Post #1000 - Carrie and Jack.....'she said No'

Carrie will be my guest blogger today.....to help celebrate my thousandth post!!!



Carrie has a blog as well, and sometimes she shares little tidbits of her really funny posts with me.....and so, here we are....introducing a snapshop of Carrie with her beautiful, smart and hilarious kid: Jack Jack.

Our day... my perspective vs. Jacks

Today was a very interactive day... Nona picked him up and brought him to his swimming lessons. I met them there and brought Ellie up to childcare so that me and Jack could swim together after his lesson. So we had a blast paddling around in the hot tub for about half and hour (something was wrong with the pool and it was super cold).
After we picked up Ellie, we went to a coffee shop owned by some friends of ours. They scooped up Ellie and me and Jack had a chocolate milk, italian soda and shared a huge rice krispie cake.
After that, we went home for a nap. I slept for about twenty minutes and when I got up, Jack still hadn't slept. So I told him he could turn the light back on and have some quiet time. Once we were all rested and ready to go again, I packed up Ellie in the stroller that Sharon sent us. Its a special stroller that lets the toddler stand on the back while the baby rode in the front. We also brought his strider bike and helmet. So we went along the greenway, chatting, playing, he would bike for a bit, then walk, sometimes stand on the stroller. It was a lot of fun.
We made it to the eco centre in about forty minutes. He played at the park for awhile, there were a few kids his age, the sun was shinging. It was great...
On our way home, we were pretty tired but he did really well. We were almost home when Jack asked to go see Ryans ditch. I was so tired I said when daddy gets home you guys can go see it, I'm tired and would like to be home. (It was getting on to supper time and I had some meals to make)
Once at home, I made Jack two pieces of french toast, with whip cream and bananas. He ate ALL of it...
Overall I thought it was a fabulous day.
When Brad got home, he asked Jack how his day was... you know what Jack said?!
"I asked mommy to go see Ryans ditch. She said no."
sigh...

Tonights Food....

Waffle Wednesday Menu

 {wish i took pictures!!}

Lemon Ricotta pancakes with fresh blueberry sauce
{and aunt Jemima syrup for the REAL classy!! insert sarcastic tone}

Fresh honey whole wheat bread....still warm, sliced with butter.

Black bean and cilantro Soup....remembered just in time to warn andy 'mr-allergic-to-carrots' {never met anyone allergic to carrots!!}.....dollup of sour cream and fresh cilantro on top!

Corn tortillas with homemade guacamole

Water with lemon

All food is all gone......no leftovers.....success.

Now....off to volleyball!

Elliot, my little assuming boy......

On the way to town yesturday, Elliot and I decided to tell eachother stories.  After his was over, he yells "your turn mom!!"

So i begin my story....and i will give you the nutshell version of my story since elliot is home with me today and he has already finished folding the pile of rags i had him fold to 'kick the can a little further down the road' to give me a few more minutes here!!

But the story was along these lines:
There once were 2 little boys who lived in a beautiful home with their stunning mother and crazy smart daddy....but one day peace was disturbed in their little lives when the evil queen who ruled their land decreed that each family were only allowed to have ONE child. 

{it was around this time that elliot pipes up from the back with big eyes 'is this real?'}

So, i continue.....telling elliot how these 2 little boys would no longer live together, that if the older brother left,  he would go live with minnie and mickey mouse at Disneyland, and if the younger brother left, he would go live in a train at the train museum.  But here was the trickey part, the parents were not allowed to choose which child left....it would be up to the children to decide.

{it was at this point that elliot pipes up "oh....i will miss isaac.....but he will have fun living in Disneyland'}

Tuesday Afternoon.....

After hanging with mama all day, it was time to pick up big bro!! 

He ran ahead to get isaac and carry his bag to the car........

Next it was time for piano lessons with beautiful Malea.....which meant isaac was able to learn a few more chords to the incessantly played "I've got a feeling" by the black eyed peas.  Yay!!

