Summer Staff

As promised I am continuing to add pictures from all our summer adventures.  It's taken forever, but you know how it goes.  I mostly want to keep up with everything so that I can remember all the amazing times we have had this summer.

So, we spent the month of June working at a Young Life camp in Florida & it was amazing to be a part of that community for a month.  My job was to supervise & care for the team of college volunteers who came to work at the camp during the time we were there.  This is one of my favorite jobs because I love being with college folks & it's fun to be a part of their lives for a month & for some of them be a part of their lives forever.

At camp the college folks have a variety of different jobs.  Some of them work in the kitchen:

Some were life guards:

Other's of them worked in the store, snack bar, office, ropes course, etc.  They all had different jobs & kept very busy.  I really loved spending time with all the girls, looking at these pics makes me miss them.

When they were not on their jobs we would plan & work events for the kids, like make them a giant mud hole to have crud wars in.

One of the most special things about our time this summer was that the last 2 weeks of camp we had weeks for high school kids with disabilities.  Young Life has a ministry called, Capernam, & they minister to high school kids with disabilities.  These kids come to camp just like every other able body high school kid but their weeks of camp look a little different.  They still do most of the fun activities & they get to hear about Jesus every day & then talk about it with their leaders.    It was such a sweet time & it was amazing to watch these kids with their leaders.  

Here's our group of summer staff folks, it was a great month.

Where have we been?

In Florida!  Cody, Lucy, & I were in Florida during the month of June working at a Young Life camp.  We love going to camps in the summer & we were not very sad to miss the 110 temps that we have been seeing down here in Texas since we got back.

Yes, it was a long time to be at camp, but it was great.  It's not the kind of camp that you are thinking of.  We did not stay in tents & eat bad food all month.  We stayed in a very nice air conditioned house (Lucy had her own room, we had our own room & our own bathroom), we ate delicious desserts at every meal, played in the pool, danced to a lot of Justin Bieber, & enjoyed living life with other people & getting away from the everyday life.

We have been back for a few days now & we are pretty much chillin as we are pretty tired.  Once again I am so thankful that we get to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.  Each week at camp we got to see lives changed & kids come home to the Father.  We are blessed to be able to see something that most people don't ever get to experience & we are humbled by it.  It's always weird entering back into the "real world" after camp.  It's a little bit sad, but at least Cody & I will be back in Georgia with 100 + kids from our Young Life club very soon.

I have tons of pictures....coming soon.

Lately

The past couple weeks have been a little crazy, but so begins the story of our summer...

Cody went on a trip with school so it was just Lucy & I chillin at the house, we had lots of visitors, fun dinners, & a few dance parties.

So happy to get lots of attention & try on lots of people's shoes

 Lucy officially ended her first year of pre-school.  So many times this year I thought about how thankful I am that we found such a good school for Lucy to go to a couple days a week.  They have been so sweet to our family & Lucy LOVES going to school.  She will really miss it over the summer & so will I.

Lucy & her teacher - we love you Miss Diane!

 While Cody was still gone my parents came to get Lucy so she could go to Grammy/Grandpa camp for a week while I went to Frontier Ranch, in Colorado, for work week with a bunch of our college kids.

Of course I didn't get any pics of Lucy with Grammy & Grandpa, but I know she had a great time.  She got lots of love & did so many fun things while we were gone, but we were all so excited to be back together.

Work Week at Frontier

We are home for a little bit so we have been doing lots of playing & catching - up.  Lucy is in love with lots of random things - one her of loves are socks - she loves them - she will not let them go.  She loves to put them on her feet or her hands & many times will carry several pairs of socks with her wherever she goes, it's funny.

Lucy with a full face of drool & her socks.

 Lucy has also been such a helper in the kitchen.  She loves to be in on all the action & she really loves to help stir. I realize it takes about double the amount of time when Lucy "helps" but I am trying to be more of a "yes" mom & let her do fun things like that.  I want her to grow up with lots of fun memories & lots of "yes" times & not as many "no" times.

making cookies

Summer Time

Last weekend it was hot enough to bust our the swimming pool & it was so much fun!  Side note - the weather here is driving me crazy, 2 weeks ago it was 50 & then last weekend it was 100, what in the world???

Anyway, Lucy was a little unsure of the pool at first, I think the water was a little cold, but I know by the time she spends a month at camp, a week at the beach, time at friend's pools, & lots of time in the backyard she will be a little fish. 

Lovin this little summer girl!

Finally got in!

Clapping b/c it was so much fun!

We moved the slide over to the pool & it was a hit.

Ready to go...

taking off...

All the way in!

Can't wait for lots more time in the pool.

Dinner Fun

Lucy loves when high school kids come over to hang-out, she is usually shy at first but then starts performing.  A few nights ago some girls came over for dinner & it was the first time in about a week that Lucy ate any veggies b/c they were all cheering for her & of course she was loving it!  Here she is hamming it up...

The Queen City

A few weeks ago my whole family went to Charlotte to visit Luke & Jane.  It was such a great trip & it was so fun to be able to see what Luke & Jane's life is like in Charlotte.   Thanks so much to Mom & Dad for making this trip happen & helping us to stay close even though we don't live as close as we would like :(.

It was a quick trip, but totally worth it.  We pretty much went straight from the airport to Luke's game.  It was a little colder than we anticipated, but it's all good.

A few of Luke's biggest fans

And a few more fans

This is where Lucy spent most of the game & she finally fell asleep with about 10 minutes left.

Star of the show, we are so proud!

The whole fam after the game

 Sunday afternoon we went on a segway tour of downtown Charlotte!  This is pretty much one of those things that you always see people doing & want to do it but never really do & we actually did it.  It was a lot easier to ride the segways than I thought & a really cool way to see the city.

Chillin on the segways

 After the tour we had a little surprise baby shower for Baby boy Williams.  It was just for family & we set it up in our hotel room but it was so sweet & made me very excited to meet the little guy.

The future parents with all the goodies!

Thanks to everyone in my family for such a great time, it's always so good to be together.  We look forward to it for weeks & weeks & then we are always so sad when it's over.  So glad we got to see what life is like for Luke & Jane, now when we think about them we can have a better picture!