oh, we have been BUSY...

hello one and everyone!

so sorry for the massive amounts of not-posting; the past few days have been hectic (with a side of "no data service" from Sprint, AT&T and Verison).

so, to do a quick re-cap...

SUNDAY - bud taught an amazing Bible study about being God's workmanship and then about 80% of us went rafting and had a blast! the Ragers decided to do a family "chill day" and hung out at camp and took a trip to the town of West Yellowstone. Scarlett and i went looking for animals and were rewarded with about 300 bison, around 50 elk (including one bull with HUGE antlers), one very confused black-tail doe, 2 coyotes, an adolescent black bear...and a partridge in a pear tree. ;)

MONDAY - the long drive. what was supposed to be 9 hours on the road turned into 12, due to construction in several places and long stretches of 25 MPH in both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. the Grand Tetons were (are?!?!) absolutely inspiring, and the Lord blessed us with high spirits and plenty of fun with Chinese Fire Drills as we waited for traffic to move on... we passed many towns with populations of less than 300 (on read "10", no joke!), and it was awesome for the kids to be exposed to something...different. :) we pulled in to Laramie and the Table in the Wilderness Ministries (TWM) house at about 11:00 PM and promptly claimed bunks and collapsed. :)

TUESDAY - mountain biking, field games and hiking. okay, tons of stuff happened this day, but i can't do it justice. suffice to say that everyone had an amazing time (even though i think just about every single person who biked fell off at least once!). zach reynolds was our greatest casualty on the bike trail with a gnarly wound to the elbow and hip, but don't worry - he's fine. alexandra, on the other hand... not so good. while hiking back down from Medicine Bow, she took a tumble and dislocated her bad shoulder. she and i ended up at the ER. good news - if you're gonna dislocate your shoulder, Laramie is the place to do it; the ER staff were phenominal and very, very, very...happy (sorry, my brain is tired and the poetic adjectives are not coming). :) so, she and i ended up back at the Ministry house for bed while everyone else had sharing time around the campfire and slept at TWM's property in Centennial, WY.

WEDNESDAY - the river day. okay, let me tell you - natural hot springs sounds like a great idea, right? and it is...if you like slimy, hot water - complete with hot muck between your toes and the smell of sulfur in your nostrils. but i dove in anyhow. :) it WAS kinda cool, i guess. and then after that we went floating down the river for a few hours and much fun was had by all, both in and out of the water. then we went back to camp, packed up, drove back to the Ministry house, had one last worship and sharing time and now everyone else is sleeping (i hope!) while i type this entry.

please keep us in your prayers - we've got a crazy morning ahead, but i think the kids are up to it. :) our flight leaves Denver at 8:35 AM (Denver-time) and we should be back in Fort Lauderdale by 2:30 PM...ish. leaving time for Baggage Claim madness and the drive back to church, we're estimating we'll be back in Boynton by 4:30 PM or 5:00 PM. :)

okay, sleepytime for me... much love and thanks again for praying!
kaulana :)