This August Jessica made it into the top 100 in the Senior division of the National Bible Bee - 38th place to be exact. She studied relentlessly, memorizing 717 verses plus First and Second Timothy and Titus. These books she studied inside and out - learning hundreds of Greek words and cross-references, reading commentaries, writing out lists and summaries to get the big picture, etc. (If you want to know more about her study plans, memorization techniques, plans for improvement next year - as many fellow BB contestants do [you should hear them!] - feel free to ask her.)
On Tuesday, November 13, we drove down to Sevierville, TN. On the way we spent an hour at the home of some friends of ours who we know through CollegePlus. We enjoyed good fellowship and getting to know them a little better. Upon arrival in Seviereville, we ate dinner at Mellow Mushroom, a local pizza chain, to celebrate Jason's 13th(!!!!) birthday a few days early. 
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competing for the smile detector :P
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| checking in |
Wednesday was Jessica's last day to study as well as our first day to explore the area.
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| breakfast in a hotel room - boiled eggs & bananas |
We started out with a hike in Smoky Mountain National Park.
The hike led under a waterfall!!
After the hike we headed back to the hotel where Joanna and I checked Jessica on her verses and everyone else had a blast at the hotel's waterpark. Then we headed down to registration and started meeting friends, old and new.
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| view of the waterpark from outside |
That evening we enjoyed dinner with the Sinnis from our local Bee and the Lees, friends of ours from Alaska. (To be honest, Wednesday was a bit stressful, as it was for all the contestants, because it was the day before the competition - but it was still good.)
Thursday arrived. Jason's birthday. The preliminary competition.
Jessica took her written and oral tests before and after lunch. Meanwhile, the rest of us visited a knife store (where we got pocket knives for the 3 oldest girls), a thrift store (where we got a skirt and cowboy boots for a total of $6), a music store (with guitars to play and dogs to pet), and an Amish market (where we got chocolate covered pretzels). In other words, we had fun.
After dinner with the Yu family, another family from our local Bee, we went to the Opening ceremony where we participated in the choir led by Mr. Kenniv (great man and great family!!), and watched all the contestants get recognized for participation and making it all the way to Nationals.
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| Senior division |
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| Juniors |
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| Primaries |
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| two joyful voices |
Then came the anxiously awaited announcement: who were the 15 semifinalists from each age division???? Sadly, Jessica was not one of them (we found out later that her score was 29th - great considering how dedicated everyone there is to studying!), but our good friend Bethany Lee from AK, as well as Ryan Sinni from our local and Anna Floyd (who shares Joanna's CollegePlus coach) all made it, so we still had reason to rejoice!
After the ceremony we celebrated Jessica's job well done and Jason's birthday with ice cream. :)
One of the fun things about events like this is the bumper stickers/license plates/etc. (not to mention the fact that a significant number of the vehicles in the parking lot were 12-18 passengers).
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| Three boys, five girls? or maybe the other way around. |
Friday, we were joined by our good friend, Elisabeth, from church, who had helped judge at our local Bee. We spent the day at the waterpark, watching the Senior and Primary Semifinals, playing in the Family Fun Area, and enjoying musical talent in the "Soda Shop."
Joanna and I enjoyed hearing the Boyer Family Singers. We later found out that they are good friends with our Aunt's family from WA!
I simply loved this family. They put Bible Bee passages to upbeat, well-known tunes, and also sang a song in Swahili.
Friday evening we went to the Dixie Stampede. Due to the GPS, we got lost and arrived 50 minutes late, but still enjoyed a bit of the show and good food which we ate with our fingers!
We arrived back at the hotel in time for a square dance.
The dance in this movie isn't really a dance at all, but how it works is the leader starts dragging the line and everyone starts twisting up. After a while it starts going really fast. Sounds confusing but it's quite fun with so many people.
A Russian folk dance
The next day was Finals. We enjoyed seeing Taylor Bontrager get second place in the Primary Division. We met their family last year at Nationals and got to know them a little more at one of their concerts last spring. Jessica's arranging for us to host one of their concerts this coming March.
Our friend Bethany Lee got 5th place in the Senior division!!!!! Her parents knew our dad when he lived in AK before any of them were married. Jessica and Bethany have started to write back and forth because of BB, and before Nationals they would call and pray together most weeks. When we went to AK this summer we spent quite a bit of time with their family. Anna Floyd, who shares Joanna's CollegePlus coach got 2nd place!
After lunch we heard Ray Comport speak. He's an evangelist and has some great material like 180 and God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life - the myth of the modern message which we've benefitted from greatly.
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| us with Ray Comfort |
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| visiting with friends... |
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| ...and more friends. |
That day we also met with some good friends who used to go to our church but moved down to TN. It was a treat to see them and have pizza with them for dinner. Sadly I can't find any pictures...
After dinner was the opening ceremony, where Ray Comfort spoke again - very inspiring and convicting. There were also many much-deserved recognitions of staff and volunteers. Then we joined the processional to the dessert room. Along the way there were different musical performances, including that family I mentioned earlier, singing their own variation of "Joy to the World". The dessert time is one of our favorite parts of Bible Bee - a wonderful time of fellowship with friends we've made over the week. It's also a sad time because it's the last time we'll see most of these people until next year (assuming we all make it). :(
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| the end of the procession |
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| 2 families from locals signing memory books |
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| visiting... |
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| sometimes the last night is even a time to make new friends :) |
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| can you tell we love these girls? :) :) |
After the second past-midnight bedtime in a row, we got up early Sunday morning and drove about 4 hours to Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church where we, along with Elisabeth (who was driving up with us) were greeted warmly, blessed by the sermon, and invited to stay for lunch. We contributed our travel lunch of week-old rolls and sliced cheese and enjoyed making more new friends over lunch. Then we were back on our way. After stopping for dinner at the Stonewall Jackson restaurant, we got home... late (I don't remember what time).
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| tired? relieved? hmmm.... |
~Janelle
3 comments:
It looks like you all had a great time! I'm glad you could meet the Boyers! It's fun that you went to Dixie stampede--I remember going there when Grandma and Grandpa lived in Tennessee (I loved the horses). One time when we went there, our car broke down and we had to spend the night unexpectedly.
Oh!!!! I was SO excited when I saw this post!! So excited :D
Thanks for putting up the videos of the square dance...those were fun to watch :) It brings back such good memories. During the second video (the one where you constantly looking for a partner), my friend and I were partners the whole time, so the whole time that we were supposed to march around, we just stood there and laughed...then, we would partner up again :D SO FUN!
Great getting to meet you all!
Bethany
So glad to find your blog! It's neat seeing our picture up on someone else's blog other than our own. :)
It was so wonderful meeting you all, and making that connection!
Brigid
The Middle Sister and Singer
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