Camp Bighorn Day 41 7/30/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 41 7/30/2010

My Camp Bighorn adventure continues. I woke up at 7:15 am. We all gathered in the lodge for group devotions at 7:30 am. We went through the reading for the day in our devotional books until 7:45 am. We met in our family groups until 8:15 am. In our family groups we caught up with each other and talked and prayed about how our week had gone and what we were struggling with. When we finished meeting in our groups we all gathered in the lodge for announcements. After devotions and announcements I talked with Beth for a little while. I had a bad morning because my back was hurting really bad and it was frustrating me. It was nice to talk with Beth for a little while. I felt really bad for complaining to her about my back trouble. When we finished talking I headed to my cabin to get cleaned up and ready for the day. I decided I wanted to be extra comfortable today because my back was really bothering me, so I wore my sweats all day. After I got cleaned up I got the mail out and headed to the lodge to get some breakfast. We all enjoyed some great food and fellowship around the tables. It was fun to hear about what people had planned for the day. After breakfast I headed back to the office. The mail came just as I was getting to the office. I got the mail sorted and distributed. After I finished with the mail I came back to the office to put some more pictures on the camp hard drive. When I finished with the pictures I gave the hard drive to Mindy and Garret. They put together a slideshow of the pictures from the week to show at the last chapel later that night. I sat in the main part of the office for a while covering the phones and talking with people in the office. I was around the office until lunchtime. We all gathered in the lodge for some great food and fellowship. After lunch I came back to the office. I used my computer to check a few things on the internet. I checked e-mail and facebook. I helped Nancy find some music she need for a slideshow she is putting together. We found the music she was looking for but I had no way to get the music from my ipod to a different computer. I moved my computer back out to the main part of the office. I decided I wanted to work out there for a while. I listened to music on my computer for a while. I covered the phones. I typed up my blog entry for the day before. When I finished typing and posting my blog it was almost time for dinner. I headed out of the office and talked with Andrea for while. We had a really great talk. She helped me to think about why I am here at camp and what my purpose is while I am here. I always feel a lot better after talking with Andrea. We headed over to the lodge to get some food. We had barbeque chicken sandwiches. They were great. We all enjoyed great food and fellowship around the tables. It was fun to hear about what people had been up to all day. After dinner we had ice cream for dessert. I had a combination of chocolate chip mint and cookies and cream. I enjoyed every bit of it. I finished my ice cream and got a soda and headed upstairs to the last night of chapel. Chapel was really fun. They talked about and showed how the group had united during the week. It was cool to see and hear how God was working in the lives of the entire group. We all watched the slideshow that Mindy and Garret put together. The group really enjoyed that. When we finished upstairs we all headed downstairs in the lodge to watch some of the girls do some Irish and Scottish Highland dancing. They are danced very well. It was fun to watch them. At about 9:40 pm everyone gathered outside the lodge to play capture the flag. I came back to the office to listen to my ipod and type up my blog for the day. Jen came in and commented on the fact that I was listening to Celtic music on my ipod. I told her I was listening to my Chieftains collection. She thought that was cool. Jocelyn came in a little while later and we talked for a few minutes. I am just about ready to rap up my blog entry and head to bed. I will check out what is going on around camp. Then I will head to my cabin to get some rest. I wonder what adventures are in store for us in the next few days. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 40 7/29/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 40 7/29/2010

The adventure continues. My day began with active devotions at 7:30 am. Everyone piled on the camp bus to go to the activity for the morning. I stayed at camp because my ankle was giving me trouble. So I went through the reading in my devotional book in the lodge. The title of the reading for the day was “Oops!” The main scripture for that day was Psalm 135. The reading talked about the fact that God is never surprised by the events in our lives. He never says oops. When I finished my devotions I prayed for a while. When I finished praying I waited in the lodge for everyone to get back to camp. When everyone got back I went back to my cabin to get ready for the day. When I was ready for the day I came into the office and met with Jeremy for a few minutes. We agreed that I would work on sorting and organizing pictures on the hard drive. He also wanted me to make a mailing list of some new camp contacts without e-mail addresses. After we met I got the mail out and headed to the lodge to get some breakfast. We all gathered in the lodge for some great food and fellowship around the tables. It was fun to hear about what people had planned for the day. The mail arrived before I finished my breakfast. I was sitting next to Dianna. She saw the mail arrive and proceeded to give me the play by play of the mail drop off. It was really funny. When I finished eating I sorted and distributed the mail. When I finished with the mail I came back to the office. I moved my computer out of Jeremy and Sarah’s office because the senior staff was going to meet in there. I sat in the main office for the morning working at my computer. I downloaded some pictures onto the camp hard drive. I typed up the mailing list Jeremy asked for. I was in the office for most of the morning. I answered phones and checked e-mail and facebook. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered to get something to eat and enjoy some fellowship around the tables. After lunch I came back to the office. I moved my computer back into Jeremy and Sarah’s office. I typed up a blog entry for a previous day. I got some receipt letters ready to mail. I wrote some thank you notes. By the time I finished all of that it was time for dinner. We all gathered in the lodge for great food and fellowship around the tables. We had tacos. They were great. It was fun to catch up with some people and hear what they had been up to all day. After dinner I had a soda and some dessert. After dinner I came back to the office and worked on my computer for a while. I put more pictures on camp hard drive. I typed up my blog entry for the day before. When I finished typing and posting my blog I went down to the library to do my exercises. When I finished my exercises I came back upstairs and called my parents. My mom called me back and we had a good talk. I had a good talk with both my mom and dad. We talked until about ten minutes before curfew. When I got off the phone I shut down my computer and headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about the adventures that were in store for us in the next few days. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 39 7/28/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 39 7/28/2010

My Camp Bighorn adventure continues. My day began with devotions at 7:30 am. We all gathered in the lodge to go through the reading in our devotional books for the day. The title of the reading for the day was “Empowered by the Holy Spirit.” The reading talked about what it means to be empowered by the Holy Spirit while working at camp for the summer. The scripture reading for the day was Ezekiel 36:22-32. After devotions and announcements I went back to my cabin to get cleaned up and ready for the day. When I finished getting ready I got the mail out and then headed to the lodge to get some breakfast. We all enjoyed some great food and fellowship around the tables. We had pancakes. They were great. After breakfast I came back to the office and waited for the mail to arrive. I checked some things on my computer. I checked e-mail and facebook. When the mail arrived I sorted and distributed it. After I took care of the mail I went back to the office. I was going to be out taking pictures of some of the events around camp but my ankle was hurting really bad. So I spent most of the morning in the office covering phones and working on my computer. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered in the lodge for some food. It was nice to catch up with some people and hear about what they had been up to all morning. After lunch I came back into the office and checked my e-mail and covered the phones. I worked on my resume for a while. I am feeling stressed about not having a job lined up when I get back to Spokane. I got an e-mail from my sister in law about things I need to fix on my resume. She was very encouraging. However after I read her e-mail I suddenly felt really stressed. I talked with Sarah, Beth, and Andrea about what I was feeling stressed and over whelmed about. They all help me to calm down and relax about the situation. It was good to talk with all of them. When I was done talking with them I made some copies of a couple of applications and resumes for Luke. Then it was time for dinner. We all gathered for great food and fellowship at the tables. It was fun to hear about what some of the campers and staff had been up to all afternoon. After dinner I had a soda and some chocolate cake. I sat out on the lodge steps and watched the thunderstorm. It was really fun to just sit out and watch the rain and lightning and listen to the thunder. I joined a group of people sitting on the lodge steps. We talked and watched the storm for a while. While we were talking Dianna told us part of her life story. It was fun to learn about her life a little bit. She told us about a plane crash she was in when she was 17 years old. Her mom died in the crash. Some parts of the story were hard to hear. Dianna is a survivor in every sense of the word. God has protected her many times in her life. We talked for a while longer. Then I headed into the lodge to see what was going on in there. It is really great to be around people who are having fun just being together. I hung out in the lodge for a while then headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I talked with some of the girls in my cabin for a while. Then I got ready for bed and lay down to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us in the days ahead. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 38 7/27/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 38 7/27/2010

