No pictures this week :(

Well, the reason I've delayed updating our blog this week is because for some reason we can't get the internet on Royce's computer to work... therefore I don't have a way of uploading our pictures. :(  So I'll go ahead and give an update before I forget the events of the last week.

As I mentioned in our previous post, we helped out with VBS last week.  It was a BLAST!  Thank you so much for praying for us; we definitely felt a boost of much needed energy.  It was so fun to play with the kids, sing silly songs, but most of all I think it was just a great change of pace for us.  Last week was also an "elder hostel" week at the Inn.  Elder hostel is an educational experience for people 50+ and they take place all over the United States.  The guests choose their location based on the activity they wish to learn... and at the Inn they learn to fly fish!  Not only do we make breakfasts for the guests, but we also provide sack lunches and dinners during elder hostel weeks.  So needless to say we were on the go quite a bit more than usual.  We'd have VBS from 9-12, eat lunch (usually with Seth and Crystal since we all did VBS together), rest for a little while during the afternoon, start preparing dinner around 5, and finish dinner clean up anywhere between 8:30-9p.m!  It was a fun week for sure, but we were definitely fried by Saturday.  I forgot how easy it is to lose your energy when you're playing with 9 kids under the age of 10!  

We had an interesting spin to our weekend... David and Rosie were apart of a wedding which left Royce, Michelle, and me in charge of everything on Friday and Saturday!  Thankfully we had 2 volunteers to help with the clean up, but we were all a bit nervous about serving breakfast without David and Rosie there to make sure everything was going accordingly. But God is good and everything went off without a hitch!  

Royce and I had the opportunity to go white water rafting with David and a few of the guests yesterday afternoon!  I think that was one of our favorite things we've done all summer.  The guides recommended that we wear wetsuits and at first we were all really hot and wishing we had stuck with our own swimwear... until we started to feel that 40 degree water splashing on us!  It was so beautiful; I wish I could've taken pictures on our raft.

We're starting to use the phrase "when we get home" more often these days.  I guess that means part of us is really anticipating being able to head home and settle back into our own place.  Although, I'm starting to feel a little anxious about job hunting when I get home.  Please pray that God would give me peace in knowing that He has the perfect job in mind.  

We love you guys and are looking forward to seeing you very soon!

Time flies...

I can’t believe we’ve completed our 5th week in Lake City!!! The weeks go by so quickly. The thought of going home is beginning to feel bittersweet… we’re ready to settle back into our house, reconnect with old friends, and get back in the swing of things, but at the same time we don’t want to leave this beautiful place and our friends here. We’re trying to savor every moment.

This past week was eventful to say the least… Royce and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary on Monday! We are so thankful for a great first year of marriage and looking forward to many more!! We had a hard time deciding what we wanted to do to celebrate. There aren’t a whole lot of options in this area so Seth and Crystal suggested going to Crested Butte to eat and see a movie. We hadn’t been there before but everyone had told us it was a cute little town so we decided to venture that way. It’s about an hour and a half away from Lake City. It was a pretty simple evening but we had a great time!

The other exciting part of our week was Tuesday when we found out we are going to be an Aunt and Uncle!!! We are sooooo excited for Seth and Crystal! Please join us in praying for a healthy pregnancy.

As far as our time at the Inn this week, we stayed very busy! We had a great time hanging out with the guests. Rosie’s brother and sister in law were here, as well as her nephew and his two girls. Her nephew brought 3 ATVs with him so he invited us to go riding with him one afternoon. It was a blast! We went up a trail called Carson. It was similar to the Alpine Loop but less bumpy and a lot shorter!! It was perfect for 4wheelers. Rosie’s brother and sister in law were here a total of 2 week and left this morning… we were sad to see them leave, we really enjoyed getting to know them.

Next week is VBS at the Presbyterian Church in town. Crystal is the director so she asked Royce and me to be group leaders! Rosie always encourages the Inn staff to participate in VBS so she was thrilled that we helping.
Please pray for us during these last three weeks! We are starting to feel a little drained. Some days are still pretty easy but there were a few days this week that were somewhat frustrating for us. Pray also for David and Rosie… they have so much on their plate so pray that they get the encouragement they need to be effective in their ministry.

We love you all and are so grateful for your support!

Chelsea (Rosie's neice), Michelle, me, and Royce at at stop during our ATV ride.

Us near old house remains in Carson.

Royce at the very top of Carson.

Jule' and I hangin out at a youth event in town.

Sparkly.

Video clip from our ATV ride... it was a little bumpy. :)

Two Weeks- One Update

Last week I decided not to blog since my parents were in town... and now I'm wishing I had! So much has happened in the last two weeks!

A brief run down of the last two weeks:

-I won the grand prize on a "black-out" game of Bingo... $100 cash and a fresh pie from the bakery in town!

-We experienced our first Saturday of cleaning ALL ten rooms in one day. This day also happened to be my birthday and my parents rolled into town just in time for dinner!

- My parents brought our puppy, Samson, to Colorado for the week. We were so excited to see him. :)
- My brother, Brandon, and his girlfriend, Heather, joined the rest of us in Lake City to spend the week of 4th of July as a family.

- Our family rented Jeeps and did the "Alpine Loop"-- it's an all day trip with breath-taking scenery.

- Royce and I got to be apart of Lake City's annual 4th of July parade! We decorated David and Rosie's truck and rode in the back, throwing candy to kids as we cruised Gunnison Avenue.
- After the parade we sold turkey legs in the park as a fund raiser for Lake City's E.M.T...During this time the entire town was hanging out in the park, playing games like the three legged race, potato sack relay, egg relay, etc... it's an American small town at it's best!
- We went back to Seth and Crystal's to eat ribs, potato salad, and our traditional fruit pizza (decorated to look like an American flag.
- We closed the evening by watching fire works in the park.

