threesixfive, days 167 thru 180

another two week post! sorry. this will be the last one like this i think.

allen and i left two weeks ago on sunday to go down to a small town about an hour north of corpus christi where he directs two weeks of youth camps down there. this is his third year to be their camp director. last year i took the kids and went for one week, and had a great time.

this year, allens mom watched the kids the first week so i was down there with allen and was able to do some things around the camp to help allen and the staff. it was really cool to be a part of the team in that capacity and see what goes on behind the scenes. its a lot of work! the second week the kids joined us, so i wasnt near as much help, but we had a fun time swimming and hunting for bugs.

heres some of what i got...

sunday, day 167

we had to take jake to the snake sitters for the two weeks we would be gone. i think he enjoyed the car ride.



monday, day 168

my home away from home for the next two weeks!

tuesday, day 169

the camps not terribly spread out compared to some others ive been to, but we did a lot of running back and forth and it was pretty darn hot, so it was nice to have this to scoot around in.




wednesday, day 170

love to see teenagers worship!

thursday, day 171

thursday night we do something called extended worship. there are stations spread around the cafeteria that give the students different ways to express their worship to the Lord. butcher paper with markers laid out, and play-doh are a couple. its amazing to see what they come up with.

friday, day 172

allen and i rigged up a ghetto sun shade so we could sleep in saturday and sunday morning. duct tape+foil=complete and awesome darkness.

saturday, day 173

over the weekend, allen did a wedding about 30 minutes away from the camp (convenient!). it was one of the prettiest wedding ive been to. this is gaby, the flower girl. instead of throwing petals, she and the ring barer carried this sign. i love this idea!!

sunday, day 174

super cool old truck

monday, day 175

allen and i took a walk around camp and found some of these crazy thorn bushes on some back trails. made me think of the crown of thorns.

tuesday, day 176

one of the camp staffers has this nest in his front yard, on the ground! ive never seen anything like this before. if you got too close while the momma bird was around, she would try to lead you away and flop around on the ground like she was hurt.

wednesday, day 177

colby and molly helping collin out with the tape measurer

thursday, day 178

extended worship again tonight. i thought this was absolutely beautiful. this picture doesnt do it justice. one of the summer staff cut it out at the end of the night, and is going to frame it.

friday, day 179

on the way home friday we stopped at a cute cafe in new braunfels. they had lots of antiques and other cool stuff. i cant resist an elvis statue.

saturday, day 180

another wedding today! the grooms cake was a drumset! again, the picture doesnt do it justice. it was really cool.

we get to slow down a little bit this week. we're home for a couple weeks, then allen heads to new orleans for mission trip on the 17th. we've got a few things going on between now and then (allens birthday is the 14th!) but thankfully they're all in town and low key!

have a great week!

threesixfive, days 153 thru 166

two weeks of stuff! eek! i didnt get to post last week because we were at youth camp from friday to tuesday. rather than post late when we got back and not have anyone see it really, i decided to hold off and post the last two weeks as one entry. so this will be a long one!

sunday, day 153

we went to homefield grill for lunch after church. its a local place thats fast becoming one of our favorites.

monday, day 154

VBS week at church. monday night we went out in groups and hung hangers on doors in the surrounding neighborhoods to invite everyone.

tuesday, day 155

colby lost his other middle tooth. it wasnt quite ready to come out, but he was determined. lucky me, i got to be the one to do the dirty work. ick.

wednesday, day 156

i took the kids to the pool for a couple hours. no they are not laying out. theyre drying.

thursday, day 157

katie and i went to party city to get stuff for our rec team at camp. we had to try on a few masks while we were there. molly looks a little creepy in this one.

friday, day 158

me, april, and katie at dinner friday night. our first meal at youth camp!

saturday, day 159

kayaking during free time. i love it!!

sunday, day 160

representing the green team!!

monday, day 161

its our youth groups tradition to pray over the rec team, worship band, and speaker on the last night of camp each year. they give and give for weeks, and we want to be able to give back to them a little bit.

tuesday, day 162

about to head home! on the left is the cabin our group of girls stayed in. isnt it pretty! the view....not the cabin.

wednesday, day 163

i just realized i have a picture of each of my kids with a mask on. colbys is homemade, though. and he wore it all. day.

thursday, day 164

i took colby to the dr on thursday because hes been having frequent episodes of coughing and wheezing. they started him on asthma meds (daily inhaler and rescure inhaler for attacks). the kids were laying on the floor looking under the door while we were waiting for the dr to come in.