The adventure continues. My day began at 7:30 am with active devotions. We all gathered in the lodge to read the passage for the day in our devotional books. When we finished reading our personal devotions we headed out to the field to get some exercise. I went outside for a while and then headed back to the lodge to finish the devotional reading for the day. When I finished my reading I prayed for a few minutes. They everyone came back into the lodge. We gathered for announcements. When we finished I went to the office for an administration meeting. We went over what was happening this week. We got caught up on how things are going for everyone. We talked about what events we would be involved with during the week. I would be taking pictures of the ropes course and rock climbing. I was excited to get out and get pictures of what is happening around camp. After our meeting I went back to my cabin to get ready for the day. Then I came back to the office and got the mail out before heading to the lodge for breakfast. We all enjoyed some great food and fellowship around the tables. It was fun to hear about what people had planned for the day. After breakfast I came back to the office and typed up my blog entry for a previous day. When I finished my blog entry I collected, sorted, and distributed the mail. When I finished with the mail I headed out to take pictures of the ropes course and rock climbing. I took a few pictures of the guys on the low ropes course. I headed over to the rock climbing area to take some pictures. Then my camera ran out of batteries. So I had to go back to the office to get different batteries. When I had new ones I walked back to the ropes course and took a few more pictures. Then as I was heading to the climbing area again the same thing happened with my camera. I went to the office again to get new batteries. When I got new batteries for my camera and a helmet for myself I went back down to the climbing area. I decided I would try to take pictures of the climbers first. Just in case my camera broke down on me again. I took some pictures of the climbers. I hiked up to where they were climbing so I could get some better shots. After I was up there for a while I headed back to camp. I got back around lunch time. I was pretty much done for the day when I came back to the office. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered in the lodge for food. We all enjoyed great food and fellowship around the tables. It was fun to hear about what everyone had been up to all morning. After lunch I was in the office for the afternoon. I went down to the ropes course again to take some pictures but when I got there no one was around. I walked back to the office and decided I would not go back down to the ropes course because my ankle was giving me trouble. It was hurting so bad I was having trouble walking. So I hung around the office and worked at my computer for a while. I checked my e-mail and facebook. I responded to some e-mails. Then it was time for dinner. We all gathered in the lodge for some great food. After dinner I had a soda and some dessert. I talked with Janelle for a while. We had a good talk. After we talked for a while I headed upstairs in the lodge to go to chapel. I took some pictures of the chapel service. It was fun to see how the group was bonding after just two days. It was cool to hear how God is working in their group. After chapel I came back to the office and typed up my blog entry for the day before. When I finished my entry I called my parents. We talked for a while. It is always good to talk with them. They are enjoying their summer. After we talked for a while I got off the phone and headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about the adventures that were in store for us in the next few days. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 37 7/26/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 37 7/26/2010

My Camp Bighorn Adventure continues. I woke up at 7:15 am. We all gathered in the lodge for staff devotions at 7:30 am. We went through the reading in our devotional books for the day. After devotions we gathered for announcements. Luke announced what jobs everyone would have for the camp that began later that day. Everyone is always very excited to find out what they will be doing during the week. After announcements I went back to my cabin to get ready for the day. When I was ready for the day I got the mail out and headed to the lodge for breakfast. It was nice to catch up with some people around the tables. After breakfast I came in to the office. I checked some things on the internet while I waited for the mail to arrive. I checked e-mail and facebook. When the mail arrived I sorted and distributed the mail. When I finished with the mail I came back to the office and sorted and organized pictures on my computer. I was mostly in the office until lunch time. I covered the phone. I checked some things on the internet. I talked with some people in the office. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered in the lodge for some great food and fellowship. After lunch I came back to the office. I worked at my computer for a while. Jeremy showed me how to use the camp database. He showed my how to add people to the camp mailing list. I worked on that for a while. I enjoy doing things like that. I had some trouble reading the hand writing. I added a few names to the list and then I was done. I intended to finish the stack I still had to go though later. When I finished with the mailing list I left my little corner of the office and went out to the main office. I sat in the office and cooled off a bit. I talked with some people in the office. I covered the phones. I finished typing up my blog entries from a couple of days before. When I finished with my blog entries I hung around in the office until dinner. We all gathered in the lodge for dinner. Adventure camp 5 officially began at dinner. It was great to have a big group here for camp. Everyone was very excited for camp to begin. We all enjoyed great food and fellowship around the tables. After dinner I had a soda and some dessert. After dinner I walked around camp and talked with some people until chapel began at 8:30 pm. We all gathered for chapel. Everyone had a great time at chapel. They went over some of the camp rules. Then they played some games. Everyone had lots of fun. After chapel I came back to the office to shut down my computer for the night and call my parents. I called my parents using my phone cards. I asked them to call me back because I am running low on minute on my phone card. They called me back and we had a good talk. It sounds like things at home are going well. It is always good to talk with my parents. We talked until it was almost time for me to get to bed. When I got off the phone I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. When I got to my cabin at abut 11:15 people were still up talking. I was glad that people were still awake. It took a while for everyone to calm down and go to sleep. I went to sleep thinking about the adventures that were in store for us in the coming days. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 36 7/25/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 36 7/25/2010

The adventure continues. I woke up at 8:00 am. I got cleaned up and ready for the day. Then it was time for breakfast. We all gathered in the lodge for some great food and fellowship. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. They were wonderful. After breakfast I finished getting ready for church. I went through the reading in my devotional book for the day. When I finished my devotions it was time to leave for church. I drove my truck and followed the vans to the CMA church. We got to church at 10:45 am. I really enjoy the CMA church. A lot of people from Bighorn attend. The service was really great. The message and the music were both very good. The pastor who was preaching that day switched up the order of the service. So the sermon was first and the music was at the end of the service. I liked that a lot. I like having music after the sermon. It closes out the service very well. After church I headed back to camp. I stopped at the gas station to fill up my truck with gas. When I finished at the gas station I headed back to camp. I got back to camp at around 12:30 pm. I headed to the lodge to help get lunch ready. I helped in the kitchen until lunch time. I helped make the dough for the cornbread for dinner. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered for some great food and fellowship. It was nice to catch up with some people. After lunch Mindy and I got permission to leave camp. We drove to St Regis and wandered around there for a while. We went to some of the shops in town. Then we headed to Missoula to do some shopping. When we got there we went to Best buy and looked around in there for a while. Mindy was looking for a new laptop computer. She talked with a sales person about what kind of computer would work best for her. I looked around the store for a while. Then we left and went to Staples and looked around in there for a while. I found a car charger for my iPod. I have needed on for a while. It will be nice to be able to listen to my iPod in my car. We left Staples and headed to Barnes and Noble. We wandered around in the store for a while. I had not been to Barnes and Noble for a while. It was nice to wander around in there for a while. I found and bought a box of thank you notes. I should mention that Mindy was on her cell phone pretty much the whole afternoon. We don’t get cell phone coverage at camp. So she was returning messages and calling people while she could. When we finished at Barnes and Noble we headed Wal Mart to pick up some things. When we finished there we headed to McDonalds for dinner. I had not eaten at McDonalds since I have been at camp. When we finished dinner we headed back to camp. Mindy called camp when we got to McDonalds to let someone there know that we would not be back for dinner. We had a fun afternoon. It was fun to hang out with Mindy for a while. We got back to camp at about 9:30 pm. I headed to the office to check some things on my computer. Then I went to my cabin to get my phone card. I came back to the office to call my parents. We had a really good talk. My mom told me about a family crisis that came to a head this weekend. Everyone involved is doing much better and getting back on track. Praise God. He is doing a great work in the lives of those involved. After I talked with my parents for a while I got off the phone and headed to bed. I went to bed thinking about what was in store for all of us in the next few days. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 35 7/24/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 35 7/24/2010

