Home from Family Camp

We are happy to be home for the rest of the summer! Family Camp was a spiritually enriching time, as well as an opportunity to enjoy the friendship of other believers of "like precious faith." We are busy doing laundry and unpacking, preparing for Esther's sister and family to visit for a few days. Anyway, here are a few pictures from camp ...

Gene and Angie Davis did an outstanding job with the children again this year. As you can see, the theme had to do with water.

A LARGE sandbox was built before camp this year. The kids enjoyed getting dirty and playing with their friends. To the left of our kids is Esther Ward. The right, is Jesse Keep.

It was a joy to have the Keep family at camp this year. They are our missionaries to the Philippines. Carolyn, their daughter had a birthday during camp, and we were invited to a birthday party for her after service.

Another highlight for the children was a "petting zoo" right on the Camp Grounds! A family with a farm set up a place with a calf, some sheep, some goats, and a pony. Every afternoon, the kids could take pony rides, and feed the animals.

Vacation

We had a wonderful time on vacation last week. West Virginia is such a scenic state -- we enjoyed the mountains, hills, creeks, woods, wildflowers and blackberries growing behind my grandparent's house. Here's a recap of some of our activities:

Melanie, Alayna, and Josiah in Prickett's Fort.

It was a joy to visit with family. The picture above is our family with Chris' great-great Aunt Lorraine. We were also able to visit with grandparent's, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

One day we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo. The highlight of the zoo trip was the elephant exhibit. Two of the elephants decided to take a swim in a pond as we were watching. Melanie said that the elephants were more entertaining than the monkeys! Above, the kids are petting a kangaroo in the Children's Zoo. Below, Josiah is making a fish face by the aquarium.

What did the kids like most? Spending time with Grampy and Grammy, getting "the works" from Grampy, and playing in the swimming pool.

Long Time ... No Posts

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. The summer has not been lazy, but crazy so far! Youth Camp took up all of last week. This week we are in WV. We have enjoyed fireworks, visiting family, going to the zoo, visiting a fort, taking a walk in the woods, and many other activities. Pictures will be available in a few days.