Catching Up: September

September began with a few days of family vacation at the beach. After the busy-ness of the summer months, it was a needed reprieve.

Stephen conquered his fear of the ocean and actually spent a lot of time playing in the waves.

Benjamin loved the water -- ocean or pool!

Building a sandcastle

Quick! Take a picture before Benjamin knocks it down!

Alex, Stephen, and I went to the zoo again, this time on a field trip with a few families from our homeschool group. The kids did a scavenger hunt and we had a picnic lunch together.

Posing atop the giant Galapagos turtle statue

Stephen watching the turtles

Alex and his friends Ethan and Malachi formed a "secret" club, complete with a special handshake.

Group picture at the entrance

In mid-September, we got the official go-ahead from Hillsboro regarding the Camp Bellevue opportunity. There were many details still to work out regarding finances and sponsorship, but they were on board with our taking the position if it were offered to us. At the end of the month, we flew to Seattle for about a week to meet with the Bellevue church. It was a whirlwind of a trip, involving meetings, dinners, and of course, the requisite shopping trips! We also managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Portland to visit Ronda. We didn't take too many pictures (we were just too busy), but here are a few of the better ones:

Auntie Ronda and her nephews

No trip to Seattle is complete without a visit to the original Starbucks

We promised the boys a trip to Chuck E. Cheese

The closest thing to a pumpkin patch we managed to get -- outside a Fred Meyer!

Before we ever went to Seattle, our contact at the Bellevue church told us that this "interview" was really more of a formality and that the job was ours if we wanted it. After several weeks of feeling sort of in limbo, it seemed that things were starting to happen very fast! Conversations between Bellevue and Hillsboro led to the decision that our family's official sponsorship would shift to the Bellevue church. Hillsboro would continue to be involved as a financial supporter, which we were very thankful for since they have been with us since the beginning. Nearly all of our other supporters decided to continue their financial support as well, which meant we did not have to do anymore fundraising. After working for nearly four years to get our budget fully funded, that was one of our biggest concerns as we considered taking on the Camp Bellevue ministry. We were very thankful that we did not lose much support through this transition.