A Day to Remember!

Hello there! Breakfast was a great start to today, we had french toast! Yummy! We walked up to our cabins after breakfast for our final cabin clean up for Grimer. My cabin was running late so we didn't have enough time to do a theme, but some of the other cabins did really cool themes like a flashlight theme.

Today's team challenge is one that your camper will never forget...it was the Yuck Bag. The object of this game is to eat all of the items in your bag and everyone on your team has to take at least one bite. To make this game more interesting there is some good food and there is some nasty food. There was a chocolate bar, marshmallows, caramel (the good food) then there were sardines, anchovies, and relish (the bad food). There was a lot more food but I won't mention them.

Jim Albright talked about his life today during missions moment. He talked about how he came back to Christ when he was a teenager. He told us stories about his first wife for example how they did missions work in Africa. His first wife was diagnosed with an illness and they wanted to continue missionary work so they moved to Paris, France. While in Paris they became involved with the Billy Graham crusade. They did a lot of campaigning. Jim's wife died right before the big event for Billy Graham. Jim later met his wife, Beth. Jim and Beth had been involved with missionaries up until about 3 years ago when they retired. They mostly worked in Burkina Faso.

Today was the last day of skill builders. My geo caching group hiked up to the tee pees. Kelsey and I let them explore that area and climb a super cool curvy tree. We also taught them how to make taffy out of their marshmallows. They really enjoyed that. Then we just sat around the firepit and talked about the week. We had a really nice team during our last day together and I am sure all of the other skill builders had a good time too.

After a delicious lunch prepared by Hannah we all loaded up in 3 vans and a bus to go float the Jefferson river. We spent the whole afternoon on the river. It was really fun and very relaxing. :)

Once we got back from the river we were all super hungry. It was a good thing Hannah had pizza prepared! Now we are all full and chilling out before chapel. Tonight Landon will be talking to us about how we can continue our walk with Christ. I'm pumped to hear what all he has to say! After chapel we have a surprise for all of the campers. They will all be in their cabins and won't expect it so I'm preparing myself for all of my screaming campers. It will be a lot of fun. Have a great night and see you tomorrow.

Darcy Homan (CIT for That One Place)

Eternal Investments

Today was a bittersweet day for many in leadership here at camp.

A week ago, Shirley Van Zee, the mother of two of the camp's most well-known counselors, Adam and Levi, was killed in a tragic accident involving a plane. A memorial service was held for her today in Townsend, Montana and I was able to attend with Jim and Andrea along with one other worker from here at camp. Our hearts were heavy as we felt the sting of death that still remains here on earth in being parted, though briefly, from those whom we love. We do not sorrow, however, as the world sorrows.

While we mourn Shirley's loss we also rejoice with her that she is in heaven before the throne of grace singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord!"

This week it has been my privilege to lead worship with your children. We have been having a blast. (When your kids come home, don't let them fool you: they know how to worship like crazy!) Tonight as I was coming back to the camp from the memorial service I was struck by the fact that Shirley was worshipping before the throne of God.

Before worship I asked our students if they had met anyone famous. Students raised their hands and when asked told of rock stars and athletes and so on. One student in particular said that his dad had met Ted Nugent.

Perfect--third-party knowing.

I told them all that it was neat that they had met these people but that I had a friend named Shirley who had just met Jesus face to face recently.

While Jesus came and walked among us, sometimes it's easy to forget that we have a friend in heaven who is always before the throne interceding for us. The testimony of Shirley's life and the knowledge that she was standing before the throne of God in worship brought our evening's worship into such stark perspective. We sang a song called "Beautiful," by Phil Wickham. Two of the verses were so powerful as we sang them:

"I see you there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You're beautiful"

"When we arrive at eternity's shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we'll sing
You're beautiful"

Tonight was our most powerful night of worship of the week as the worship of heaven was brought to earth in the very presence of God. It was one of the most intimate times of worship that I have been a part of in my entire life.

Later on in the evening Landon shared the gospel with all of our students and used the testimony of Shirley's life as an example. He also used the fact that we, her friends and also her family, knew great peace and joy even amidst sorrow because of her relationship with Jesus Christ. After sharing the gospel, many of the students came forward and gave their lives to Christ!

Camp is fun, yes, but there are also serious aspects, parts that sometimes are heavy and hard to bear up under. The greatest part of camp, the most important aspect, is that of investing in eternity and today God brought in a great dividend.

