Emily's week at Camp Id-ra-ha-Je!

One of Emily's big Christmas gifts this past year was to go to camp Id-ra-ha-Je this summer.  Id-ra-ha-Je is a Christian camp in the mountains of Colorado that is tons of fun.  It is expensive, so Emily actually worked hard to raise her part of the money needed to go.  She LOVED it!  It was an action packed, spiritually enriching, fun-filled, friendship rich week that she has been savoring ever since.

We sent little fun surprises along for her to open each day, but weren't really able to contact her.  It was strange to be "un-plugged" from our girl for a whole week (and definitely not the same at the campground without her), but we knew she was having a great time!  Everyone was thrilled to see her again on Saturday (and didn't even mind being drug out of bed super early in order to get to the mountains in time for breakfast with her!) The kids all had fun eating snow cones and playing on the playground together before we started the trek back home.

Dance camp / family holiday

The end of June is traditionally very busy in our family.  The last week of June is one of Emily's most anticipated weeks of the year!  It is the week when she gets to indulge herself in LOTS of worship dance - at CMA's annual dance camp.  The week culminates with an outreach to a nursing home and a dance performance on Friday night.  Emily was able to choreograph a dance with her dear friend Abby this year and they did a great job on it!

Right on the heels of dance camp is our family holiday "St Ogden Valsinkidane Day" . . . one of those goofy creations of yours truly that commemorates the moment (6:42 pm) when Kevin and Lisa first met.  This particular year was the 20th anniversary of that occasion.  We normally try to do something fun as a family.  This year, we were working at the campground in the evening, so we commemorated "the exact moment" on a Yogi hay ride! . . . and enjoyed our family outing earlier in the day.