Goings-on... (Part II)

I uploaded all of these pictures forever ago and never posted it... In June, Kyle and I took a group of youth to Cherokee, NC to the Indian Reservation, and we had an AMAZING trip... there are so many things I could say about it, but in the end, we were taught so many things I could never begin to include every aspect of growth we experienced. God taught us things (from patience to flexibility to construction skills!) when we thought we were sent to teach others. I am so grateful to have gotten to be a part of this mission team! Here's a small glimpse into our time in Cherokee:

Some of the girls in our cabin... 9 of us and one bathroom! We learned to share and love each other that week!

We all got to enjoy some time in town and get some ice cream!

Also we enjoyed cooling off in the river...

Youth group bonding. We had to keep moving around or the bugs would eat us alive!

Prep for VBS at the Youth Center!

Half of us rebuilt a ramp for a sweet lady, Ms. Tootie. We LOVED getting to know her!

We learned a lot about the history of the Cherokee Indians at the outdoor drama... it was enjoyable until about hour 3... we didn't realize it would be that long!

We weren't needed at this particular moment, so we decided to act like we were hard at work.

Our three Bumblebees! They taught us to "Beeeeee Joyful!"

Craft time with kids at the youth center!

My hubby workin' hard. He was definitely in his element here!

The finished ramp and our group with Ms. Tootie!

This is our girls sneaking into the boys' cabin at 6:30 in the morning... they played a prank that was HILARIOUS, but I will not speak of here... I don't want to embarrass anyone too much. Trust me; it was funny.

Some of our girls enjoying the ride home.

Again, we had an amazing trip and would love to go back to Cherokee again someday!

A Backpacking Adventure!

Kyle and I took our youth group to the Talladega National Forest to hike part of the Pinhoti Trail for spring break! We took 8 guys and 1 girl (plus Kyle and I), and we had a GREAT time! I was pretty nervous about this trip since I didn't know for sure if I would be going until the week before we left. ALSO. I was definitely not as physically prepared for a trip like this (don't laugh TOO hard, Rox and Aly... haha). We had to leave a day later than we had originally planned due to inclement weather...as in, THUNDERSTORMS. Before we officially decided to post-pone our starting day, I was imagining a group of 11 people on a mountain hiding from lightning, thunder, and torrential rain...and we were supposed to be protecting these kids?!?! (If you knew my history of freaking out in thunderstorms, you would maybe understand my ridiculousness.)

Our caravan left at 7 AM to start our journey...

Kyle's and my BEFORE picture...I was already lookin' rough.

Our good-lookin' group getting ready to master this trail.

I think we had to stop within like 10 steps of starting the trail so I thought it made sense to take a picture while I still had a little bit of energy.

Our first night. One of the boys decided to roast a vienna sausage over the camp fire so it "would taste smoked"... this was a pretty funny moment at the time... it may have been that "forest madness" all of the boys kept telling me I had... some people get "cabin fever", but I get "forest madness..."

We came upon this random old rusted truck frame...photo-op!

The second day we came to a stream that couldn't be crossed without taking off shoes and boots and rolling up pant legs... it was pretty stinkin' cold!

It took a little bit to dry our toesies.

When you go backpacking, you get to eat GOURMET food. Like...Sandwich thins with Jiffy-to-go and fruit snacks. Don't hate! I didn't have any jelly!

A bunch of the guys next to a beautiful waterfall! These kind of moments kept us going...it was so exciting to see something new!

My sweetie-poo... is a weirdo. Haha, love you, Kyle!

More camp-fire fun!

We FINALLY made it!!

Ains and I were so excited to just sit down and relax!!

Our first stop after we left the trail was Cracker Barrel! Here's my oh-so-healthy lunch that I scarfed down!

Our lovely group. Notice that everyone's glasses were empty... our waitress was GREAT!! We were just so parched (and also excited to drink something other than water...) that she couldn't keep up with us!

So there you have it. Backpacking Trip 2011. We hiked a total of 22-ish miles in 3 days. ( 7 miles the first day, 12 miles the second day, and a little over 3 miles the last day) Can't wait 'til next year!!! :)