Back to Huckfest Again

It's been 3 years since I was able to go to Huckfest.  We won the "B Cup" portion of the tourney.  That means we lost a game in the pool play, were placed into the B Cup and won our games from there.  I think that places us in 9th place officially, but we got a trophy, so the rest is whatever.  

 

Our team consisted of a fairly random group of folks that Chris Hox and Evan Winer have assembled over the last several years.  It's actually to the point where I feel comfortable with most of them and we have a very skilled team.  I feel like we miscommunicate at first, but then we get it together as we go. 

After spending most of my last couple years of college with Evan, it's always good to catch up some.  7 years after I graduated we still have a lot of things in common and the old jokes usually still stand. 

Here we are after the final win.  We were 5-1 for the tournament, kinda funny to get 9th place after that. 

Volleyball was mixed this week.  It was fun to switch up to another pool of teams.  They were much more skilled, but it also meant we lost.  We played tight on the best team in the league, then took a straight dump on the next team. 

I also saw Ender's Game this weekend.  It was one of the better book adaptations I've seen.  So many of them have been terrible (the Hobbit being the latest, and about to fire it up again).  This one really covered the heart of the story and did a good job of communicating the themes.  The end of it didn't quite jive right, but otherwise it was very well done.

Anyways.  Not the most exciting batch of news.  Next weekend should be more chilled out than that even.  So here we go.  Still working and staying busy.

Jack and Jill Again

I thought this would be my first weekend to skip Jack and Jill since my first time in 2010.  Again, Jack and Jill is a work weekend at Camp Barakel that focuses on bringing the Summer staff back to impact camp while enjoying a reunion atmosphere.

Well to spite the Jon Ford's weather forecast, the sun was out most of the day, but then some icy showers blew in and out a couple times.  My crew consisted of JD Stanton, Joey Winterstein, and none other than...... Mike Baker.  We were tasked with building a new Octoball ring in front of Boys Dorm on the West side.  By 2pm we were wrapped up with time to send the boys off, fix the door on Danny VanOrman's work garage and then a bit of cleaning to help Mike prepare for an upcoming group retreat. 

The rainbow lands on Ethan!

We're cleat brothers now or something.

The afternoon was capped off by a bit of an ultimate Frisbee game.  I didn't really plan to play any sports, so I was privileged to share one of Dan Krueger's cleats with him.  Never tried that before and it worked pretty well.  I enjoyed spending the evening with other Summer staff carving pumpkins, a little catching up with Mike Baker at his house, and finally a bit of frosty star gazing before turning in at the reasonable hour of 1am.

This pumpkin tried the microwavable cheese dip and then hurled.

Sunday turned out to be quite filled up.  Adela and I decided to hustle down to catch part of Hannah Ford's last soccer game at Delta College in Saginaw.  We were able to catch the second half, a point that left me fairly grumpy.  I like my itinerary going really well and not only did we miss the first half, but I took the wrong directions (didn't specify the correct campus or something) and ended up being an extra 10 minutes late.  After testing Adela's patience and using her GPS we were back on the right track before long. 

My attitude turned around about the same time as some of the girls almost got into a fight.  There was a hard foul (deserving a yellow card) that led to a tussle, then some other girls jumping in, and finally a couple red cards for the main belligerents.  The refs forgot about the original foul though, so I made sure they remembered it (although I think the ref on the line already was thinking about it). 

Beyond that excitement Hannah played excellently, and so did her friend Natalie.  Even if the skill level isn't perfect, it's fun to watch A) someone that has a great touch like Natalie, and B) someone that I trained with for years and then seeing them put together an excellent effort on defense. 

From there it was the usual.  Volleyball in Battle Creek, and then some tv with Adela before she scrambled back to Hope for classes on Monday.

Working with Mike always fires me up about camp.  I always try to keep myself open to Camp Barakel (where I think God might bring me more permanently someday), but in the meantime I am really excited about the work to be done in Battle Creek over the next several years. 