The adventure continues. I woke up at 9:00 am. It was nice to sleep in a bit on my day off. I got the mail out before breakfast. We all gathered in the lodge for some food and fellowship around the tables. After breakfast I came into the office and worked at my computer for a while. I waited for the mail to arrive. I checked e-mail and facebook. I played some games on my computer. I hung around the office until about noon. I headed back to my cabin to get cleaned up and ready for the day. When I was ready for the day I went through the reading for the day in my devotional book. I am enjoying the readings in the devotional book. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered in the lodge for some food and fellowship. It was fun to hear about what everyone had been up to in the morning. After lunch I wandered around and talked with people. I was in and out of the office. It was a very quiet day around camp. I used my computer to check some things on the internet. I checked e-mail and facebook. I played some games on my computer. I talked with the people in the office. Then it was time for dinner. We had dinner at 6:30 pm because a group was going to see Toy Story 3 at a movie theater in Plains at 8:00 pm. It was really fun to go out with a group of camp staff for the evening. We all piled in the vans at about 7:20 pm to head to the movie. We arrived at the theater at 7:45 pm. The movie was great. It was fun to be there with people form camp. When the movie was over we all piled into the vans and headed back to camp. The van ride back to camp was most interesting. Listening to a bunch of teenagers talk about what ever is on their minds is always entertaining. We got back to camp at around 10:00 pm. When we got back I came into the office to call my parents. I talked with my mom for a few minutes. We had a short conversation because she did not have much time to talk. When I got off the phone I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what adventures were in store for us in the following days. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 34 7/23/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 34 7/23/2010

The adventure continues. I woke up at 7:15 am. We all gathered in the lodge for group devotions at 7:30 am. We went through the devotional reading for the day in 15 minutes. We meet with our family groups until 8:15. All the staff gathered for group announcements after devotions. After devotions and announcements I went back to my cabin and got cleaned up and ready for the day. When I was ready for the day I got the mail out and then headed to the lodge for breakfast. It was nice to catch up with people and enjoy some great food and fellowship around the tables. After breakfast I met up with the facilities crew at 10:00 am. We opened the day with prayer. We prayed for the staff and campers and the events they would all be participating in during the day. We prayed for safety for everyone throughout the day on the different events. When we finished praying I sorted and distributed the mail. I helped the facilities crew clean up the staff lounge and the lodge. Then I came back to the office to work on some things at my computer. I put some finishing touches on my resume. It is nice to have that all done and ready to send out. I checked e-mail and facebook. I responded to some e-mails. I talked with some people around camp. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered in the lodge for some great food and fellowship. After lunch I came back to the office for the afternoon. I covered the phones. I read while I was covering the phones. I read parts of four different books. I began with C.S. Lewis and ended with Ravi Zacharias. When I finished reading I covered the phones for a while longer. Then I got some receipt letters ready to mail. I worked on the letters from 4:30 pm until 6:30 pm. I had to find some money for going to see Toy Story 3 with a group of staff from camp. I asked Janelle if I could barrow two dollars from her. I would pay her back when I had some cash. She said that would be fine. I got the money from Janelle and I had enough to cover the movie. I went to turn in my money to the Tabitha. She was in charge of collecting the money for the movie. I tried to pay for my ticket and she told me someone paid for me already. She would not tell me who paid for me. I have a pretty good idea who paid for my ticket, but nothing has been confirmed. I was pleasantly surprised that someone would do that for me. So I found Janelle and gave her money back to her. I was in the office until dinner. We all gathered in the lodge for some food. It was nice to catch up with some people and see what they had been up to all day. After dinner I had a soda and some dessert. I came back to the office and typed up my blog entry for the day before. When I finished my blog entry I left the office and talked with Mindy and Mary for a while. After I talked with them for a while I came back to the office to call my parents. We had a good talk. It is always good to talk to my parents. When I got off the phone I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 33 7/22/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 33 7/22/2010

My day began with active devotions at 7:30 am. We all gathered in the lodge to go through the reading in our devotional books for the day. Then we headed outside to hike or run up to the cross. The hike up to the cross was very contemplative for me. I tried to pray but I was unable because I was too focused on not falling. It was really cool because I felt the presence of God. It was like He was right behind me saying “I am right here. I will not leave you alone. You can do this.” That was a very powerful time. When we all got back down to camp I thanked God for keeping us all safe on the hike up to the cross. After announcements I went back to my cabin to get ready for the day. When I was ready for the day I got the mail out and then headed to the lodge for breakfast. We all enjoyed some great food and fellowship around the tables. It was fun to hear about what people had planned for the day. After breakfast I met up with the facilities crew. We started the day with prayer. We prayed for the camp and the campers who would be participating in events around camp. We prayed for strength and courage for the staff leading the events. When we finished praying I sorted and distributed the mail. When I finished with the mail I caught up with the facilities crew. I was supposed to work with them for the morning. I had some job search stuff I needed to get done. So I worked on that for most of the morning. I updated my resume. I sent a copy of it to my sister in law Ami. I asked her to look it over and let me know if I should change anything. I checked e-mail and facebook. I responded to some e-mails. I listened to music on my ipod. I was in the office for most of the morning. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered in the lodge to get some great food. It was nice to catch up with some people and hear about what they had been up to all morning. After lunch I came back into the office. I answered the phone. I checked some things on the internet. I listened to music on my ipod. I checked e-mail and facebook. I typed up and posted a blog entry for the day before. I talked with some people in the office. Then we all gathered in the lodge for dinner. We all enjoyed some great food and conversation around the table. After dinner I had a soda and some dessert. We had ice cream for dessert. It was great. I had a bowl of cookies and cream and chocolate chip mint. Those are my two favorite flavors of ice cream. It was a nice treat. When I finished my ice cream I sat out on the lodge steps and talked with Janelle for a while. We had a good talk. She is a very nice person. After we talked for a while I came back to the office to check my e-mail. Then I shut down my computer and left the office for the night. I headed over to the lodge and hung out in the staff lounge for a while. Beth and I talked for a while. We had good talk. It is always good to talk with her. I stayed in the lounge until about 10:30 pm. Then I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I was really tired, so it was nice to get to bed early and get some extra rest. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 32 7/21/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 32 7/21/2010

The adventure continues. We all gathered in the lodge for devotions at 7:30 am. We went through the reading in our devotional books for the day. After devotions and announcements I went back to my cabin to get cleaned up and ready for the day. When I was ready for the day I collected the mail and got it out to the box before heading to the lodge to get some breakfast. We all enjoyed some great food and fellowship. After breakfast I caught up with the facilities crew. We gathered for a while to pray. We prayed for the staff, the campers, and the upcoming events for the day. After we prayed we divided up the jobs for the morning. I sorted and distributed the mail. My back was giving me trouble for most of the morning, so I was unable to help the facilities crew very much. I was in the office working on my computer. I typed up some job search information. I typed up a brainstorming list my sister in law Ami and I wrote up a while ago. I typed up my resume. I checked e-mail and facebook. At around noon I headed outside to get some fresh air. Beth and I talked until lunch. We had a really good talk. We talked about how her back is doing. She has a major back problem as a result of an accident she was in a while back. She is trying to figure out how to make the back pain go away. I can relate to all of that because I have had back problems my entire life. We talked about cross country and track. I told her some stories about some friends of my back home. It was nice to talk to her for a while. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered in the lodge to get some food. It was nice to catch up with some people and hear about what they had been up to in the morning. After lunch I came back to the office. I covered the phones. I used my computer to check some things on the internet. I was in the office from about 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. I went to my cabin to take a nap around 5:00 pm. I was so tired I was falling asleep on my way back to my cabin. It was nice to get some rest. I woke up at 6:30 pm. I came back to the office for a little while. Then it was time for dinner. I did not eat very much dinner because I was not feeling well after my nap. After dinner I had a soda and some dessert. It tasted great. At 8:30 I went upstairs in the lodge for family camp chapel. It was cool to hear about what everyone had been up to all day. It is really awesome to see how God is working in the lives of the families here for camp this week. After chapel I came back to my computer and typed up and posted my blog entry for the day before. When I finished my blog entry I called my parents. I had a good talk with both my mom and dad. It was nice to talk with them for a while. We talked until it was time for me to head to bed. When I got of the phone I headed over to the lodge to see what was going on in there. I ended up playing Apples to Apples with a group of people. We had a great time playing the game. We finished just before curfew. I headed back to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to bed thinking about what was in store for all of us in the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 31 7/20/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 31 7/20/2010