Today we were able by the power of God's Spirit to further populate the streets of heaven. There will be more souls to stand beside Shirley Van Zee and sing the praises of our God and King forever as a result of this evening's ministry!

Praise God!

The camp's motto is, "Directing people to Jesus Christ and developing them to reflect his character." Please pray for our staff and for the student counselors as we finish the week out by challenging our students to follow hard after God in their new commitments and to renew old commitments with a fiery passion. Shirley Van Zee lived a life that counted and is now leaving behind a legacy that continues to draw people to the Lord. Her life was not lost, nor was it spent, but was, rather, invested in God's kingdom and is bringing forth fruit even beyond the grave.

It is our desire to minister to your children so that at the end of their lives their testimony will be the same. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your children's journey towards the heart of God.

Hey, this is kelsey (pictured on the left), a counselor for the Indiana Jonies! Today has been a great day! Everyone is having a blast up here, and I wish that it wasn't the last week of camp. It is awesome to see all of these campers grow friendships with each other so fast!

We started off the day with an awesome group game where we had to use a straw to put m&m's on another straw. It was hilarious to see the campers and staff excited about such a silly game. I bet our photographer got some funny pictures. Then we had a "Mission Moment" with Jim and Beth Albright, our missionary speakers this summer. They taught us some songs in French and in the tribal language of Burkina Faso! We learned some cool things about how God can use our weakness to show his strength.

Then we had our Skill Builder. I am one of the leaders of Geocaching along with Darcy, another counselor up here. Our group had some fun using GPS systems to find treasures in the woods. We had a blast when we got to our destination and found whistles. (I mean who doesn't like whistles?) Then we took some awesome jumping pictures and shaky face pictures! When we were about to leave the area one of the campers, Shawn, pulled out his GPS and it was covered in something. When I asked him about it he said,"Well I just had some butter in my pocket." It was hilarious and he had to go change because he whipped butter all over his shirt and shorts.

After having lunch and TIE Time we had our activity areas where the campers were at canoeing, field games and the water pit, or a beautiful hike to arch falls. During these activities some of the campers had the opportunity to go paintballing. Because it was the first day some were nervous and some were excited, but in the end when all of them left they all had fun stories to tell and were sad about it being over.

Soon after dinner all of the campers engaged in a game of capture the flag (or rubber chicken)and were eager to run around and be crazy. While they were playing games some of the teams went to the zipline. Although some campers didn't go the others seemed to really enjoy it.

Then we had chapel. During chapel we had a super awesome time singing songs and going crazy praising the Lord! Our speaker, Landon, shared his testimony and showed us the importance of giving God glory in everything that we do. It was a great lesson for the campers as well as the counselors.

Overall it was an awesome day just to see God working in the lives of everyone up here. It is just amazing how great He really is! Right now as I'm typing in the office I can here the thunder rolling through the canyon, and it is truly wonderful how evident God is making himself up here. I am so thankful for all of the opportunities that we had today.

6th-8th Grade Camp!!!

Hello all! Another great week of camp has begun at YAA!

It has been a great time this summer. Sadly, this is our last week of summer camp, but don't worry. We are going to finish with a bang. This is our largest overnight camp yet, and we intend to put every ounce of energy into it.

Things started off well with some icebreaker games and getting to know one another in our cabins. After dinner, we continued with games and split up into our 7 teams and came up with some great team names at cheers. We finished off the time with some medic dodgeball. Your campers sure to love dodgeball. I can't wait until we play killerball, the greatest form of dodgeball EVER!

We just got done with our Missions Moment with our Missionary in Residence, Jim Albright. Tonight, we spoke on the importance and power of praying in Jesus name. This week, Jim will share a lot of stories about his time as a missionary in Africa and France and discuss the importance of missions. I always like hearing his stories.

Well, I am keeping this post brief. It is freetime, and I want to hang out with the campers before its time for bed. My name is David Denny, and I am the Program Director at YAA. Thanks for entrusting the staff and I with your children for the week. Each night, I will have a different staff member type about the events of the day. Though the schedule is similar throughout the week, each staff has their own take on things. Hope you enjoy reading the blog. We sure enjoy living it out.

See ya Friday!

