Valentine's Day Fun At Hope University

Joanna making Valentine's.

Oscar looks happy about the goodies in his bag.

Melanie stirs the white chocolate for the strawberries.

Yummy Valentine's Day treats. 

Lori and Brian enjoy the day.

Miguel plays a Valentine's Day themed Bean Bag Toss game as Richard looks on.

Pei Lin is thinking about all of the Valentine's she will get.

Joe enjoys singing Karaoke. 

On the 14th of February we had a party to celebrate Valentine's Day.  Students made Valentine's to give to their friends, filled up bags with Valentine's Day loot, played games, sang Karoke and had a DJ with a dance.   Here are a few of the students highlights.  
"I liked the dancing."  Pei Lin Stotler
"My favorite part was listening to the music."  Margaret Kelley
"I had fun passing out my Valentines to all of my friends." Rene Smith
"Singing Karaoke was my favorite part of the day." Carol Wallen
"I liked doing the Bean Bag Toss." Jennifer Doyle

A wonderful day was had by all. 

Etsy Preview

Little owl with a belt

Little owl with spectacles.

Soon to be available on our etsy page is this adorable brown owl sporting a green belt.  He is ready to sit on a desk top, shelf or table showing off his new accessory.  Our owl is sure to bring a smile to anyone who passes by.  This little fellow makes a wonderful eye glass holder, how wise he looks in spectacles.  We hope you visit our etsy shop and peruse our selection of our handmade items.  Don't forget that all proceeds go directly to the program.  

Christmas on the Radio

Frank changes a station on the boom box.

Many shoppers at our Boutique of items handmade by the students.

Joe V. is the driver in the 'car' skit.

Our wonderful Choir.

Jason R. and Chris F. ham it up backstage.

Jason R. and Fred M. perform in a skit.

Joe V. relaxes before the show.

A wonderful light show.

Dancers with lights captured attention.

The light show continued.

Rockin' out to the radio.

Melanie V. and Crystal S. act out a fun skit.

Snowflake Dancers move to the sound of the Bell Choir.

This past December Hope University has it's annual Holiday program at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton California.  The title of the show was 'Christmas on the Radio' and we featured skits, dance and music from different eras.  Some of the students remember their favorite parts of the show:
"Singing in the Choir."  April Renick
"The car skit." Ben Simendinger
"Listening to the Hi-Hopes." Joe Valierie
"Hearing 'Silent Night' sung by the Choir."  Amy Lacher
"I really enjoy rehearsal and the anticipation of performing." Chris Friedman
"I like being in the sign language part."  Darren Petersen
We all had a wonderful show.  

Santa's Elves Can Knit!

Ben was excited to see his hand knitted gift was his favorite color, red!

Darren's hand knitted hat fits him perfectly.

Kim just could not get over how soft her hand knitted scarf was.

Gary looks like a little elf in his hand knitted hat.

Jason will be warm  while waiting for the bus in his hand crocheted scarf.

Joe loves his new hand knitted hat almost as much as he loves baseball.

You can see by Crystal's smile how excited she is about her new hand knitted hat.

Rene and Gary show off their new hand knits.

Darren was pleased to pose for a photo in his new hand knitted scarf. 

This Holiday season a local knitting group became Santa's knitting elves as they adopted us for their seasonal charity.  They hand knitted scarves and hats for the students of Hope University to receive as presents.  The knitting group is based in Long Beach California and is called the Long Beach Stitch and Beach and can be found on yahoo groups.  One of the instructors at Hope U is a member and her knitters were so taken by her stories of the clients that they wanted to contribute.  We here at Hope are so grateful to this wonderful group of ladies for giving of their time to create knitted gifts for the students.  Each gift was hand delivered by Santa and as many of us know, there is nothing quite so nice as a hand knitted gift.  Thank you Long Beach Stitch and Beach for your big hearts and warm knits! 

Hope Holiday Updates...

In November we all were able to take a few days off to celebrate Thanksgiving with our friends and family.
Here are some highlights of the students' holiday:

"I helped to feed the less fortunate in the day and then went home to have dinner with my family."
Rene Smith

"We had dinner at our house with all the trimmings, my two brothers and their wives were there too."
Darren Petersen

"I enjoyed peace and quite at my parent's house.  I was able to stay there for four days before returning to my group home."
Cathy Acton

"My favorite part of my Thanksgiving was helping my Aunt make the mashed potatoes."
Ben Simendinger

"I liked seeing my relatives that came to my house for dinner.  My Aunt came from South Carolina."
Crystal Serna

"I had a good time with my dad at his house, we cooked dinner together.  I was able to stay overnight at his house before going back to my group home."
Tom Veltman.

We Hope you all had time to enjoy the holiday.  

Hope U at the Irvine Artisan Fair

Elena Marty and Carolyn Buon-Cristiani-Smith pose with the product.

A very happy customer models her new cowl.

Display of hand felted bead earrings and a necklace.

Shoppers stop by our booth.

A lovely display of our hand felted soaps and handbags.

Another satisfied customer showing off her new hand felted bead barrette.

On Friday and Saturday, November 2nd and 3rd, Hope University was represented at the 30th annual Holiday Faire at the Irvine Fine Arts Center in Heritage Park, Irvine California.  Student Joanna Buon-Cristiani's sisters, Elena Marty and Carolyn Buon-Cristiani-Smith manned the table.  We had a large assortment of items the students created in Boutique class, some of which are available on our Etsy shop page.  There were hand knitted items such as scarves, cowls, dish scrubbers and plush owls.  Also available were a lovely selection of our hand felted items, soaps in two sizes, earrings, necklaces and handbags. Sewing class was also well represented with there hand sewn gift card holders and holiday decorations.  The turn out was amazing and we sold much of our wares.  People were very impressed by the students work and even placed special orders for more!
We are so proud of the students ability and glad that it can be appreciated by others.

It's a Halloween Party!

April as Queen Amidala, wearing a newspaper hat!

Karen G. as a 'Hippie'.

Joanna as a Happy Banana.

Joe V. the Crusader Knight and Tanette T. as a 'Dark Angel' wearing a newspaper hat!

Sharon M. as a Native American. 

Lori S. as a Witch sporting her costume prize ribbon.

On Wednesday, October 31st, 2012 the students of Hope University in Anaheim, California had a Halloween party.  The morning was filled with art created to decorate the fellowship hall and we made some fun newspaper and pipe-cleaner hats with the help of staff. Some of these hats were quite fantastic! There was 'pumpkin walk' where students walked on a circle of numbers, when the music stopped so did the students and a number was pulled.  If you were standing on the pulled number you won a small pumpkin!  A special Halloween bean bag toss game became a quick hit for fun.  In the kitchen some students and staff were busy making chocolate covered pretzels for a game later that day.  The morning concluded with a wonderful costume parade where everyone won a ribbon.  Some of our favorites were, Temple Grandin, Queen Amidala, the Gypsy, a Banana and even a Crusader Knight. 
After lunch the pretzels were strung and hung so students could try their luck at 'bobbing for pretzels'.   We ended our day with a spirited dance and lots of fun Halloween music provided by our 'DJ' Tom V.