Posts Tagged ‘vacations’

March 16th marked our 12th Anniversary!  Lee is a great photographer, don’t you think?  We haven’t always “gotten away” for our Anniversary, but we have for the last few years and it has been a great investment in our family.  Last year we enjoyed Fort Rock so much, we decided to go back.  This year we were joined by our friends the Mashburns.

Fort Rock is an awesome Christian camp!  We can’t say enough about the awesome time we always have there.  We went last year for Family Camp and had a blast then too.  This year we enjoyed sermons from S. M. Davis.  We always enjoy his messages and we came back home with many more dvd’s to watch.  You can check him out at Solve Family Problems’ website www.solvefamilyproblems.org .  On the first night he preached “12 Reasons Why I Am For The Permanence of Marriage”.  It was very good!  Its so sad how so many in our culture today start out their marriage with the thoughts that they are going to “try it out” and when they encounter their first problem they are already gone.  Another great sermon was “Are You a Giver or a Taker”.  It was really eye opening and caused me to evaluate everything I do!  I have always considered myself a giver, but I thought of many more ways I can be a giver, and ways that I can take less.  He also preached on the demonic nature of anger.  When you think of how yelling and anger destroys our families and children, and gives place to the devil, it is much easier to keep your cool!  It is much easier to raise children with tenderness and compassion than it is to repair broken adults.

His last sermon was about the two paths a person takes when they go through a trial.  He called them the garbage trail and the golden trail.  God allows and sends trials in a Christians life to refine us like gold.  It is up to us to choose the right path.  So many will take the garbage trail and pick up garbage along the way.  They will pick up a why me attitude, anger, doubt, fear, jealousy and come out defeated carrying all their burdens with them on the other side.  Then God looks down and sees that they have learned nothing and sends another test to see if they can get it right.  Most people will habitually take the garbage trail.  Most will try to walk through life alone and never will experience the blessings that are found on the golden trail.  On the golden trail you pick up things as well like…patience, peace, compassion, understanding, love and joy.  When you take this trail through your trial you learn and grow in the Lord and come out a better person, ready and able to help others when they go through a similar place.  Let us pray now that when the next trial approaches we will choose the right path!  Let us pray that people will remember us for our smile not our frown!  Let us be a giver instead of a taker!

We enjoyed the trail ride!  It brought back memories of our honeymoon in the Smokey’s 12 years ago!

Baby Stella enjoyed “hanging” out with her Mom and Dad

Target shooting with friends

Jake and Jess were kind to babysit Stella while we were shooting

What’s a few tomahawks between friends?

Tomahawk throwing is much harder than it looks!  It is a lot of fun though! I actually got 2 out of 6 this time! Last year I scored a 0.

Bow and Arrow fun!  Between our shooting, tomahawks and bows, Don said he knows why the Indians lost!

Saturday evening we were  also joined by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar.  They are great speakers and are very encouraging.  Michelle is such a kind hearted lady and has a special heart for young mothers.  It was sweet to watch her taking time with so many women at the retreat, encouraging, offering wisdom from God’s word and praying with them.  She is very petite and has a sweet voice like a whisper, but man can she WHISTLE!  I guess you would need that with 19 children!

The view from our door

Well that’s it!  We missed our babies and were ready to come home, but it was an awesome time of much needed fellowship and re-commitment!  We look forward to Marriage Retreat 2015!

For Our Fort Rock Adventure in it’s entirety, check out…PART 1, PART 2 and PART 3

Every one had a fun time with the water balloon sling shot!

The dads all made a good target!  Mr. Jake and Mr. Kent helped our little guys.

They did a great job and even managed to hit Don a few times.

Daddy and one of his boys.

Eli was so exhausted the last night of the trip, he went to sleep before he even finished his cake.  You know Eli is tired when he dosen’t finish his cake!

The kids played one last game of “Foosball”  with no rules.  That one poor kid finally decided he wasn’t going to teach them how to play right and moved on to something else.

The Dad’s and their little girls always find time to talk, and they think we are the chatty ones!

Tug of war on the porch.