Hey Everybody! This is David Howard from team Crazy Ice Cream Trucks and I just want you to know that all of the campers had another fun filled exciting day of camp today. The funny thing is though to see the campers with their seemingly unending energy start to dwindle. We are all going full steam to make it to the end of the week with something around every corner. But don't take it the wrong way, campers are still having a blast. I'm really excited for some of the campers who were beginning to get home sick. They are going to make it! It's a big step for some to be away from home this long with out seeing mom or dad.

This morning we had a crazy game were the campers had to pour cups of water into other cups that were on the counselors head's. Lets just say that nobody was safe from getting wet ;). We moved on to another great message from our speaker Mike who is doing a amazing job by getting through to the campers! The best part about this age group is that they all seem to engage very well. I'm very happy that all the staff have the opportunity to speak into the camper's lives.

I also help run canoeing and let me tell you, it is a blast to see the campers jumping into Hyalite Reservoir and see the surprised expression's of their face's when they hit the cold water. You wouldn't believe how fast they got back out of the water. Every camper has a chance to go canoeing and I have yet to hear a complaint about how they did not enjoy their time.

Well there is so much more to talk about but we are going to surprise the campers with a night game tonight! Some senior campers have their suspicions that its coming but most of them don't even realize whats about it happen.

Its been a great week and I know the campers have had a blast. Thank you so much for allowing us to take care of your kids for a week and speak into their lives. See you all Friday

Hey to everyone out there! My name is Maley and today has been another great day at camp! This week I'm on team steak,an Arts and Crafts leader, and leading a girls cabin with Amy.

My campers have been having a great time this week! This morning half of my campers went on the ridge run. Then we had a wonderful breakfast with blueberry muffins. During cabin clean-up we did a theme of God's Little Princess and my campers made a castle out of their bags. After that we all went down to the Field for a crazy game with petroleum jelly and cotton balls. Then we had our first skill builder for the day. In arts and crafts we mad snakes and crocodiles out of beads, everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Following the skill builders we sang a crazy song of singing in the rain and had lunch. After that it was the wonderful T.I.E. time, we all rested and just took it easy. Then everyone got 45min of free time to do whatever they wanted. After that was the second skill builder of the day which was really fun. Then we had our activity areas, which went pretty good until we got a huge thunderstorm which we haven't gotten here in a while. Everyone got really wet, especially the ones who were on the hike.

We then had a delicious dinner of salad and chicken with all sorts of toppings. We then played trench dodge ball and enjoyed another free time. After that we had a really fun chapel and learned a lot of cool things about Africa.

Well, bye for now, hope to see you all on Friday!

Hey everyone my name is Amanda and I'm on the air benders team! It was another great day at camp! We had so much fun, least I did. We started off the day with the ridge run hike. On the first day all my campers went on the hike and they all wanted up at six fifteen!Considering most campers don't like to get up that early (which I don't blame them) as the week progressed the numbers slowly started dropping.
For breakfast we had pancakes! They were amazing thanks to our wonderful cooks. After a delicious breakfast we had cabin clean up. Yesterday my cabin would have tied with Josh's cabin for the cleanest cabin but they had a theme the leaning Tower of Babylon. It was so disappointing to lose so we needed to come up with a theme for the next day. The night before our chapel speaker Michael Wedman was explaining to us the two different paths we could take the path of Righteousness of the path of Wickedness. So we came up with this great idea to make a path with sticks one lead to Righteousness and the other to Wickedness. Our cabin ended up winning Grimer (The bear is awarded to the cleanest cabin).
After cabin clean up we played a group game. It was like dodgeball but each team was split up into four sections that they had to stay in. It was by far one of the funnest games this week (Hayden Cade, one of my campers, agrees :)After the group game we headed up to chapel and Michael Wedman spoke about Jesus dieing on the cross for our sins.
Finally, it was time for our skill builder #1. I'm helping with riflry this week. We have about 6-7 campers. Today was especially fun because the campers actually got to shoot the guns. The first day was all rules and learning how the gun works, which we all know how much campers love just sitting there listening to you talk, when they signed up to shoot the gun. Yesterday was probably the hardest because we were trying to explain the rules and the parts of the gun when one camper spotted a deer hiding out in the woods. Then everyone had to stop to look at it and of course they all wanted to shoot it. After we all got a good look at the deer and explained we were not going to shoot it, the campers asked about every minute can we chase the deer? How about now? But regardless we all had fun at riflry that day.