My day began with active devotions at 7:30 am. We all gathered in the lodge to go through the reading for the day in our devotional books. Then we all went out to the field to get some exercise and play some games. We ran or walked some laps around the field then gathered to do some sit ups and push ups. We went through that routine twice. Then the rest of the group played modified rugby. After devotions and announcements I headed back to my cabin to get cleaned up and ready for the day. I finished getting ready just before breakfast. So I got the mail out and then came back to the lodge to get some food. We all enjoyed some great food and fellowship at the tables. It was fun to hear about what everyone had planned for the day. After breakfast I sorted and distributed the mail. Then I caught up with the facilities crew. I would be working with them for the morning. We prayed for the camp and the people here. It was a good time of connecting with God and the other people in our group. When we finished praying we went through the list of things to do for the morning and divided up the jobs we would be doing. It was fun to get to work with a different group for a little while. We cleaned up the store, the office, the bathrooms, and the laundry room. I worked with the facilities crew until lunch time. I was tired when I was finished. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered in the lodge for some food. It was fun to reconnect with people and hear about what they had been up to in the morning. After lunch I headed back to the office. I covered the phones and worked on my computer. I posted a blog entry. I checked e-mail and facebook. It was a quiet day in the office. I was pretty much in the office from about 4:00 pm until dinner. I covered the phones and distributed some mail. I talked with some people in the office. Then it was time for dinner. We all gathered in the lodge for some food. After dinner I got a soda and had some dessert. I came back to my computer and typed up and posted another blog entry. When I finished my blog I called my parents. I left a message and my mom called me back a little while later. We had a good talk. I also had a good talk with my dad. It was really nice to talk with them for a while. We talked until it was time for me to get to bed. When I got off the phone I shut down my computer and was headed to my cabin to get to bed. However, I went over to the lodge and talked with some people for a while. We talked until just before curfew. We had a nice talk. I was talking with Mindy and Janelle. They are both really nice and friendly. We talked about going out together some time when we all have a day off. It was nice to connect with them. After we talked for a while I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I had some trouble getting to sleep. I finally went to sleep thinking about what adventures were in store for us in the days a head. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 30 7/19/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 30 7/19/2010

My day began with devotions at 7:30 am. We all gathered in the lodge to go through the reading in our devotional books for the day. I really enjoy this time it is a good time to pray and connect with God. We are all usually tired at 7:30 am but we all seem to get a lot out of our devotional time in the morning. After devotions we had a time for staff announcements. The directors of the different departments around camp announced when and where their teams would be meeting. Luke announced what jobs everyone would have during the family camp that would begin later that day. Everyone is always really excited to know what they will be doing each week. After announcements I caught up with Sarah. She said the administration team would be meeting at 8:45. I was not feeling very well so I went to lie down in my cabin until our meeting. After I rested a little I went back to the office for our meeting. In the meeting we went over what we would be doing during the week. Jeremy and Sarah will be gone from Tuesday to Sunday. They and Dave and Judy McPhee are going to Creation Fest. They will be leaving on Tuesday after breakfast. My job description is pretty much the same as always. I will be in the office answering phones, taking care of the mail, organizing and sorting pictures, I will do some write ups for the facebook page and the website. I will also be working with the facilities crew in the mornings during the week. After our meeting I got the mail out and then headed to the lodge to get some breakfast. I had some coco puffs I bought at the store the day before. They were great. We all enjoyed some great food and fellowship around the tables. After breakfast I went back to my cabin and took my vitamins and some aspirin and went back to bed for a while. I was still feeling sick. So I rested as much as I could. I got up and came back to the office to wait for the mail to arrive. I chatted with Jen, Dianna, and Samantha in the office. When the mail finally came I got it sorted and distributed. After I finished with the mail I went back to my cabin to get ready for the day. Then I came back to the office to work at my computer and cover the phones for a while. I sorted and organized some pictures on the camp hard drive and put them in a photo album on facebook. I posted a blog entry. I was in the office until lunch time. We all gathered in the lodge for some food. After lunch I went to my cabin to rest for a while. I listened to my ipod for a while then went to sleep for a bit. I woke up around 5:00 pm. I came back to the office and used my computer for a while to check e-mail and facebook. I saw a guy that I worked with when I worked here in 1999. His name is Jay. He and his girlfriend were here visiting. I sat outside and talked with Andrea for a while. I headed back into the office until dinner. We gathered in the lodge to get some food. It was fun to catch up with some people and hear about what they had been up to all day. After dinner I got a soda and some dessert. It was great. I wandered around camp for a while. Jay and his girlfriend were still here. They were talking to Zach Vanderwall. I went over to where they were standing and said hi to Jay. It was good to see him. We all had a nice time talking and catching up. It was fun listening to Jay and Zach talk about their past adventures. After a while Mindy wanted to use my computer so I came into the office and logged on to my computer for her to use. Then I went back outside. Jay and Zach talked till about 9:30 pm. Then Zach headed home. I came back to my computer to type up my blog. I also checked some things on the internet. I talked with some people in the office. When I finished my blog I was going to call my parents, but it was too late. I shut down my computer and headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what adventures were in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 29 7/18/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 29 7/18/2010

My camp bighorn adventure continues. My day began at 8:00 am. I got up and got cleaned up and ready for the day. When I finished getting ready it was time for breakfast. We all gathered in the lodge to get some food. We enjoyed some great food and fellowship. After breakfast I finished getting ready. Then I went through the reading in my devotional book for Saturday. Then it was time to leave for church. I drove my truck to church because I did not want to ride in the van. I followed the vans to church. We got to church at about 10:45 am. I am really enjoying the CMA church. Most of the camp staff attends that church. The service was really great. The music, the message, and the fellowship were amazing. After church I stopped at the store to pick up some more soda. I also got a box of cereal. When I was done at the store I headed back to camp. I parked by the lodge so I could put my soda in my mini fridge in the lodge basement. When I finished that I drove my truck to the staff parking lot and parked there. I put the cereal I bought in my cabin. I had the day off, so after church I had nothing planned. I started my laundry just before lunch. Then I headed to the lodge to get some food. After lunch I came into the office and used my computer and checked some things on the internet. I continued doing laundry. I listened to music on my ipod and rested for a while. When I woke up from my nap I finished my laundry. Then I went back to my cabin and rested for a while longer. I woke up around 5:30 pm. I came back to the office and used my computer for a while. I played some games and checked e-mail and facebook. Then it was time for dinner. We all gathered in the lodge for food. After dinner I came back to my computer and typed up my blog entry from a previous day. When I finished typing and posting my entry I went to the lodge to watch the movie “UP”. A bunch of the staff gathered up stairs in the lodge to watch the movie. We all had a great time watching the movie. After the movie I came back to my computer and typed up my blog entry from the day before. I was going to call my parents when I finished my blog. However, my blog took longer to type then I thought. By the time I finished my blog entry in was almost time for curfew. I finished my entry and shut down my computer. Then I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. It was nice to be able to rest. I went to sleep thinking about all the adventures that were in store for all of us in the days ahead. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 28 7/17/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 28 7/17/2010

