Dallas Valley Youth Retreat

Well friends, be prepared for one of the longest blogs ever. That's mainly because of all the pictures that I'm gonna put up. So this last weekend Aaron and Kimberly (our youth pastor and his wife) organized a youth retreat for us at Dallas Valley camp. There was 22 of us (youth) in total that came. Even though I kinda help lead youth events (mainly bible studies) i was considered one of the "kids". Meh, that works for me. On the way down there I was in a van with 5 girls aged 14-15. That was interesting. But all in all, it was a good weekend. Here's what happened... (keep in mind there's still a few pictures that i didn't post)


Here is Carmen and Steph attempting to sleep on the way down the Dallas Valley, but that didn't last very long because they were actually awake and then Carmen and Amy sang "I Just Can't Wait To Be King". Actually Carmen sang and Amy did sound effects
















Whenever I head down to Regina, this is my favorite part of the trip: the Qu'Appelle Valley. This is probably one of hte most scenic things I've seen in Sask (apart from lakes). And yes, i know that's really not saying alot.









Carmen took a pic of me sleeping on Amy's camera and after viewing it i decided that a better picture could be taken. This is the better picture.













Once we arrived at camp and had a quick look around the main biulding "the Ranch House", Aaron split us up into teams and it was a race to see who could get their team OVER the line of duct tape without anyone touching the actual duct tape. This was my teams method of getting over. Probably NOT the safest thing. We also tried a method were Brendon would be on the ground and we'd step on him and jump off him onto the other side. When i was my turn to step on him i got scared and kept thinking that I'd break him so i kept falling off. But somehow i got to the other side.



So Brendon was the last one of our team over the duct tape (by the way the other team won) And this is how was caught him. But in his attempt to jump over the tape, he knocked teh whole thing down. So much for that idea!











Gotta love just hangoing out with the girls. I think Megs was explaining something to Amy. i felt kinda left out so i moved over beside Amy to listen too (obviusly that was after this picture was taken)









Look! It's Steph and Denise! And Jessamy's in the background too!













I'm assuming Courtney was in mid-speech when this pic was taken...














Hi Chelsea!













Here's part of the cabin that we stayed in. One half of the building was for girls, and the other for boys. And those halves were halved. So there was basically 4 quarters in thing building that we stayed in. Us older girls were in a "quarter" called "Pommel" and the younger girls stayed in a quarter called "Fender". I don't know what the boys's quarters were called.













This is me and Steph in the course of getting ready for bed and waiting for the bathroom.













Good night girls! This totally reminds me of kitchen help and going to bed at camp. Oh the joys!











G'night Felicia and Courtney!















The next day Aaron and Kimberly took us on a tour of Dallas Valley. This is the Ranch House that i mentioned before but in fuller view. And that's Jessamy walking down the path.










This is the view from the valley pretty much just outside of our cabin.














Peek-a-boo!



















I tried to take a picture of my and Carmen, however not only did she move, my camera died from lack of battery charging. So the majority of these pictures are from Amy's camera.










Since Amy's guitar is also a Fender, she really liked this sign.













So here's another picture of the Ranch House. Very "saloon" style isn't it?













Our first stop on our "tour" was the building where they keep all the horse equipment. We actually didn't go into the building, but here's Todd on the tire horse swing.












This is was is called the "Hub" which is basically like the chapel at Dallas Valley. And yes there is a fire place in it and it is sometimes used for cooking with you can't do an outdoor cooking skill.









Here's another scenic shot of the surrounding valley.














Amy claims this picture is us being serious. No way! we're just uber cool! And that's Kimberly on the right.











A cool shadow shot of me and Amy. Except my neck looks gibbled. Don't you think?













This is the "swamp" area. In the background you can see a white biulding and that's where most of the outdoor cooking happens when camp is running. This picture was actually taken on the same spot that Aaron and Kimberly go married on. Aw!










One of the many outhouses found nearby the cabins @ Dallas Valley. And yes, there IS indoor plumbing, so you don't have to use biffys all the time.










AVAST!




















