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!

Summer colds

Summer colds are the worst. Jason and the kids were sick for about 3 weeks. It started just before Hannah's birthday and went through Drew's birthday and ended just after the 4th of July. Ahh! I thought we were all done, but Robby woke up with a soar throat this morning. There are all kinds of sicknesses going around town. I hear the Dr.'s offices are pretty busy. Well, as long as we get it out of our systems now and not have it linger on during camp or vacation in August.
Camp is going to be so much fun this year. The theme is Christmas (Jesus' birth). The kids are going to have a great time. We are going to have everything decorated as if it were Christmas. All these preparations for camp is putting me in the Christmas spirit already. But I just can't seem to think about starting my Christmas shopping yet.
Happy Summer (and Merry Christmas)!

Congratulations DeWitt Landscaping!

Well, they did it! Hannah's (and Coach Jason's) team won the softball championship game last night. I am so proud of them both. The team played really well together. They are all a great group of girls. It's great to see girls come together and play hard to win. They were the underdogs of the league with the most 6th graders and 2 girls who haven't played before. Yet, they pulled it off to win. What a great way to start off the 4th of July weekend.
Now that Jason is done coaching softball and soccer (at least until fall) we can relax a bit. He's not going to know what to do without a game to coach or practice to run. Hopefully our July will be less busy. Although I have to admit that I'll miss watching my kids play sports. I love to see their faces glow when they do something great, are encouraged by all the parents and see how proud they are of themselves. We have been very blessed to have some very supportive and encouraging parents/grandparents on our teams.
But August is coming quick. Time to think about camp. It feels like the summer is half over with already, but we still have camp and vacation in August to look forward to. Time flies when your having fun!