The adventure continues. I slept in until 9:00 am. It was great to get to sleep in a bit. I got the mail out and then went to the lodge for breakfast. After breakfast I came into the office and used my computer and waited for the mail to arrive. I posted my blog entry from the day before. The mail came at around 10:00 am. I got the mail sorted and distributed. After I finished with the mail I went back to my cabin to take a nap. I was not feeling very well after breakfast. So I went back to bed and slept until noon. I woke up and got ready for the day. My family group was on from1:00 pm to 6:00 pm. We were in charge of getting lunch ready. I went to the lodge at 1:00 pm to help with lunch. I got the tables set, the plates and silverware out, and the water pitchers filled and on the tables. Then it was about time for lunch. We all had a great time of fellowship around the tables. After lunch I helped with the dishes. I helped put all the dishes away. When we finished in the kitchen I wandered around camp and talked with people for a while. Then I came into the office and used my computer and checked some things on the internet. Then at about 4:45 I went back to the kitchen to help Sarah with dinner prep. When we finished in the kitchen we were pretty much done for the day. I came back to the office until about 6:00 pm. I played some games on my computer and checked some other things. Then I went to my cabin and rested for a while. I got up in time for dinner. We all gathered in the lodge for a dinner of leftovers. Before dinner I decided I wanted to go get some ice cream at the Circle drive-in after dinner. I asked Mindy if she wanted to go with me. I got permission from Josh to go after dinner. So after dinner Mindy and I headed into Plains to get some ice cream. We had a good time. The ice cream was great. We headed back to camp when we were finished. We got back to camp around 9:00 pm. There was a dance in the lodge starting at 9:30 pm. everyone had fun trying out different types of dances. I stayed at the dance for a while. Then I headed to the office to call my parents. We had a good talk. We talked for quite a while. It was good to talk with them and get caught up on what is going on at home. I told them all about what had happened at camp for the last couple days. After we got off the phone I shut down my computer and headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I got ready and went to bed. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 27 7/16/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 27 7/16/2010

My day began at 7:30 with devotions. We all gathered in the lodge to meet up with our family groups. My group met up stairs in the lodge. We talked about how the week went and what we had all been doing. It was interesting to hear about everyone’s week and what God has been teaching all of us. After devotions I went back to my cabin and got cleaned up and ready for the day. When I was ready for the day I got the mail out and headed to the lodge to get some breakfast. We all enjoyed some great food and fellowship around the table. After breakfast I came into the office and worked at my computer. I sorted and distributed the mail. When I finished with the mail I joined the staff gathering on the lodge steps. We talked about how everyone’s week went. It was fun to hear some stories about what happened during the week. Then we all gathered in a huge circle and said two things God helped us with this week at camp. It was cool to hear what everyone said. At the end we all gathered and sang the doxology twice. It was a great way to end the meeting. After the meeting I headed back to the office organized and sorted pictures from the week and post them in an album on the camp facebook page. While the pictures were loading into the facebook photo album I answered phones and worked on thank you notes. I wrote thank you notes to eight of my supporters. It is nice to know that my friends and family are supportive of my work here at camp. I finished writing my thank you notes just before lunch. I put the notes in the mail box in the staff lounge. Then I got some food. It was nice to catch up with some people and hear about what they had been up to in the morning. After lunch I came back to the office and used my computer and checked e-mail and facebook. At a little after 3:00 pm my family group headed over to Jeremy and Sarah Freeman’s apartment. We gathered at their house for a while and had dessert and talked for a bit. Then the others went down to the river and I went back to camp to get some rest. I went through my devotional reading for the day. Then I went to my cabin to take a nap. It was nice to get some extra rest. I woke up and decided I wanted to go to Subway for dinner. I told Mindy I was thinking about going to Subway. She asked if she could come with me. So we got permission to leave and headed out to get some food. We had a good time. It was nice to talk and catch up with each other for a bit. After we ate we headed back to camp. We got back to camp at around 8:30 pm. When we got back I talked with some people for a while. Then I headed to the office to type up my blog from the day before. I checked some things on the internet. Then I typed up my blog. When I finished typing my blog I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us in the days ahead. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 26 7/15/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 26 7/15/2010

My day began at 7:30 with active devotions. We all gathered in the lodge to go through the reading for the day in our devotional books. Then we headed out to the field to play some games. We played a group game of rock, paper, and scissors. Then we played a game of freeze tag. I did not intend to play. However, Dave said that if he saw anyone just standing around they would automatically be tagged. So I ended up running around for about 20 minutes. I was tired when we were done but it was nice to run around for a while. After devotions I went back to my cabin and got ready for the day. We had an Administration team meeting at 8:45 am. We met to catch up on how the week was going for everyone and to talk about what we would all be doing during the day. It was a good meeting. It’s always interesting to hear what other people have been up to during the week. After our meeting I got the mail out before heading to the lodge to get some breakfast. After breakfast I came back to the office and worked at my computer for a while. I checked e-mail and facebook. I waited for the mail to be delivered. When the mail came I sorted and distributed it. Sorting the mail is fun. I like to see who gets what in the mail everyday. When I finished with the mail I came back to the office to cover the phones. I went down to the ropes course to take some pictures of the groups down there. I was not there for very long because my camera battery died. So I came back to the office and covered the phones until lunch. Sarah and I did inventory in the camp store just before lunch. Then we headed to the lodge to get some food. We all enjoyed a good time of food and fellowship around the tables. It was fun to hear about what people had been up to in the morning. The store was open after lunch. I help with the tabs for people who had them. I also directed traffic in and out of the store. Working in the store is really fun. It is cool to see who comes into the store and what they buy. When I finished in the store I came back to the office and worked at my computer for a while. I typed up and posted my blog entry from the day before. When I finished my blog entry I went outside to get some fresh air at about 4:00 pm. I was only going to be outside for a few minutes. I ended up talking with Beth until a little after 6:00 pm. We had a really great talk. She is recovering from a back injury. She has to take it easy for a while. We talked about how she was feeling and how her back was doing. We talked for a long time. It was nice to talk with her for a while. When we were done talking I came back into the office and used my computer and answered phones until dinner. We all gathered in the lodge for some food. We all had a good time reconnecting and catching up after a busy day. Tom and Terry Collins were at camp for dinner. It is always great to see them. After dinner Terry reintroduced me to an old friend of my parents and me. His name is Terry Hollister. It was good to see him. Terry Collins told him I was working at camp. She said I was on permanent staff. I said I was on permanent staff for the summer. After I talked with them for a while it was about time for chapel. Before I went to chapel I got a soda and had some dessert. One of the groups was having a campfire for chapel. So I headed up to the fire pit around 8:30 pm. We had a great time of prayer, praise, and worship around the campfire. It was great to hear how God worked in the lives of the entire group during the week. After chapel we roasted marshmallows and made smores. They were great. I headed back to camp at 9:45 pm. I came into the office and called my parents. I left a message for them and used my computer while I waited for them to call me back. I was about to head out of the office and go to bed when the phone rang. I talked with my parents for a while. They both are doing very well. It’s nice to talk with them and get updates on what is happening at home. We had a really good talk. When I got off the phone I shut down my computer and headed to bed. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 25 7/14/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 25 7/14/2010

My day began with devotions at 7:30 am. We all gathered in the lodge to go through the reading in our devotional books for the day. After devotions and announcements I went back to my cabin to get ready for the day. When I finished getting ready I got the mail out and headed to the lodge to get some breakfast. We had French toast, it was great. We all enjoyed food and fellowship with each other. After breakfast I came into the office and finished up my blog entry for the day before. I had most of it already written. I just turned the detailed outline I wrote into a blog entry. After I finished my blog I sorted and distributed the mail. When I finished with the mail I went down to the ropes course to take pictures of the groups who were going through the course. Taking pictures of the different events is really fun. It’s cool to just walk around and observe and take pictures of what is happening in and around the different groups. I came back to the office around 11:30 am. It was a pretty quiet day in the office. I helped get receipt letters ready to mail. I folded the letters and also put a bunch in envelopes. I found several letters that were to people who are supporting me. So I recorded the amount of each gift on the letters I have from my supporters. It’s cool to know that people are supporting and praying for all of us here at camp. After I finished with the letters I made a list of my supporters to use for writing thank you notes. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered in the lodge to get some food. After lunch I came back to the office and worked at my computer and answered the phone. Jeremy and Sarah were in a meeting for most of the afternoon. I hung around in the office and used my computer to check e-mail and facebook, read for a while, and answered the phones. I was in the office for the afternoon until a little after 6:00 pm. When Jeremy and Sarah were done with their meeting and back to the office I went to my cabin to take a nap until dinner. It was nice to get some extra rest at the end of the day. I woke up in time for dinner. We all gathered in the lodge for some great food and fellowship. The store was open after dinner. So I helped Jeremy run the store. I was mostly in charge of directing traffic in and out of the store. The store was really busy. It’s fun to see who comes into the store and what kind of stuff they buy. The store was open until about 8:00 pm. When we finished in the store I went to get a soda and some candy for dessert. I talked with some people in the lodge for a little while. Chapel started at 8:30 pm. I went to one of the junior high chapels. It was fun to hear what the kids and leaders had been up to all day. They played some games and then gathered up to talk about their experiences during the day. It is always really great to see how God is working in the hearts and lives of the people who come to camp. After chapel I came into the office to check my e-mail and called home to talk to my parents. We had a really good talk. I got a little update on what is going on with some of my family. My brother and his wife will be moving to Florida sometime very soon. The engineering company my brother works for has offices in Florida and the company wants him to start working in Florida as soon as possible. That is very exciting news for my family. I talked with my parents for a while. When I got off the phone I talked with Andrea for a while. We had a good talk. She is a really cool person. When we finished talking I went to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for all of us in the days ahead. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 24 7/13/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 24 7/13/2010

