our camping trip - saturday

the kids woke up WAY too early saturday morning.
it was definitely still dark.
and i had definitely NOT slept enough.
but, we eventually all stumbled out of our tents to the campfire that had died down.
we {by we, i mean everyone but me...and kathleen was QUITE the fire "stoker"!} got the fire back up and going.
we went through some SERIOUS wood during our trip {which was a blessing to kelly's grandparents...they have a constant pile of debris that they are trying to burn through...}

the guys got to cooking our breakfast: sausage, bacon, eggs, muffins {they were already made} and fruit both mornings!

 oh, and lemonade was a BIG treat to drink!

bailey was CRACKING up at jay talking to her "like a duck".
it was so fun to just BE...to just sit and talk about whatever...to ask each other questions...and listen to the answer...we've only been in this shepherd group for about 18 months {which isn't that long when we just meet twice a month for 1 1/2 hours!}...and we really grew a lot closer and learned a lot about each other this weekend!

he did all the hard work getting our campsite ready...chopped all the wood about a month ago...rented us a port-o-potty {oh, yes, he did!}...and was a LOT of the FUN energy we needed at certain moments :-) we love you, jeff!

 the kids couldn't STAND it...we wanted them to wait til the temps went up more...but they were DYING to get in the creek!

our campfire area...

after breakfast, we went for a hike.
ken warmed us up with some stretches...

this little guy did AMAZING this weekend...and he was in HEAVEN being outside the whole time!
he carried a cup and collected rocks...

all the kids {except ella...she was sleeping...}

sawyer is not afraid of bugs.

and they are all the way in...

there was baseball throwing/catching.

now we've graduated onto our swimsuits!

rebekah was the first to go ALL the way in :-)
the kids played in the creek for HOURS.
it was amazing.
they caught creatures.
and made a wall out of rocks.

jay took a bath. with a bar of soap and everything!

yes, the water was FREEZING!

 they also made a "house" with a kitchen and everything!

 football...

 GORGEOUS baby!

all the adults:
our leader - jay {his wife, debbie, wasn't there - she was doing a 60 mile breast cancer walk!}
kelly and jeff {and ella}
ken and kathleen
pat and i

eating dinner: hamburgers and hotdogs

the whole group!

washing our dishes in the creek...

this was about 2 SECONDS after we put him to bed!
he didn't take a nap...so he was EXHAUSTED! :-)
so cute!

and then another night of sitting by the fire and growing deeper friendships.
lots of laughter, questions about life...pretty much perfection...
a warm campfire on a cold night, yummy food and drink, great fellowship...