Thanks for reading and enjoy the Fall weather while it's back to being reasonable.  Not long and we'll be buried!

Busy Weekend for Real!

You can tell the Winter is coming because our Youth Group is at M-66 Bowling once a month or so.  This month was no exception.  I ended up rolling in a little late and not playing, but there are usually a couple kids that want a helping had for a throw or two.

 

This weekend was all setup.  Adela was coming and we already had plans that were complicated and filling up our Saturdays.  But I decided to fill it up to the brim.  Here is the breakdown:

Friday night I jumped at the chance to go to downtown (like usual).  It was the "Fall into the arts" event that filled up all of downtown.  The premise is that every business opens up its doors to artists to come in and display their work while offering their wares to the public.  We ate with Mom at Pastrami Joe's, got some cupcakes and walked the whole stretch and back. 

Saturday morning we went straight to Middleville for some breakfast with Adela's camping parents.  It was a pleasant country drive, a short visit, and a different route back to catch Maribel Cleland's last soccer game in Pennfield.  We hung around town for a couple hours, then hustled over to Charlotte to join in on a surprise dinner to celebrate by Dad's birthday coming up at the end of the month. 

After pizza we considered what to do next.  Adela was thinking about a haunted house and I knew there was a "good one" in Jackson.  I'm not a big fan myself, but I've never been to one so I figured we should go for it.  I hollered at Hannah Ford, knowing she lives in Jackson, and we caught dessert with her and Brad Smith.  After that we made our way to the "Jackson Underground" haunted house.

I didn't know what to expect exactly, but it was pretty fun.  I go through these things so differently than most people.  I'm analyzing hiding spots, checking corners and inspecting every shadow.  Oh, and also walking as low as possible to get under the fog.  I was never scared, but there was some cool stuff.  My favorite was the star tipping tunnel that makes you lose your equilibrium.  All said, Brad was the point man for the most part, yelling at the props and people for being unsanitary and doing illegal things, the girls screamed a lot, and I took up the rear, ignoring the chainsaw people that kept jumping out of the shadows.

The next day we went to Cornwell's Turkey Farm to check out the Haunted Adventure after church.  Most this weekend was either unplanned, or planned at the last possible moment.  I was also trying to keep Adela in the dark for the most part, trying to keep her on her toes.  This was the main surprise I was planning, especially because I had roped Emily and Xavier into coming over to check it out.

Our first stop was the haunted barn which had the same type of star tipping tunnel, only much slower.  It's still very disorienting and hard to stand up straight. 

Following the haunted house we went to the free mini train rides, stopped through some of the shops and eventually took the hayride to the corn maze.

The corn maze could have been more difficult, but it was good for daytime and a comfortable walk around. 

It was so much fun to see Brad, Hannah, Xavier, and Emily.  We also saw her family, celebrated with my family, and supported our church family all in one day.  I love looking back at a day that we were able to see so many people, and cover so much ground.  I've been hoping to see all these people and I'm thankful that everything kind of came together on its own. 

The biggest news is that we set the date of June 7th for the wedding, and we are aiming at Midland.  It's not my ideal timing, but it's fantastic to be able to start planning.  Don't get your hopes too high yet cause I don't know about numbers or people or anything.  I wish I could invite anyone and everyone but that's not quite how it works.  I am very grateful for all of the folks that I'd like to invite.  I'm thinking of you as I draw up my lists of people.

Well now that a date is set I can finally start to get excited and jump on some of the planning details.  Hopefully we'll have jet skis, sleds, and ultimate Frisbee!

Most Beautiful Day of the Year

If you're like me, you've found yourself saying it over an over again this Fall.  This is the most beautiful day of the year! We had multiple chances for that this week.  But let me back up a bit before I get all the way into that. 

First, major schedule changes taking place now.  I may have mentioned it already, but I'm playing Sunday night volleyball at the Y.  It's the best volleyball I can join in on and I'm thankful for a team that let me jump in with them.  So far we're undefeated and it's been a lot of fun to play. 