For lunch we had tomato soup. After lunch we had TIE time and who wants to sleep when you can pass notes the whole time. So I didn't get much sleep and neither did my campers but we seemed to make it through the day alright. Next we had free time and then skill builder #2. Activity area was after that and each team is assigned to different thing like zip line, field games, and hiking.
After a long day of fun we ate pizza for dinner then headed down for a fun game of capture the flag, but it was a chicken, not a flag.
Finally we had chapel and our speaker was Jim Albright's wife and she spoke about what it was like to be a missionary in West Africa. She showed us how the girls wore shirts and how they carried their siblings on their backs. She also showed us some of the dolls she make to help the women support their children and send them to school.

Time for bed. See you all on Friday.

Hey there! Another great day of camp has concluded! This is Josh, one of the counselors on team Steak (Yeah. Steak.) The cabins are pretty big this week, most of them are around 11 or 12 campers with 2 counselors to each cabin. I was amazed this morning as every single one of my campers got up at 6:30 AM to go on the Ridge Run hike. There were actually only about 6 or so campers that didn't go on the hike this morning. We will see how long that holds up.

After an amazing breakfast, it was cabin clean-up time, and the judges said that it went pretty well for a first day. I will brag a little in saying that my cabin did win the Grimer Award (given for having the cleanest cabin). After that there was a team competition in which members of each team had to spin a tennis ball around that was attached to their heads with a nylon stocking. It was pretty crazy fun.

Later, camp speaker Michael Webman talked to us about choosing the paths we can take in our lives. After chapel, we went to our morning skillbuilders! In camp craft today we learned how start a campfire safely and some other valuable things to know in the woods. When skillbuilders were over it was time for lunch, and after that TIE time (take-it-easy time). After that team Steak headed off to Hyalite Reservoir to learn about canoeing, and the rest of the camp had some freetime before afternoon skillbuilders started. Once afternoon skillbuilders came to an end, the other teams got to go to a different activity area, such as zip line, field games, and hiking. Next came dinner.

After dinner there was a rousing camp-wide game of Killer Ball, an everyone-against-everyone dodge ball game. After a bit of free time, Jim Albright, our missionary in residence, shared with us about how man rejected God but then God gave us a second chance. He also told us a story of when he was in Africa and he trapped a spitting cobra under his house at night.

At this time all of the campers are in their respective cabins getting ready for bed (I hope) and surely getting more and more excited about what the rest of the week holds for them. Thanks for letting them hang out with us this week!

Josh Kaltenbach of the Trail Blazers, team Steak, college staff

3rd-5th Camp!

Hello to all you parents out there!

Another wonderful week at YAA has officially started. I am happy to say that today went very well, and all of the staff here are glad to see all these campers here. After they all arrived, we got to know one another through some name game and icebreakers. After dinner, we continue with some team challenges. We split all the campers into four different teams. We had them pick team names, such as Team Steak or Team YAA Spartans, and did an obstacle course together. Throughout the week we will have a lot of exciting games for your campers.

We just finished up at Fireside with our Resident Missionary, Jim Albright, speaking. He talked about the power of prayer in Jesus name and the basic gospel. I look forward to hearing him again as well as our camp speaker, Micheal Wedman, a pastor from Idaho Falls. They will have plenty to teach us.

Well, your kids are getting ready for bed. It was a great start to a week of camp. Its about time for me to hit the bed as well. I want to get plenty of rest. Thanks for entrusting us with your children. My name is David Denny, and I am the Program Director here. Each night I will have a different staff member talk about their day with your kids. Give you a different view for everyday. I hope you enjoy the blog. I know we will enjoy living it out.

A Fun Day In The Sun!!!

Why hello friends! This morning we woke up to another amazingly sunny morning. Some of the campers woke up early to hike the ridge while others were super tired and decided to get as much sleep as possible. Once everybody was up we gathered for flag raising and went into the dining hall for another incredible breakfast made by our amazing chef, Hannah.

After we filled our stomachs we went back to our cabins to do a little cleaning. Some of the cabins decided to have a theme for their cabins while others simply tried to make their cabins look as nice as possible. Next we all headed to the field for a friendly team challenge. Little did we know how complex this challenge would be. A camper from each team had to put a nylon with a tennis ball on the end over their head. There were 5 tables with different objects that they had to knock over. There was a little twist to this game...they could only use their head with the tennis ball to knock over these objects. Before they could knock them over though they had to spin 10 times around placing their head on a bat. The campers were each timed and only one camper was allowed to go at a time. Counslors even had to do this challenge and our program director David Denny did it as well. We all laughed during this challenge.