friday, day 165

molly and colby spent a lot of thursday and friday working on allens fathers day present. it involoved many colored pencils. thats all i can disclose at this time. :-)

saturday, day 166

we went to intimate life ministries family day this afternoon. the kids got to make fathers day trophies for allen, jump in a bounce house, get 'tattoos', and have a balloon creation made. molly chose a hat.

we leave tomorrow for two weeks down at a camp near corpus. allen is the director for their two youth camps they do each year, and the weekend between the camps hes officiating a wedding (that, thankfully, happens to be in corpus, so we wont have to go far). all that said, i'll probably have to post two weeks together again, as i dont think i'll be able to post my entry next weekend.

hope youre enjoying your summer. we'll be back july 2nd, and allen has one more week away for mission trip mid-july, which i'm staying home for that one. junes been crazy. its been great, but i'm looking forward to being home for more than 4 days!

threesixfive, days 146 thru 152

we had a great week at the beach!! each year we offer the senior trip to those who have 80% attendance or better in sunday school. this year 14 qualified, and 9 went, plus the 12th grade sunday school teachers, and the frans clan. colby and molly had a great time, and allen and i enjoyed watching them soak up the experience. you get a few extra pictures on our "beach days" this week.

sunday, day 146
we went to a graduation party for one of our seniors, who was in the tenor line in the marching band. he brought his set out and let colby play on them.



monday, day 147
we left for the beach around 1 and got there shortly after 5. after some dinner and a trip down to the water just to make sure it hadn't gone anywhere since last year, we went to play putt-putt.



tuesday, day 148
after a full day on the beach, we went for a sunset dolphin watching cruise. there was a touch tank on the boat where colby got to hold a stingray. we saw probably 20 dolphins, and the kids made friends with the captain, who let them drive the boat! molly spent most of the ride right there with him, and he put her to work. she loved it!

wednesday, day 149
another full day down by the water. can't wait to back next year!

thursday, day 150
on the way home from the beach we got a call that my dad was in the e.r. waiting to hear if he might have to have his appendix removed! he had surgery that evening, so we went to visit him and were able to spend about 10 minutes with him before we had to head home to get the kids in bed. even coming out of anesthesia he was just as goofy as ever. I love my dad.

friday, day 151
as if we weren't in the water enough this week, we met some friends at the pool for a couple hours. this is molly and her buddy, addie.

saturday, day 152
this picture isn't very exciting. but it's the only one I have. molly went to a birthday party at chuck e cheese for a friend of hers from school. she, addie, and wynter discovered the screen that makes it look like they're on tv, and they were hooked.




this week we have vbs in the evenings, then we leave friday morning for youth camp where we'll be till tuesday, so I'll have to post my week a few days late unfortunately. or maybe I'll make it one long post the following weekend. to be determined....

have a good one!!

threesixfive, days 139 thru 145

this week wrapped up the birthday festivities. sunday i spent the afternoon shopping and eating with my best girlfriends. my mother-in-law was here visiting for a few days,so we did some fun things with her. we had some college kiddos over for game night after youth group on wednesday, and then allen and i left thursday morning for a few days away together (what i asked for from him for my 30th). it was a fabulous week! lots of pictures, so you get multiples on some days.

sunday,day 139
this is the drink I had at brunch. soda water, apple juice, mint leaves, and lemons. so yummy and pretty enough to take a picture of!

me and katie. love her.

monday, day 140
not very excitng, but it's the only picture I have from monday. i took it while we were out shopping. she sure is cute.

tuesday, day 141
we took the kids to a childrens museum, and molly got all her messy out in the art room.

wednesday, day 142
wrapping up game night. this is a tradition we've been doing with this particular group since they were seniors in high school 4 years ago. when they're home for christmas and summer break, they still use our house as a meet up. we love it!

thursday, day 143
the place allen and I stayed had a lot of, well, dead animals. the wolf was the first thing I saw when I opened the door to the lodge. I almost peed my pants.

the cave pool. yes we swam in it!! ok, so i only got in up to my knees; that water was cold!

the door into our room. so pretty.

friday, day 144
we were about half a mile down from enchanted rock, a huge and very popular hiking area. we hiked thursday evening, as well as friday and saturday mornings.

saturday, day 145
i spotted this taxi limo on our last day at the resort, and had to grab a picture of it.




we get the kids back from mimi tomorrow (they went back with her while we were away), then leave monday morning for senior trip to the beach. im ready for some sun and sand!