We came home from Florida on Saturday and the kids left for church camps early Monday morning. It was a whirl wind of unpacking, washing, dumping the entire garage onto our kitchen floor while they gathering camping supplies, and repacking.
The boys went canoeing down the Pecos River and the girls went to the South Llano River State Park in Junction, Texas. Both places were BLAZING hot: 108° all week. Sounded terrible to me and Brian. They had asked me if I would like to be a parent leader at girl's camp. Soooo glad it didn't work out for me to go! (I'm a wimp.)
Aub came home talking a mile a minute about all their adventures. They went on hikes, made crafts, floated the river and swam in the river. They had a shopping day. (I feel bad about this one because I sent her with no extra money at all. Not even for a snack on the road....whoops.) They had lots of yummy food and good devotional. She loved trading secret sister gifts. And of course they had an awesome testimony meeting the last evening.
I'm so grateful to Sister Williams and Sister Perry for planning and carrying out a great camp.
Left-rt: Trinity Ormsby, Avery McKown, Lauron Vore, Aubrey Gwilliam, Irene Perry (peaking through w/ the hat), Luna Head, Allie Crissinger, Victoria Nelson, Don Bonifay, Marie Howell, Gracie Williams, Anita Williams, Brittney Neilsen, Annalise Howell, Jade, Glenn King and Georgie Kneupper
I love this photo. I'm not sure exactly why. I guess I love looking down this row and seeing God's beautiful daughters. They aren't polished. They aren't dolled up and posing for the perfect picture. I can feel their stillness. I think during this time they could feel their true worth. I can definitely see it.
Allie and La making bracelets.
Stopping to eat on the way up or back.
Aub is in the black shirt with her back to the camera. (La, Georgie? and Luna)
Tanner and Bro Head
The girls, daughters of a King, wearing their crowns and reading their letters from their parents. Brian and I both wrote a letter to Aubrey expressing our thoughts and feelings about her and bearing our testimonies.
The boys trip... Well, first off, Parker was absolutely NOT going on the young men's trip. He has made fun of Tanner for the past 2-3 months because Tanner had to go but he didn't.
 |
| Back row: Johnny Head, Edmund Perry, Parker (blue hat/white rim), Tanner, Reagan Billings, Tristan Ormsby, Bishop Ormsby Front row: Colby Jackson, Emerson Ormsby, Colby Jackson, Marley Williams (Park and Tanner where hiding in the back because they canoed most of the trip in only their undies.) |
Bishop Ormsby really tried to convince Park to join them. He was coming up with all sorts of reasons: It will be fun. We need another leader. You can be Tanner's partner on the river. Your mom said you have to. (I wasn't about to get in the middle of that one!) Park was 100% not interested. He had all of his own reasons for not going: I have to work. I need to get ready for my mission. I only have a month left to hang out with my friends.
Well, less than 12 hours before they left, Bishop convinced him to go. Brian and I were shocked. He had adamantly refused to even consider it for months. Crazy boy. I think it helped that Bethani was going to be out of town for the week. Also, Parker likes to be busy. I think Tanner was glad he was coming along as well.
I guess Parker asked about the fishing possibilities, and Bishop said the fish were really big. He came up to me after Sunday School and said, "I convinced Parker to go. I told him the fish were huge." Then he started cracking up, shrugged and said, "I didn't tell him he'd catch any..."
 |
| Bishop speared it w/ his paddle, and Bro Billings jumped on it and caught it with his bare hands. |
Tanner had been dreading the trip for months. And actually, the trip he and the other young men had helped plan got cancelled due to flooding. Both trips sounded equally awful to him though.
Parker said deciding to go was the worst mistake of his life. Tanner said it sucked.
They canoed over 60 miles in four days. They were on the water 12 hours a day, everyday, paddling very hard in many places so they wouldn't be pushed backwards. At some points they had to drag the canoes through shallow water and rocks. According to our boys, there were some places with rapids but mostly it was pure work that got them to their destination. Also, the trip was supposed to be spread over six days, but according to Tanner, everyone but Brother Head wanted to do it as fast as possible so they could be home sooner.
 |
| Park w/ Colby. They flipped their canoe numerous times. Colby is young and didn't really understand how not too flip.) Parker, out of desperation, started pointing out the alligators in the water. He really hoped that would help Colby not flip so easily. He said his plan backfired because instead of jumping out of the canoe so it wouldn't flip, Colby held on for dear life while it flipped. Good times! |
Tan and Park started together the first morning but needed to be split up so they could help with those who were struggling.
They came home beat. Sunburned, blistered, exhausted. They both said how terrible it was, but almost in the same sentence they would be laughing about something that happened. Park had over 17 blisters on his feet. He hobbled for the next week. Tanner slept until 1:30 the next day and then had to mow five lawns for his summer job. Poor kid. They were pretty subdued for about 48 hours as they recuperated.
Even with them saying how terrible it was, they also came home laughing about their adventures. As a group, they accomplished a very hard experience together. I know their leaders planned evening devotionals to help strengthen these young men. I hope when the hard times come in missions, in college, in life, they will look back on this trip and know, "I can do hard things."
No comments:
Post a Comment