Halloween 2019

These three .... Nick was supposed to be a sith but isaac said he just looked like a scary crying lady in a robe lol

Crazy eyes Isaac ....

I love that these two just laugh ... all the time ...



Elliot loved his costume ... Chris and I drove past the school at recess and we spotted him right away ... it was so funny .... looks like this alien is running away carrying my kid ....

Marg turns 70

Isaac stayed on the couch all night, we brought him a plate of dinner but it was a nice evening celebrating a very happy, healthy, productive 70 year old!  She and Gordon had been working at re-roofing the shed! :-)

Gordon arranged the candles on her cake with a 70 and then 13 candles around signifying each of her family. Isn’t that sweet?

Another sweet omen was pulling the ice cream lid off and finding a happy face!!!!

Teen retreat .....

I didn't take a ton of pictures of this weekend ... but I did take this one for Amanda .... while the rest of us froze and bundled up, here was Alex, just finished wakeboarding around the lake and now was eating candy while watching Nick and Isaac play pingpong .... 

Serving crew ....

Pro-D Day ... and the start of Teen retreat!

Jenny came over for some carving tips from Isaacs ... she ended up giving a lesson in first aid lol ....Isaac punctured himself pretty good while practicing for his lesson with Jenny ....

Going over various ideas ... since actual carving was no longer on the table ....

Nicks mom came over with her dremmel and showed jenny and I a cute craft I think we may do for WOA ....

Her finished product!  She went home and put some little Christmas lights on it ... super cute.

Nick turned 15 .... so we made his favorite dinner (spaghetti and caesar salad).....







Meanwhile .... Elliot continues to swing between the computer and Mittens ....



She isn't a fan ... ever ...

Sunday morning ... final day of the Intermediate Retreat!

Lisa for coffee this morning and we walked down in time for breakfast.  After Isaac finished pots, he took my place in line.  He and Reuben competed on who could give campers more of the baked oatmeal.  

This kid ....

She makes me smile ... it was a good weekend ... one more to go next weekend and then camping season 2019 is officially over.

Watching Isaac in action ....

This picture.

This picture fills my mama heart like no other.  It is all about our #parentinggoals .... we have always been so hopeful and intentional that we would raise kind, good humans to set out into the world.  They won't be with us forever ... and this picture just nailed it for me this weekend.

The group on the right are all Isaac's friends ... we really try to encourage the staff during camp to not gather like this because it makes campers feel excluded and potentially awkward.  But when you are a teenager, of course this is the best gathering - hanging with your friends!!  (We just try to get them to meet like this where other campers aren't) .... but here is Isaac.  He sees a camper who is a bit of a loner ... he had this interesting card game in front of him.  Isaac saw him on his own, and sat down and asked him to teach him this new game.

He is so good at finding the outliers and sitting down with them ....  pretty proud ....may he keep this trait forever and always have the eyes to see people who need a connection and a smile. 

Carnival Night at Intermediate Retreat!

Prepping cotton candy and popcorn .....

Shannon learning how to make cotton candy ....

Phil and Scott being given the job of getting the remote control cars out of the boxes and ready to race!

Danika and Ruby....pretty exciting to see Ruby without her NG tube in her nose ....

Isaac, I mean Mario, rocked the Mario & Luigi Racetrack tonight....Reid was Isaacs 'Mini Me', and would race onto the track and flip over any cars that took a wrong turn ... it was very cute, nice partnership....

Elliot was happy to check things out while campers were still in chapel ...but the moment the doors were open and 140 campers rushed in, he was like 'hey mom, can we go?' .....

Chris finishing up last minute details on the little car track .....

Isaac awaiting the campers .....

Paul dons his viking hat and beard and gives tractor rides .... kids love it ....Elliot and I took a ride together .....



Chris worked so hard on this carnival and so many of the comment cards today said it was one of the best parts of the weekend ... so i think that made him feel really good.  Worth it ....

Day 1 Intermediate Retreat

Chris welcoming kids to breakfast .... 

My kids ready to go ... Isaac looks like a truck ran over him .... he had way too much fun sleeping in Willow Lodge last night now that all his friends are back working for the weekend too ...

Serving breakfast to his dad ....

Elliot put on a brave face and got out of his PJ's to help serve breakfast, but he left before the end because he was feeling nausous.  He thought it was because he hadn't had breakfast yet so he went home and ate ... and promptly threw up.  So, he is laying low today ...

When will the new thing come? When can we be out of the wilderness?

The cycle continues here at camp with the background politics ... it is so wearing on both of our spirits ... we can't talk to anyone about it, and nobody would ever understand what it is/has been like to live with the weights.  Chris amazes me with the grace he has for this place, he never takes any shortcuts and continues to be so upstanding with his work ethics and emotions around the real reason we are here, doing this work.... but the background continually is a struggle and a cycle that is truly getting so old.  As Chris pointed out the other night, this struggle has been in front of him for his entire life ... starting with his own family and watching his parents come home from camp board meetings that would last the entire day and the strife that would hover in their conversations for the days afterwards .... and now he is 45, still maneuvering through.  We are in another wave crash right now, and we know it will calm again soon before the next wave crashes.... it is a cycle that has become part our life and marriage.

After Thanksgiving fun ....

Last March while Carrie and I were in mexico, Chris and the boys took down their playhouse and sold it for $375.  Since then they have saved it, waiting for the perfect idea of how to spent it.  Today they decided it was time to buy a proper computer since both boys are starting to do more complicated things like coding and blender .... and you can see, Isaac is still enjoying the trumpet.

The new rule is only during commercials ...

It was a commercial....

A true Thanksgiving at the Burdges 2019

Isaac was excited to get to grandma's because she told him he could learn the trumpet on her trumpet.  This trumpet was her great grandfathers, who passed it down to his son, who past it on to her...who has now passed it to Isaac to learn on. 

He was pretty pleased....and please note Elliot in the background ..



It was so nice to see her in such good spirits tonight ... everyone was thankful for this as we went around the table .... she has the best smiley face....

Trent up to his antics again ... grossing out the resident eldest child while she tries to keep texting...she didn't appreciate the bowl of mixed food he was eating close to her face ....

I had Trent make him a shirt to celebrate his favorite thing to do ....

Gordon is amazing ... here he is cutting our pies for dessert....

I wanted a quick picture before we left for the evening ....

It grew into chaos ..... here is Gordon starting the shenanigans ....



Please note Chris and my faces ... lol ....



And Maisy continuing the chaos with a little pee in front of us all....

But then she posed really nice for the picture with the rest of the family and the other dog .... pee pad included .. man we laughed ... got to love it.

Trent finally was able to be quick enough to make the picture .... well sort of ...

Happy Thanksgiving .....