And after piano, we headed to Elizabeths for the evening!!  Lasagna, lego, lightsabers.......

Waiting for chris to get home.....but it was a good day.....highlight was definitely time spent with E.

Tuesday....

Isaac stayed home yesturday.....elliot is staying home today....its like Spring break is going on and on and on and on......Elliot has a cold....no more croup thank goodness!  Even with a touch of a cold yesturday, he wanted to still go to school because he missed his friends....but this morning, he woke up a little sicker and no desire to go to school.  When i pushed him a little harder to make sure it was because he was sick and not faking it....he said he didn't feel like going to school because he didn't want to be called names.

WHA??!!

Oh my little guy.....so when probbed a little further, it turns out my doctors kid who is in his class {awkward much?}...is the one calling names and elliot has had issues with him in the past...but this is the first time it has made him want to stay home.  {Perhaps he is normally more up for the challenge when he is not sick.....i get it....}

So.....i went over and took my mama bear costume off its hook and zipped it up....and then i went to the playground.

The bell rang, kids went inside, and i approached the dad for a 'wee' talk {he is a little english i think...}

It went well, he was receptive and reacted the way i had hoped...we agreed to keep in touch and talk with the kids a little more about how damaging name calling can be.  Both boys are the youngest of brothers...he has 2 older brothers, elliot only has one.

So.....that was the morning.

Since we arrived home, Mel and i got more wood to burn, Chris went to hike the mountain, mel and i had breakfast of eggs and grapefruit and chai and she helped me to cut out the massive amounts of laminating that isaacs kindergarten teacher gave me a few weeks back. 

There we are....the day so far.

Long way home....

I ordered Steven Curtis Chapmans new CD a few weeks back and when i listen to "Long way home"  occasionally in the car....i tear up.  Mainly because i know the story behind the song....i know one of the valley's that he has had to walk through, and my heart literally hurts when i think of it.  But i am also so reminded of how quickly our lives can change, and how thankful we need to be, consistently.  And how we need to be aware.....aware of what we are doing....who we are serving....who we are loving..... that it's all important and worthwhile, even though it often doesn't feel like it.

I grew up listening to 'the great adventure'.....and now he adapts this great old song into something new to encapsulate what he has gone through....we are all on this great adventure.  There are ups and downs....but i know who is in charge and i love that he has it all under control and that all i have to do is hold on.  Here is the song....that i love....maybe you will too?

The first verse is my very favorite....and gets me every time.

I set out on a great adventure

The day my father started leading me home

He said there gonna be some mountains to climb

And some valleys we’re gonna go thorough

But I had no way of knowing

Just how hard this journey could be

Cause the valleys are deeper and the mountains are steeper

Than I ever would of dreamed

i have scares.....i know the people around me, whom i love, have scares...a very close family friend is dying of cancer and my family is walking beside her ....and its scary.....and sad.....and there was the threat of cancer that has thankfully been removed from a family member....there was a night of holding a baby who couldn't breath and i wondered if this was the night that would change my world....there was a suicide of a young neighbor boy who was found by his father a few days back....you don't have to look far for scenerios that are full of pain and are scary enough to make my knees buckle if i didn't have faith.  I still get scared, but i still feel held up and loved.....who do you turn to when you are scared? 

Sunday.....

It was quite the day....

Elliot woke up at 5am with Croup....we have discovered that he is prone to croup when he gets a cold....his airway just swells a little bit, and there he is breathing through a straw.....so, woke up to him gasping and panicking at 5am.  As a parent, its terrifying to hear your son struggling to breath....but i just kept reminding myself to stay calm and to calm him down....so after being outside for a few minutes, he and i settled down to distract watch some cartoons.  He ate some strawberries, his brother got up....and they watched together until the episode of Backyardigans was over...and i went back to bed.

When morning dawned, not too much later....isaac woke up with his neck glands swollen more than yesturday....so i took him back to the walk in clinic and we were pretty much first ones in.....lovely doctor.....answered a few other questions i had, gave us a prescription for isaac and we left to pick it up and a few other things.

