A whole week of updates!

Sorry I haven't updated the blog in a while, I was waiting for Alex to upload some photos and he has been so busy that it was a week before I realised that I was still waiting!

So here is a LONG blog about the last week of adventures :)

You may like to break it up over a few days, LOL.

Monday: Well Alex is back from his out trip and his trip to Calgary. So we all went out as a family to have a look around. We ended up driving up one of the mountains that Alex had gone up on his out trip the day before. The great thing about Canada is you can actually drive a fair way up a lot of the mountains very here and get a decent way up them (now that’s my kind of mountain climbing!)

The girls absolutely loved four wheel driving over the bumpy roads and up the hills and through the giant muddy puddles. We stopped for a picnic on top of a hill which had a huge panoramic view of the mountains surrounding us…

We got to see some amazing waterfalls and also a few chipmunks and squirrels, no bears to Alex’s disappointment L

Back up Crow, it was the last day of the Keenagers (like Teenagers but keener!) camp. Which is similar to Camp Clayton’s Golden Ambassadors. It’s a camp for over 50’s and it was has been really awesome meeting so many of the people that have helped with Crow over the years. Many of the group have been coming to the Keenagers camp for over 30 years!

We met some great people and were delighted to discover an Aussie or two, which made us a little homesick listening to their accents J It was great to use Aussie words and not get blank stares from the person listening. LOL

Another highlight of Keeangers was the Kitchen Crew. Here at Crows there is one person who works in the Kitchen and the rest are volunteers. This weekend Janice was given the weekend off and a Youth Group from Coleman and the surrounding areas came in to prepare, cook and serve the food. They also did all the table setting and clean up afterwards (including the washing up). They did such a fabulous job and it was a real blessing to see so many young people willing to commit to working for a whole weekend for the benefit of this camp and staff. I would love to see this sort of thing at Camp Clayton in the future. What an amazing testimony and a great way for young people to learn a servant heart.

In the evenings, if they have time off and have done all their homework, the COLTS often get together at Robyn’s home to play games. Alex and I have become particularly addicted to a game called BANG. We are definitely planning on buying it and brining it home to play. These evenings are a lot of fun with plenty of laughs J I certainly enjoy getting the chance to spend some relaxing time with people my own age, LOL, well kinda, I keep forgetting how old Alex and I are. Most of the COLTS are in their early 20’s.

Alex and were also contacted yesterday in regards to John Dyer’s unexpected call to Glory. This has come as a real shock to us, especially having had the chance to get to know him so much better with his involvement in our trip here. He will be greatly missed, he was an amazing man of God. We grieve this loss and for his family and pray that God will give them peace during this time. Praise God that John is now with our heavenly Father.  

Wednesday: So tonight Alex is out on another out trip over night...except that he didn't know that he was going! LOL, I really should tell you more about Alex's COLT program but it's kinda hard to explain looking in from the outside, but I'll give it a go, there may be some amendments tomorrow after Alex reads this.

So the COLTS program is a very intense program that teaches many things, from what I can see it focus' on teaching Outdoor skills and Leadership. Alex and the other COLTS study hard on many outdoor wilderness issues  orienteering  packing etc and study even harder in regards to their personal relationship with God and becoming an exceptional leader, they memorise verses, study the Bible and practice leadership at every opportunity.

So as you can imagine Alex has been flat out, we barely see him, mostly only at meals and even then most of the COLTS are exhausted and hoping for naps :)  Once the training component finishes and the Summer starts, the COLTS do the out trips during the camps and some also do programming (Supervising). So although he will be busy during summer there should also be a bit more opportunity to spend time with him.

So, the last night out trip was an expected surprise for the COLTS. They were only told they were going on a hike but once up there the scenario changed to them being lost for the night and they had to cope with whatever they had with them. Now you would think that most of them would pool their resources but only the girls did that. the boys decided to suck it up on their own. Poor Alex did take his big pack but did not have any thermals on or his hat as they were all in the wash :( He did have a tarp to keep off the ground thankfully, so he was a little cold by the time her returned home. It was raining as they left but it turned into sleet/snow during the night, I opened the door in the morning to a full on snow with poor Alex at the door. Most of them didn't pack any food either so a big hot breakfast was ready for them that morning :)

Friday: The girls and I have found a fantastic playgroup in Coleman that is free and runs every morning! It's great, the girls love getting to meet new kids and play with new toys. The girls have also made a great new friend named Karen and are having a sleepover with her this Friday.

Think that is it! Talk soon :)