love this place {time to pack and go}...

we are heading to one of our favorite places on this earth....palmetto bible camp!  this photo (of my brother, looking over the lake at camp) was taken a few years ago in the fall (which is why there are no leaves on the trees!).  we spend a week at camp each summer, when it tends to be very green and very warm!

although this photo is not one of the most beautiful of camp, it's not so much the beauty of the campus that i love and look forward to each summer.  don't get me wrong, camp is truly a wonderfully glorious piece of property, nestled in the mountain foothills and situated near a huge lake.  i especially love camp in autumn, for here (unlike the coast where i live) the tree leaves actually paint the sky with shades of auburn, crimson, and gold and the air is crisp and cool.

what i love about going to camp, the anticipation that builds over weeks, days, and then hours as we wind our way down the roads that lead us there, are the people.  i love my brothers and sisters and the relationship we share in Christ and i experience true joy when i get to see each one and greet them again.  they are beautiful people, radiating God's love.

Our mouths were filled with laughter,
   our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
   “The LORD has done great things for them.”
  The LORD has done great things for us,
   and we are filled with joy.
psalm 126:2-3

summer oasis...

i hope to sit here soon, in my splendid summer oasis, if it will ever stop raining...

yesterday we went to the beach...nice.

today becky and i worked on lessons for church camp and then i took her to her birthday lunch at ladles. i've also been organizing all my photographs and scrapbooking supplies...that is taking forever...{sigh}...

but i did find my holga photos from the bahamas last summer! i will share those soon.

wish for no rain. and no mosquitos. those guys are pesky.

camp, the finale...

camp, take six...

why we love this place...

(see the waterfall way up there? that's the one from the hike!)

hangin' at F-Mart, drinking Cheerwine and Nehi soda...

camp, take five...

Only at camp is it appropriate to don early Biblical attire and not have people worry about your mental state.

(btw, that is Samson on the stage...he sang this song by Tim Hawkins...check it out, it's hilarious.)

camp, take three...

GAMES DAY...Let the games begin! The campers are in mixed-age teams all week for team-building activities. Games Day is spent running all over campus for two hours playing physical and mental games in order to collect as many flags as possible for your team.

coach sal's team...The Yellow Snowmen...very funny.

camp, take two...

...hiking the falls...

camp, take one...

After a lovely wedding of friends the night before, we head to camp on a rainy Sunday morning...


..first, we stop at Publix and get donuts...


...we meet up with friends heading to camp and trek on down the highway...see the mountains in the distance?...



...we somehow take a wrong turn and end up going 45 minutes in the wrong direction...I was not a happy camper (no pun intended) until I saw this...

...peaches, peaches, peaches! Fresh, warm, juicy, yummy...



...truckLOADS of PeAcHeS!!! At home they are so expensive...

...so we bought a basketful for only $10!!!...

...then I was a happy camper again...

POTW...on the road...

(Sorry it took me all week, blogger wouldn't let me on!)

This is camp...upstate South Carolina. My brother and his wife and coach sal and I went for staff retreat (we're on summer camp staff). One thing that I love about camp is how different it looks in November compared to June! I love the rich autumn colors, something we never see here on the coast.

These are from my new camera, a Canon A590- nothing fancy, just a small, portable P&S. And these photos are straight from the camera, no tweeking...although there are a few I'd like to manipulate the color on and increase saturation. But I think my Canon did pretty well!

And the one of the four of us? ONE shot. I held out the camera and said SMILE! Not bad.

off to camp...

It's been a very busy week, which is pretty typical as the holidays approach. Basketball tryouts for the boys, students singing in assemblies at school, field trips to plan, tests to give...and Thanksgiving to prepare for!

I'm giving thanks today for...

...Palmetto Bible Camp, where coach sal and I are heading for the weekend to do some summer camp planning...these photos are camp in the fall.

...a good safe van to get us all there.

...my wonderful awesome super mom who is holding down our house with three kids and a dog while we're gone (LOVE U!).

...14 year old sons who buy their mommas presents instead of snacks from the snack machines at school (he bought me red earrings from the school's holiday artisan market!).

...brothers and sisters who sometimes in tiny-little ways DO show that they care about each other.

...my new birthday camera!

...UPS delivers!

...frozen pizzas.