This is the infamous frying pan throwing contest.  I kept avoiding my turn because I just knew I would throw up.  ( I had just ate supper, it was hot, and I’m PREGNANT!)  When I finally had no other choice but to do it…

I nearly killed a post on the porch…which was the totally wrong direction to throw.  Needless to say they moved the entire direction of the game after me, so no one would be killed by a cast iron frying pan!!!  OOPs!

The dads had to try to peel open a frozen t-shirt and put it on.  This is much harder than it looks we were told.  I’m sure not as hard as throwing a frying pan!

The kids elected Lee to try to finish his baby bottle first.  He was a good sport!

One Last Family Picture at Fort Rock.

Look at those swollen eyes!  The kids were so tired the last morning.

Most of them were asleep before we even made it out of the hills.

Clara shows off her black eye.  She took some of her first steps at Fort Rock.

All in all we had a great time at Fort Rock Family Camp!  and we intend on going back again.  Our friends made it an extra special time, and we are thankful for the memories we made that we can treasure for a lifetime!

To Read the Witcher’s account…CLICK HERE

To Read the Mashburn’s account…CLICK HERE

Check out PART 1 and PART 2 of Fun at Family Camp, if you are just joining us!

On Saturday we enjoyed a little fishing.  The fish weren’t biting, but the kids didn’t mind.  They enjoyed talking and eating wild blackberries.

Daddy was the only one to catch anything!  He reeled in 2 big ones!

Jo Anna and Grady are our Animal lovers and they had to touch and hold the fish before Daddy threw them back.

That night the  joke was on the Dads who had to stuff marshmallows in their mouth and say “Chubby Bunny.”  Though our Daddy didn’t win, Eli was very impressed, and still can be heard walking around saying Chubby Bunny!

I think horseback riding was the all time favorite!  I couldn’t ride because I am pregnant, so Don had to take turns riding with those under 8.

Grady is looking forward to having horses one day and raising cows.

Lee has always been our little cowboy and is often caught wearing his spurs.  Fortunate for the horse, we left those at home.

Eli thought he was big enough to ride…and by himself!

We waited on the cozy porch for the riders to return.

 Clara made new friends while we were waiting.

Check in tomorrow for our last installment of Fun At Family Camp!

For PART 1 click here…

Day 2 started off with a hitch.  It was a little rainy, but that kept the temps comfortable!  After breakfast we headed out for the days adventures.  We all enjoyed shooting the 22 rifles.  We will not share who the better shot is between momma and daddy.  But we will share that the winner had a baby strapped to her back while she was qualifying.

 Instructor Daddy is helping the little ones.

 Next was the tomahawk throwing.  We hope to come back when some of the littles are big enough to try it!

 The rain didn’t seem to faze the kids.  They all had fun trying to cram under the umbrella.

 Next was archery.  I see some bows and arrows in the Tims family’s near future.  Little Indians need weapons…right?

We found out at Fort Rock, that the scaredy-cat gene is hereditary.  Don and I are no thrill seekers, and turns out, our kids aren’t either.  We did however enjoy watching our friends have fun.

And the little ones REALLY enjoyed playing in the mud as we watched our friends sailing overhead.

 Eli is instructing Mary Claire on the fine art of mud splashing.

 Stay tuned in for tomorrows PART 3 post!

We chose Fort Rock Family Camp for our summer getaway this year.  Back in the spring Don and I enjoyed a marriage retreat with our friends and we all made plans to return with our families.  The kids had been looking forward to this trip for months and wasted no time running through the hills and catching up with their friends.

Picking flowers for their momma’s.

 The swing was between our bunkhouses and was a favorite…until the boys flipped it one morning.

The weather was surprisingly nice for July and the pregnant mommas were grateful.

We were also grateful for the lovely rocking chairs on the porch!

The kids even loved the porch.

We have always enjoyed staying in cabins for our vacations, but it was really nice this time not to have to plan activities or figure out meals.  At Fort Rock, you simply show up, unload, make your beds and enjoy your family.  All meals are included and activities are not mandatory, but who would want to skip out on 22 shooting, tomahawk throwing, horseback riding, and much, much more.

Each night they had some family fun.  Night one they picked on the mommas.

The kids enjoyed the foosball and ping pong table after supper every evening.

Well, that wraps up day one!  Check back for more adventures at Fort Rock…

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4