Tadmor Retreat 2012

This weekend, we made our way back up to the Cascade foothills above Lebanon for our fourth year of attending the CCF Fall Retreat at Camp Tadmor.

John and I were especially excited for the speaker of this retreat.  His name is Steve McCracken.  He's good friends with Corey (the CCF pastor) and has been doing guest speaking for many of Corey's retreats over the years....including a particularly special retreat John and I participated in the weekend prior to our wedding.  What a hoot it was to catch up with him, swap kid and pet stories, and be at such a different place in life than where we were over 16 years ago.  

This retreat was also a special one for him, as his own daughter was in attendance, being a new student at UofO and a resident of the Trinity House.  Here's a picture of the two of them together, holding a gift Steve presented to her - a coloring book and crayons- her favorite activity to do during all the retreats she attended as a child when her dad was speaking. =)

The theme of the retreat involved a whole Alfred Hitchcock mystery spoof.  The middle person in this picture is Olivia - featured in so many of our pics as she's so photogenic with her vibrant smile and corkscrew curls.  She cracked us up with her English accent and attempts to be "Watson".

This retreat, particularly with all of the incessant rain, was particularly bonding for our family.  We spent some quality time in the cabin we were "housed" during free time (catching up on "Chuck" episodes while most of the students did homework or studied)  - The kids also did a lot of playing in the game room together...it's always fun to see them interact as buddies when they just have each other and no one's stressed out about school or whatever else.

 

The flag football game is a "must participate" for many of the students - no matter how much rain or mud is involved.  Brayden persuaded Mikayla to take part, which was so sweet.  These gals weren't afraid to get down and dirty!

And the gals are also so sweet to include Mikayla in their fun.

A harrowing game of "Steal the Bacon"....

There will undoubtedly be more pictures added as I go through John's photos. Until then, I'll end this post with this sweet shot of Alysha and her BF, Joanna - gals I really enjoyed catching up with during the retreat.