The First Day!

So, we arrived here at clydehurst yesterday (Sunday) and were welcomed by a chilly wet afternoon! Actually, to be correct, it was snowing! We were too excited to be let down, though :) After hugs and squeals of excitment (ok, most of the squeals came from Joe... ahem, i mean Katie ) we enjoyed introductions, lunch, and a move in time. Joe and I were happy to find out we were going to stay in the same cabin as 2 years ago!! And this time as we moved in...we weren't quite as shocked to the size (or lack thereof!) It is actually quite endearing to be in Cabin # 32 once more!

And as of now, we have the "first day" under our belts...whew! I am enjoying the high school crew girls...they are such hard workers! And we are blessed to have 5 returners from last year, who are taking initiative and helping to train the newer staff (myself, included!) I have much to learn, but I am willing and ready, which I figure is the best attitude to have. Joe has been leading the crew boys excellently, so far, and I can tell that they are looking up to him already. They were working hard all day, despite the rain and chilly temperatures. It has been quite the switch to come from Ohio with 80 degree weather, to here in the mountains with 39 and rain! But worth it, definitely. In fact, we took a walk this evening and saw a Momma Black bear with 2 cubs out in the meadow field across the river from camp! Talk about amazing...we just stood and watched them roam around. And then...(yup, it gets better!) we kept walking down the road to the "beaver ponds" where one can find moose frequenting the area. Lo and behold, we saw a moose standing not 200 feet from us, watching our every move :) We could hear something else off in the distance and looked up just in time to notice another moose actually running down the road towards us! A car slowly approaching behind it, causing it to run. We quickly ran off the road and hid up on the hill by some big rocks (kinda hilarious-looking, but moose can be dangerous!) He veered off into the pond and up into some willows...talk about exciting. Well, i guess thats life in the mountains, for ya.

We are really excited to see how God will move this summer...please pray that we would daily depend on Jesus for our strength, wisdom, and guidance as we try and not only lead the high schoolers, but also build relationships with the rest of our amazing staff members. This summer will be full of learning opportunities, adventures, failures and successes. It is just so amazing that God would bring us out here once more.

We are working on taking our pictures off our camera from the Teton camping trip and will post those soon. The trip was, well, amazing. One of our favorite places with some of our favorite people.

I will leave you with a verse, one that I am keeping close to my heart this summer!

Katie

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."