Hmm... Part 1

Pastor Dale always says that confession is good for the soul, and I must confess that I am just awful at updating this blog. I know at least a few of you check here and enjoy hearing my updates, so I apologize for not getting this updated much earlier. I am now two weeks behind, and I hope to catch you up on these past few weeks:

And as promised, I will be updating you on my wonderful ladies and our study of Ruth.

I guess the best place to start is the beginning - which is really just where I left off: The end of July. In our household, the end of July holds place to my parents anniversary (their 28th to be exact). This year we went out for dinner and then putt-putting at Sluggers and Putters. It was a lot of fun. I haven't been to that place for quite a while and it looks really nice. If you haven't been there, the course is themed after the Wizard of Oz and then later in the back nine, after nursery rhymes. Of course, Dad won, but we all had pretty good games. Only had to dive into water once to retrieve a ball that Corey had hit.

The next day, I had a wonderful friend show up, Miss Brandy to stay for a few days. Even better was the news that she was staying an extra day. Always nice to have her around. She is an amazing blessing in my life. She actually arrived in the middle of church, which was definitely entertaining. After church, we went hiking, which I think I told you about in my last update. Brandy and I spent quite a while at the Falls (known as Dundee Falls, Beach City Falls, or as I call them, The Falls). This place is amazing, but unfortunately hard to find, and not on any map. It literally looks like you are walking into somebody's field. But do not be deceived, for it is not a cornfield, but a gorgeous water way, with waterfalls at both ends.

Well 3 weeks ago, I took the high road with a good friend of mine and we stayed dry and enjoyed the view. This time, Brandy and I stayed in the water way, climbing through the water, rocks, and other various obstacles. It started out really great and was very enjoyable (and dry believe it or not). Then, it came to the point where we had to be in the water to get through. It was fine though. We climbed over some trees, hopped down some ledges, all fun. Then however, it started to get swampy and have tall grass. It got a lot more disgusting and hard to trek through. Eventually, we had to abandon the water way for higher ground. However, at this point, leaving the water way meant we had no sense of direction because the water way was no longer visible. Luckily we set out on the right path and found some gorgeous boulders (for Brandy to climb!). We eventually made it to our destination, the small falls. We took some time to wash out our shoes and then hike back (using the road). What a fun day.

Monday rolled around and Brandy, Reata, and I piled in the car and headed to Jeff's to do some riding. After helping out and getting the animals all taken care of, we saddled Mel up with an english saddle and Brandy went to town. We eventually got Reata to get up and ride, and I think she did really well. She seemed to be having fun (until the horse flies got so bad that we had to get one of the horses out of the round pen. Wes was kind of going nuts). We repeated the same thing on Tuesday, just w/o Reata. Riding was fun. We also listened to a sermon on Ruth Ch. 2 in preparation for Bible Study (so cool!)

Brandy left on Wednesday and things went on. Bible study was fun and then on Friday, I headed out towards Marmon Valley to spend the evening. I got a text that morning saying "oh and ps we are watching a cabin in the hay loft tonight! Their counselor is allergic." So yes, we enjoyed the evening with 2.5 cabins of girls (11-13 mostly) Two of my campers from last summer were there, and it was amazing seeing them again. Not to mention that I stayed there the rest of the morning, went on a trail ride, watched a staff rodeo, and then proceeded to jump in the lake. So cool, and so needed.

With the decision to stay at Marmon with the friends from my previous summer, I did miss out on some mission trip fun. The mission team got together to watch our Chicago movie. I'm sad I missed it, but it was really nice to be around people my age who are just so in love with Christ. Awe inspiring!

I'm going to stop there and catch up with you later.  This has been plenty to read. Thank you!!