i posted some new pictures on poolhouseblue

We made it back from Colorado, so this last week has kind of been catch up week. We had a great trip, a few adventures, but for the most part it was just a good time of hanging out and getting to see family and friends. Here are a few pictures:

My moms side of the family has a family reunion every four years at YMCA of the Rockies in this little lodge. There were about 60 of us in all. It was good to get to see family who i have not seen in a long time. We also got to see some of Beth’s family in Denver.

Daniel got a hair cut and Beth was officially accepted into the family.

Then we drove to Twin Lakes

At Twin Lakes we met up with the Freeman and the Harris family to hang out for the rest of the week.

We got to stand on top of some mountains.

I climbed Elbert (that’s Elbert in the background). It was my first time to climb a 14000 foot mountain, so that was fun. I even have a picture of me at the top, but its on Luke’s camera, ill post it when he gets it to me. You know…proof and all…

I got to see some cool old cabins…

I also got to test the limits of the Outback, while impressive, i did learn that it is possible to break the sway bar going over big rocks…and that the 12 mile four wheel drive only road will take a really long time to drive…

Luke and Cass got to go fishing.

On the way home we turned over 100000 miles in the Outback, hear’s to another 100000…

Any way, it was a good trip. It was great to get to hang out with our friends and their kids, see family, and just get away from camp and relax for a week. Sorry we didn’t get to hook up with you Alaska! We’ll have to get together sometime though!

Well, friends…..we are having a wonderful time in the amazingness that is the Rocky Mountains. Some people are beach vacationers…..not Ben & I. Give us the mountains and cool air any day. We love it! So far, we’ve driven a whole lot….I got my first taste of the legendary Casa Bonita in Denver…We stayed with my aunt and uncle in Denver-as always, great food, great talks, and fun kiddos-can’t say I’ve ever played air hockey with 4 people and 4 pucks all at the same time before! We spent some time with Daniel (Ben’s brother) riding around Boulder on bicycles, and I got to spend some time on Pearl St. browsing books and eating at a tasty cafe….and we let our Subaru spend a little time at the dealer while we were there….a few less $ in our account, but she runs better now…and gas mileage will be better too.** We’re in Estes Park now at the Buchleiter Family Reunion (Ben’s mom’s family). Tomorrow morning we head south to meet up with our good friends.

**just in case you have fun things in your vehicle like seat warmers….be warned that the indicator lights on those things are PRICEY…..**

OH, and today’s my birthday…the big 27…thoughts on all that entails later…. I can’t really think of anything better than spending my birthday in the mountains though!

I thought it would be fun to share about a divine appointment I had in the Kansas City Airport on my way to Flordia earlier this summer…

…She tapped me lightly on the shoulder. I didn’t realize how significant that little tap would be until later. We were in line at the airport, boarding our plane. She wanted to know if I was flying alone, and would I mind if she sat with me. This was her first time flying alone you see, and as she asked if it would be ok if she sat with me her eyes welled up with tears. As we found some seats near the front we started talking. Turns out that her name was Laura and I was going to visit my friend named Laura…and my name was Beth and she was going to visit her friend named Beth. (These were totally awesome realizations for an anxious 15-year-old.)

And when she heard me say I was from Oklahoma, she said,

“Oh! I just went to a camp in Oklahoma.”

“Really?” I said, “Which one?”

She could only remember that it was in some little town called Colcord. My eyes widened as I exclaimed,

“New Life Ranch! That’s where I live!”

You could see a wave of relief wash over her. The rest of our conversation on the plane ride was minimal as she put her headphones in and I read my magazine. But our friends were meeting us in the same area of the airport, so we walked out together and as soon as she saw her family she started hugging them and I was quickly forgotten. As I interrupted a one hug to tell her it was nice to meet her, she ran over and gave me a big hug.

It was a blessing to meet someone who knew where Colcord, OK was while I was standing in the Kansas City Airport. Someone who was new to her church, but came with her youth group to this camp at the beginning of the summer. She grew closer to God while she was here, and had a great time. I know that the people impacted by New Life Ranch exist all over the world, but it’s nice to meet them unexpectedly sometimes. Just to be reminded that God doesn’t live at New Life Ranch, but He has used it to change the lives of people all over the world.

The other day i had the privilege of doing a short video interview of a lady who came to camp many years ago. In fact she came to camp before this place was known as New Life Ranch.

Rev. Heck (who founded NLR) used to travel around to schools teaching Bible classes. If students memorized enough verses they were able to come to camp. At the time everybody who came to camp would meet in Tulsa and get on a bus, which would bring them to Kullum’s Ranch for camp. It was amazing to hear how some things are the same. She remembered chapel, doing activity classes, signing silly songs, playing in the creek. Counselors who impacted her through their lives and kindness. Of course things have changed as well. Rev Heck bought Kullum’s Ranch and renamed it New Life Ranch, a lot of our programming is different, the buildings are all different, we have a more diverse set of ministries. But it is encouraging to know that over the past 50 years NLR has truly stayed true to its roots of glorifying God through relationships with campers, and that the impact of this place is lasting, even fifty years later.
If you are New Life Ranch type person and are interested there is a Wikipedia article about NLR that could use some work if any one is so inclined.

So, its the end of summer camp, which means we might start posting again. We will see…

The summer was good. There was a lot going on as usual. For camp it was a great summer. We had an increase in our numbers, basically  all of our weeks ended up mostly full, which is really good. It seems like every summer i am know less about that is going on in the day to day of camp, so to be honest i can\’t really give any great stores of how God worked. But I know that he did. It is amazing the way that God uses this place year after year to impact the world for his glory.

For me the summer is always kind of strange. I really want to start working ahead on stuff for the upcoming season, but never really get to, i did a little better this summer, but still not great, so there is a lot to do in the next several months to catch up!

So, there you go, we will try and start blogging again…feel free to drop us a line if you get a chance.