We are requesting each family to make a donation of food that school-age children would especially like.  Here are some items the foodbank is in need of:

• Apple Sauce
• Canned Tuna
• Fruit Cups
• Peanut Butter
• Juice (100% juice only)
• Jelly
• Fruit Leather
• Small pop-top weenies
• Raisins/Dried Fruit
• Pretzels (light salt)
• Granola/Fruit Bars
• Rice Cakes
• Cereal
• Microwave Popcorn
• Carnation Instant Breakfast
• Non-Refrigerated Pudding
• Low-fat Granola
• Pita chips and hummus
• Instant Oatmeal Packets
• Tortilla Chips with Bean Dip or Salsa
• Macaroni & Cheese
• Crackers with Fruit Spread, Cheese or Nut Butters
• Canned Soup
• Mixed Nuts
• Beef Jerky
• Spaghetti/Pasta Sauce
• Pepperoni Sticks

Thank you for your support!

What is your favorite part of VBS:

"Science, because we built bridges" - Michael, age 8

"Music because I really liked the songs" - Abigail, age 9

"Puppets, becuase they were funny" - David, age 5

"I like everything" - Tate, age 5

"Playing with dirt and rocks" - Jillian, age 4

Registration on Monday morning:

Playing outside:

 Science experiments:

Working together:

What an amazing week we are having!!  We have 163 kids registered, over 80 volunteers helping each day and lots of energy - AMAZING!! Today, we learned about praying, specifically how Hannah was devoted to God in prayer and how she bowed down and prayed to God each day and night. 

DAILY THEME & VERSE:PrayHannah Prays for a Child (1 Samuel 1:9-27) 

MEMORY VERSE:  My heart tells me to pray (Psalm 27:8) 

CANYON CRITTER:Max the Mantis 

DAILY TRIVIA:The praying mantis got its name from its prayer-like stance.  This is a good reminder of how Hannah was devoted to praying to God. 

PICK-UP:When you return to pick-up your child, please sign your family out at the sign-out table in the narthex. Once you pick-up your child, you & your child will be checked at the exit doors to make sure the number tag matches the child’s wristband number.  Please keep the number tag easily accessible during this check-out process.  The safety of your child is very important to us!!  There will be tables with the Arts & Crafts projects on them in the narthex so you can pick up your child’s project on your way out.  

FOOD DRIVE:Vacation Bible School is conducting a summer food drive over the next few weeks as part of our outreach.  We are requesting each family to make a donation of food that school-age children would especially like.  These donations will be given to the Hopelink.   

ICE CREAM SOCIAL:Thursday, July 16^th will be our Ice Cream Social in the Fellowship Hall starting at 7pm.  It is a great way to see what the kids have been doing in the canyon all week.  Please bring your family and come to Discovery Canyon!!! 

GENERAL REMINDERS:

v  Please sign your child in and out each day.  If the person dropping the child off in the morning between 8:45-9:00 am is different than the person picking the child up at 12:00 noon, please note that on the sign-in sheet.  We are unable to release the child if the signatures do not match and there is no note.

v  Your child is to keep the bracelet on the entire week of VBS, once it is removed the only way to put it back on is to get a new one with a new number.  Please keep the number tag in a safe place because you will need to show the tag when you pick-up your child.

v  Please have your child wear their VBS shirt every day.  This is one of the ways we can easily identify which children are part of our Vacation Bible School experience. 

We are so excited to have you join us in Discovery Canyon, where we will “Explore the Wonders of the Word!!”  Today, we are going to learn about rejoicing, specifically how Miriam sang and danced, rejoicing in God’s protection of the Israelites after the parting of the Red Sea.   

DAILY THEME & VERSE:RejoiceThe Parting of the Red Sea; The Song of Miriam (Exodus 14:21-24; 15:19-21) 

MEMORY VERSE:  God Most High, I will rejoice; I will celebrate and sing because of you.  (Psalm 9:2) 

CANYON CRITTER & DAILY TRIVIA:Liz the Lizard The desert collared lizard is known for being able to run on its hind legs. One could say that it looks like Miriam dancing! 

GROUP PHOTO:On Tuesday, July 14, 2008, at 9:15 am, we will take the group Vacation Bible School picture.  Each family will receive a group photo on Friday to take home with them. 

PICK-UP:When you return to pick-up your child, please sign your family out at the sign-out table in the narthex. Once you pick-up your child, you & your child will be checked at the exit doors to make sure the number tag matches the child’s wristband number.  Please keep the number tag easily accessible during this check-out process.  The safety of your child is very important to us!!  There will be tables with the Arts & Crafts projects on them in the narthex so you can pick up your child’s project on your way out.  

FOOD DRIVE:Vacation Bible School is conducting a summer food drive over the next two weeks as part of our outreach.  We are asking each family to make a donation of food that school-age children would especially like.  These donations will be given to the Hopelink.  

BLOG:This year we want to celebrate with families near and far during VBS.  Please check our blog for updates at http://www.hslckirkland.org/Blog/category/VBS2009.aspx.  

GENERAL REMINDERS:

v  Please sign your child in and out each day.  If the person dropping the child off in the morning between 8:45-9:00 am is different than the person picking the child up at 12:00 noon, please note that on the sign-in sheet.  We are unable to release the child if the signatures do not match and there is no note.

v  Your child is to keep the bracelet on the entire week of VBS, once it is removed the only way to put it back on is to get a new one with a new number.  Please keep the number tag in a safe place because you will need to show the tag when you pick-up your child.

v  Please have your child wear their VBS shirt every day.  This is one of the ways we can easily identify which children are part of our Vacation Bible School experience.