The adventure continues. I woke up at 7:15 am. We all gathered for active devotions from 7:30 to 8:15. After devotions I went back to my cabin to get ready for the day. The Administration team had a meeting at 8:45. After our meeting I got the mail out before breakfast. Then I headed into the lodge to get some food. After breakfast I came back to the office and began sorting and organizing pictures. I posted a blog entry for the day before, I Checked some things on my computer, and answered phones. I made some photo albums of the pictures for the camp facebook page. I spent most of the morning in the office working on the picture project. We all gathered in the lodge for lunch. It was nice to catch up on what people had been up to in the morning. The store was open after lunch. I helped Sarah run the store. I took care of the tabs for the people who have them. The store was very busy with all the campers and staff we have here this week. The store was open from about 2:30 to 3:30 pm. It was fun to help in the store once I got the hang of what I was supposed to do. When we finished in the store for the afternoon I headed back to the office to finish working on organizing the pictures. I got everything on the camp hard drive organized and put into albums on facebook. I really enjoy looking through all the pictures and organizing them into folders and albums. I was pretty much in the office from 4:00 pm until dinner. I answered phones and took a few messages. Judy went through the camp mail and found letters and donations for me from five people. It was nice to get that mail. I will work on the thank you notes for those people as soon as I can. I listened to music on my ipod. I played some games on my computer. I went out side for a little while to get some fresh air. Then it was time for dinner. We all gathered in the lodge for some great food and fellowship. The store was open again after dinner. I helped Jeremy run the store this time because Sarah had already gone home for the day. The store was packed with people again after dinner. The store was open from about 7:30 to 8:30 pm. After we finished in the store I went to get a soda and some candy for dessert. There was a junior high chapel up stairs in the lodge so I went up stairs to join them. Everyone had a great time at chapel. The kids talked about some of the challenges they faced in the events they participated in for the day. It was interesting to hear what some of the kids thought about what they had been through during the day. After chapel I came into the office to call home to talk to my parents. We had a good talk. They seem to be doing well. My parents are really great people. It is always good to talk with them. When I got off the phone with them I came back to my computer and checked some things on the internet. I am now typing up my blog entry for today. It is about time for me to head to bed. I wonder what is in store for all of us tomorrow More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 23 7/12/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 23 7/12/2010

My day began with devotions at 7:30 am. We all gathered in the lodge to go through the devotional reading for the day. After devotions Luke announced what everyone’s jobs would be for this week at camp. After announcements I went back to my cabin to get cleaned up and ready for the day. When I was ready for the day I got the mail out and then headed to the lodge for breakfast. After I ate I came into the office and waited for the administration team meeting. We met around 10:00 am to go over our jobs for the week. I will mostly be taking care of getting pictures and organizing and posting them on facebook and the camp website. I will also be answering phones, taking care of the mail, and helping with the camp store. My job description does not change much from week to week. It’s fun to be involved with some different things around camp. After our meeting I sorted and distributed the mail. Then I came back to my computer to work on organizing pictures. I got all the pictures on my computer organized and sorted into folders. For most of the day I sorted pictures and posted some of them on my facebook page. I worked on the pictures until lunchtime. We all gathered in the lodge to get some food. After lunch I came back to the office and worked on pictures for a while. Then Sarah and I went to the camp store to restock some things. It’s fun to help in the camp store. Sarah showed me how to use the store tabs for the people who have them. When we finished in the store I came back to the office for a little bit. I went to my cabin to take a nap around 4:00 pm. It was nice to get some extra rest. I woke up at about 5:45 pm. I came into the office until dinner. I finished putting all the pictures I was working with on the camp hard drive. Then it was time for dinner. We have three groups coming to camp this week. All of these groups arrived in time for dinner on Monday night. We have two camps going on this week and a work group here for the week. The lodge was full of people for dinner. It was great to see so many new faces here at camp. After dinner I got a soda and came back to the office and typed up a blog entry for a previous day. When I finished my blog I went back to the lodge to see what was going on there. The Junior High group was having chapel upstairs in the lodge so I joined them. It was fun to observe a new group of campers. The whole group was really excited to be here. They have never been to Bighorn before. They played some games and then talked about some of the goals they had for themselves while they are here at camp. It was great to hear most of the people who commented said their goal for the week was to get closer to God. After chapel I went to my cabin to get ready for bed. It was cold and windy all day and so I wanted to bundle up in some warmer clothes. When I was ready for bed I came back into the office and typed up my blog entry for the day before. I also checked some things on the internet. When I finished typing my blog I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. Before I went to sleep I talked with some of the girls in my cabin. We had a nice talk. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for all of us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 22 7/11/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 22 7/11/2010

My Camp Bighorn adventure continues. I woke up at 8:00 am and got cleaned up and ready for church. Then it was time for breakfast. We all gathered in the lodge to enjoy some time of fellowship around the table and some wonderful cinnamon rolls. After breakfast I finished getting ready and went through my devotional reading for the day. We all piled in the vans and headed to church around 10:30am. Most of the camp staff went to the CMA church. When we got to church the first person I saw was Cathy Logan. I had not seen her in a long time. It was nice to catch up with her for a little bit. Cathy and her husband Todd worked at Camp Bighorn for many years. Todd was the cook and Cathy was in charge of the dinning hall and I think she ran the camp store as well. As I walked into the sanctuary I saw Todd standing in the back talking. I waited for him to finish talking and then went over and said hi. It was really great to see Todd and Cathy. They are two of my favorite people. Church was good. I really enjoyed the worship time. The sermon was also good. The pastor talked about what the bible says about government. When church was over we all waited around for the vans to pick us up and go back to camp. While I waited I talked with Tom and Terry Collins. It’s always good to see them. After a little transportation mix up we all got back to camp. I went into the lodge to help get lunch ready. I got the tables set and the dishes and silverware and water out. Then it was about time for lunch. We all gathered for sandwiches. After lunch my team met up to divide up the work for the rest of the day. After our meeting I went to my dorm to take a nap. It felt good to rest after a busy morning. I woke up around 4:45 pm. I checked with Josh to see if it was ok for me to go into plains to the grocery store for a little while. He said it was fine. I headed to the store about 5:00 pm. I had a little trouble finding the store. So I was gone longer than I intended. When I found the store I went in and bought some soda. Then I headed back to camp. I got back to camp at about 6:40 pm. I pulled in behind the lodge to take the soda I bought to my fridge in the basement of the lodge. While I was putting my soda in the fridge Jake came down and asked if he could put some soda in the fridge. There was a little bit of space left, so I told him he could put his soda in the fridge. When I was done with that I went and parked my truck in the staff parking lot. Then I headed to the lodge for dinner. After dinner I got a soda and came into the office and typed up a blog entry. When I finished I walked around camp for a while. People were playing games and talking. I came back to the office and called home to talk to my parents. We had a good talk. It is always nice to talk to them. They are both really glad to be home from their trip. We talked until it was about time for me to get to bed. After I got off the phone I went to the lodge to see what was going on in there. Then I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us in the days ahead. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 21 7/10/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 21 7/10/2010

