August

Summer as always has just flown by!!!  Camp is officially over and has been for the last 2 weeks, but we are just now getting a chance to catch our breath and pick up the pieces of a busy summer.  The weather has also taken a turn to fall, as if it knows that we are getting ready to settle  into a winter routine, and both Aaron and I are ready for that change of pace. 

Looking back on Summer....
We had a great summer!  We had a smaller summer staff than we have had previous years, but God totally used that and worked in that giving us just who we needed when we needed it!  We saw 627 kids come onto camp property this year and I know that each one left knowing more about the love of God.  The counselors and other summer staff were huge testaments of who God is and the love He has for us.  We also had speakers and worship leaders come in throughout the summer to share with the kids and teach them, and I know these people that were willing to give up a part of there summer to speak truth into the lives of these kids made a huge impact as well!

Aaron and I worked with the staff trying to build relationships with them.  This meant that after the second half of the summer (when Aaron was working with the Doulos group) Aaron was often found with a group of young men playing frisbee Golf on the grounds.  I was still busy chasing after a very active almost 2 year old, but was able to have girls up to the house once a week for a time of crafts, baking, and fellowship!  We also were in charge of facilitating Sunday night praise and prayers for our staff to help them refocus for the week ahead.  It was fun to get to know the young men and women that God brought to this ministry for the summer.

We were also blessed to have my grandparents, Ray and Helen Dennis, up for the summer in the bookshop.  It was fun for me to see them so often and Raylee loved visiting them in the gift shop (it may have something to do with the amount of lollipops she consumed)...  They were also a big help to me.  They took Raylee about once a week so I could go to staff meetings and see what was going on  around the different camps.

2 Week visit from Grandma and Grandpa Meeuwsen....

The last week of summer we were blessed to have Paul and Karie come up for a visit.  This was a huge help to me.  It freed me up through the week to help out around camp a little bit more.  I get a chance to go pick up campers in Palmer and take them home at the end of the week.  And be more available throughout the week for different things that were going on.  They also turned into a personal work team for us and accomplished a lot in a few weeks!  Since we moved into our house we have been slowly updating the bedrooms, We have been in the process of working on the master bedroom since December, but with them here we were able to finish the ceiling and sheetrock and get it painted and carpeted!  We also get the tile laid for the master bathroom shower...  It looks amazing and the night before they left we had moved in!  We still have some work to do in there, but this frees up our old room so that I can slowly start to convert it into the nursery that we will need in 9 weeks...

Looking into Fall...

I know lots of information all at once...  (maybe I should update more often)...  As for what we are doing now, we are looking forward to fall and what it brings.  This month Aaron has started working back at church, but won't actually start doing youth group activities until the middle of September.  He is currently working on the basement of church trying to convert it into a teen hang out center.  We are hoping that with the start up of youth group we can redo the way we have done youth group in the past.  Aaron wants to open the basement of church up 2 times a week with the hope of create a great space to build relationships and hang out with our youth.  We are currently in the process of recruiting small group leaders for some small group/discipleship time on Monday nights and then we will plan on doing just hang out game time one other time a week...With Big events (movie nights, gym nights, etc...) at the end of every month.  We are both excited about the possibilities that this could bring, but are really hoping we find the help we need to pull it off...  I am under the realization that with adding to our family, I will not be able to help as much as I have in the past.

That being said we are also hoping to add our little baby girl to our family on or before October 23 (I hope she comes early because Karie plans on being here to enjoy the addition Oct. 26)...  Both Aaron and I are excited to be welcoming another little girl. 

I think that is about it on the Meeuwsen news for now...  I will try and update with some pictures sometime soon.  Raylee is getting so big!  Thank you everyone for your prayers and support...  You are what makes our ministry here in Alaska possible and we are so thankful for you!