High Hill

A couple of weeks ago, Mark went out to High Hill Christian camp to play in the band.  We tagged along with him.  We used to go to camp there for a week out of the summer when we were in high school.  I think Mark went when he was little, too.  Mark and I were there together the summer we started dating (1999... how crazy is that??).  We took a group there the week before we were married when Mark was a youth minister.  Lots of good memories there. 

It was fun to take the kids there and show them the lake, "The Blob", the dorms, the dining hall...

They had fun playing on the playground, playing ping pong and carpet ball, and dancing while the band practiced. 

Kate danced and sang all through the evening session, while Jack spilled his snack and yelled to go to the pool. ha!

It was a fun little outing and it's crazy to think that our kids might be little campers there one day. 

Parent Day at Church

I got to join Kate in her little class at church. It was fun to see what they do.

All those little kiddos are so cute!



Whatever is behind the kids in that last picture makes it look like they are in a dungeon basement, but they're not. It's a cute little Children's Wing that they are adding on to, as well.









Wish I would've used Mark's camera for better pictures and I wish I would've taken MORE! They did a lot of really fun things.

On a funny note, the last activity was supposed to teach the kids about Jesus performing a miracle and turning water into wine. The kids got to stomp water balloons (grapes). When the leader was telling the story of Jesus turning water to wine, a little girl in the class turned to her mom and said, "Mommy, you LOVE wine!" All the parents thought that was hilarious! haha!

Willowbrooke

Our home church group volunteers at a local nursing home, Willowbrooke, one Sunday each month. We have been doing this for three months now, and we always look forward to going.

We normally take a craft or something to do. One time we played Bingo with them, which brought everyone out of their rooms. A lot quicker than our, "Would you like to make a sachet?" proposal the month before.

No matter what we do or take with us, Kate is really all we need. The people there are so content just to smile at her, watch her play, hold her, and call her Katie and Katelynn over and over. I cut 'em a little slack, though, seeing as how they are like, you know... really old.

This guy doesn't call her Kate, Katie, or Katelynn... he calls her "buddy" and "he".

Even when there is a bow in her hair :)

I told one of the ladies there last time that we will be there the first Sunday of each month (a lot of them don't remember that we have ever been there before), so she will get to watch Kate grow up month after month. This made her day.

So many of them say, "It's been so long since I've held a baby." We are more than happy to use our daughter as a light in their lives. All the while, Kate is glad to do it. She crawls all over their floor, pulls up on their walkers, sits on their tables, plays with all of their stuff, and gives them all hugs and kisses when we leave. Followed by a nice scrub down in the tub when we get home... that's a lot of grime in two hours!

I have to show this guy one more time... he redefines the term "high waters". You gotta love him, though!