Elliot and chris stayed home and woke up after 11!!  So, i guess they both needed sleep....chris actually went back to bed this aft as well for a couple hours!! 

Anyways....Isaac and i got home in time to put some soup on....cut up a bunch of homemade bread as well as some buns that rachel grabbed and the church arrived a little after noon!!

We have started going to this sweet little church a few months back.  Rachel and I decided that we would like to feed them lunch one day after church......so today was the day!!  And what a gorgeous day!!!!

Here are a few pictures:

It was then time to clean up....head home....and chill out for awhile. 

Boys played.....Big boys found projects....we girls did who knows what....we didn't have a ton of time to sit....but the afternoon went by....in the sun....watching boys play....it was nice. 

Taught Rach how to drive the golf cart......i made dinner {2 broccoli and cheese Quiches.....only 1 made it to the oven....the other got tossed when i burned my arm on the way into the oven....sigh.....a whole quiche...literally down the drain, down the wall, down the oven door......}.  OK....so now dinner for 9 was down to 1 quiche and i pillaged 3 smokies from deep in the freezer, a yellow pepper with dip and some fresh pineapple.

I am tired.....chris is making popcorn and we are going to watch a new episode of AFV....ahh...sunday night.....

Day to Play....

We had some people up this afternoon to play up at the gym....plasma car racing, pickle ball and sitting out in the beautiful sunshine.....it was wonderful.

In total we had 5 families playing this aft and the weather couldn't have been nicer.......

Here are a few pictures of the afternoon......

Here is Chris and Laura....their yearly arm wrestle.....

 Bonfire time!!!  We ate outside because it was so beautiful......

 Here are a few of the cousins!!!

 Isaac just told Wren that he farted....yup, thats my guy.

 Part of todays gang.....after dinner walk....

 Our old friend Stevie......still at qwanoes.....it was so nice to have him and his new wife up for the afternoon to hang out with us.....

 Andy chilling by the water with the kids.....

 My sis in law....

It was a nice crowd this afternoon.....really really low key......not sure why, but

the energy was quite low and chilled out.....

Waffle Wednesday.....

We have expanded our crew for waffle wednesday and had 6 families up for french toast and fruit this evening!!  I love the feeling of all these people in our house....very low key since nobody had to run off to soccer or volleyball..... here are some pics from the night (and my last night as a blond btw!!!).....unedited .... enjoy!!

OOH Everett!! Peek a Boo!!!!

 Elliot really likes this baby!!!  Actually we all do....he is so sweet.

 Not long ago we were doing this to him!!!!

 Homemade cookie dough ice cream in a martini glass......

 Chris trying to pick Jons nose....yes, they are a classy bunch!

 We were so lucky to have Kim come for the evening with Penny and June....she didn't stay long, but hopefully she will become a regular!?  Awesome mom!!!

 Jim....joining the crew.....he blends!!

 Oh Jax!!!  Lucky boy!!!

 The lovely ladies with E!!!

 Rummy!!

Good night!!

Coming out of the fog......

Just a disclaimer on this post that i have written.....its hard for me to post about anything really substantial about my feelings or our lives in any other capacity other than general, because more people, other than who was originally intended to, is reading.  So, this is for our records....so that i can read back when i am old, so that my kids can read when they are older, and have just little glimpses of what mom thought about during these times when they were young....and life was simple....and full of grace....but still had a few, albeit small, struggles.  So....know that I am still the thankful, happy, loving woman that God has made me....but the last few weeks have been a little darker for me and i just want to note them....
..........................................................................................................................

My biggest cheerleader sent me an email a few days ago that really encouraged me.  I am unsure of what made her look so far back in my blog....but her timing and particular post choice was a real good reminder for me.....

