I have returned to a place that shaped many of my teenage thoughts. This year the Timmerman family camped at Elim Lodge which was a place I worked at for 2 summer's when I was 16 and 17 (now you can do the math for my age....yikes!) As we drove down the road to enter Elim, I felt like nothing had changed and really felt like it couldn't have been 20 years already.......As we continued to drive, the memories flooded back. It made me smile when the pastor of the week said the same thing on Sunday morning (he just inserted 28 years). I remember (and I'm certain mom remembers) when she dropped me off to this place we camped at a couple of times, three hours away, at 16 years old. She said she had tears all the way home! I can now only imagine as Brady is only 6 years away from 16 - I'm certain I won't be ready to leave him at a camp 3 hours away for the whole summer! BUT, I know I grew a lot in many great ways that summer, and the summer to follow, and to this day, still am in contact with some great people that I met there. So thank you Weber's for picking Elim and allowing me to go down memory lane and also having a great place to make new memories for our family!
On Sunday after church, we headed just down the road from Elim to Six Foot Bay and had a fantastic time with Rich, Les, Chantal, Kyle, Uncle Cor and Aunt Johanne. Let's just say it was our Christmas in July! =) We were there maybe 5 minutes and Rich had all of the kids on the boat and dock fishing. A passion of his, and of our kids (which is kind of funny since I really don't like anything to do with fish). So the kids were in their glory!
Cuddle times with Opa. Josh with his tongue out again....he cracks me up!
Cousin Madison and Brady. Hum...another tongue sticking out?
Abby and Zach's birthday usually falls during camping. Abby got a pedicure set which she absolutely loves.
Lego and water gun...perfect combo for this birthday boy!
I still love that all of our kids get so excited over clothes!!!
The twins opened their gifts after dinner and like all birthday celebrations we needed to celebrate with cake! So we decided instead of having bite size brownie and ice cream on 20 plates, we would have family size brownie (a quarter of the pan) for each family to share.
These two hung out a lot during the week!
I LOVE YOU OPA!
Manicure and pedicure party!
I still love the love that Brady has for his baby cousins! Another picture for the album! Brady and cousin Julia.
Brady and Kadan joined a friend mid week (Reuben) and together they entered the Elim kids triathlon. Again, great job boys!
Nevaeh, Samara, Jenessa. Too cute to pass up!
20 years later....this was a common treat on the pool deck while I lifeguarded way back in the day. So funny that the Snackery still sells Fun Dip and that our daughter picked it out too. Must be because Elim is so fun!
Slip and slide. All of the kids programs were fantastic!
Brady and cousin Sara. It was a hot week, therefore lots of water time.
Cuddle times with Oma.
Zach and cousin Logan - twin dinosaurs.
The kids program had a carnival mid week. Abby and I played a great game of tic-tac-toe.
The boys braved a tent on their own this year! You guys were amazing!
It was a different kind of holiday for us. In the morning all 4 of our kids joined the kids program for two hours. It was basically similar to VBS. They learned a bible lesson, sang songs, and did some sort of craft. Ryan and I then went to bible study and learned a whole new way to interpret a 'story' from the old testament and connect it to the new testament. And for much of the afternoon and evening our kids were very self sufficient or sometimes watched by a very responsible Brady and Kadan. Ryan and I drove home commenting on how much down time we had for the first time. It was great to remember the old memories (and even see old friends) of Elim and make new ones with our family. Zachary had tears when we hooked up the trailer to come home. He wasn't done camping yet. I think I'm in a similar state....not sure if I'm ready for camping season to be over yet either. It was great to have 'God's presence with us, and a time of rest.' Exodus 33:14
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