Day 1 - This was a day of long travels. Maddie, Kristen, Audrey, and I got up and out the door by 5:30am and drove to Houston. Thankfully, the long drive went very smoothly and we had plenty of time to find parking and get to the airport for our flight to Indianapolis. On the plane, the girls sat together, Kristen was in front of them, and I was in front of her sitting with another lady on the way to the AHG convention. We had a lot in common -- not just AHG, but she has multiples (twins), and an older son. Some of her four kids at homeschooled, some are in a charter school. We had plenty to talk about. When we arrived in Indy, Kristen's uncle picked us up from the airport and we went back to his home where we met and visited with Kristen's aunt and grandma. They gave Kristen a car for the week and we headed north about 30 minutes to Anderson University where the convention would be. We had time to check into our dorm rooms and grab a quick bite to eat before getting to the opening ceremony where we met Karen and Emma who came on a different flight. After praise music and some business about the weekend, there was a swap-meet at the football field. The girls exchanged handmade SWAPS (special whatchamacallits affectionately pinned somewhere) with other girls from all over the country. As the sun was setting, the weather was perfectly beautiful!
Day 2 - We were up really late last night, but as tired as we were, I am not sure how we did it. Maddie and I enjoyed talking and catching up and sharing our thoughts from the day. We started this morning really early. Breakfast didn't work out so well, as the dining hall breakfast was mostly carbs and junk without protein. We went to the general session first and heard some neat speakers. All were young ladies who have overcome big obstacles for their faith -- one was a young lady who was raised Muslim, was abused by a family member and ostracized, became a Christian, but had to run away to save her life when her family found out. She finished her teen years in foster care in another state. Another young lady was almost killed in a car accident, but survived. She still has significant issues with her brain, but she was full of such joy for our Lord! Maddie and Audrey were listening to every word of those two ladies (who are both probably early twenties now). There was some more AHG business and signing of ministry agreements between AHG and Trail Life and another with Operation Christmas Child. We all went somewhat different directions for our class sessions (though Audrey and Maddie stayed together for all of theirs). At lunchtime, the Sacajawea level awardees had a recognition ceremony and received certificates from the founder of AHG, Patti Garibay. Maddie and Audrey both were in that ceremony, then we rushed off to lunch. That evening was the AHG 20th birthday party celebration. I was a volunteer at a craft booth for that, but Kristen and Karen took the girls to the different events and activities. It was another really late night for all of us, but we had a really fun day.
Day 3 - Today, we started the day at McDonald's to make sure we got coffee and a decent protein for breakfast (I hate being one of the "picky ones" but I definitely need a good breakfast to have a good day. Thankfully, Kristen is like that, too.) Today we had more music, more classes, more booths to visit in between classes. Kristen was volunteering at some ceremonies during some of our breaks, so I had our two girls. We ended up spending most of one of those breaks at a the NASA trailer learning about space and some of the different programs. Today was a really rainy day -- and cold -- but we were inside for most of it, so it wasn't much of a problem. I convinced the girls we got to call it an adventure since we kept getting wet. The mural in the photo below is something the girls helped create -- they were aiming for the largest paper-crafted mural, but it is also a representation of the AHG story. Maddie's part of the picture was really high and she didn't want to stand under it since she couldn't even point to it. Audrey is below with her contribution. In another of their artsy sessions our girls got to do face-painting. The evening ended with a concert by Jamie Grace - our three girls LOVED it! Afterward, Karen drove Kristen back to the dorm, and I walked with the girls trying to teach them the song, "Singin' in the Rain." They told me I was crazy, but we all laughed, got wet, and ran back to the room. While the girls talked and giggled, we adults shared notes of things we learned the last two days, and made lists of what to do with all we learned as soon as we got back home. We were up really late... again.
Day 4 - Today started TOO early as Maddie and I were running on fumes and not enough sleep. The adventure kept going, though. Audrey had been up sick all night, so Kristen wanted to head back to her family. Once I arranged for Karen to take Maddie and me to the airport (she was on an earlier flight, but heading the same way) we made a few schedule adjustments to accommodate our new plan. We didn't realize how small her rental car was until we tried fitting three suitcases and two girls, but we did get squeezed in after we attended a morning of workshops again.
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