A very busy summer --- now back to "normal"

Our "busy schedule" all began in May with mom's 90th Birthday party. It was a fun time and we finally have this picture to prove that our whole family was there. Brennan (Mike's 5th) came to the party with an ear ache and had to leave for a doctors appointment.....but was back and feeling better before the party was over. So for those of you who don't know us too well - I will put names to these faces...... Back row from the left: Mike, Rick, Tim with Marti holding Oliver, Dennis, Holly. Middle Row: Brennan, Julie holding Halle, me holding Sawyer, Gary, Colton, Clayton. Front Row: Trenton, Sidney, and Austin.
Clayton and Sawyer belong with Holly and Dennis...... and the rest are Mike and Julies. Rick is now in Thailand (teaching at a University) and so it was a very special treat that he was home for a visit before leaving for the other side of the world! YES!!! We know --- mom isn't on the photo. OOPS!!! But then our minds aren't always with us anymore either. :(

Then came our Boundary Waters trip and you can look back for photos of that adventure....... then Prairie Light Youth Camp......then back to Michigan for a " :) slave week". We gave Mike and Julie a "week off" and we would babysit the six kids. But they were only gone for 3 days and we all had a fun time..... Their pool did blow out - emptied in about 20 minutes because of a 12 inch rip in the seam......but we managed to entertain the kids anyway. Thankful for Lake Michigan!!!!

And then came our trip to Glacier National Park with friends from Overisel Reformed Church. What a beautiful place northern Montana is!!! As you can see we totally enjoyed our week and did some hiking and some rafting - among other things.......the zip line being one of them .......it was actually six zip lines. Yes, we do some crazy things! But they all proved to be fun!!


Our guide was a lot of fun.....and we really didn't have to work very hard at all!! No one fell out of the raft either - even though this picture makes it look like we might have had to hang on for dear life.







We hike the Highline trail. If any of you know what that is like than you have a better understanding of what we did. The trail is 11.5 miles long, the view is fantastic....but the steep sides and straight down - long ways to the bottom - made for all eyes on the trail!!! The last 4 miles did us in ----- down hill is harder than up hill for some of us. Makes the toes too snug in the boots and was just plain hard on these old bodies. But we are all healed up - and it was a grand adventure. The only bears we saw were at a distance.


We are thankful for the wonderful fun we had this summer.....but at the same time we are glad to get back to our "mission" here. We need to settle down to the normal routine. We are getting ready for Release Time when school starts. We have the lesson materials and have some of the crafts figured out.

We also continue to go to the Detention Center and it was good to get back to see the young people again.

We thank God for the group of friends that we were able to spend time with this summer .....some came for a short visit at our home and that was fun --- others invited us along on a trip of a life time (Glacier).

Thanks one and all for your time, support and prayers!!!! Gary and Barb