Then on Mondays and Wednesdays I offered to help with Learn to Swim classes at Harper Creek.  One of my favorite things to do and something that I missed a lot at camp. 

On Tuesdays I've joined in on a pick up basketball game at Pennfield High School.  It worked out that I was invited through some people at work and now I'm in.  And although people may think I hang my hat on my athletics.... I'm seeing the wear and tear on my knees and it worries me sometimes.  Then again, maybe it was being out of shape.  Either way, that sets me up for some good athletics to help keep in shape from week to week.

On Thursday our church had one of my favorite Youth Group activities of all time.  A downtown scavenger hunt.  Tim scattered some food for the kids to pick up and took pictures of them to use as clues.  We made our way from one end of town to the other.  I rode my bike to it and was distracted in the middle by parent teacher conferences at the Math and Science Center.  Fun to roll in and say hello to any teachers that weren't chatting with parents.  The building is beautiful!

Thursday was truly an awesome day.  Perfect temperature all day, yet a crisp touch to the air.  Youth Group ended at the Math and Science Center where Tim spoke about spreading the Gospel in practical (and impractical) ways.  Anything could be just the trick, from inviting someone to Youth Group, to throwing a message in a bottle.  Even TV pastors can be the push in the right direction!

I know a lot of folks avoid and dislike Battle Creek but I still have hope for the place.  Like the whole world it needs a lot of redeeming work, but this city is just the product of those that will invest and take part in it.  If everyone keeps their distance and hides in the country (or in Kalamazoo) then there will never be any improvement.

Anyways, being downtown was a blast and I'm happy the downtown area is growing up and that the most intelligent kids in the county are joining in on it (whether they like it or not).

That's the weekend crew.  I joined Dad, Brenton, and Grant for the Camp Barakel Men's retreat.  We all drove up together but I cheated because Adela also came up with some of her friends to volunteer in the kitchen.  The weekend was also gorgeous up at Camp Barakel.  A little chilly here and there, but by and large another perfect Fall Day.

Although it was nice to be able to hang with the guys and then switch over to see Adela periodically throughout the day... I probably won't go for that at a Men's retreat again.  I pretty much want to spend all my time with her, so it can potentially defeat the point of a Men's Retreat.  I think we balanced it decently, and I was excited for the opportunity to be together to see the camp staff.

The weekend speaker was Tom Harmon and he focused on "But He Giveth More Grace", which is not only scripture, but the name of his latest book.  I don't think anyone would have been talking about the Tom Harmon books 10 years ago.  Times change though.  Lots of good wisdom and fellowship with other believers.  I'm very blessed to call the weekend a reunion with staff, a Father/Son retreat, a Men's Retreat, and a Couple's Retreat all at once. 

That being said, I'm looking forward to a weekend where I may be able to catch up with different staff for lengthy periods of time.  In the meantime I'm hoping my muscles and sleep schedule recover from this fun filled weekend.

God Bless!

A Visit to Midland

This week at Clubhouse I spent a lot of time trying to conquer my camera setting for the gym type lighting.  It's shut me down on indoor pictures for years.  I know camera nerds conquer this in moments, but I was pretty excited to get it to work.

Otherwise this week was a blur.  I remember riding my bike downtown and around town in general.  It kind of makes me sad sometimes.  Battle Creek was so nice and it still has signs of life, but it's never going to be what it was.  On the way through I stopped and spent some time creeping on the new Math and Science Center downtown.  Yep.  I'm that guy walking around the building at 6pm, creeping out whoever the administrator people that were there.

I should also mention my new volleyball shoes as they were a big part of the week.  I decided that I would look into getting some real men's volleyball shoes.  Well they showed up and were awesome.  Like playing on clouds.  Great traction and flexibility.  The only thing left is to see if they last.  Pretty exciting so far though.

Then I travelled with Adela and her roommate to Midland.  It was a bit of a botched trip because the goal was to take her sister home, but her sister took a different ride and we decided to go visit anyways.  One of the spots to visit was Dow Gardens, which I'd been told I would enjoy but had never visited.

