The last night of church camp was so much fun. After all the activities and the church service, the kids were still running around and not at all ready for bed. We decided it would be fun to yell "girls to boys dorm...boys to girls dorm". When they finally figured out what we were saying they all just ran like crazy kids screaming and yelling. They had no idea what they were doing..they just ran and screamed. It was soooo funny. Of course, Jed was right in the middle of the action, yelling and running as fast as he could. I managed to snap a few pictures while trying to keep him from getting trampled.

I truly received a blessing this past week at camp. I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of the lives of these kids for a little while. I prayed constantly that I would be a good example and have the right words for each of them....that something in my nightly devotions or conversations with them would plant a seed and continue to grow in each of them. At night when the dorm would finally get quiet sometimes I would have girls crawl in and out of my bunk to talk to me. My heart broke on more than one occasion as they shared their burdens and trials. Burdens that were so heavy for such young girls. I will cherish this group picture we took on the last night. I am going to keep it on my desk as a reminder of some of the needs and burdens and to remind me of what a blessing they were to me.

I seriously hate thinking about ending church camp. I have had so much fun with the kids. Kendall and Reagon both love it and have made so many new friends. Jed stayed again with us last night and as usual, he was full of energy and ready to play with all the girls. He did really well during the church service and thankfully I didn't have to take him out. Josh was preaching so I think that helped. We managed to go to bed around 1am so I actually got over 5 hours of sleep! Not good sleep since I was on a blow-up mattress with a kicking 2 year old and different little girls crawling in and out of the bed all night but sleep, nonetheless.

Enjoy the pics from Wednesday.....


Wed night service--teen group leading song
Jed's special while Daddy plays

We are having so much fun at church camp. On Monday night, Jed stayed the night with us girls in the dorm. He had a blast and they did too. All the little girls just couldn't keep their hands of him. After his bath, I just put a diaper on him since it was too hot for this pjs and the little girls all fought over who was going to hold him next. Of course, he ate the attention up!

The girls are all so sweet. I honestly don't have a bad one in the group and that is unusual with 24 girls. I have not had one bit of trouble. One or two little minor spats between a couple of the teen girls (over boys...who would have guessed?LOL) but other than that, they are a piece of cake to take care of.

Monday night they were still pretty wound up and stayed up till around 2am...Jed hung in there till about 1:30am before he collapsed in bed. He walked around the dorm with his flashlight most of the time shining it in the girls' faces and laughing!

Last night after a big supper and church service, the girls gathered in the lunch area for movie night. Not sure if it was the movie or the air conditioned bldg, but they were all ready to crash after the movie. Lights went out around 1am and most of the girls were out in just a few minutes. I slept so sound, the whole group could have snuck out and I would have had no idea! LOL

Here are the pics from Monday and Tuesday.........

Girls Camp Dean.....lol
Fun with the girls...

Sunday started a full week of church camp for us. This is Kendall's first year as a camper and my first year as a counselor. We are having such a great time. I'm going to post each day in separate posts since so much goes on each day and I don't want to forget the details.

Being a counselor is sooooo much fun! I am just loving it and having such a blast with all the girls. I'm already dreading Friday when they all go home. Sunday I spent most of the day getting to know each girl and trying to put names with faces. This is the 60 year anniv of Camp Yolawigo so many people came out on Sunday afternoon for a special time of reminiscing and celebrating the youth camp. After service on Sunday, Josh took Jed back home to spend the night since he was off work on Monday and the fun began. Our "rules" say that I am to have devotional at 10pm with the girls and then lights out at 10:15pm. I let them keep the lights on till 11pm and I think the last group of giggling girls fell asleep at 4am. I was so happy when I could lay in my bunk and hear nothing..just the sound of all the fans running. I walked around the room and counted heads to make sure I had them all and then crashed in my bed....along with one of the little girls who decided to stay in my bunk since she was new and scared! LOL Two short hours later the first group of early birds were up and in the shower and blow drying their hair. I opened my eyes and thought "it can't be time to get up already! I just hit the pillow a minute ago!". During the short amount of sleep I did get I woke up suddenly at one point to six sets of eyes staring at me. Startled me for a second and then I heard from a panicked 8 year old girl "Ms Lori...someone is walking around outside...he has a long white beard and white hair and has a dog with him....Taylor thinks it's Jesus..we are scared...". I tried hard not to laugh and told them I knew they would be scared from all the ghost stories they were telling! LOL I made up some story about the night watchman who is in charge of taking care of the property at night and he was just making sure everything was ok. I'm telling you, these girls are hilarious! I'm having just as much fun as they are!

Pics from Sunday....check in day

I was taking pictures of Reagon and Kendall after they picked a bunk and got it ready so Jed stood beside one and said "my turn".
Reagon's top bunk..

This past weekend, Josh and I took our kids plus three friends to Papa and Nana's cabin on the Little Missouri river. We had such a great time. The kids stayed up late Friday night running back and forth and playing games and Saturday we spent all day in the river. We were exhausted by the time we made it home Saturday night. Looking forward to the next cabin weekend.

The whole crew! Don't you just love self-timers! LOL
Casey and Lauren enjoying some hot gooey smores Friday night...