Our Fall
Things have been pretty crazy around here lately. Four ladies' retreats have come and gone each Thursday through Saturday of October. Three of them were ours, and one of them was a custom group. The final women's retreat was just a one-day custom camp all day Saturday.
September was just as busy but with a variety of camps (CORE camps, men's retreats, spiritual emphasis retreats).
Now that we've reached November, we just finished two days of staff planning meetings. These meetings are a time to discuss the past year and look forward to what we're planning to do the next twelve months. We play games as a staff and just spend some time together in a way that is not the normal schedule.
What's next?
November also means youth rally. In fact, we're in the final preparations for our big youth rally which is just a week away. This year's youth rally theme is Rendezvous at the Round Table. Mike has been busy with the medieval theme, collaborating with others about games, foam weapons, and costumes, etc. Deb has been busy contacting churches to see who all will be coming and trying to get an as-close-to-possible head count. The all-day event is usually pretty heavily attended.
As for 2018, this next year will see some cool new things. As a camp, we're trying to increase our presence in and around the area, both in regards to camp and to the Bridge program. In fact, Mike got to travel down to Ventura to promote the Bridge at GSACs, a school convention held every year.
Then in February, we're trying out a new board game-related camp called UNCon. Avid boardgamers will greatly enjoy the sermons, games, game swap, etc. that we have planned.
Also, 2018 will have more volunteer work crews out and about (especially during the summer) than ever before. And we're even working on tentative plans for an adult horsemanship camp.
On the whole, things are going well, and we're growing and slowly accomplishing projects.
Family News
Deb has taken up a side job working as a freelance editor. And sometime earlier this year, Mike became a deacon at our church in Folsom.
Drake's begun teething and has finally popped out his first two teeth. We don't think we're being biased when we say he's hilariously cute. His eczema hasn't cleared up yet, but he manages to handle it pretty well. And we've gotten into the routine of slathering him up with creme each night--and sometimes during the day as well. Drake's also learned how to roll over, but not quite how to roll back. So there have been many a morning (or midnight) when we've had to go help because he got himself turned over and couldn't go back to sleep. He turned six months old today! He's a curious little guy who is happiest when he's right in the middle of it all--people and action.
Thank you for your prayers and your support. We highly value and appreciate both.
Love from California,
Mike, Debbie, and Drake