Then I asked Adela to marry me there.  No big deal... right?

Here's a quick summary:  I had been picking on her about her other rings and had somehow managed to confiscate 3 of the 4.  While at the gardens I lagged behind and she came to get me like I was a 5 year old.  Which is about par for the course for us.  I made her come all the way to me, and offered her a Vera Bradley box to put her last ring in (with the others).  She said thanks, but no thanks and started to walk to catch up to her family.  I grabbed her hand and helped her take off that last ring and then gave her a Taco Bell hot sauce packet that said, "will you marry me", as I also got down on one knee.  Since I couldn't conceal the box casually I had the ring in my camera bag and whipped that out at the same time.  She was mostly confused.  She asked if I was joking (which I'd be ok with except I had the ring out, so that should have made it pretty clear).  I told her it was real, asked her to marry me and while still in shock she said.... yeah.  About like that too.  Yeah.  I offered to put the ring on and we carried on from there.

I'm thankful for her parents for jumping in to help me find a spot while preserving the surprise of the moment.  And to Hannah, her photo taking roommate who essentially took care of engagement photos on the spot.  She did a fantastic job and had no clue what she was going to be getting herself into.

A couple thoughts on getting engaged:

1)  I don't know what I'm supposed to feel like exactly, but it's not much different than before.  I treated her and her family like they were my family before all this went down.  Yes, I suppose it's much more firm now, and other people can consider our relationship more permanent.  Adela and I have been in it for the long haul from the moment I said I love you on her trampoline one night months and months ago.  Or maybe even weeks before that when I told her "my ship is sunk". 

2)  Everyone wants to know dates!  I understand that, but it's going to be a couple weeks to narrow these things down.  I'd love to set a date, but apparently I need to consider what Adela wants, and we need to consider what our families are up for.  I feel ok telling you it could be anywhere in the next 7 months.  We need to consider our living situation, her schooling, and try to find the time that makes most sense to make it happen, all while keeping God first in this engagement.

Beyond that I think everything is still up in the air.  I could see us having a private, very small scale wedding followed up with a couple receptions aimed at different groups in our lives (one for extended family, one for friends, or some breakdown like that) OR I could see it being traditional from start to finish. 

So hang on!  We're sorting it out!

Finally I'd like to thank all our friends from over the years!  Many of you have come right out of the woodwork to say congratulations, and we appreciate it. 

Fun times!

Playing from Behind

It's been a very busy week here.  A busy couple of weeks.  So busy in fact... that I'm struggling to remember where all I've been the last two weeks.  So here are the highlights.

 

The main reason that I was so confused and busy was because of Adela's new job.  She's been working as a nanny in Holland and the job is a bit of a schedule crunch without a car.  So I was trying to help her find something within her price range.  Turns out I found an Oldsmobile Alero (1999).  So after a week of running around looking at cars with my Dad I picked up her new Alero for her. 

 

See... that kept me so busy I forgot about the Tigers game I went to with the Camp Barakel maintenance crew.  It was a good game to go check out as they won a close game with a lot of runs throughout.  Prince Fielder even ate a nacho from the crowd at that game. 

 

I love my camera cause it's small, but still has a big zoom.



Somewhere in there I played some golf with High School friends and it was a blast.  I rarely enjoy much of the golf scene (usually I think it's a fun idea til they ask for money), but it was definitely worth some cash to hang out with these guys.  To add to that mess I ended up helping move a piano with one of those guys on Monday.  Which made Adela sad cause it pushed back me getting her car to her.

 

It worked out that she could wiggle her schedule around enough for me to pick her up, bring her back to Battle Creek and then send her off with it.  This gave me a good opportunity to test the car out and make sure it would behave for her.  Found some issues along the way, brought it in to the shop and got it mostly fixed up for her.  It'll need some more work but so far it is lining up as a good deal. 