The adventure continues. I had the day off so I slept in until 8:45 am. It was nice to get some extra rest. I got up and got my stuff together for getting ready for the day and went to the guest room to meet up with my parents. My parents were already up and ready and packing the car to go home. I left my stuff in the guest room and went to take care of the mail. I got the mail out before breakfast. Then I headed to the lodge to get some food. I met up with my parents for breakfast. It was nice to have them here for a short visit. After breakfast my parents got ready to head home. They left camp around 10:00 am. We said our goodbyes and they were on their way home. After they left I felt a little bit homesick. I really wanted to go home with them. Fortunately the homesickness did not last very long. I got the mail sorted and distributed and then I went and got cleaned up and ready for the day. I had a very quiet day at camp. When I was ready for the day I came into the office and worked at my computer for a while. I checked e-mail and facebook and some other things. I wrote up two of my blog entries for previous days. I listened to music on my ipod. After I finished typing up my blog entries I checked some things on the internet. I played some games on facebook. I talked with some people in the office. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered in the lodge to get some food. After lunch I came back to the office and used my computer for a while. I read a new Ravi Zacharias book my parents brought me for a while. The book is very interesting. After I read for a while I went to my cabin to take a nap. I had a very restful day. It was very nice. I woke up around 5:30 pm. I was pretty much in and out of the office until dinner at 7:00 pm. We all gathered in the lodge for dinner. After dinner I came back to the office and typed up my blog entry for the day before. When I finished typing up my blog I called home. I talked to my mom for a while. She was glad to be home after being gone for two weeks. They got home on Saturday afternoon. We had a great talk. After I got off the phone with my mom I headed over to the lodge to see what was going on there. I talked with some people outside for a while until we were sick of the mosquitoes. We went inside the lodge. Samantha and I sat down at one of the tables in the lodge and had a good long talk. We talked about the camping trip we had all just come back from. It was fun to talk about our different experiences on the same trip. I told her about some of the challenges I had when I was a kid. I told her about having back surgery when I was nine years old. We talked until it was time for me to get to bed. It was nice to talk with her for awhile. After we talked I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what adventures were in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 20 7/9/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 20 7/9/2010

The adventure continues. The last day of our camping trip began with devotions at 9:00 am. It was nice to sleep in a bit. After devotions we all got packed up and ready for breakfast. When breakfast was ready we all gathered to get something to eat. The rest of the group was going mountain biking for the day. Beth and I headed back to camp early because she had an appointment that afternoon and my parents were coming to visit me later that day. We got all packed up and ready to head back to camp. I was supposed to drive one of the vans to a check point for the bikers. However, I was really not comfortable doing that. I have never driven a fifteen passenger van before. I was also not comfortable driving on dusty, narrow, mountain roads. So I told Andrea I was not comfortable driving. She said that was not a problem. She talked to Luke and they came up with a different plan. Beth and I headed back to camp around 11:00. We had a nice trip back to camp. We talked a lot about running and coaching track and cross country. It was nice to get to know each other a little better. Beth is a really cool person. We got back to camp a little after noon. I got all my stuff out of Beth’s car. She helped me get my stuff back to my cabin. I got settled in a little bit. Then I went and got cleaned up. It felt good to get clean after our adventure packed camping trip. When I was cleaned up and ready to go I went to Subway for lunch. I was so hungry by the time I got to Subway. My BLT, chips, and soda tasted great. I had a nice relaxing meal. It was nice to have some down time after going non stop for the last few days. When I was done at Subway I headed back to camp. I got about to camp around 3:30 pm. I got all my stuff put away in my dorm. I came into the office and called my parents. They were about an hour and a half from camp. When I got off the phone with them I typed up a blog entry from a previous day. I checked e-mail and facebook and some other things. My group got back to camp about 5:00 pm. So I met up with them. They were getting everything unpacked and put away. My parents got to camp a little while later. It was great to see them. They were on the way home after a two week road trip to Colorado. They spent the night here at camp and would go home the next morning. They brought me some things I forgot at home. They met some of the people I a working with. We had a great visit. They brought me some gifts from some friends they visited in Colorado. We got all caught up with each other then it was time for dinner. At dinner I showed my mom some of the pictures I have taken around camp. It was fun to share those pictures with her. After dinner my parents and I visited with some of the other staff. We had ice cream for dessert. It tasted great. I had a short meeting with my group to decide who was going to help with breakfast and lunch on Sunday. After my meeting I caught up with my parents and we talked for a while. There was a movie playing up stairs in the lodge. My mom and I watched the movie for a little bit. Then we went into the guest room where they were staying and talked until I had to go to bed. My mom and I had a great talk. I have really missed her. She is one of my best friends. I can talk to her about anything. I had a great talk with both my mom and dad. They are really great people. After we talked for a while I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what adventures were in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 19 7/8/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 19 7/8/2010

Day two of our wilderness adventure trip began with devotions at 8:30 am. We went through the reading for the day in our devotional books. After devotions we all got our stuff packed up and ready to go. Then it was time for breakfast. We had blueberry muffins, fruit, yogurt, and hot cereal for breakfast. It was all great. After breakfast we gathered up the rest of our stuff, cleaned up the camp site, and piled into the vans to go rafting. The drive to our put in spot took about an hour. We were all very excited to go rafting. We rafted down the Alberton Gorge. This part of the trip was much more relaxing then the hike the day before. We used four rafts with five people in each raft. Everyone had a great time. We got on the river at around noon. Everyone else paddled the boats and I sat in the middle of my boat and took pictures of our adventure down the river. I did not want to paddle because I was not sure I could keep up with everyone else. That was ok with everyone. So I became the trip photographer. We started down the river and hit the first set of rapids pretty quickly. I had never rafted in really big rapids before. It was very exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Every time the water was quiet we would all gather up in our boats and someone would start a water fight. I got caught in the crossfire of every water fight because I was sitting in the middle of the boat. As we continued down the river through the rapids I got pummeled by at least three huge waves that came right over the top of the boat. I also got hit be waves on either side of the boat throughout the entire trip. There is something exhilarating about being hit by huge waves of ice cold river water. This whole trip was so much fun. On one of the last rapids we hit right before lunch, I got knocked backwards into the boat by a huge wave. I tried to maintain my balance, but I was not successful. The corner of the boat I was sitting in tipped up and I got thrown backward, the next thing I knew I was on my back at the bottom of the boat. Then I heard Andrea say, “We’ll get you up in a minute Sara.” I said I was ok and I just sat in the bottom of the boat for a minute. Then I found my way back to my seat. After that we stopped for some of the people in our group to go cliff jumping. When people finished cliff jumping we continued a little ways down the river and then stopped for lunch. We stopped for lunch at a small river creek. We all ate and rested on the beach for a while. After we rested a while it was time to finish the rafting trip. We switched up who was in each raft and headed back down the river. On the last part of the trip a huge water fight / war broke out between the four boats. I also got caught in the crossfire of this “battle”. People were jumping from boat to boat and trying to get others in the water or in other boats. I tired to stay out of the way of all of this. However, I got stepped on and one of the guys almost fell directly on me. It was fun to watch everyone attack each other with water. They all had lots of fun. I wanted to go swimming for a little bit so I got out of the way of everyone and jumped into the river and went swimming. I told my mom I would go swimming for her. After I was in the water a few minutes I was ready to get back in the boat. Andrea tried to pull me back into the boat by my arms two different times. My momentum was not quite right so that did not work. She pulled me up by my life jacket and got me back into the boat. It was great to get back into the boat after swimming in the river. We rafted a little farther until we got to the take out point. That whole rafting trip was really fun. We got all of the rafts out of the water and back on the trailer and headed back to camp for dinner. When we got to the camp site I got changed into some dry clothes. When dinner was ready we all gather to get something to eat. It was fun to eat and talk. We roasted marshmallows and had smores for dessert. They were great. I sat around the camp fire and talked for a while. Then we got the air mattress ready and I set up my bed. I was ready to rest. I went to bed around 10:30. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 18 7/7/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 18 7/7/2010

