JULY--THE END IS NEAR!

It is hard to believe that our mission is coming to a close.  We have loved this wilderness camp...it has been an outdoor temple where we have experienced the ministering of angels and much revelation.  The windows of heaven have opened up and poured out many blessings upon the heads of our children as promised.  The sweetest blessing has been Tony's marriage to Megan!  We feel a large measure of peace....which is a gift from Heaven.

We had Marsha and Dave to dinner since I last wrote.  They are caretakers of the Grace Brethren camp nearby. He is the one that went with Dad to pick up the lost skier and drive him back to White Pass.  They also helped us when the snow was out of control.  We helped them put in a new window in their house.  Anyway, we have been talking about having them to dinner for two years.  It was good to have them.  When we go over to say goodbye we need to take the DVD "The Testaments"....they are not readers.....maybe we should give them our Book of Mormon cassette tapes?

We have been so busy with camps!  First, we had boys from Kennewick Stake here for a "Camp Helaman".....they worked so hard on Eagle Projects and other service around camp....it was quite amazing to watch.  They put in 1,394 hours! 

Our next camp was a Girls Camp from Moses Lake.  We loved them last year, but this year, their camp was disappointing.  Every night between 10:00 and 11:00, they gathered on the stage and around the seating area to dance to loud music.  By the time the leaders broke up the party, they were so wound up that they were running through camp screeching until the wee hours of the morning. Our next group of girls was this last week....they were from Puyallup Stake.  They were a much quieter bunch and thus, seemingly a more spiritual experience for the girls. The girls did service projects, but nothing quite like the boys.

Dad had a nice Fathers’ Day.  Thank you to those that called and/or wrote a letter.  The letters made him cry!  He also appreciated the thoughtful gifts.  I made him jello with fruit and oatmeal cookies with raisins.

One Sunday our home teacher, Vic and his wife Betty Jo invited us and Warnicks to dinner.  It was fun to take a tour of the dog kennels, tomato gardens, and his shop with a huge kiln.  He gave us an unfinished cutting board….Dad is excited to finish it.

Another Sunday, we were invited to dinner after church to Ted and Carole Huls’. They have a son that came home from his mission because of panic attacks.  He has suffered from depression ever since.  They brought him up to Camp “Z” on his birthday….he loved sitting out on the dock with Dad and watching a bald eagle fight with an osprey in the air over a fish. After dinner, he showed us an oil painting that he has been working on for the cover of a fantasy book that he is writing.  His mother teaches art in a local middle school…..we are “kindred spirits”! We went to the worldwide adult missionary training meeting afterward at the stake center.

The Cochrans (missionaries that work in the Bellevue office) came to Camp Zarahemla to experience Girls Camp, to say goodbye, and to do some computer training with Warnicks. They are such good people….he helped to rescue us when we had a big snowstorm this last winter.

We have also had dinner with Warnicks over to Wardell and Patti Larsen’s home. We took homemade bread and a quart of Dad’s apple juice.  Wardell loves to tell stories….he loves horses and has been quite a competitor in the past “cutting cattle”.

I have been very busy packing and cleaning, but this next week, I am going to play with grandkids!  Becca will be arriving Tuesday.  We are so excited to see them.  Melissa’s and David’s families will be here Thursday.  We are hoping that Chris’ family will be able to come Thursday or Friday. We wish Heather, Anna’s family and Tony’s family could come too….then it would be a reunion! The campers have been catching a lot of fish lately, so we are hoping that the grandkids will catch some too.

We woke up at 5:00 one day tto see a big elk outside our bedroom window…as soon as I shook Dad and said, “Look!”, he took off…..elk are a lot more skiddish than deer. Last night when Dad was going to bed, around midnight, he heard some munching outside…we had all of the windows open (it has been hot!)….he got a flashlight and shone it out the laundry room window….and sure enough there were “our” two deer munching away.  One seems to be the mama and one the baby…..they are so sweet! We will this and so much more!!

GOODBYE CAMP ZARAHEMLA!