growing up w. grier, ardynn, & annistyn: May 22, 2011

Thursday, May 26

workin’ it in buena vista

We spent the past week working at Young Life’s Trail West Family Camp…. let me rephrase… Ardy & I spent the week playing… mommy & daddy (and our other friends) spent the week working their tooshies off getting the camp ready for campers over the summer months. It was nothing short of memorable for our little family. We are already planning our trip back next year.

We pulled out of town last Wednesday & spent a day and a half driving to Buena Vista, Colorado. My little eyes have never seen so many pretty sights (and it has been a while since my buns have ridden so far in a car seat). While on the road, I could hardly sleep… I was thoroughly entertained by the humongo windmills, the snowcapped mountains, and the people rafting down the river rapids.

While at camp, we stayed in a HUGE cabin (just down from the main lodge) with several other families that had kiddos about our age. The view from our cabin and room was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before… big snowy mountains, mule deer, and chipmunks. We experienced cold, sunny mornings, followed by snow & rain almost every afternoon. Each day, we’d wake up bright ‘n’ early for a group breakfast at 7.30am… play with our friends while the big peeps went to work… eat lunch with mom & dad & the whole group of workers… go back for a short nap & more playtime, while the big peeps worked some more… eat dinner as a group and finally… my favorite part of the days were when we’d sing, dance, and shout to the Lord at club each night before bedtime. Ardynn & I made some really good little friends and we were excited to see them every morning.

Dad, mom, and the rest of our crew (Ms. Sue, Jason, Dundy, Mark, Anna, & Casey) were in charge of several daunting tasks… cleaning up the camp’s trout pond, building a new b-b gun range, and choppin’ & hauling a ton of fallen trees/brush in an Aspen Tree Grove near the pond. They’d come in bushed (pun intended) every day, because of the crazy hard work they had done. Despite the challenging tasks, it seems that everyone in our group is already gearing up for next year’s trip!

One afternoon, the big peeps got a break from work & I got to go trout fishing with my Daddio. First, we dug some worms out of the little ice-cold creek and then after only a few minutes of waiting with my freshly-dug wormy in the water…. a big fat trout (a whopping 2 pounder) hooked himself right onto my line. I ~~slowly~~ excitedly reeled him in and dad picked him up, so that I could take a photo with him. Woo Hoo!!… I got 3 trout that afternoon, beating my daddy, who couldn’t manage to score any himself :o).

The weather was a nice break from our 90 degree Texas summer. The temperatures peaked in the 50s just about every day and would dip down into the 30s at night. We were able to get some more wear out of our coats, hats, & boots! What a fantastic experience we had as a family… working for & learning about God with other Godly people in such a beautiful part of our God-blessed country! We are so very thankful that we were able to take the time out of our crazy lives to spend some time together as a little family. Watch out Trail West… we’re coming back with more people next year!

on the way to Buena Vista & on the way home… we stopped for the night in Raton, NM