"Bees They'll Buzz!"

Hello all,
Just recently the Stanton family became bee ranchers upon the arrival of two nucs of bees. In case you all don't know a nuc is a package of bees that have already started producing brood and building comb.
 The hive on the left is a little weak, as it has fewer bees but, it is still doing well. The hive on the right has begun building out the comb in the extra frames we put in the hive and the brood patterns are tight. Dad decided that they were ready for another box of frames.

  Upper: The hive setup. (pre bees). The straw bales are for wind protection.
Right: The hives (post bees).

 Anna has her veil on, ready to take dominion over the bees.

 Nathani, daddy's little helper, shown here with the smoker.

 The right hive up close.

 Daddy is making sure that the frames are evenly spaced.

Plenty of sugar water here!

Looking good!

A Brief Look At Stanton Study Time.

A few nights ago, Samuel got out his computer and began studying math. Joel, following his brother's good example took out his computer to begin studying too. The tension mounted as the brothers sized each other up.  Samuel, already on his computer and working on a math problem had the advantage.

Joel: "I sure hope I can remember my password." One for Sam.
Sam:" The value of x is .01." Two for Sam.
Joel: "I got it! Third try." Joel scores one.
Sam: "Finished! One try." Sam scores another

 Quintessential Stanton school time, for those of you eager for more we have another, longer example of how we learn in the Stanton house. Our scene opens in the loft where Gabrielle, Ben, Sarah and Danielle are doing school.
Gabrielle: "Oh, why did they make Algebra 2 so hard?"
Danielle:"You're telling me!"
Ben: "I hate radicals."
Sarah: "8x6 is..."
Ben :"48"
Sarah: "I wasn't asking you."
Danielle: "It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't want you to reduce 163 by 4."
Sarah:"Yep."
Gabrielle:"Oh wait no, my answer isn't right!"
Ben:"Gab, have I ever told you I hate radicals?"
Gabrielle:"Yes, indeed."
Danielle:" I'm done!Next page. (sighs)"
Sarah:"Three problems done and five more to go. Yay."
This concludes our viewing of Stantons studying. Tune in next time to hear Ben say "I hate radicals."

A Trip to the Discovery Museum!

As promised, here is a recounting of our trip to the Children's Discovery Museum in Downtown San Jose, complete with pictures :)

As some of the older Stanton siblings began packing for a trip out to Colorado, Joel took the rest of his younger siblings on a little day trip. Trips to the Children's Discovery Museum have always formed a big part of growing up in the Stanton home and each of the Stanton kids have fond memories of spending the day here.

 The special exhibit for the summer was a Clifford exhibit.  As Clifford is a huge favorite among the little ones around here, excitement about seeing this wing of the Museum was high :)

As you enter the Museum, the first thing you see is a life-size replica of a city street with street lights, traffic lights, crosswalks, and a decommissioned fire engine and ambulance!  David loved pretending to drive the big vehicles...

"I think this valve should turn..." :)

Next we visited Bubble Fun!  David and Anna-Kate tried to make big bubbles.  After a while, they decided it was more fun to pop other people's bubbles instead.

Got one!

Me too!

To wash the soap suds off, we went to Water Ways to splish and splash around...

The yellow aprons are "supposed" to help little people stay dry...but of course, that's never what actually happens :)

Lots of plastic balls which
swirled and floated
through the
water provided
endless amusement

Outside in the sun...

Anna-Kate was the proud photographer of this picture!  After a little coaching, she got the hang of it pretty quick.

And last, but definitely not least, was the much anticipated exploration of the Clifford Exhibit!

David collecting and stacking Clifford size t-bones...

"I love Clifford, the Big Red Dog!"

As the afternoon waned, we headed back to the car.  David kept exclaiming how much fun he had that day.  A happy conclusion to a fun-filled day!

We hope you all enjoy these pictures! 
The Stantons

The Church Covenant Conference!

Well everyone, as you all have probably already noticed, the Stantons have been very backward in their posting of current events which transpire in the Stanton home.  So, to make up for lost time, I want to share with you all what has most recently been consuming the whole family's attention and energy.  It can be summed up in two words:

A conference

That's right!  The Stantons were involved in helping our local church, Reformed Heritage Church, put on an in-house conference called, The Church Covenant Conference.  What's in the name you ask?  Well, quite simply, the goal and purpose of this conference was to strengthen the relationships and ministries within the covenantal community of Reformed Heritage Church that we “may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head—Christ” (Eph. 4:15).  We also wanted to spend some time as a church thinking about how we were to put into practice the principles and statutes found in Deut. 29:9-13 with the goal of focusing on the practical application, for both families and singles, of implementing their covenantal obligations and anticipating the blessings that accompany obedience.

The theme verse for the conference was Deuteronomy 29:9, which says, "Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do."

With hearts full of gratitude, the Stanton family was able to say that the conference was a fantastic success.  We were able to work together as a family in a way that we never really had before.  One of the practical ways we noticed this was that the whole family got "conference uniforms" of a blue polo (or button down for some of the ladies) and khaki pants for the guys and khaki skirts for the girls.  Seeing the whole family in the same outfit was pretty cool and a humorous reminder of just how many Stantons there are :)

God blessed our efforts and we sincerely hope that the whole church was blessed from this time together.  That said, we are also glad the conference is done and we have a new appreciation and respect for those who put on conferences annually.

Here are some of the best pictures from the conference.  Enjoy!

Joel Stanton

Our dad spoke on the complementary roles of church and family, showing that both the Church and the family have the same basic goals and purposes, namely, bringing glory to God, advancing the Kingdom of God, and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He also emphasized that both of these God-ordained institutions carried out those goals listed above in unique ways and were intentionally designed to cooperate together.  The family that seeks to distance itself from the Church suffers.  Likewise, the Church that seeks to break up the family also does harm to itself.  Both institutions are to be complementary, hence the title of his lecture :)

Some of the conference staff tried to arrange people for the group picture.  One of them looks like an old intern ;) Apparently, he is having a hard time getting his point across...

The Church Covenant Conference Staff and Attendees!

Thanks be to God for His abundant mercy and lovingkindness toward His covenant people!