 

Ok.  So next thing I can put together is the Harvest Party.  If you're not familiar it's a family that has supported Camp for generations that lives on a Sesquicentennial farm in St Johns and they host a giant party on their property.  It's a yearly event that I've never been able to come to cause I was at camp working every year.  Well I wanted to make sure I came to this, the very last one.  



 

Here are pictures of the swing that all the kids like:

 

There is so much going on at the party that I don't even know what all happened.  I saw people, then didn't see them for the rest of the time.  It was followed up with a stop at the Wheel Inn in St John's that included Titus Brown, which I hadn't seen in... well in a long time. 

On Sunday afternoon I jumped into the volleyball league at the Y Center and joined a random team.  I'd played with one  of the guys one other time and they took me on.  It's weird to be there and not play with the Penrod's but I kinda know a lot of people there now and feel comfortable all over the place. 

Sorry if you're a close follower and you wanted another week.  Sometimes I'm happy I am posting anything anymore cause life just goes so fast.  If anybody has more questions or comments please let me know!

Thanks for reading.

Quick Update

Well I'm late!  But here I am. 

Last week we had a fun fair at church.  It's not the biggest fun fair in the world, but it had most of the normal amenities.  Basketball hoops, dunk tank, bounce pit, and a variety of other mini games.  The idea is that each kid that walks up gets 20 tickets or so and then they can run around playing the games, picking up some candy along the way along with some school supplies if they do really well. 

Nasko and Jay play some basketball together.

The dunk tank!  Before it got super dirty.

I don't have pictures from the weekend but it was a full load of fun.  Here's the quick run through as fast as I can put it together into words:

I got home from work and picked up Mom from the house.  Drove to Holland to pick up Adela.  Drove to the Aguilera's house in Freeland to drop her off and Mom got to meet her parents for a bit.  Drove across Midland to "North Bradley" to take Mom to our old family friend, Laurie's house.  We stayed there for a night after chatting for a short bit with Laurie, her daughter Jessie, and her sister in law Joy (and Cain the giant dog pictured below).

Saturday morning I went to Mandy and Jon Van Regenmorter's house to see them and their boy.  I had breakfast there and played some tennis with Jon and his Mom for a bit.  Ran up the street to meet up with Adela at her church for their fun fair.  Some shopping at the mall (most of which I spent in Dunham's and Barnes and Noble).  A quick stop at the Aguilera's house, then we ran off to meet Jubal and Kalie at Olive Garden (and Ruby too!).  We went back to their house for some chit chat and eventually some dumpster diving with Sam Doyle and Joey Winterstein  joining along the way.  We found a couple fun items like a bookshelf, computer table, and several items from the 5 Below store.

Sunday morning I ran over to pick up Mom and bring her back to Adela's church.  We then retreated to the Aguilera house for lunch and some chilling out.  We reviewed pictures from Colombia and then rolled out of Midland.  Dropped Adela off in Holland and then hustled home for the night. 

It was a crazy, fun filled weekend. 

Well I'm late, but there's a quick update and here we go, already half way through the next week.

Peace out.

The Cost of Camp

Matuszapalooza.  You've probably never heard of it.  You shouldn't have at least.  Cause it's a get together that my college friends have organized for... a long time.  I've been around it since 2005 probably.  It's been a while anyways.

 

In the good old days we'd play video games for hours, then go swim in the lake, then video games, then sleep, then video games, then swim, then Frisbee.  Kind of random mix of whatever laziness you feel like.  There was always one instance where a new game bloomed out of nothing.  Like you had a couple tennis balls, a whiffle ball bat, and a stuffed duck and before you know it you have the world series of duckball happening in a little college in Waterford, MI.  OH!  And then the fan game.  We always get the ceiling fan going and throw anything and everything we can into it while taking cover all over the living room. 

 

Yeah.  No one was ever majorly injured.  And this year we discussed the fact that we have yet to break anything in the house.  Not so much as a random hole in the wall or anything. 

 

Now everyone has video games right on their phones/tablets.

