Pictures From Summer Camp Week 1

We made it home from the hospital with Deklan after his surgery! He's doing great, having discomfort for sure, but what a champ he was!  I plan to post pictures and tell more about it soon- but I already had this post almost finished- so I will finish this one first....

Here are some great pics and videos I got from our first week up at UCYC.

Deklan- this baby carrier that goes on our backs was SO helpful to have with all the hiking and climbing we did. So glad we brought it!

Zach and I while we were at dinner. Oh, and one of the kids' hands :)

Zach took the kids on a really fun hiking adventure the first day. They had SO much fun.

Friends- it seems like whenever we go away as a family somewhere, the kids get closer. Maybe the close quarters and no other options for who to play with, less distractions, etc. I don't know exactly what it is, but I love it

On Tuesday, we headed to Flagstaff so I could get my hair cut by my friend Kristi. She moved, and I still see her because I love the way she cuts my hair1 Zach and I had a special moment in the car that I wanted to capture. I was just enjoying the scenery, thankful that we were all together for the week.

On our way to Flagstaff...

The kids are hiking down from our cabin to the dining hall- I love how Teda was first, then Dane, then Jett. It's just natural for them to do that

Handsome Dane

He had fun letting me make his hair into a mohawk a few times. This was a very adventurous thing for him to do- usually he's a "don't make my hair stick up ANYWHERE" kind of kid... summer camp makes us do crazy things!

Ok, does Jett look SO old in this picture? I can hardly stand it, he's just too sweet. Look at those dimples too! And he's my child that LOVES to have his hair sticking up EVERYWHERE. Those boys are so different!

Here's Zach speaking at a night session- he did an awesome job this week. He has a gift for sure!

Zach showed the kids how to be responsible and help clean up after our meals. It was too cute to see them wiping the tables and chairs down, I had to take a picture.

Teda unfortunately got sick on Wednesday of our first week, so my wonderful mom came up to get her (and she took Deklan as well), so for Thurs and Fri we just had Dane and Jett. We went swimming on Thursday, and they had a blast. This was in the "little warm pool"- it was just Dane's speed. He hates to be cold, and gets there quickly, so a warm pool was perfect for him. Here's Jetty boy and Daddy. He cracks me up in those goggles.

Daddy and Dane having some quiet time in the morning before breakfast.

Here Dane is getting his harness on to climb the 35 foot climbing wall- he's totally ready to go. Jett really wanted to climb too, but we felt like he's a little to young still. Dane was one of the youngest to climb the wall ever- and he did awesome!

There was another lady watching Dane and Zach climb- she was one of the leaders for the jr highers. She was really struck by what a great visual this is of how Jesus is with us- He comes along side of us, encourages us, doesn't do the work for us but shows us how step by step, and is just this Amazing presence as we live this life He has given to us. She was so thankful for that visual, and I am too! It's so true. They were climbing straight up, and it seemed so high, so hard, but Dane was confident he could do it. And with Zach by his side (and some help from the UCYC staff pulling him up when he couldn't reach some of the foot holds), he did!

Daddy was next to him the whole time, encouraging him and helping him along.

They made it! Can you believe how tall it is?! Next they will zip line down...

Sorry the pic is the wrong way- here's them getting ready to zip line down

After they finished, here's the staff helping him climb down the ladder to the ground. Way to go, Dane!

Dane with his proud Daddy. What a brave boy!

He did it!

Dane at the bottom of the climbing wall. What an achievement

Next up- Dane will climb the "Leap of Faith". The idea is to climb up it, stand up and jump to try and grab a trapeze pole out in front of you. He did awesome- got to the top, touched it, and decided not to try and jump. He let go and swung away until he was lowered down by our friend Jessica, who is on staff at UCYC.

Zach's turn to try the leap of faith...

Here's the video for that- what I love about this video is hearing Dane encourage his Daddy, just like his Daddy had encouraged him on the climbing wall. He totally does whatever we do, what a great reason and inspiration for me to walk in step with Jesus and do my best to live for Him.

He got it! He totally jumped and caught the bar!

Here's what Jett was up to part of the time- staying busy trying on helmets and harnesses- he's such a sweet boy.

Here's us with the band. We stayed in the cabin behind us with them this week, and they were just AWESOME. So awesome that we wanted to have a picture to remember them.

Here's us being sad because Teda and Deklan weren't with us. (My mom had picked them up- Teda was sick and Deklan went with too)

All in all, GREAT week!