Church Retreat 2007

A few weekends ago, we had the pleasure of enjoying a wonderful weekend at Twin Rocks on our all-church retreat. For an early November day at the Oregon coast, the weather was spectacularly atypical: very little wind, very few clouds, and lots of sun. What a great way to introduce Amalija to the beauty of the Oregon coast than days like this. After our nuclear family had had our fill of sand and waves, we returned to the camp, but Amalija stayed behind for much longer, looking very much awed by the sight of ceaseless waves and sounds of crashing surf.


<- During our free time on Friday evening, Jolee and Amalija enjoy shooting a game of pool, as well as other activities in the shelter.

On Saturday afternoon, Alan and Michelle took a little hike up the mountain and took a picture on top of one of the big stumps. ->


Saturday evening ended pretty quietly for our family. Behind the shelter is a little fire pit where we gathered with friends to sit and enjoy each other's company, listen to a little guitar music, and feel the warmth the flickering flames. I love the light from a fire. It casts dancing shadows and never makes anyone or anything around it look the same twice. The orange glow of each person's face is quiet and beautiful. I can't know what each one might be thinking, but I know I can get lost in thought, mesmerized by the fire.

The Cup Game as Brynn tells me it is called, became quite an attraction in the Dining Hall. Several girls, and eventually even some adults, were in on the action. The rhythm, while seeming complex, is apparently pretty easy to master, and is always the same. (I suggested they should make up new ones...) Though, it is also easy to mis-handle the cup and send it flying across the table, after which there is scrambling to get a new cup in the game. It looked like all the girls, women, and spectators were having a great time.

It was good to see some pictures of Michelle and Brynn hanging out together, too. While we spend a lot of time with our kids at home, it always seems like bonds are made stronger during times like a church retreat without homework and housework to deal with.

We've always known that Jolee is a much more active, outdoorsy-kind of girl than Brynn was. During some free time at camp, some of the boys found a large cache of newts, which, of course, they promptly caught and carried around with them. One boy in particular had made a pocket out of his shirt had must have had a dozen of them in there. Some were crawling out and up his arm, and he was having a blast. Jolee was very excited by how excited the boys were about these little creatures, but she herself did not want to play with them directly. Instead, she helped spot them in the pond and generally gave encouragement to the others.

We loved the time we got to spend with our church family. The church retreat is something we look forward to during the year. If you went, I hope it's as much fun for you too!

During the hike up Charlotte mountain, Michelle and I stopped to take some pictures of a few things in our natural surroundings which caught our eye. Well, actually, most of them were caught by Michelle's eye.