The past 10 days or so have been strange for me....there are always a few days around the end of the month that i feel ultra sensitive, and there are times of the season that i feel lonely and unproductive....like the repetitive dance of laundry, meals, kids, cleanup and repeat just doesn't do it for me....that i long for more warmth and excitement!! {in that order! ;-)}  Most of the time i am thankful that i HAVE clothes to fold, that i HAVE healthy kids to feed....its all perspective, isn't it?  but some times of the month, my perspective gets wonky and i need to get refocused...... And there are times in the year that chris is completely gone! And i miss him....which really is the lonely part, because he is my other half and my best friend....So,  all these 3 factors {lets not forget sickness!} landed in these last 10 days.....

I know that in the big scheme of life, my problems are so small and insignificant.....and there are many bigger ones that we will walk through....but at this moment, these are the ones and i am thankful to know that i am loved and that this too shall pass.  And that if not for these days, you really don't appreciate the amazing days!!!

It's so nice to have family i can skype with everyday to make me feel closer to them, to have a certain friend that relates to each one of these issues at often the same times!! {thanks N....you make me feel normal when i am off the rails}...and to have a camp family who is here day in day out.....its good...looking forward to waffle wednesday to re-connect.

But back to my biggest cheerleader, where, at the end of the day....i know she loves me more than anything and that she tells me how proud she is of me.....she was the one who was chosen to be my mom, by God.   So....here is the post she chose....and re-reading it was so timely.....Enjoy. 

I was reading book called ' the me i want to be; becoming God's best version of you'. Only 2 pages in, i found two paragraphs that i loved;

'Every once in awhile you do something that surprises you and catch a glimpse of the person you were made to be. You say something inspirational at a meeting. You help a homeless man nobody else notices. You are patient with a rambunctious three-year old. (!!!!) You lose yourself in a piece of music. You fall in love. You express compassion. You stand up to a bully. You freely make a sacrificial gift. You fix an engine. You forgive an old hurt. (!!!!) You say something you would normally never say, or you keep from saying something you would normally blurt out.

As you do, you glimpse for a moment why God made you. Only God knows your full potential, and he is guiding you towards that best version of yourself all the time. He has many tools and is never in a hurry. That can be frustrating for us, but even in our frustration, God is at work to produce patience in us. He never gets discouraged by how long it takes, and he delights every time you grow.'

Sometimes i get frustrated by both (a) how busy we can get, and the next moment (b) how we can have absolutely nothing going on and i am so bored. I am learning that life is a series of 'moments'....if you don't like one moment, just hold on and wait, because the next moment may totally rock your world!!

And every moment has the potential to slowly bring you towards the person you really want to be.

....and the fog has officially lifted!!!

My morning companion.....

Another low key day.......in waffle underwear and his baby blanket.

Rummy is the game of choice.......yet he keeps asking if i have certain cards and i have to remind him that this is NOT fish!!!

London Fog

Not this kind......

THIS kind......

Lovely rachel called this morning asking if she could bring me a london fog.....as much as i wanted one, i care more for her that a hot drink and told her to stay from me, pinkie......

But all day, due to the power of suggestion....i have been wanting one.

So i made one......not too bad.....i will need to perfect my system, but here is what i did:

but i plan to do THIS one next so that i can have my own homemade vanilla syrup in the fridge!

So......after my pink eye is gone.....i will have anybody over for either my specialty chai latte....or a london fog!!  Will be nice to expand my repetoire........

***afternote:  2nd link with the homemade simple vanilla syrup is wonderful........

Pam.....Pam?

"Pam!  Pam?  Can you call my mom?"

says the 200 pound man lying in bed says to his wife as she chucks a bottle of nyquil at him?

Remember that commercial?

I feel like that man......being a baby....just wanting my mom.....to take care of me....nobody else takes care of me....remember my last post how chris burned out of here this morning?

Well...i have showered, gotten dressed, trying to be/act normal hoping my body will be tricked....but even after all that, this is still what i look like......

i want my mom....

Full Blown Lock Down....

Spring Break so far:

Monday- Isaac barfs all over the car....the livingroom....my bedroom carpet.

