Camp, Get-Away & Time with the Rices

Ah, the long awaited week of summer camp is here! The girls are currently at Adventure Mountain at Forest Home and I pray they are having a blast and growing in their love and knowledge of our Lord. This is their second summer at camp, but their first time at Adventure Mountain. Just like last year, I click through the pictures Forest Home puts online each day in hopes of seeing the girls having a great time. We have seen one smiling picture of Kiley in the pool, but none of Makenna. I admit, it's so discouraging not to find lots of pictures of them. At least we got to see Kiley, as she is the one that has the hardest time being away from us. So far, Kiley has sent 2 postcards and Makenna has sent 1. All say they are having fun, making friends and enjoying the adventure. The highlight for Kiley is that Miley Cyrus' sister is there. As much as I enjoy the peace and quiet at home, I am missing them.


Just after dropping them off at the church to leave for camp, John and I headed to Oceanside with our "front row friends," the O'Malleys. We enjoyed our time there laughing, relaxing, laughing, shopping, laughing, eating and did I mention laughing? It was a great time and the 2 days went way too fast!

One of my favorite moments in our quick trip was meeting up with Derek and Christiana Rice in San Diego. As I've posted before, they are dear friends of ours that moved there as missionaries to reach out to the community living in poverty there and show them the love of Jesus by befriending them and living in community with them. We feel so blessed to come along side them and sponsor them in this ministry. On Monday, we went to visit them and have lunch with them. It was wonderful to see where they are living, learn what they are doing and catch up with them. Their daughter, Naomi, is growing so quickly and so is Christiana's belly as she is coming to the end of her first trimester of pregnancy. I know Naomi will make a great big sister, even though she will be not quite 2 when her sibling is born. As we spent time with them, I became more and more determined to make visits with them a regular experience. I feel so strongly about the ministry they are leading there and I want to be a part of it physically, not just financially.

I would love to write more, but now I'm moving onto another project that I hope to finish before the girls return.