Camping Trip

This past weekend we went camping and to the lake! It was fun. Perfect weather. We went with our friends that are leaving the country to go be missionaries with Wycliffe. They are going to go camping their whole life! Ha! They are moving to a very different culture and area. It is 100% humidity all the time. Bless their hearts! Anyway, we had good weather and had a lot of fun. Here are a few pics to recap the weekend:

Courtney helping with the tent set up!

Lindsey helping too!
We camped at this same spot last year and thought then that the jeep would be a fun toy to have out there to ride around. We were right...it was fun! However, sharing sometimes is hard! So, it turned out to be a fun/not so fun type of toy for all of us. Here is the beginnings of the fun!

We took Courtney's tricycle as well. It wasn't as big of a hit, but she enjoyed it some.
ously...where do they learn this stuff?

All the girls! Keira, Lindsey, Courtney and Savannah. Their mommy is also pregnant with #3, Due in November! Yes, the missionary mommy....God has a sense of humor too!

The men of the group...who is driving?

Lynne and her girls!

Ryan and Courtney in the "red boat" for a ride!

Here is Lindsey and Keira going for a ride. This is the first time L has riden without an adult with her. Thankfully she is my extrememly cautious child, so I knew it would be safe. Not to mention Ryan obviously drove very carefully with them in it! Keira on the other hand likes to ride with her daddy better because she enjoys the "thrill" of tubing. Unlike Lindsey who just enjoys the ride! She thought riding with Lindsey was boring...but she was sweet to ride.

The water was pretty chilly but of course the kids swam anyway. The dads got in on the first swimming adventure, but sat it out the second time.

Courtney is going to be our "fish" of the family...she would have stayed in all day! Forget the boat, she wanted to be in the water!

Sometimes at the campground, the girls got bored. We were actually by a playground, but it was fairly small. Luckily since our friends have been traveling in the car, they had plenty of entertainment to pull out....coloring while camping! Of course! Notice the table cloth. I sent Ryan to Wal-Mart to get the food we needed and asked him to get a tablecloth. Lindsey went with him so this was the tablecloth they came home with. (If you can't tell, it is Princesses)

Jer was the cook and did a fantastic job!

Of course we had smores! Yummy!

Courtney cooking her marshmallow, although she didn't want to eat it, just cook it and then eat the non-cooked ones!

Lindsey however, enjoyed 2 smores!

We had a good time. You know me fairly well if you are reading this and camping is not really my "style" per say. However, I'm learning to enjoy it. I've only done it 4 times now, but have had a good time doing it. There are plus and minuses to camping with the kids. They enjoy it, but it is so much more work. I want to do these kinds of things with them and make these memories, so I guess that is what makes it worth it in the end.

Camping with these friends was such a blessing. I think I have typed about them on here before, but they are some friends that we met in our Nearly/Newlywed class at FBC Springdale. We met when neither of us had children and were young and fancy free! We became close and though we don't see eachother often, we have stayed close and I'm so thankful!

Like I said they are going to the mission field in August! I'm amazed at their heart and passion for the work they are doing. God is obviously calling them to this or they would not be going. It has really given me a greater undestanding of the great commission God gives us all. It has opened my eyes to mission work in general and I have a whole new level of respect and love for these people that God calls around the world. They aren't weird, they aren't some super spiritual people that are "better" at this than me, but they are just being obedient to what God has called them to do! Wow! What a challenge to just be obedient. (I could really type a lot on this and the comparison after the "meeting" we had with our girls tonight, but I'll stay on track!) If you want to read more about the Paulus family and their mission, you can click here!

Please pray for them. They are working out all the details of their transition, continuing to raise financial support, and live life with 2 daughters whose life is about to turn upside down. I just can't imagine!

Thank you Paulus fam for a fun weekend! We love you and are thankful for your friendship and your obedience to God! I'm so thankful to see his work in you come full circle!