From the field we headed to the chapel to hear about Jim's adventures as a missionary. Today Jim told us about the wisest animal in the world. You probably think I am going to tell you which animal this but... you will have to wait for your camper to get home and tell you. He also reminisced about his childhood and how he shared his lunch with a boy who never had a lunch. You will have to ask your camper about the stories he told.

Campers then went to their skill builders. Finally it was lunch time. We were all super hungry! Hannah had prepared us another delicious meal. Once we were done eating we headed to our cabins for TIE time. All of my campers headed to their bunks as soon as they got into our cabin so they could take a nice nap. Since they had gained some energy they were ready for activity areas which ranged from hiking to paintballing. Everybody had a lot of fun!

We returned to the flag for flag lowering and then sang a silly song before we had dinner. After dinner we played capture the flag. Then we headed off to chapel. Pastor Brian told us the story about Caleb and Joshua. Once chapel was over we had some free time and now everyone is in their cabins having devos and getting ready for bed. Once again it was a FANTASTIC day of camp!

Darcy Homan (CIT for God's Angels)

What a day! The ridge runner hike was on again, though the numbers were slightly diminished today. After a delicious breakfast (thank you Hannah!) we had yet another team challenge. This time the goal was to balance m&m's on top of straws using only another straw and our mouths as a vacuum to pick them up and place them there.

I am proud to say that today my cabin tied in first place with David and Austin's cabin for the Grimer award (given for having the cleanest cabin and most creative theme). After some missionary stories from Missionary in Residence Jim Albright, it was skill builder time again. I am the leader of Camping Skills, and today we learned how to properly pitch a tent. Today during activity areas there were quite a few people canoeing and playing paintbal, but there were also quite a few who wanted to do the zip line, the activity I lead. It was a little scary for some campers who had never done it before, but just about everyone went down it about 3 times.

We ended the day with a rousing game of capture the rubber chicken. Who wants to play with boring old flags anyways? After that we sang some worship songs and Brian talked about how we can listen to God and find out where he is leading us in the Quest he has given to us. It's off to bed soon! Another great day of camp.

Josh Kaltenbach, college staff

The first full day of camp was full of excitement and adventure!
The day began with the optional Ridge Run Hike, which several campers participated in at 7:00 AM. After breakfast, we had our first team challenge. One camper from each team competes at a time, and today the challenge was to stick cotton balls on our noses and run them to a paper plate, using only Vaseline and our noses! It was a lovely (and a little bit gross) event.

After that we heard from our Missionary in Residence about the gift of Life, and then we were on to Skill Builders! I am one of the Climbing Wall instructors, and though we only have four campers, we had a blast learning how to safely climb the wall and practicing some techniques. After lunch and Take It Easy (TIE) Time, we headed to one of several different activity areas. I had the privilege of going canoeing on Hyalite Resevoir with a few campers. We enjoyed the warm sun and the frigid water, and my arms might be a little sore tomorrow from all that paddling!

After dinner, we had a group game of Killer Ball which is like DodgeBall but everyone is against everyone! We just finished evening chapel where we heard from our speaker for the week, Brian Loewen, about the adventure that we are on when we follow the Lord. The campers are enjoying free time right now and filling up on sugar from the camp store. We will soon be heading to our cabins to get ready for bed! I must say that today was a successful first day of camp! Thanks so much for taking the time to share in our adventures!

(written by Amy Stenlund, college staff)

7th-9th Grade Camp

Another week of camp has officially begun!

Welcome parents to our blog. A way for you to stay connected while your kids are away. Thanks for entrusting us with your children. It will be a great week.

Once all your kids got here, it was a great first day. Everyone started to get to know one another with some icebreaker games and some fun competitions. After dinner, we got into our 5 teams. Throughout the week, we will have different challenges for each team to accomplish.

We just got finished with Jim Albright, our missionary resident, talking about the power of prayer and our salvation through Jesus Christ (a big topic, I know, but Jim is great at getting it across). Jim will be speaking for the remainder of the week about the importance of missions and his own experiences in Africa and Europe. Our camp speaker, Brian Loewen, will also be speaking as well. I look forward to seeing where they take us.

Well, we have a little bit of free time before its off to bed. I certainly want to get some rest before this week reallly gets going. We have everything from the zipline, paintball, canoeing, and even tubing the Jefferson River. Its gonna be a good one.