I knew this year would be different (it's been 3 or 4 years since I've been available for it because of camp).  I drove up to about 6 very new looking cars of various makes and models.  Much different than the junkyard we used to park around the cottage back during college years. 

Then once inside the same core groups were there, playing a game like Apples to Apples.  That was after I showed up at about 12:15 AM.  We played some random mini hockey stick and foam ball game until about 3 AM while people dropped off to sleep one at a time. 

In the morning we went to Subway/Tim Horton's for breakfast/lunch at about Noon.  I figured I'd just eat a foot long (gotta celebrate Subtember) for lunch along with a  doughnut for breakfast.  We played a new game (to me) called Munchkins that took several hours and then they played "Giant Beer Pong".  Very little beer was involved, and there was no ping pong ball.  They did have 5 gallon buckets filled with lake water and mini soccer balls. 

Giant Pong.  I enjoyed the game and dialing in my throws.

After that I headed over to Brad's.  Didn't want to go to Waterford without seeing him and we watched a couple movies and caught up.  I left early Sunday morning to get back for church.  I like being able to keep up with friends all over the state, but I also get frustrated when I feel like I've not been around for church hardly.  In fact, I spend more time with the church during the week than on Sundays in an average week. 

After church I jumped into the Cleland van ad went to Maribel's soccer game.   She plays for BC Fire and I've heard a lot about this travel soccer team over the years.  They still struggle with typical soccer issues like passing and seeing the field well (anticipating where to be, even when they don't have the ball), but they are much better than the average Junior High aged girls. 

Maribel played forward and midfield in the harsh loss (5 or 6 to 0). 

After soccer there was dinner with the Moody's (another Subtember foot long) and then the Children's Musical at church with Mom.  We brought our canned goods and enjoyed the kids jumping around and singing.  Nasko Cleland as Nebuchadnezzar was a very funny part.

This weekend I thought a couple times about my time at camp.  Meeting up with college friends and catching up got me to be a little reflective.  When I first walked up to the cottage I mentioned that I noted all the new cars sitting there.  In talking with some of the friends it was interesting to see what they'd accomplished and bought over the years. 

It shed unexpected light on an aspect of camp I'd never thought of.  Lost earnings.  I knew when I went to camp I'd be living off of my savings and the gifts of my friends and family (and folks that just wanted to help people out at camp).  Never thought about the engineer salary that I was dropping for what eventually became 3 years.   

The way my mind works is that I had to check it out and some quick math showed that I'd have a lot more in my retirement accounts and I'd probably have enough to buy at least half of a nice house (all of many of them in Battle Creek).  That was assuming some frugal saving, but that's something I'm good at generally.

Well all that is to say I don't regret giving that up.  Would I like $100,000 to spend on whatever?  Yes.  But it's very difficult to compare the experience I had at Camp Barakel with that much money.  I can easily say that the world would think this is foolish, but the world doesn't know what happened at Camp over those years.

I never missed a retreat in 3 years.  I met countless campers of all ages at every place that they can go on the property including the zipline, water front, thunder express, dining halls, lodges, medicine tepee, and the chapels of course.  Throughout that time I learned how to lead a crowd (in announcements, games, or whatever is needed... even just stalling), and how to engage with all types of people in short spans.  I learned how to do all kind s of maintenance tasks that I won't even try to go over in this post.

Even better I met the Bakers!  And the Harris'!  And the Alchin's, Haines', Shaw's, Vanorman's, Boeve's, Gardner's, Douglas', Linsley's, Brown's, Marilyn, Kathy, Shedlbauer's, Ford's, and Proper's.  Plus a slew of Seasonal and Summer staff that I miss almost every day. 

I met Adela too!  And she's pretty cool. 

Finally I was doing work for God.  Nothing can be more rewarding to me than that.  I've given tithes and offerings since I was a kid and my Dad started working that process into my system and I've almost always enjoyed it.  Now it's 20 years later and whatever I've give to God in money and time I don't regret any of it. 

The Bible says it best:

"He who honors me, I will honor him".

