Compassion Family Website

Here's a link to a blog that is helping spread the word about the ministry of Compassion and how they are releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

http://www.compassionfamily.blogspot.com/

Breakdancing on the Deck

Now that the deck is free of snow, the kids can enjoy some breakdancing.

Chris

Pinewood Derby 2011

Levi and Samuel participated in their first pinewood derby this weekend. It's amazing how a simple block of wood can be turned into some pretty cool looking cars. After a lot of cutting, sanding, and painting the kids were ready to race their cars. Samuel's inspiration came from Lightning McQueen from Cars, while Levi's inspiration came from law enforcement (police car).

Samuel had a pretty fast car (he took first and second in several heats). Levi's car wasn't as fast, but he did get a 3rd place trophy for Best in Show for his age group. Below are pics and videos from the event.

Chris

Levi and Samuel's Recent Writings

Below are recent stories written by Levi and Samuel.

The Apple on the Farm

Hi! I’m Artie Apple. Today we are at the farm. Let’s look at the animals. Look, there’s a cow! Oooh! Look at the muddy pigs. There are cats and dogs. Oh, no! A HORSE! I don’t want the horse to eat me. Let’s hide for safety. Next we’ll look at the ducks…right now they are swimming so let’s not bother them. We are all down with the animals. We will look at the farmer. The farmer is just about to pick weeds. That is the end of our adventure. Bye.

By: Levi



Pear Goes to a Football Game

One day a pear was going to the store. And then he saw an enormous stadium. It was a football stadium. It was so cool. I decided to watch the football game. It was the Plums vs. the Peaches. First they gathered up into groups. Then the Plums got the ball. Pear wants the Peaches to win, the Plums got a touchdown. Now the Peaches have the ball. Then the Peaches got a touchdown, then they got another touchdown. Yes said Pear! The score was 12 to 6.

By: Samuel

Payne Family Christmas 2010

Santa always makes an early stop to the Payne house. Below are pics of our family Christmas.

Chris

Christmas Letter 2010

Merry Christmas from the Payne family!

2010 was a year of change and a year of seeing projects that we had talked about for years come completion. Levi and Samuel experienced change with the closing of their school. They enjoy their new school, which is actually closer to our house, and they are big boys now since they walk to school by themselves. We completed three major projects on the house. During the summer we had a fence put up in the backyard. This has been great, since the kids can now play outside much more often. Around the same time we tore down our garage and hand a new shed built. In the fall we completed the front porch project by painting the walls and staining the floor. Through all of these projects we are thankful for friends that were able to help with demolition and construction.

2010 was also a year of new opportunities. Chris became a Child Advocate for Compassion International. This gives him opportunities to talk to groups about the ministry of Compassion and how a child can be released from poverty in Jesus’ name.

2010 was a year of new arrivals. We experienced the birth of two nephews within a few months of each other. In the summer we welcomed Kai to the world, and in December Nicholas joined the family.

The boys continue to grow, in size (as reflected by our food budget), and personality. Cari continues her work as coordinator for our church’s MOPS group, and Chris is in his 10th year of employment at Renaissance Learning. We pray that you have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed new year.


The Payne’s

Movember

As part of Movember, the attendees of Friday's Wild game were given the opportunity to be part of a Guinness Book of World Records event. The goal was to break the record of 151 moustached men in one place. We crushed the old record. The unofficial number was 1,131. It will take few weeks for Guinness to confirm the new record.

Chris