Camping at Promontory Park

Tayla and Jessica with baby Brynne
Jon and a few others on the rope swing across the river
Malcolm being silly "Ride 'em cowboy!"

Jonah jumped in and didn't realize how c-c-cold the water was! Needless to say, he got right back out.

Without planning to, almost everyone brought hot dogs to roast around the fire for lunch, and below the kiddos playing on the rocks by the campsite.

We got back from camping yesterday afternoon and all of us were so tired! Every year I am left wondering why we do this to ourselves...rush rush to get packed, rush to get there so we can sit and sit and sit on our behinds and then realize the kids have managed to escape again so we chase the kids down. We make meals that would be easier prepared at home, then haul everything over to the sink to do the dishes; haul the chairs from one campsite to another to visit with everyone; go to bed late and wake up WAY too early. . . But every year I come home with my head swimming with things talked about, good convos and silly fellowship (Bear Grisly or Grisle or whatever his name is?!?!), and pranks pulled (and thwarted: "McClung!").
Then I remember that one of the reasons we go is to see our friends (and so they can see us) at their worst, or is it their best? And this is beautiful: A community sharing coffee at seven in the morning and two in the afternoon, making s'mores, eating meals together around a campfire or a picnic table, borrowing someone's ketchup, sharing the load of watching out for each other's kids, seeing everyone without makeup or hairspray or blowdryers. And then I realize what perhaps everyone else already knows and doesn't even need saying: That all the work and planning and frustration of camping is part of the deal. That without the cost, without the price of my sleep, the fellowship just wouldn't be as sweet. I mean, just the chance to have "church" outside around a fire ring on a Friday night or a Sunday morning when hardly anyone's had a shower and we are all real and laid bare before the Lord and each other makes all the work worth it.