Tuesday- Isaac  has the cold.....pounds of kleenex burned in the fire that day.

Wednesday- Isaac continues to feed kleenex to the fire....cold no end in sight.

Thursday morning- Isaac wakes up with pink eye.

Thursday afternoon- We go out in the car because cabin fever has really set in.

Thursday night- Sharon comes down with pink eye.

Friday morning- Isaac: red rash under his nose from blowing, sharons eyes are swollen shut (yup, both), isaacs eyes are clear and elliot is still just full of beans, but cries at any type of injustice.

oh man...spring break rocks so far.

Was more than a little excited for girls night out tommorow at merridale cider.....i wonder if make up will cover my swollen eyes or if i will have to stay home.......but i NEED the interaction!!

You should have seen chris race out of the house this morning....

....with both FEAR and precautionary pink eye drops in his eyes.....

oohh.....

Glad i figured that out.......

My sister just turned 34.....

i love my sister.

She is one of the most creative women that i have ever known (obviously!! i mean, look at the halloween costume she made one year!!)


She can cook, weld, build anything, create any kind of cool metal statue you could ever imagine, she can run a coast guard boat (wha??!!)  Thats right.....she is so beautiful and so smart....and she is my sister.

She turned 34 today....i hate that i am not there tonight to go out for a birthday martini with her......or laugh til we cry.....but she has been in my thoughts all day.

Carrie....your gift for your birthday....and when you are ready for it....is that i will publish and create your blog into a book for you.  It will be beautiful......the back cover will say 'to my sister, on her 34th birthday.....the year she took over the world'

i love you...and am so lucky.

Blogging on Barf.....yup, you read that right!!

I want to paint a picture here.....when i was younger, carrie and I would go to the grill next door for our favorite meal: grilled cheese, fries and chocolate milk!!

And to preface this whole story, i remember clearly my mom dispencing a tidbit of helpful (not!) information, that if i ever were to feel as though i would throw up, to try to sit on the toilet and try to poo first!!!!

Well, that tidbit ran through my mind as we came home from that lovely lunch......as my tummy started to churn and the chocolate milk and fries were organizing a race to see who could get out my mouth first....i ran to the toilet and sat down, hoping for the best.....and promptly puked into my underpants and the legs of my pants.  Yup......i did.

So, all these years later, i remember that tidbit of information {that was no help at all!}.....as i watch my son in the back seat of the car on the way home from town.  He is blanched white and not sounding too well.....so i race home......

We get roughly 5 km's from the camp, "homefree", i think.......i had given my boy a bag to puke into if he happens to do that .... which he never really has been a puker, so i figured it was an exercise in redundancy.....at one point within those 4 km's from home, he throws the bag on the floor and says confidently, 'i feel better......'

.......and then promptly bends over and pukes on TOP of the bag, which is now lying on the floor of the car.

Sigh ... another barfy "cleanup party of one" i am invited to.....awesome.

yes.....i did take a picture.....screensaver anyone??

Taco Salad and barf.....anyone? anyone?

Yes....i had the lovely students over for a spontaneous dinner tonight....we all made taco salad (i know! we had it last night too, but i love it!!  So, when they were hunting for ideas for dinner, i told them what to get and they brought it over...and voila - the magic began!!!).......

But, as the magic continued, and we are about to all sit down to a nice dinner.....Elliot comes careening into the kitchen yelling "he did it again! he did it again!!"

Yup.....i had another little 'barf cleanup party for one' in the livingroom. 

I don't think they were impressed.....well, at least 1/2 of them don't look impressed.....i was like 'oop, be right back ... ta ta ...won't be but a moment' {as i scrubbed up apple chunks and a slide mark where isaac took a ride on as he attempted to get to the bath.....}.....yeah, i know....awesome pre-dinner entertainment.

But we ate....and though 1/2 of them don't look impressed....they were....even little lisa went back for seconds!!!

