Family Camp 2008

The first annual CVP family camp was a huge success. We held it at Camp Chinquapin which is owned by a local church. We drove up early on Labor day to spend the day at the beach. I knew this would be a hard day. We spent every Labor day boating on Pinecrest Lake. It is one of our favorite local places to hang out. My sister and niece were here and so they joined us. She had rented a convertible which she allowed me the priviledge of driving on the windy forest roads. I just can't help but relax when driving a very nice car with the top down, able to smell all the forest smells, and enjoy the wind blowing through your hair. It was indeed a pleasure.
So, the picture above just says it all....when life gets too crazy just jump in a lake and make faces....hey, it works for the average three year old.

Contemplating the 2016 Olympics? My niece is quite the swimmer and we are all rooting for her....love this picture.

I inherited the ole' canoe that I grew up with. This was the hardest ride I have ever encountered. What made it hard was the fact that Goose was behind me and not Eric. We always enjoyed canoeing together. There were a few tears shed but then it was back to work as we headed back into the wind. Lesson learned? Do not stop paddling. You might not see much progress but as you keep working toward the goal you finally get there. Seems a lot like life right now.

What is camp without volleyball. I rediscovered my love for this game. I used to play and loved it but after six games my poor body just could not take much more. That has made me more determined to practice and get back into shape.

Friends make camp all the more fun.

O-kay, so there is a lot of hiking that can be done at Pinecrest. There is the hike around the lake (which all of my kids did and some did twice...Goose ran around the lake also) and then there is this hike up to Cleo's bath. Eric loved taking the kids up there so that they could jump off the twenty foot rocks into pools of water. Some made it up there and some did not. The crew above was late for dinner and had us all worried until they came walking into camp and told us that they did make it up to Cleo's bath (kiddos and all). Our Pastor (Steve Walker) is in the middle faking that he has a hurt leg.

Roger Erber and his family came out to speak at our camp this year. What a great family. I knew Roger and Maggie but had the priviledge of meeting some of their children.

I had a lot of help with the little ones. Brown Sugar sat in someone's lap just about every meeting. How can I thank my friends enough? Not only did they help with the kiddos but they also comforted me with hugs and tissue throughout the week.

Brown Sugar and another dear friend.

Dancing is always a fun past time for our church family. We had a great caller who taught us a few new songs.

When by a lake what better time to do a baptism? Here we are all gathered to see Uncle Rick's children baptized.

Talent shows are also a must have at a family camp. The bar was set high for future camps. The Walker family (our pastor and his family) put together a spit....I mean skit about spit. It was incredibly creative.

Another family skit about the DMV. Too funny!

So, Lil' Cowboy obviously paired up with the right person. Phil (otherwise known as Uncle Phil or Mr. Phil in our church) and Lil' Cowboy won the Phoos Ball tournament. We had no idea that such skill lived under this roof.

All of the fifteen families were divided up into five teams. Each team took on the name of one of the five points of Calvin. Our team was Limited Atonement - one of the most controversial points of the doctrine. But, we held our heads high when our team won with the highest score. There were many reasons for our win: All of the members of our team working together on a skit for the talent show, every single child in our group walking around the lake, Goose's run around the lake, and Lil' Cowboy winning the Phoos ball tourney. We thought we would come in second but what a treat to come in first.

After everyone left we stuck around for a bit and enjoyed the afternoon just relaxing. As Goose was pulling out of the camp site the trailer pulled away from the van. Thankfully we have an emergency brake that caused the trailer to stop right away before it hurled its way down a steep slope. Someone had stolen the pin that holds the hitch onto our van. I believe they were trying to steel the hitch too but someone must have saw them or something to that effect. You don't just lose pins. So, we ran down to the local store and purchased a new pin. Everyone was all right and little damage was done. Thanks Dad for your help over the phone. Whew!

One of the lasting memories that Eric made with the kids was stopping at Jimtown Frosty for a dipped cone. We took some friends along and enjoyed hamburgers, curly fries, and ice cream cones.

Wow! Look at that cone!

All in all we had a great time. Can't wait till next year. The director of our camp (known as Chief Happy Teeth) did such a great job pulling this camp off. It all started with a dream of Eric's and ended in a reality that far superceded our expectations.

We are off to Lake Tahoe this week. Our next door neighbors gave us their timeshare this week so we are going to live in luxury for the next couple of days. I will make sure to post pictures of that holiday too.

On a side note, I am now on Facebook under the name of Heather Davis. If you have a facebook account please let me know and I will include you as my friend.