2008-11 Notre Dame

Mariah had the opportunity to visit the University of Notre Dame with her friend Megan and Megan's mom and dad. They were going to visit Megan's sister, Emily, who is a sophomore at Notre Dame. They headed out on Halloween morning and got to Norte Dame around 5:00. Mariah and Megan stayed with Emily and went to a Halloween party. The girls had to rearrange some of their schoolwork and tests to free up the Friday, but it all worked out fine. Part of the trip was spent studying, some was spent watching movies, and some was spent just watching the scenery go by.

On Saturday, they had tickets to the football game against Pitt. Before the game, they wandered around campus looking at the historic and beautiful campus buildings. they then watched the band lead the parade to the stadium. The campus was full of fans tailgating, picnicking and playing games as they awaited the start of the football game. It is truly an all day event rather than just a game.

It was a beautiful fall afternoon for football with over 80,000 loyal fans in the renowned stadium. The game was back and fourth, but Pitt ended up winning in a school record 4 overtimes. During one of the overtime periods, the sprinklers came on at one end of the field. Fortunately, this was the opposite end of the field from where the overtime play was happening.

Mariah enjoyed her visit on campus and the beauty and history of Notre Dame. She associates the football program with Rudy rather than the Gipper or Knute, but that is just a testament to the tradition and history of the program and the school.

After another night on campus, it was time to head back to MN and home. They left South Bend around 11:00 on Sunday and made it back home by about 5:00 as they got the benefit of the time zone shift back to central time. It was a tiring, but exciting experience for Mariah

2008-11 Jackie's Bat Mitzvah

Hailey, along with LeAnn and Ray, were invited to attend the service at which her friend Jackie becomes Bat Mitzvah. It was at Mt. Zion Temple in St. Paul. This was a very special service in which Jackie becomes responsible for her adherence to Jewish law and traditions. She demonstrates her ability to the entire congregation and guests by leading much of the service, including prayer and chants. Much of the service is in Hebrew, which Jackie learned during her preparation. She read verses from the Torah and also presented the lesson of the day and her personal thoughts on the lesson, which were very impressive.

We attended a luncheon afterwards at the temple. The kids all ate their food quickly and headed outside to play various games on the lawn since it was such a beautiful fall day. It was fun to see kids who were dressed up playing various games together. It looked like a modern day version of photographs I have seen from grandparents where the kids dressed up for picnics and play.

In the evening, Jackie and her family hosted a dinner and activities for everyone at Circus Juventas. During the day, it is a circus school where performers learn the arts and skills of the circus, such as trapeze, high wire, trampoline and tumbling. In the evenings they host special events that are interactive. After the dinner, kids got to try the various circus activities under the watchful eye of the schools trainers and students. Hailey and her friends thoroughly enjoyed the experience and did not want to leave at the end of the night.