Family Camp

Well...the week was a success in so many ways. It was so refreshing to be able to have some quality adult fellowship. I spend most of my days communicating on a grade school level. I so enjoyed just sitting and chatting with ladies!

Pastor Craig Scott was such a blessing as he challenged us from God's Word. The ladies sessions were a blessing as well. I missed two out of the three. Emma was sick the first day, so I rushed out in the middle and missed Carol Loescher's. Then on Thursday I was busy in the kitchen preparing the lunch meal. But they were recorded on DVD, so I look forward to going back and watching them.

Speaking of meals...they were a success and from what Susan and I were told, we are hired from here on out! haha! Evidently we stayed WAY under budget compared to previous years, keeping the entire cost of camp way down for everyone. Praise God it worked that way! Because we certainly had no real idea what we were doing! There was just enough at every meal. We usually had enough left overs for a couple plates...so I thought that was great. Our last meal was a bit of a splurge. We made meatball subs and actually had cheese which was a real treat for the missionaries. We also bought a bunch of cokes for everyone and Susan and I worked all week at making ice so we could have ice cubes with our coke. Sounds crazy, but even ice is a treat! Carol Loescher and her family have been without power for 6 months b/c somone stole their power line! It would cost them a lot of money, that they don't have, to hook it back up. So, they run a generator at night for lights, but have been without the use of a refrigerator for that whole time! She said the ice was such a huge treat for her and her family!

Because there are so many missionaries in Cameroon now, it is difficult for Tom Needham to house them all. The local missionaries (our family, Yeiters, and Rosemary) all helped hosting families as well. We kept the Bachman family and that was such a treat! The last time we saw them, their youngest, Priscilla, had just been born. They came here to the NW province to have their baby, and we helped out by watching their three older children during the delivery. Here is their "baby" now at 2 years old:Is she not a doll!! Oh my word! I just wanted to squeeze those cheeks all week long! This was her typical smile! My kids can't even wink, but she has it down! lol!

Here is the entire group: *you can click on it to enlarge if you want to see if you recognize anyone*

On Thursday all the kids (and some adults) went and enjoyed the water slide. Tom had this made a few years ago and it has been a hit. He just hired someone to pour concrete and form it all the way down a hill near his house. It is fed by a waterfall coming down and the water runs constantly and is directed to flow right down the slide. The kids take old scraps of linoleum and they hop on those things and FLY down that hill. If you get scraped or don't hit the curve just right you can slow down, so the big race was to see who could make it all the way to the pool at the bottom. Kate was the first one who did that! Here is a shot of her on the slide.By Thursday night the kids were totally exhausted, but thank the Lord there were no injuries and it was a safe week for all of them. They will treasure this week of memories with their friends. They had fun playing big ball...riding on the zip line...riding horses...riding down the water slide. They had special meetings just for them each day and made crafts and played games. It was such a great week for the kids as well as the adults.

Today we all slept in for the most part. Zane Bachman had to take some of the visiting group and Tom Needham's family to town. They are all flying to the states tonight and so he got up early, but the rest of us slept in! yay! The kids didn't make a peep until after 8! Most of the morning and afternoon was spent playing with our new kitty!! Here is Emma and Charity Bachman playing with Whiskers...or possibly Coal...or blackie. We haven't quite decided on a name just yet:

The Needhams are leaving for 6 months and they needed to find homes for their baby kittens. Since we have been struggling with mice in our house I thought it would be a good idea to take one home. I'm not sure Ben was super thrilled, but he obliged. So far our new kitty likes his new home. I was afraid he might try and run away, but I was wrong. He followed us all around today and whenever we would go inside he would just cry and cry. He wanted someone out there playing with him! Patches on the other hand is not too thrilled about the addition to the family. She keeps hissing at him. I suppose she will get used to the cat eventually.

I'm sure I missed sharing some things, but hopefully my long update gives you an idea of our great week. I am already looking forward to next year!