Martin County Fair

The Races: Usually before school starts, we have the Martin County Fair. The last couple years, though, I've been going to the Norway Fair with JoJe - which I had to miss this year. The races and the fair, though, are some of my favorite things to do in the summer time!

The zipper is my absolute favorite ride at the MC fair - you can't ride this ride without making a sound!

Family Camp 4

Well, these aren't really all in order, but just some of my favorites from the last week of camp. I had fun being a little more involved in the children's groups -usually i was more tied down to baby's block. I also was able to use part of an afternoon to have one last date with Jennifer - those are always so fun, and I really miss them! When Jules and Mom came to pick me up, her, me, HelainE and Jon got to go on one last hurrah to the lake where poor HelainE lost her camera, and then it was miraculously found! It's amazing how God works things out. I got to go to my extension church one last time and took some pix - it's amazing how much the youth group has grown since my freshman year. Jennifer and Jordan still go there, so whenever I visit, I get to see how everyone is doing! Bobbi left on Thursday, and then the hardest day of all was saying goodbye to everyone on Saturday :(

A Tribute to Kenny

"Kenny" brought us many smiles throughout the summer, so the last week of Family Camp, HelainE and I had some good times making shirts in the craft shop in remembrance. There are many things I will never think of the same again when I see or hear them because of our many Kenny discussions.

Family Camp 3

Family Camp 3 was the beginning of the wind-down of camp. That Saturday Trevor Gearhardt took us all out stargazing on one packed out hayride! It was absolutely beautiful! AND I saw a shooting star!

After the stargazing trip, the Coffee's had us to their trailer for a bonfire and s'mores. Mmmm...we took loads of pictures which includes the one of us girls all wrapped up in bobbie's blanket since we were freezing by that time of night.

We also took a trip to Green Bay that weekend. Which of course included our traditional Red Robin, a stop at the mall, and ice cream at coldstone! On Sunday afew of us enjoyed an afternoon watching Rocket Man and grabbing a bite at Main Street Pizza (where once again, they did not serve any cookies). Such fun times! :)

HELLO! :)

So I have been out of the blooger loop lately - last semester turned out to be downright crazy, but this semester so far seems to be under control. I think I'm getting the hang of nursing school :) I have so much to blog about, though - i have the cutest nephew in the world, that I want to brag about, so I will be rejoining the blogger loop in the near future. Stay tuned to see the cutest boy ever!!

Staff Banquet

Bobbi & I (Red Momma)

Stacey & I

Liz, Rach, Shannon, Jenn, Me, & Anita Mo & Helaine w/me

Abigail, Patrick and Alana & Me w/my awesome roommate, Nichole!




Helaine & David (her brother counselor) & me & Jake
My favorite part of the night: After the social events of the evening, Helaine and I bundled up, and hiked down to Reflection where we slept in a canoe ALL NIGHT! It was by far one of the coolest things I've ever done! A slumber party in the water under the stars!

Teen Camp 5

Teen 5 was really different because so many of the counselors were in specialty camps and sports camps. The teams only had 8 counselors each, so it was hard to keep the hype in team meetings. It was kind of sad to spend the last teen week all split up like that, but it was nice to be in prayer meeting every night before the service and hear how things were going for everyone. It was the most difficult week for me because it was not only the most girls I had had all summer, but I also had the most difficult camper I had had all summer. Her name was Katie. She's the camper in the first picture with me that doesn't look too happy. I don't think she liked me, but surprisingly enough the Lord had placed a love for her in my heart by the end of the week that I definitely could not have produced on my own. She definitely tried my patience, but as I spoke with her on many occasions, I just felt so burdened over her obviously lost soul and her refusal to accept Christ as her Savior and her all in all. She felt she could be sufficient in and of herself. She told me that was what she didn't like about salvation was that we can't earn it - it's all God. She wanted to be able to give credit to herself. I tried explaining it to her numerous times, but there also came a point that I had to give it over to God. It wasn't going to be anything I could say - the power is in God's Word - in the gospel itself and the work of the Holy Spirit. She left that week completely unchanged, but I continue to pray for her and rest in the promise that God's Word will continue to do a work in her heart.

Kendra was one of my campers who had such a sweet spirit. She got very involved in games, cheering, and cabin unity. She and her friend always had a cheerful spirit and liked to include everyone. Without them in my cabin, I think it would have taken twice as long to form friendships among the girls in the cabin. There were so many different personalities. At the end of the week - the night before she left actually - Kendra shared a huge load on her heart. She has a very difficult home life and a lot of things that she's struggling with and just wanted help. I shared some scripture with her, but it was also awesome to know who she was going home with. Shad and Elizabeth Vork were her sponsers, so we both talked with them at breakfast and they are going to be there for her at home. It was a fun surprise that week to see the Vorks. Shad used to go to our church, and is a really good friend of our family. And I got to meet their son, Justin. He's such a little cutie!

I also enjoyed seeing Ellen McKeown around that week. She is Emily's sister - Emily is one of my good friends from when I was a camper and also from attending school at Northland. Ellen always had a pretty smile on that encouraged me.
Bethany was another one of my campers who had a very sweet spirit. She got assurance of her salvation that week.

Another neat surprise that week was to see my pastor from 7 years ago, Pastor Goodwill and his daughter, Hannah! I was thankful that it worked out for us to spend over an hour in the Grind one afternoon to catch up. That was also a huge encouragement to me that week.

I also have some pictures with some of my girlfriends. Brianne was a counselor on my team and Kelly was a counselor on the blue team. Both are sweethearts!



And then, of course, my dear Helaine. We were pretty much inseperable. She was always a prayer warrior for my campers. We always made a point to get to know each other's campers. And finally I have a picture of all my campers from the week. Though it seemed to be the most difficult week for all the counselors, it was also one of the most amazing weeks, because as we came to the end of ourselves we were able to witness the work of God alone in the hearts of not only the campers, but also ourselves.

Story Time at Reflection

One of our favorite spots this summer was Reflection Lake. We went down there at least once every weekend. After the counselor party some of us went down and told stories and just had fun hanging out together. It's always so beautiful down there!

Counselor Activity

The weekend after Teen 4 we had our counselor activity which had been planned by our team leaders. What we did was divide into teams and then go on a picture/video scavenger hunt. It was so much fun!


My group was Leila, Michelle, Stephen, and Tim. We didn't get a whole lot of them done, but we had a lot of fun anyway. We wasted a lot of our time at the police station getting pictures with cops, in the cars, and of Stephen "getting arrested." I think the policemen got a kick out of it. :)


After the activity we had a long string of vehicles headed back to Northland. We were driving behind this truck, so David entertained us. Haha! I have no idea how he fit that far out that little window! It would have been so funny if he had gotten stuck! When we got back on campus we had a pizza party in the Rec Hall and then went to the chapel to watch the opposite teams' skits. The blue skits were funny, but red definitely dominated. ;)