Hume is where the heart is: it's officially the heat of summer and I officially...

...fail at blogging. Sorry, but what can I say, I did warn you.

So far summer has been one big whirlwind of kids, sunshine, screaming, laughter, friends, hard work, and fun. I'm having a difficult time trying to soak it all in. We are cranking through week 7 out of 10 weeks of camp and I can't fathom how we've reaching this point so quickly. It feels like we just finished orientation. It's been enlightening, exhausting, and downright incredible seeing 2000 kids a week experience the time of their lives! It is quite evident that this place and the amazing staff that work here have this summer camp thing down. I have been so blessed with an incredible group of 5 summer staff girls that are kicking butt in the pantry. As a team we crank out enough fruit, salads, sandwiches, grated cheese and ranch dressing to feed up to 1500 people 3 times a day. One of my favorite quotes has got be from one of my girls, Shannon, "Katie! I calculated today that I've grated 150 lbs. of cheese this week! That's more than I weigh!"

I'm so proud of them and have been so impressed by their willingness to work hard without complaint and their commitment to being a light for Christ, even though most of our work is done behind the scenes and it can often feel like we aren't making a direct impact in kid's lives. We all remind each other that this staff and this camp functions as one body and we all need each other to run and be able accommodate and minister to the thousands of youth and adults that visit Hume every week.

Aaron's job is going well, and with the passing time he keeps getting better accustomed to the grounds, learning what his role is, assuming more and more responsibilities and gaining the respect of his coworkers and managers. He has also begun training with our Hume Lake fire department. Within a couple years he will have enough experience and training to become a full fledged California firefighter as well as an EMT. All financed by Hume, as long as he volunteers his time! Which is definitely not a problem because he absolutely loves it!

Our house in continuing to improve, it has a fresh coat of paint (cream with a grayish taupe trim) and our deck is stained in a rich red/brown and looks fantastic. We've gotten a barbecue to enjoy summer grilling outside and dinners on the deck. But our most exciting acquisition has to be our mini-motorcycles we picked up a month back. Aaron had been searching on craigslist since a couple of our friends up here had bought some and put the idea in his head. He found a pair in great condition in LA county and called up the guy to tell him we'd be there with the money in the morning! We bolted down the mountain after getting off work on a Friday and picked them up the next morning. They are the greatest thing since sliced bread and perfect for putting around camp. We ride them to work just about every morning! They're Honda Mini-Trail 70's named Chuck and Cindy and they are our babies. (=

We got to visit San Diego this past weekend to attend a wedding and see our greatly missed family and friends. It was a great time...but we are homesick for you all already! Please hurry and plan your next visit to Hume!

Here's a little picture sampling from our summer so far! Enjoy!

Love, Katie & Aaron