My name is David Denny, and I am the Program Director at this awesome camp. That basically means I am in charge of all the fun I just mentioned and more. I look forward to hanging out your kids. Each day, I will have a different staff member give their view point of how it went. A different flavor for each day. I hope you enjoy our reports. I know we will enjoy living them out. Thanks again for entrusting us with your children.

God Bless,
David Denny

Whitewater Rafting!!!!

Thats right. We went white water rafting today! It was a first for many of the campers and for some of the staff. Don't worry parents. There were no unintentional fallouts this time, but there sure was plenty of fun. I don't think I have seen so many people having so much fun while getting drenched in freezing water. I hope to make this an ongoing staple of the high school camp. Everyone enjoyed it. Make sure to ask your kids how it was. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a high point for several of them.

Once we got back from the wet'n'wild time, most of the day had gone by. We gave everyone plenty of time to relax after a high impact morning. After we had an early dinner, we kicked up the energy again with a game of killer ball- think dodgeball but there are no teams.

We just got finished up at chapel tonight. Jim Albright spoke mainly about the amazing nature of God. It is a big subject, I know, but he brought out how big God really is (drawing from Isaiah and the wonder he shows) and how nonchallant we tend to be. It was a good wake up call and I hope it brought about some good conversations.

Well, I have to go again. Tonight we are going to do some night games and then finish up the day with some ice cream. I love camp!

God Bless

Camp Amp'd!!!

Hello all!

Its about time that we got this blog started again, and what better way then to start with our new High School camp! The summer has long been underway and I am happy to see another week of camp start.

I have to be honest though, I am even more excited about this camp. This is not your normal week of camp. Just to give one example... we are going whitewater rafting tomorrow morning!!! Thats rights, rafting! I am looking forward to some rough water fun. Thats just the start to this amazing week. I don't want to give anymore away, but I will keep you posted as the week progresses.

Today was great. When we start a normal week of camp, I am prepared to give a short introduction about the camp and some of our traditions. Little did I know that two of the campers would already be giving the intro before I even arrived there. They did a good job. They even got some of my predictable mannerisms as well. I've never seen myself give one of my intros, but I feel like I got a little taste of what I look like... This camp definitely has a different feel to say the least.

After we got settled in and had dinner, we moved on to our evening game: Human Foosball with Yuck! Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds. We have a giant inflatable rink that we filled with water, soap, and yuck (think of a applesauce-like substance)... It was a blast. We played several different games in the slippery arena. Everyone enjoyed the mess. There will be plenty of other fun games to follow as well.

The campers are just now finishing up in chapel and get a little freetime before bed. I am looking forward to a good nights sleep before we head out for rafting! Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, but I am David Denny, the Program Director. I am enjoying putting together all these events for your kids. I look forward to what else the summer has in store.

Throughout the week, I will have other staff tell you all about our days at camp. Thanks for entrusting your kids to us for a week. I will keep you updated on what they are up too.

God Bless.

Sooo much snow!

Hey all! It has been some time since David’s last update to the blog. Hopefully you haven’t lost interest with us yet. I’m going to try and get you updated on what we’ve been up to here at camp for the past month or so. I almost don’t even know where to start. The weather here the past few days has been snowy. We got about a foot of snow on Monday. As a New England girl myself I’m not used to seeing snow in October. Actually I’ve never seen snow in October…until now. The snow puts a damper on any projects we were hoping to complete before winter. But even so we were able to accomplish a lot in the past few months since summer camp ended, at least from my perspective. A lot of our projects had to do with improvements on the Hawethorne’s house, such as building a new deck, putting in a mud room, finishing the siding, and finishing a new room in the basement. Other projects included building and finishing benches for the new tables in the dining hall. Those were completed in most part by Josh Vinson. Josh, his wife Lauren, and there baby girl Ruth joined us on staff this summer and were invaluable to the camp. Since summer Josh has worked to complete a few projects for us, the benches being a big one. They look amazing and I can’t wait for you all to see them!

As we’ve entered our retreat season we have already welcomed over 8 groups onto the grounds. Many church groups and a few school groups. It has been fun to interact with them. I hosted my first group just last week. Which basically means I make announcements to the group and see to anything they might need. Now for a person who has a hard time with public speaking like me this can be very nerve racking. But the group was very gracious with me and it went very well. A great help with this has been watching Cathy do her thing. And by her thing I mean host other groups and being able to watch how she interacts with people. She is highly relational and very good at seeing to a groups needs. She’s an all star when it comes to her job.

