Retreat!

Last weekend was a retreat for our church. We went up to a retreat center near Big Bear for 3 days and had a blast. Above is a group of us who went for a hike Saturday morning. It was a lot of fun, but quite a workout! It was beautiful and the company was wonderful.

One of the windows in our cabin was missing a screen so Andrew designated this site as his eating area. It was very cute.

Andrew was a great camper. He spent most of the time with dirt on his face and a smile from ear to ear.

Keira was great up there also. She slept better than I anticipated and was a lot of fun. (Sorry for the sideways pic.)

I'm not totally sure what the story is behind this elephant, but Andrew thought it was cool.

Here are Andrew and his buddy Noah with Wesley, one of the "big brothers" (7th grade). It was so cool that Andrew could just walk outside and play with his friends!

Daddy-baby relaxing time.

Here are a few shots of the scenery...

As for the actual retreat...

Andrew got to go to the pre-school sessions. He played and sang songs and did arts and crafts. He loved his "Sunday school in the mountains" and still talks about it.

Keira got to bond with many different people at our church and seemed to have a great time.

Gabe and I had a BLAST!!! One of the foundations of our relationship was ministry, and more specifically, ministry together. It's been about 5-6 years since we've been able to really minister together. This experience was so refreshing for us and a HUGE blessing to our marriage. Even the planning for the teaching sessions for the past month or 2 have been awesome time for us together. I'm excited for the next opportunity we'll have, even if it's not for quite a while. This experience gave me some encouragement that it will happen again. This is just a uniquely difficult time right now with the ages our kiddos are. In the meantime, I am VERY thankful for the experience and the joy that it brought to our home. Thank you, God!