Student Camp For The Win!

So I did it! I caught up telling you all about those crazy two weeks with VBS and the Jaspers coming to visit… But it was all while I was on our 3rd crazy week straight at youth camp. Because that’s just how we roll. So are you already guessing what’s next?? Oh you’re so smart.. CAMP RECAP!!!! 

Did you grow up going to youth camp? If not, I’m so sorry. You just need to seek out your church’s student ministry immediately, start volunteering, and score you a spot for camp next year. It’s not too late for you. (And plus, volunteering in student ministry is pretty much where it’s at.) So I grew up going to youth camp and unfortunately I don’t have any of those pictures to prove that to you. Then I married a youth pastor and now I get to go every year again. 

It’s where we celebrated our one month anniversary of being wed (with a baby face Haylee)…

And then the next year all the pics I found don’t prove at all Nick was there.. But Natalie definitely was.. Whoops..

And then the last time we went, little man went along but in my belly (because an 8 month pregnant lady at a 100 degree student camp is always a good idea)…

Let’s just say I enjoyed this years picture a whole lot more…

So this year we went to Snow Mountain Ranch in Winter Park and the weather was LOVELY. It’s very family-friendly so Caleb was able to go along and there was even childcare. Say what?! So every morning, he went to go play with friends and do crafts while I got to enjoy the morning session with our students. He’s still a little too young to stay awake for the evening session so I did miss those. 😦 But hey, I’ll take what I can get! They even made a book of all his crafts of the week. I about melted at the sweetness of it all. 

And camp with mountains all around us? Yes please. 

It was such a great time! There’s just always something about being at camp with students getting to dig deeper into the Bible. Absolutely love getting a front row seat to watch God work! (Remember you could too ;)…) 

Another first time thing this year was I had my birthday at camp!! If you have even known me a hot second, you know I LOVE BIRTHDAYS. So it was definitely a crazy twist to have it at camp and celebrate in a new way. My oh so sweet husband made sure I got embarrassed first thing in the morning by having to go in front of the whole camp. Luckily they didn’t make me sing ‘I’m a little teapot’ like they originally threatened. Because believe me, nobody wants to hear that. 

But then we went tubing down the summer hill!!! I’ve never even tubed on snow yet (I KNOW! TAKE ME!) so I was definitely pumped. It was just as fun as it looked!! ​

​

Caleb was too young to go down but pretty sure he had a blast just playing in the tubes and watching everyone. It’s the little things. 

Pretty sure we all had a blast! (And yes I did almost fall every single time coming back up the hill on the conveyor belt. Nick married himself quite the athlete.)

Plenty of other shenanigans happened during the week too, including us all channeling our Katniss Everdeen during archery. Let’s just say a good bit of us would NOT survive the Hunger Games. We of course did not allow Caleb to give the whole bow and arrow thing a whirl either, so he played with all of our sunglasses instead. 

The little man and I only stayed through Wednesday and headed back to real life that afternoon while the rest of the crew stayed til Friday. I can’t wait to see how God is going to continue to use what He taught the students this week for His glory! 

Now we are off to continue our weekend celebration of the 4th of July! Our church service was so fantastic yesterday to help remind us to be thankful that we are able to FREELY proclaim the Gospel in our country! We are so grateful to live in a country where we are not persecuted for believing in the one true King because our real freedom is found IN CHRIST. Hope everyone has such a fun time celebrating today!