Some of my favorite moments so far this fall have been in the kitchen. When we host a group at camp we often cook for them. Which entails the actual cooking of the food (done by our lovely cook Hannah Wolinsky), serve it and do the dishes afterwards. You know, the normal kitchen stuff. But this is also a great time for us as a staff. We’re not usually all working in the same place on any given day, so for us to all be together serving a group is just fun. Fun to interact with the group and with each other. More often than not we joke around and enjoy the opportunity to all work together. The kitchen has been a very joyful place for me this fall.

Well I’m sure that’s enough to get you up to speed for now. May God bless you in your every day interactions!

TessaCoates Intern Yellowstone Yellowstone Alliance Adventures

Labor Day Family Camp and reflections

Its very rewarding for me to see all the people at our Labor Day Family Camp. It always amazes me to see all the ways people are connected to the camp. People that used to be campers in years past that now send their kids here now. People that come here because they consider it one of the few places that they can retreat from everyday life and relax. We even had two women bring their families that were YAA counselors more than a decade ago. These are just a few of the ways that people have been impacted by and impacted the camp itself.

Considering that I have been here for only a year, Family Camps help me truly realize the impact that YAA has and the long history it already has. When you are in the midst of running around while directing a summer camp, you are not allotted much time to see how each individual camper is effected. By the reports of our summer counselors, I can say that 22 campers dedicated their lives to Christ for the first time ever this summer as well as numerous other rededications and the like. I always appreciate parents coming up to me and other staff thanking us for the change that goes on in their children's lives, and I appreciate the God that allows us to be a part of that change.

As I reflect on this summer season, I am at peace that God is in control of every outcome of this summer. We as a staff have poured ourselves out in the hopes that God will use our actions and means in order to "Direct people to Jesus Christ and develop them to reflect His Character." There's a reason why that is our camp motto, and we intend to continue with that as our mission.

Thanks to all of you who made this Family Camp a memorable one. It was a time to relax and connect with old and new friends. It was a time for you to recharge and disconnect from the possible troubles and responsibility of everyday life. It was a time to hang out with the family while shooting an arrow or playing carpet ball. As you already know, its not the events that are important here at YAA. It is the relationships that are formed and grow during the events that we try to encourage.

Now it is time to transition into retreat season. We have various groups come and rent out our facilities to them, usually on weekends. Though our interactions are not as direct as they are during our programs, it is always good to see people up here. Though next summer is still a long ways away, it is time to start thinking about it nonetheless. Thinking of ways to build upon and improve an already outstanding program. Thinking of ways to get the word out about our camp to even more people to attract more campers and summer staff.

I am now finishing up my one year internship at YAA, but don't worry. I'm not leaving anytime soon. I am staying on as staff for the next year. My role will basically be the Program Director. So, I still get to have the pleasure of creating all the fun schedules and lessons we have here. I look forward to continuing here at YAA with a year of experience here under my belt. I look even forward more to continuing to form more relationships with all the people that are connected to YAA. I love working at a place that I can contribute to an already rich history.

For all of those reading these blog entries, you can see this one takes on a little different flavor than the past ones. I want you to get a better understanding of the heart of the camp here as well as know some of the actual events that go on. I hope to get the rest of the staff to do entries as well. I don't want you to get tired of just hearing from me. We each bring our own passion and character to explaining why we are here.

So, as we transition into retreat season, I hope you also enjoy our blog transition as well. Thank you for all the ways that you are connected to this awesome camp. I look forward to seeing you soon.

David Denny
current intern, future Program Coordinator

THURSDAY!!!!! RAFTING!!!!

Hello all, my name is Aaron Devine, and I am a counselor for seven of the guys at camp this week. Today was a full day indeed! Waking up, I prepared for the day, and, arriving in front of the office, I was cordially greeted by 11 campers, all bright-eyed and rearing to go hiking. Actually I don't think that the sleep was out of their eyes until lunch:)

God blessed us with a beautiful day, and as we hiked over a ridge we were greeted by the sun shining boldly through the crisp air.

Breakfast, again was wonderful, and we were fully satisfied as chapel began. We praised the Lord, Jesus, and then we listened to a good message from Mr. B.

After chapel we went to skill builders, and as I am the teacher of Camp Craft, I can tell you what we did. For the last day I have been trying to set up a compass course in the woods near the Square Fire pit, and finally this morning, I had it finished. So, when our skill builder began, I handed the kids a compass and sent them off to find the treasure! (With an accompanying staff member of course) The treasure was marshmallows, which we cooked over a fire that the campers built.