My parents, Brandon, and Heather left early this morning to make the trek back to Texas. It was such a special week with them, I'm so glad they were able to come. Thank you to everyone who called, emailed, or mailed birthday wishes, it was such a special day for me (despite the cleaning!). We love you all!

Hangin out with the little man on my birthday. :)

With Heather at Wednesday night Bingo (this was not the week that I won)!

A family pic at a waterfall on the Loop.

Another family pic taken at the American Basin.

Seth and Royce standing on snow remains.

We ate lunch inside this old house in Animas Forks.

Bran and Royce in the jeep.

At the top of Engineer Pass.

The Inn Staff... ready for the parade!

Update 3

This week has DEFINITELY gone by faster than the last! I can't believe how quickly the days go by. Our third staff member (Michelle) arrived last Monday, so that was a huge help as we prepared for the big group that arrived Sunday evening. Last Wednesday night the Lake City youth came out to David and Rosie's to have s'mores around a camp fire and listen to their testimonies. We were all impressed with how intentively they listened.

The biggest event of last week was probably the TNT dance party party at Camp Redcloud (TNT is the high school "work crew" of Redcloud). It's open to anyone who wants to go and since Seth and Crystal were taking some of the youth, we decided to join in on the fun. Everyone dresses silly and we all dance it up until the music stops.

The big group staying with us this week are a lot of old Camp Peniel folks (including some of David and Rosie's kids) and their young families. I've really enjoyed having the little kids around. :) Royce, Michelle and I are babysitting them while the parents go out to dinner Wednesday night.

We find ourselves continuously amazed by God's beauty and creativity in the nature that surrounds us. Even though it's been cloudy and looked like rain all week, the scenery never seems to get old. We're trying to savor every moment of being here, especially the cooler weather.

The only pictures I managed to take this week were of the dance party... enjoy!

Jule' and I sporting beautimous wigs.
Seth (a.k.a. Beehaw) was the D.J. for the evening.

My husband has gone retro.

WOOHOO!

I was a blondish-gray Seniorita and Crystal was a onsey-wearing Prom Queen!

Update 2

Wow, our first full week at the Inn went by so quickly! We’ve made multiple new friends (both visitors and locals), washed a lot of dishes, changed a lot of bed sheets, learned new dance moves in our dance class, and seen many sweet guests come and go. It’s been such a fun week. Royce and I went on our first mountain bike ride the other day. We rode around the entire lake that the Inn sits on… its 6 miles. And may I just say that a 6 mile bike ride in the mountains is NOTHING like a 6 mile bike ride in Texas!!! I haven’t been that worn out in a long time. Of course my stud of a husband did fine, but I definitely walked my bike up a few of the steep hills. :)

One of our favorite parts of this past week was a devotion David did with our guests one morning after breakfast. He talked about how everyone experiences storms in life that keep us from focusing on our daily walk with Him. We thought it was neat that he chose the word “storm” because it was an actual storm that turned our little world upside down right before we left for Colorado. We both felt that God knew what He was doing when He laid it on our hearts to work at the Inn over a year ago. David continued his devotion by sharing part of Matthew 6:30 where Jesus says, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” We decided to make this verse our theme for the summer because while we are here to work this summer, we are also feeling so refreshed by being here. It was a perfect time in our lives for us to come to a quiet place and rest. How great is our God and our perfect is His timing!!

Some pictures of our recent adventures…

Yahtzee is our game for the summer... I don't think a day has gone by that we haven't played. Can't wait for you to play with us in a few weeks, Dad!

My new bike/early birthday present from Royce! It definitely made those steep hills a lot easier than they could've been!

After dance lessons Monday night.

With David and Rosie at the dance hall.

A day trip to Montrose with Crink! It's 2 hours away and also holds the location for the nearest Starbucks! (Thank you for the gift card Gram and Pop!)

We've arrived...

Lake City is amazing!!!!! We left Salado at 7:45 Friday night and arrived in Lake City at 11am Saturday morning. We actually pulled in right as Seth and Crystal were running a 10K so we passed them on the road! We decided to wait for them at the finish line, and then afterward we all went to lunch before Royce and I headed out to the Inn. David and Rosie (the owners of the Inn) let us take a nice long nap to catch up on our complete lack of sleep from driving through the night (we both got about 3 hours each). Then that evening they took us to eat and invited Seth and Crystal along. We were glad we were able to spend some good time with them because they left early Sunday morning for a mission trip and won't be back until this Saturday night.

We had our first 3 couples arrive at the Inn Sunday evening. It's been a great trial run for us because we'll be completely full in two weeks (10 rooms/30ish people)! Most of our days will look something like this... breakfast, devotions with the guests, clean up, clean any of the dirty rooms, water plants, sweep the porch, mop the floors if needed, etc.... and we should typically have most afternoons and evenings off. The town offers a lot of activities during the summer... on Monday nights they do $5 dancing lessons! Last night they taught us East Coast Swing! It was so much fun and Royce caught on really quickly. ;) They also have Bingo every Wednesday night in town and David is the caller! We're looking forward to that experience as well.

A few pics from the last few days...

Family photo with Sammy before we left Salado.

Don't be jealous, but this is our view from the front porch at the Inn.

Hanging out at the park in town yesterday afternoon. It was a high of 60 degrees. Perfect.

Come visit us if you can!

And so it begins...

So this is my attempt at making our first blog. It's pretty boring right now, but I'll spiff it up eventually.