Andy and Hannah

Well, folks, the news is out...there is a new love relationship carrying on at good ol' Camp Joy!

I always get so excited when I see something like this blossoming..

                                                                       ...its a beautiful thing.

This beautiful thing involves Hannah Lange,...and (drumroll please)

Andy

I got to go with Hannah the first time she met him.  She had gotten a phone call from someone who thought they would work out well with each other, and I could tell after the first time seeing them walk down the driveway together...

It was meant to be.  

As appearances go, you know,...he's,...uh,...average, you know,...unusual nose, strangely shaped ears, slightly unkempt brown hair, but... as the old saying goes "It's what's on the inside that counts."

Anyhow, Hannah wanted me to do a photo shoot with her and Andy the other day, so I obliged her.

Here's a few candids of 

Hannah and Andy

Hannah, bringing Andy out of the corral.  Whoops!  Did I forget to mention that Andy was a horse?  Oh, how clumsy of me! :)

I took some of the pics that I likes and edited them.  I will probably play around with them a bit more.

Horse Love <3 

THE END

Surprise!

A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday night, all of us basement Triplex girls were chilling in the living room, when we heard a knock at the door.

 A knock on the door of the Triplex means: #1: There's a man at the door (they don't barge into our house like all the camp girls do :) ) or #2: there's an emergency-police, fire department, rescue squad, Pizza Hut delivery, etc.  

In actuality, it was neither!

Ruth answered the door and said "You won't believe who's here!"  It was our friend, Becky, from Iowa.  I had talked to her a couple of weeks before and she had said she might come visit us, but then she wrote a letter saying she didn't know if she could come.  So, we were very surprised to see her at our doorstep!  She was glad we were not expecting her, as she thoroughly enjoys catching people when they least expect it! :)  

Monday morning, Ruth, Becky, and I went thrift store shopping in downtown Janesville.  Becky took her car and I "navigated."  Well, that is, I tried to navigate!  Needless to say, there were many erratic turns!  We visited some junk stores, and somehow ended up in the not-so-great section of town.  All, in all, we had fun.  People looked at us strangely, no doubt thinking "Hmm,...I've never seen the Amish in this section of town before."

After all that, we went to Culver's and Hobby Lobby.  We found these huge flowers on the sale rack...and just had to get one of every color...just kidding!  They were so attractive we just couldn't bear to get them! 

Ruth and Becky

Ruth and...er, Rosie :)

We had a great day!  Surprises are always such fun! (Unless, they are around the doorway, ready to scare you and make you let out a bloodcurdling scream!)

Nathan and Julia

Well, at long last the absent blogger is blogging again!  I'm sure you don't want to hear excuses why I haven't blogged in almost a month, so...I won't offer any!

One week ago, we had a very exciting event in our lives-

the wedding of Julia Hatchett and Nathan Houck.  

Julia and Nathan "re-met" towards the end of last summer, sensed the Lord bringing them together (with a little help from some matchmakers)...and the rest is history!  I am so happy for both of them, but I must say I will MISS her!  Julia was like a ray of sunshine here at camp, and I'm so thankful for the years I got to work with her.  Nathan got a good girl!  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the wedding, and I was very busy during the reception, so I'm posting pictures that I got from Angie, which she saved from my Dad's facebook.  (Thanks, Dad! :) )

Nathan and Julia <3<3

Another glimpse of the happy couple.  I'm sure their faces hurt from smiling so much! :)

So sweet!

Their wedding was sweet and simple.  It was encouraging to see the joy on the faces of a couple that had waited for God's perfect timing and God's perfect choice for their lives.  It has to be so worth it!

Julia and the camp girls, at Julia's wedding shower.

We will miss her tremendously, but as of the 22nd, she made Nathan Houck the happiest and luckiest most blessed guy in the world! (at least he seemed to think so :) )

A Belated Look at CJ Valentine's Banquet

 Natalie says, "you can't rush art,"...and many other people say, "Better late than never!" Therefore, I am finally posting pics of our Valentine's banquet.  This is probably the single largest event for the Camp Joy kitchen each year, and though we have capable help, and though it always goes off fine, I breathe a deep sigh of relief when it is over!

 

Nicole, a great friend and helper.  She sliced all these limes for the water pitchers, and we forgot to use them.  Oops!

Rebekah.  I can't even begin to describe how much of a relief it is to me to have her here.  She works quietly, with very little recognition, but she does a fantastic job.  Her specialty is salad bar.

Fancy food.  Fun to make...not as much fun to eat.

REALLY fancy food! (made more so by the addition of mold, I am informed.)  We got this huge wheel of Gorgonzola, so the banquet seemed like a good time to use it.  I haven't been able to work up the desire to eat something that smells like dirty feet! (however, I will serve it to campers, who must have more refined tastes than I do!)

Marinated Steak- my kind of fancy food!  Mr. Scott and Paul cooked it - 80-110 lbs of pure yumminess!

Hannah, whipping up two very large batches of broccoli salad.  We made it by the dishtubfull.

This is Mrs. Lange's domain.  When she's finished, there's flour over 3 states, but the results of her baking are unbeatable...'specially the chocolate cake!

The dining hall, ready for guests.  Angie does a great job of hostessing.

Table settings

Lovely flowers

For the centerpieces, we floated cranberries and tealights in the candleholders-very simple and pretty!

<3<3<3