DIY Laundry Soap

So, my dear friend kept this under wraps for 4 months before she finally let it slip that she never pays for laundry detergent........i was intrigued {obviously!!}

Here are the directions!!

1/3 bar of soap {we used sunlight...but i have read that any bar of soap will do...and don't make your hoice based on smell, it will often just fade out in the rinse cycle, but i do find that sunlight does have a slight fresh citrus scent!}

1/3C Washing Soda

1/2 C Borax

Grate the Soap

Melt soap in 6 cups of water, but DO NOT BOIL!

Slowly add washing soda and borax...stirring until dissolved.

Pour into a 2 gallon container.

Stir in enough warm water to fill the container to the 2 gallon mark.

Let mixture sit for 24 hours to set up into a gel or liquid laundry soap.

For all who read my blog....i am planning a little spa/laundry detergent making night in the next month or so...let me know if you are interested in coming ok??!!  xoxoxo

This is my beautiful Nephew....

.......in my sons old underpants.....working the best kitchen gadget EVER!!! 

 You go Jack!!!

Registering my baby???

For a whole week away??? 

it CAN'T be time to be able to do this yet!!  

Registering him for his first week for camp...

...oh my goodness....i can't breathe......

Sunday.....

This time change has totally run us over!!!

After Chris pulling some crazy hours prepping for camp night.....and then losing an hour of sleep this morning....bleh!!  I pretty much rolled out of bed 15 minutes before we head to be in the car for church this morning.....

Chris had a head ache after church and kept me captive as he drove us to Tim Hortons for his 'cure'....

Swung past the free store and grabbed a dresser for the boys!  I had been keeping my eyes peeled for one with 3 drawers on each side so the boys can share a dresser and be a little more streamlined with their clothes.....fav's only!!!!

And you know how it goes, you start one small task and it turns into a full overhaul!!  Well, 4 boxes for the thrift store later and here is what we have in the boys simple room!  The goal was to paint it...but considering boys at this stage, figured it was good to go in as is....will paint it later!! 

Fitzpatricks came for dinner tonight!  I had craving this meal for weeks now and since they were the ones who introduced us...it was only fitting that they came to us for this time round!!! 

 Taco Salad!!  With Doritos as the crunchy base...a little bit of thousand island as the top dressing....ohh...so good!  I made a really nice fresh salsa out of the rebar cookbook and a ton of lettuce......it was so good...i wish i was still eating it right now!!

Everyone is gone now.....kids are in bed.....and i am ready to head there soon too.....

The long awaited Camp Night......

This night has been what has kept chris up til many nights midnight, 11 if he hustles!  And out the door by 7:45am if he can!!!

CAMP NIGHT!!

 Pretty sure it was everything they all were hoping it would be---lots of kids, a good solid energy, smooth transitions.....all good.  Here is Andy and I .... who doesn't like cheese puffs??

Rach and her first camp night with us!!

Oh Mel.....you are one beautiful girl.....i read on your facebook that you were bored and hungry tonight.....why oh WHY must you make yourself suffer when i just live across the junk yard???!!!  I would have fed you and made you happy....it was glutton free too!!!

 Here are my camp boys.....they fit right in.....how lucky and blessed are we that this is our life?  Each boy played the big game with the campers, so they were busy trying to rip out flag tape tails from campers twice their size!!!  Confidence?  i think so!  Love it!  Yet, elliot almost got mowed down by a couple of big guys......as a mom, i just sorta cringe at the sidelines waiting to peel them off the floor....(or the field, depending on where we are!!) -- and rach, just so you are aware, Isaac will want to play all the night games this summer and will want max to join him.....its terrifying to watch your little guy run off into the dark forest with his little colored team headband to play with huge kid....but so far, he has always come back!!  But brace yourself.....you have been warned!

Big team effort tonight.....its a great team.

i love camp...always have....

...and hopefully always will!  But you never know the end of your story, do you?  Well, i do know the beginning of my story.....