This is Dallas Valley's climbing wall. Well actually it's climbing and high ropes course. Courtney was the only one wearing rubber boots (or what New Zealander's call "gum boots") so she got to open the gate and the rest of us sneaked in to see the wall and the ropes course. Me and Amy went in after everyone else once we hear the explainations of everything that goes on in there. This was Kimberly's "station" for most of the summer.












So here's a closer look at the climbing wall.

















And this is a better look at the high rops course. You would never see me up there. I'ld probably pee myslef after the first couple steps!!













Here's a typical climbing wall rock, but I'm sure that those of you who have done climbing wall stuff already knew that.











These were a couple cool signs we saw on our "tour". Good verse!!














I was teaching Amy some cool camera shots and i found this cool tree. Sometimes you just need to open your eyes and see the photographic opportunities out there.
















This is the slough/canoeing area/zip line area/ small swimming area of the camp. This is between the Junior aged camps (the main area at Dallas Valley) and Conestoga, which is where the teens go for their camp.












This is Tex, the very lovable dog of Dallas Valley. After this shot was taken Kim's dad showed us varioud tricks that Tex could perform. Such a cool dog!










"Conestoga" means covered wagon.













Oh Ervey! I love that kid! On the hay ride we had that Friday night i realized that Ervey reminds me alot of my friend David Gerken. Like 'Vey is the Mexican imitation of Gerken!











Now everyone was already at the bottom of the hill when i was coming down it. It was a feat and a half to get down that thing. Let me tell ya! Slippery snow, all foot prints sloped downward, and at the bottom what sloppy mud. Not something a "non outdoors girl" like me is used to.








I figured that this was a cool group shot. Later on when Aaron was explaining how to play "Kiss Me Dear" he said that he usually send people to the "Whining Log" when people complain about cheaters in wide games. Why go to the log? Cause the log always listens to whiners.









Since "Conestoga" means covered wagon the cabins themselves go along with that theme. Pretty cool eh?

















Of course we walked all the way on this "tour" of ours. And after climbing back up a hill me and Taylor were done for. You can almost hear Aaron laughing at us in the background.











After lunch we had a bit of free time so I read my bible for a bit. What part was i reading? I was reading about Jezebel and how she go Naboth killed because he wouldn't give Ahab (her husband and the king of Israel) a vineyard. Now that's just harsh! And yes i know i look mad in this pic but that's because it was cold and windy outside and i was worried that my camera would fall off the deck ledge.






Me, Amy and Jessamy went for a little walk to see what pictures we could find. However i kinda wanted a bit of alone time too so on our way back up to the cabin we found Megs and Courtney.















Look Tex! Look over there! Look at it! Look! Look!
Or not...












If you know me, you'll know that if there's a pool table tehre, I'll play. Now this is a very old table and some of the balls are either missing or there's doubles of them. Meh. So me and Carmy decided to have a game. Somehow I don' think you're allowed to fully lean on the table like that.









And here's me attempting to break. Attempting would be the key word here. But it is a cool picture though.












So here's everyone getting ready for "session". This is after the boys totally schooled the girls at "Kiss Me Dear".












This is our speaker Darren Holland who's a pastor from Watrous. He spoke on John 3:30 (read it. read it. read it, until you get it), Gideon and how it's all about God living His life in us.











Here's some various deer heads there are in the dining area.















Look Amy! It's an owl! Hoo-hoo!


















As a little "thank you" gift to Aaron and kim, the youth group purchased some napkins for Kim and a couple gift certificates for Aaron. Yay for you guys!!











What time is it? It's NINJA TIME!!!














Me and Carmy and she's listening to Numa Numa on Denise's iPod.













Oh Nathan. My new "fav" of the boys. this crazy kid rolls himself into the inner tube and rolls down a hill. But as you can see there's no snow on he hill and since there's bushes nearby, he hit them a few times. crazy child.















that's it! no more pics. Well ok i still have a few that i didn't post, but they're just ones where you're not gonna miss much. So that's what kept me busy this past weekend. I hope you enjoyed!