The adventure continues. My day began with devotions at 7:30 am. We all gathered in the lodge to go through the devotional reading for the day. After devotions I got cleaned up and ready for the day. I went back to my cabin to pack for our three day camping trip. The staff was broken up into three groups for the trip. My group was hiking first. I got packed and got the mail out before breakfast. We all gathered in the lodge for some food. After breakfast we packed up the vans and headed out on our trip. My group drove to the Idaho/Montana state line to hike the state line trail down to the Bonanza lakes. The hike was six miles round trip. It was harder than I thought it was going to be. The first two miles in were not that bad. I was feeling pretty good about the hike in the beginning. It was fun to be on the trip with some of the other camp staff. We stopped every once in a while to rest and take some pictures. Everyone was have a great time. The first two miles of the hike took us about two hours. We stopped for lunch at the two mile point. I was already feeling tired at that point. It was nice to rest a while and get something to eat. After we ate lunch and rested we hiked the last mile down to the lake. That is when the hike got more difficult. That part of the trail is all down hill going to the lake. The terrain is very rocky and somewhat unstable. Andrea Underhill helped me walk down most of that way. My legs and ankles were really tired and sore at this point. It was fun to be out with everyone, but I was getting really tired. We finally got down to the lake. I was ready to rest for a while. Some people swam in the lake. Others tried to do some fishing. Some of the guys built a raft. They paddled the raft across the lake. It was falling apart as they were trying to cross the lake. When we got to the lake I wrote up my blog entry for the day before. I would type and post that entry when I got back to camp. After I finished my blog entry I went back and sat by the lake for a while. We stayed at the lake until about 5:00 pm. Then we gathered up and headed back to the trail to hike three miles up from the lake. The first mile going back was mostly up hill. I had a really hard time walking the second half of the hike. We had not been hiking very long when I had to stop and rest. Everyone was behind me, so I felt like I needed to move a bit faster. I told the people behind me that they could go around me if they wanted to. Eventually people started getting around me. Everyone was very accommodating and encouraging to me. I am used to getting left behind in situations that require athletic or physical ability. I was not left alone on the entire hike. It was nice to feel like a part of the group even though I was so tired. I honestly thought I could not go any farther. I got really discouraged and said I can’t do this. I knew I had to get back to the beginning of the trail. I just felt so tired I did not know how I could. By the grace of God and through strength that only came from Him I was able to finish the hike. Once we finished the first mile back out and got to the top of the hill the last two miles were not that bad. I was still moving pretty slowly. I was trying to focus on the scenery and the conversation going on behind me and not on the pain I was in. We finally got the beginning of the trail. By then I was more than ready to sit and rest for a while. Sarah took a picture of me with my walking stick I used for most of the hike. Jeremy, Sarah, and Andrea were all very proud of me for finishing the hike. I gave Andrea and Sarah hugs and Jeremy a high five. I was also pretty proud of my self for accomplishing that difficult task. We all piled into the vans and headed to our camp site for the night. We got to our camp site around 10:00 pm. We had dinner between 10:30 and 11:00 pm. I was so sore I could hardly walk. I hobbled around and got my stuff out of the van and got ready for bed. I shared an air mattress with one of the other girls on summer staff. It felt really good to lie down and rest. Beth and I talked for a while until dinner was ready. We had hamburgers and chips for dinner. They were very good. I ate my dinner on my bed because I could not get around very well. After dinner Beth and I talked for a while then went to sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 17 7/6/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 17 7/6/2010

My Bighorn adventure continues. I had the day off so I spelt in until 9:00 am. I got up and dressed and got the mail out before heading to the lodge for breakfast. We all gathered in the lodge for pancakes. They were great. After breakfast I sorted and distributed the mail. I used my computer for a while to check e-mail and facebook. I answered some e-mails. Then I went back to my cabin to do my laundry. I went back to the office and worked on my computer while I waited for my laundry to finish. I listened to music on my ipod. I typed up my blog entry from the day before. When I finished my blog I switched my laundry from the washer to the drier. I listened to my ipod until lunchtime. We all gathered in the lodge to get some food. After lunch I finished up my laundry. I wanted to make sure all my clothes were clean before our camping trip. I went back to the office to check some things on my computer. When my clothes were all clean and folded I went back to my cabin to take a rest. It was nice to get some extra rest on a quiet day at camp. I woke up about 5:30 pm. I decided I wanted to go to Subway for dinner. I checked with Jen in the office to see if it was ok for me to leave camp for a while. I left camp around 6:00 pm. I listened to Adventures in Odyssey on my way into Plains. It was only half over when I got to Subway. So I listened to the rest of the show. Then I went in and got something to eat. I had a nice quiet meal. It was nice to get away from camp for a while. I headed back to camp at 7:15 pm. I got to listen to Ravi Zacharias on the way back to camp. That was really great. I got back to camp at 7:30 pm. I headed to the lodge to let people know I was back. I went outside and sat on the lodge steps and talked with Mindy and Beth for a while. We had a great talk. After we talked for a while I went up stairs in the lodge to watch a movie. Then I headed back to the office to call my parents. I had a good talk with both my mom and dad. When I got off the phones with them I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to bad thinking about what was in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 16 7/5/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 16 7/5/2010

I am just beginning my third week here at Camp Bighorn. We did not have staff devotions in the morning so I slept in till 9:00 am. It was great to get some extra sleep. I got the mail out before heading to the lodge for breakfast. After breakfast we all gathered up stairs in the lodge for a meeting about the plan for the week. We don’t have any camps here this week, so all the staff is going on a mini wilderness adventure camping trip. We leave camp Wednesday morning and return on Friday evening. Everyone is excited about this trip. We will be hiking, rafting, biking, and camping out. After our meeting my team met up to talk about what everyone was going to be doing that day. I volunteered to be on the kitchen crew for dinner. It was a pretty quiet day around camp. I just relaxed most of the day because I was not committed to anything until dinner. Family groups five and six met up to talk about what we needed to do to get ready for the camping trip. After the meetings I came back to the office and waited for the mail to come. I forgot that there was not mail that day because it was the holiday. So I went and got the mail out of the mail box. I was in the office for a while in the morning. I worked at my computer and answered the phone. I got a blog entry typed up and posted. Jeremy, Sarah, and I met up for a bit to talk about the upcoming camping trip. They asked me if I was planning to go on the trip. I told them I was planning to go. I will be coming back early on Friday with one of the other girls on staff. After I met with Jeremy and Sarah I went to my cabin to rest before lunch. Then I headed to the lodge to get some food. After lunch I came back to the office for a while. I used my computer to check e-mail and facebook. I typed up my blog entry for the day before. I was in the office until about 5:00 pm. Then I went back to my cabin to rest until I needed to be in the lodge to help with dinner. I got up around 6:00 pm and headed to the lodge to help in the kitchen. I helped get some of the things ready for dinner. We had great Mexican food. We all met in the lodge to eat and reconnect with each other. It was fun to hear about what people had been up to all day. I went into the kitchen to help with the dishes, that was a fun but some what tiring job. The store was open after dinner. I missed it because I was in the kitchen putting away the dishes. When I finished in the kitchen I got a soda out of my truck. I got some ice for it out of the kitchen. It was a nice treat after working in the kitchen. After dinner we gathered upstairs in the lodge to watch the movie “Cool Runnings.” I had not seen this movie in a long time. It was fun to watch with everyone. After the movie we talked about some of the lessons we learned from the film. When we finished I went to my cabin to get my phone card, then went to the office to call my parents. When I came in Jeremy told me that my mom called a little while ago. I called her back. We had a nice talk. I was really missing my family while we were talking. While we talked my mom helped me to calm down a bit. I told her I am still struggling with getting adjusted to life at camp because it’s so different around here. I don’t really know people here like I used to. That makes the adjustment harder than I thought it would be. My mom is proud of me for working at camp even though it is hard at times. I also talked with my dad for a while. We had a good talk. It was nice to talk to both my mom and dad. They are having a good time on their trip in Colorado. When I got off the phone with them I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I prayed and went to sleep thinking about what was in store for the next day. More on that later…