Transferrance

Yo!

 

Here we are in the start of the Fall.  School starts up and so do the Fall sports.  Volleyball, Soccer and Football.  On tv, all around Battle Creek, even in the park up the street. 

 

Last Wednesday I got to see one of Hannah Ford's soccer games with JCC.  It was an easy one to catch because it was against KCC here in Battle Creek.  So me and Maribel Cleland stopped in to watch the game.

 

Community College soccer is funny because there is a mixture of skill levels.  They are all solid players, but many of them don't have nearly as much polish as the others.  Hannah Ford has polish!  She somehow was switched to a wing defender after years of midfield and it's fun to watch her stand her ground in her portion of the field.

 

This week Youth Group was at Graham Lake for the last tubing day of the year.  The water was hot and the weather was perfect for hanging out at the beach.  We had food off of the grill, lots of kids falling in the water, and a devotional about relying on ourselves too much. 

I spent Labor Day at camp to help out with dishes and the zipline.  On Saturday night I left camp, which is a rarity for a weekend visit.  I went over to the Yoder's house to play some Settlers of Catan (first game in... 3 years or so).  It was a lot of fun, although Jubal completely controlled the game.  It was even better to catch up with Jubal, Kalie, and Kyle until the late hours. 

Every time I leave camp I immediately miss the families that I love to visit there.  Families that give up their normal incomes, their pick of schools for their kids, and even the right to stroll downtown to the movies.  I know there are advantages to living in the isolation, there are also many disadvantages.

Our society calls us to do it all ourselves, to take the world for our own.  God calls us to give up ourselves and do whatever we can for others.  Don't rely on your own strength, give it up and serve God.

Xtreme Weekend

In an effort to get to bed before 10:30pm I'm just going to comment on some pictures for the weekend.  We'll see how long that lasts before I end up writing a book.

 

So this is me at my "Xtreme Obstacle Course" on Saturday morning.  I've always wanted to run a race like this because it would engage my brain more than just plodding through a 5k.  There was a variety of interesting and fun obstacles that made me feel like an American Gladiator. 

 

 

My time was a 25:54 which I feel comfortable with because of the obstacles.  I think I could have gone even faster if I knew how to warm up my lungs properly before these type of races.  Well I ended up in 4th place overall, and 1st in my age group (a couple competitive runners beat me and a lady with a sweet time).  Oh, and there are summary videos online that I'll probably try to link on my Facebook wall (or timeline, or whatever they want me to call it now).

I have no pictures of the wedding I went to because I'm foolish.  It's not like I'm going to go dance or whatever, so I should have just snagged the camera.  But that's ok.  Sometimes you just have to enjoy the moments.  And that's what I did.  My highlight was catching up with some of the camp guys that I hadn't seen for a while.

The wedding was followed by staying the night with the Calhoun's.  Emily let me invite myself, Hannah and Adela over to catch up for a minute before leaving for home Sunday morning.

This is South Haven.  Possibly for the last time this year?  Probably not.  Or not the last of Lake Michigan at least.  In this picture we have 3 great reasons to adopt!

I always like the sunsets (just one more reason West is best).  This night was interesting because the sun seemed to be obscured by a light haze.  Made the pictures turn out in a much darker hue than I'm used to.

This is the last picture I took on the way off the beach.  Hopefully I'll get the rest of the nice pictures onto Facebook soon.

This was the last Youth Group trip of the year.  I had the privilege of driving the Cleland girls to and from the beach.  Caleb is shown here after he basically challenged us to try and bury him while he was standing up.  We did our best and he did his part while we shoved sand over at him for a half hour. 

So that's it I guess.  Adoption seems to be the theme.  On a random trip to the beach we had a little over 20 people there and yet 8 of them were adopted.  The truth is that we all have the opportunity to be adopted into God's family.  And the trick isn't to act like the good kid or to suck up to God, but to just admit that we struggle and offer ourselves to the only one that can help.

I'm happy to call myself adopted right with the rest of the group!