It all began when my parents would send my sis and i away to really different camps as kids; horse camp, french camp, day camp, leadership camp, survival camp, canoe camp, YMCA camp......a ton of camps.

Well, i can't really start the story of how i really got my camp start without talking about Paul.

My first real job at camp came after a summer at Camp Seton...a division of Camp Arnes, not unlike what Wildside is to our Camp Imadene.  During that summer at camp seton, where we swam in ice cold springs, went on canoe camps, horseback overnights {which, btw, were the highlight of my life...no joke}......one of the counselors was "Yogi" {yup, all counselors had nicknames.....}...he is the one on the very right.

Paul encouraged me to take a job at Camp Arnes to work on the waterfront on the summer of my graduation of grade 12.  It was a great summer....i made so many friends, met my first real boyfriend, lifeguarded a guest group of small children who were traumatic burn victims {another humbling highlight of my early years}, drove the boats, taught canoeing, served oatmeal to the campers in the mornings with my other waterfront fellow staff {my camp name was Ariel.....}.  My main locations were the indoor pool and the beach....that is where i happily lived. 

Here is Paul and I this past summer, almost 20 years later!! 

 

I worked at Arnes for 2 summers before my family moved to Kelowna.....i worked for the local sun fm radio station there during the school year in their promotions department, organizing fashion shows, ladies ski days up to Big White, and a bunch of really fun events throughout Kelowna....but in 1997, i had a few different offers from a few different camps around BC to work on their waterfronts either as waterfront leader ... and after some gentle leading and a quiet introduction to a boy named Chris Burdge...i started at Camp Qwanoes as their 'waterfront specialist' since their director position had already been filled.....but i was able to have the most fun!  lifeguard, boatdriver, ski instructor....all fun stuff with none of the responsibilities of the director....i could focus on the friend i would have for the rest of my life.  Here is the crux of my whole island camp start:  I had come to qwanoes for 3 days to check it out, being from kelowna, i wanted to see what the camp was like.  And after those 3 days, i had another camp to check out before i  made my decision.  When i left chris after those short 3 days and went home, there was a feeling of emptiness where there was no gap before i had met him.  It came upon me so suddenly and i knew right away that life wasn't going to be the same.  Little did i know, that after i left, chris went to the beach that night and walked along the water to pray.  His prayer was short and specific "If Sharon is to be my wife, bring her back to me"........i was back by the end of the week.

And i was right....life was never going to be the same after that.....it was much, much better.

And so began my start at Qwanoes.....oh man, we had fun!!

The man i fell in love with.....here we are on the front field at qwanoes....

 I loved my girls.....after that first summer, i started counseling...and i loved it. 

 The weeks i didn't counsel, i was on the All Star team......running program games....

 Here is Kibby and Jenna....girls who i still am in touch with.....but we loved to play a freeze game at meals....so this time, i had a little fun with the mustard and mayo containers....they got me back pretty bad later {i think they did anyways....can't remember!}

 A few of these girls are current good friends of mine!!!  Kim and Ashley!!!  I love that Kim and I are looking at eachother as the picture got snapped....so sweet!

Chris and i on the rocket....and see that red headed kid at the back?  Ben Badke!!!

Qwanoes Christmas Party

 Lifelong friends i made at qwanoes.....i miss them alot during this stage, but

 they will always be in my heart.....

The thing about camp, is that you never know who is going to make that impact on you....to help you in your walk with jesus, to develop your character, your skills, your friendships.....i didn't know at the time how important this stage was going to be.  I met my husband, my friends, and learned more than i can share here.

After Qwanoes, my career turned to marketing in radio while chris continued his career at qwanoes and later at Imadene.  I finished my psychology degree while working in radio.....Chris loved camp...has had a passion for it since he was a young boy.  I almost felt as though i never wanted to overshadow his ability to stay at the place he loved so much.  So during these last 10 years here....we traveled, worked, made friends and made 2 beautiful babies.

 

It's now 2012.....its a new chapter...and camp sort of feels new again.....so lets DANCE!!