Summer Garden Parties...

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. I actually took a bunch of pictures of our trip to Taylor last weekend but haven't even loaded them onto the computer yet. I'll get on that. It was an interesting trip, so I'm pretty excited to share the photos.:)

In other news, we had our first "garden party" in the newly renovated back yard. Bryan and I eat dinner out there whenever we're feeling particularly adventurous, but this time we actually invited guests. Chad and Heather came over and we had a little outdoor Mexican fiesta with grilled corn in the husks and tortillas stuffed with black beans, shrimp, and fresh cilantro from our herb garden (so fun!). We then lit our torches for the first time, started a fire in our new clay chimney, and played euchre into the night while sipping homemade mojitos. (made from fresh mint out of the herb garden of course)

Doesn't that sound divine? Well yes, it pretty much was. Ahh...summer is so wonderful.

I'm beginning to think that the hours spent ripping out the ugly deck and giant concrete slab may have actually been worth it. :)

Yes, God was good

Family Camp was great. There weren't even any emergency accidents. (Last year Bryan had to go to the ER and get stitches in his head and a tetanus shot after getting "bit" by another guy on the basketball court) Though Kaitlin did come down with some nasty virus or something and spent half the weekend a little out of it in her cabin with a fever...poor thing.

Thanks to all who prayed for Bryan's talk Thursday night...he really enjoyed the chance to speak to the teens. He said it was amazing how much more you get out of the weekend when you have to spiritually prepare yourself like that. Hopefully God was able to use the talk.

The rest of the talks were amazing. We learned a lot about seeing God's goodness in everything, not just in the "good" things that happen to us. It's the uncomfortable, hard times that we are blessed and brought closer to God. As Amy Gerst (Fiechter) said, "Easy is useless! You don't learn anything in easy."

There's your short little update from the weekend. Sorry there aren't any pictures...I've gotten lazy about taking pictures lately. I'll do better this weekend. We're headed to Taylor Missouri to visit Javon at His Ranch where she's working this summer. I believe we have some traditional Taylor activities planned...such as fishing and horseback riding. It will be interesting.:)

God is GOOD!

Family Camp is coming up...this weekend actually. And this year the theme is "God is Good". I'm very excited to learn more about that.

Bryan's family is one of those families that has gone to Family Camp for years and loves it. Who wouldn't though, it's a weekend of great speakers, connecting with awesome church families, singing praise songs around campfires and playing lots of ultimate frisbee.:)

I found out when I tried it yesterday that my camera is working again (for now), so hopefully I'll get some pictures of the fun.

I'm really posting about this though because this year Bryan is going to be a teen camp counselor and was asked to have the Thursday evening talk to the teens. This might be the first time he's had the chance to prepare a talk of this length. (45 minutes to an hour) It's an awesome opportunity but also a big responsibility. So, please pray today and tomorrow for him and this exciting chance to share whatever it is God wants him to be sharing with these teens about His goodness.

Thanks!