Summer camps are funny things. Some are overnight camps in the wilderness where you live off nature (meaning no Internet or Starbucks!), while some are recreational and you get to stay in cabins, eat cafeteria food, do arts and crafts and play pranks on your unassuming counselor. You're excited to be away from home and meet new people and after the first day or two you settle into the routine. The McCurdy Mission trip is kind of similar (except the pranks on counselors part).
Today was our second work day and we were confident in what we were doing and ready to go! We've begun to settle into a routine and get into a groove. Of course our excitedness may have been heightened by the fact it was a half day and after lunch we were going to Santa Fe! That definitely did the trick as we all kicked into high gear in the morning to make sure we'd get done what was needed. Apparently you just need to bribe a mission group with a field trip and it does the trick!
The men were kept very busy jumping from broken water faucets to unloading equipment to hours of yard work. Dan, Dale and Andy attacked the lawn and brush and Andy lugged a tree his own size to the dumpster (impressing a second grade classroom while he was at it). Not only were Butch and his plumbing skills in high demand today but he was also dubbed Evil Knievel with the lawn mower taking down weeds and small trees without blinking (or breaking the mower)!
Not to be outdone, Lawn Leader Judy, along with Nancy, Kris, Amy and Meg took to the landscaping again. They weed whacked, mowed, trimmed, raked, accidentally cut wanted plants (and then hid the evidence) and avoided anything with the word pear in it! (See previous blog.)
The Rockstar Paparazzi lost Andy but gained Tracy, who, much to her delight, was relieved of Calculus duty. The Karens and Tracey explored the depths of McCurdy continuing their inventory. When we say depths, we mean depths. They may have uncovered where they keep the Disney Vault!
Sheila and Barb tackled the alphabet as they helped organize and prep thank you letters to mail. Thankfully these two are whizzes at the alphabet and finished before lunch. With people jumping to other activities, the Label Ladies dwindled to Carla and Claudia. This didn't deter but apparently inspired them because they had more today than yesterday! Drumroll please: 4640 labels! (Remember, unless you want to do the math yourself, come back Friday for the grand total!) The best thing that they received was a pickle jar lid someone mailed and an SNH green stamp book. We're debating on checking eBay to see if it'll sell for anything to up the donation to McCurdy. :)
Mr. IT, Kyle, wasn't exactly off and running because installing programs on old computers that take an hour each isn't exactly running. Just like the Tortoise and The Hare, slow and steady wins the race. Besides, he has until Friday and it should be loaded by then right? :)
After Lori's hilarious account of "The Raisin Bran Debacle" and her reenactment of Lucy's "chocolate factory" episode with fajitas, we think maybe we should nickname Lori and Brenda, Lucy and Ehtel! Always laughing, always in it together and always making us smile (and always getting into mischief), doesn't that sound like them?
Perhaps duped by Judy (verdict is still out on that), Tom tackled a huge bush outside the main building and in the process it managed to tackle him. His cuts and scraps didn't deter our fearless leader and he kept us on track to hit our Santa Fe goal.
One of the special and unique things about McCurdy is that they want you to take time to sightsee and take in the area and culture. They twisted our arm and our Director of Fun Carla, set up a trip to Santa Fe for the afternoon.
Our caravan arrived and we were ready to take it all in! Some took a city tour (with the added delicacy of heavy exhaust fumes for those in the back), Judy took in the Georgia O'Keefe museum that we were told was amazing (and had a great gift shop!). Others saw the St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral and everyone saw the San Miguel Mission church that was actually the first church constructed in the U.S. It was awe inspiring to say the least.
To wrap up the day we again bombarded a restaurant with our laughter, empty stomachs and craving for sopapillas. Alas, we were denied sopapillas again, but in Cheryl's honor who couldn't travel with us, we had the mocha chocolate cake. (Judy was so excited she actually forgot to take a picture of it!)
On the ride home we were excited and exhausted from the day's activities. We couldn't help but take a million photos of the amazing sunset going down behind the mountains that reminded us of God's beauty. Tonight's devotion was centered on Matt. 5:14-16, let your light shine and don't hide it under a bushel. The sunset is just another way of God showing us His love and His light. He never hides His under a bushel and He shines it on everyone, those in tents and those in cabins, we just have to be open enough to see it.
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