Sonny's Rest-Up

Vacation is over with, how sad. But we had a great time! The weather was pretty good (only 1 wash out day), mild at the beginning of the week, but warmed up at the end of the week. Kids had a great time fishing, swimming, watching a movie every night, playing games and pretending they were pirates and going on a treasure hunt (the 3 younger ones anyways). The 5 older kids were bad pirates and tried to steer them away from their treasure hunt by making them do things for them. In the end, the boys found their treasure (bag of rocks) on the ends of their fishing rods in the river.
Drew was the true fisherman of the week with two 17 inch long, big mouth bass. He caught them right off the edge of the dock. Robby wanted to fish too, so he asked Nolan to use his fishing rod to cast out. Well Rob, being 5, got bored so he spent most of his fishing time running up and down the dock talking. So while Nolan was fishing for Robby, he caught a 17 inch, big mouth bass also. Robby went screaming down the dock, "That's my fish. I caught a fish." Poor Nolan! But Nolan did end up catching a pretty big pike (or something like that) a few days later.
Hannah spent her vacation reading, taking pictures and shopping. Fortunately Bekah and Kayla enjoy all of those too, so the girls spent lots of time by the campfire pit reading and taking pictures of the freighters going by. Everyone loves Sonny's. There is something for everyone.
While we were in the U.P. we went to Mackinaw City, Whitefish Point and the Soo Locks. We had a great trip. Can't wait till next year!
Now it's time to great ready for school. This year will be a challenge, but I am looking forward to it. I get so excited when their school books come in the mail, it's like Christmas all over again. Kids aren't excited, but mom is.
With school starting comes the changing seasons here in mid-Michigan. Thank you Lord for the great summer, but I am really looking forward to the cooler weather and the beautiful fall colors.

Rock Lake Christian Assembly - 2010

Another successful year. We had so much fun. Even though I wasn't with the campers the whole time, it looked like they (all 35 of them) had a great time too. Drew got to experience sleeping in the lodges with the campers (even though he wasn't technically a camper last week) and he did so well. He seemed to love being a part of the group. Robby stayed with me at a cottage with Hannah and a couple of the junior, junior faculty girls (teenagers). He had a great time. It was good for him to have some apart time from Drew.
I was very proud of all three of my kids. Hannah stepped up to more responsibility in being assigned to help with a team of campers for the week. Drew did what was asked of him by being a runner for Jason and a helper to Grandma(the nurse for the week)in getting the kids to get their medicines at mealtimes. I didn't hear him complain or argue even once! And Robby did pretty good about being obedient and following instructions from the girls who watched him while I taught my Christmas Traditions class. As I told my friend Renee, it gives me a great feeling to see my family come together in a mission and make 3rd and 4th grade week a success. I am so thankful to have children who are picking up our mission to give a week every year to God and to tell others about His love.
We had 3 baptisms Friday night, and many seeds were planted. My Christmas Traditions class went well. I was able to talk to the campers about many traditions and relate them to the Bible. We looked up scripture and talk about Jesus' birth. Hopefully the campers will remember all that was taught to them (from all 8 classes) in a few months when they see Christmas decorations and prepare for the Christmas season. This group of campers seem to be really interested in this year's theme of Christmas. I think they got it!
Robby's 5th birthday was on Thursday during camp. Lucky Kid! He was Mr. Social. He sure has a way with the ladies. He wore the birthday hat his "Birthday Boy" t-shirt that we made together and all the campers sang "Happy Birthday" to him at lunch that day. We'll do some more celebrating with a pinata up at Sonny's (vacation) next week. Makayla (who's family will be with us next week in the U.P.) has a birthday this week. We'll celebrate both birthday's on vacation.
So now that camp is over with for this year, now we can look forward to vacation next week. Sonny's Rest Up, here we come!

Camping

Well, we did it. We went camping for the weekend at my brother's cabin at Higgings Lake. We borrowed Smith's pop-up camper and headed up-north. Unfortunately it rained 1/2 the day on Saturday, so we stayed at the cabin and played games (even outside in the rain). But we did have a wonderful time. Jason took all of the kids out on the golf cart. They took EXTREME rides with Uncle Jason/Dad and came back muddy but excited and ready to go out through the trails again. On Sunday, we finally got to go to the Lake. The weather was still overcast and cool so we didn't take Tom and Mary's (brother and sister-in-law's) boat. As our luck would have it, it ended up to be a beautiful day Sunday. The boys even got a little sun burned. Well, we still had fun at the North Higgins State Park. Grandpa (my dad) took all of his grand kids (all 6 of them) down the beach a ways to the natural spring. They had a contest to see who could stay in the longest, Hannah won. She was still complaining her feet were numb 5 minutes afterwards. It must have been cold.

My father remembers camping at that exact state park as an eight year old (or so) boy. He and his 4 older brothers would go camping with his parents on Memorial Weekend. His parents would then leave all the boys for the summer up at the campground. They did have an uncle who owned a gas station a few miles to the west of the state park, so they would walk to the gas station to help out, eat, or just visit. My grandma and grandpa would then go up to camp with them every weekend throughout the summer. Then on Labor Day weekend, they would all come home. Wow, life was a lot different 55 years ago. I can't imagine letting my kids do that. Geesh, I can bearly stay away from them 3 days to a week while they are at church camp.

I think we all had a wonderful time, but my parents enjoyed it the most. We (my brothers and I)are rarely able to get together. My older brother (Tom) and his wife are busy with their 3 girls. They are all active in sports. The twins are seniors and Mareena is in 9th grade. Wow, life goes fast. I can remember when they were born. I swear it was just yesterday. Well, they have grown up beautifully. My younger brother (Trevor) is a runner. He is always doing marathons and triathlons in and out of the state. Fortunately his wife also enjoys running, biking and swimming along with him (not quite to the extent as Trevor, but they make a perfect match). So this weekend was a weekend to get caught up on the latest with everyone.

With that weekend over with, it is now time to think about camp. We leave for Rock Lake on Saturday. I am ready - well with my class anyways. I will be teaching on Christmas Traditions and how all of them tie in with Jesus' birth. It is going to be a great week. As the boys are getting older and older, it gets easier and easier. This is our family mission every year. We want our kids to grow up learning how important it is to volunteer and do God's work. We have done this for 11 years now and hopefully our kids will someday take our place at Rock Lake (or at least volunteering at another place spreading the news of the Gospel).

Well, I guess that's enough blabbering. I will be letting you know how camp went.
God Bless!