After skill builders we rushed down to lunch and ate quickly and then loaded onto the bus and were on our way to the Madison River for an afternoon of floating. Much fun, sun, and water was shared by all. Let me tell you, a raft loaded with twenty people in a shallow river is hard to move! But the strapping staff members that manned the paddles were well up to the task.

We finished the trip, and made the drive back, with many laughs, at least on the bus. I can see why sports teams take buses on trips. A good trip in a loud bus just serves to unify a group in a way that few other things in this world do. Dinner was delicious, and after I cleaned our table of the water that mysteriously appears (I believe there is a natural spring in the middle of our table!) we were released to half an hour of free time before fireside begins.

We all thank God for the day, and for the opportunity of serving your children. Please drive safely tomorrow, and we'll see you then!

May God bless you with the knowledge of Himself.

Aaron Devine

This is a day that the Lord has made

Hey All,

Wednesday already!!! The week always goes fast when the days are filled with fun.

My name is Anna Kirtley and I am on program support. This means that I'm not a counselor (bummer) but it also means I get to observe and interact with the campers in a different way.

The morning was started by filling water guns for the alkaseltzer fight. Each kid received an alkaseltzer tab tied to their forehead. Then they all received water guns. The point of the game was to spray the other opponents alkaseltzer tab off while keeping yours from being sprayed. The winner was the last person with their tab still in place. I was proud of the kids in the contest; the weather was not hot like July usually is here in Montana.

While the kids were in chapel, I headed off to each cabin to inspect for cleanliness. Before the morning game all the kids have a time with their cabin mates and counselor to clean and dress up the cabin for inspection. The cleanest, and most creatively decorated cabin wins. Today, I chose the cabin that was the cleanest (of course) but also the one that showed creativity by writing verses on their name tags. They also had a lovely welcome sign made out of flowers outside of their cabin door. This special cabin was called "Cabin Deer".

During morning skill builders, I took a group of kids on an adventure in search of a geocache box. We all programed our G.P.S and headed out. Today was the longest and most strenuous of all the hikes we've taken. The kids did good! We were delighted to see that the huckleberries were ripe and big this time of year:)

Later on in the day, we all split up into activity areas. Some kids did paintball, while others went canoeing or hiking. The group I was with went hiking. We drove up Highlight Canyon with the canoers. After we dropped them off at Hyalite Lake, us hikers went further up the road and hiked up the Grotto Falls. It was so beautiful. We all had a good time; one of the campers said at the base of the Falls, "I could stay here forever".

After such a busy afternoon the dinner was well deserved, but it had to be eaten quickly seeing how we had a talent show scheduled for seven.

Most all the campers participated in the talent show. It is always a joy watching kids step out of their comfort zones and share some of their talents. We enjoyed skits, songs, interpretive dance...... It was a nice evening.

And once more all this fun was finished up by fireside.

Although sometimes it can seem overwhelming having so many kids in one place; it can also be so rewarding. It boggles my mind when I took at each one of them and see the unique characteristics and backgrounds that each of them have and to know that God holds each of them in His hand.

Well, sleep good; I know I will:)

YAA Great Race

Hello Everybody!
It's hard to believe that the second full day of camp is almost over already! Today started out with sunshine, which was definitely welcomed by all of the soggy campers and staff. Some of us celebrated by going on the optional early morning hike again. It was a muddy, but fun hike!

After breakfast, we got into our teams and had a bat and glove relay- but this game had nothing to do with baseball. Half the team spun around baseball bats and then ran dizzily across the field, and the other half of the team got to build strong lungs by blowing up a disposable glove using only their noses. It was fun to see all of your kids getting excited and being goofy together!

During chapel, Mr. B gave another compelling message about making Christ supreme in our lives- that He should be the center of every part of anything that we do.

For skill builders today, we got to practice what we learned yesterday while adding to our skill repertoire. I get to help with archery this week, and it was really fun to watch kids that had never held a bow before improve hugely today. It's possible that you might have some new archers in your family next week!

This afternoon, instead of activity areas, we played a game called The Great Race. We split into our teams, and each team got clues that directed us to a skill builder or other part of camp. Once we got there, we had a challenge to complete before we got the next clue. I really enjoyed watching people from other skill builders show off their new skills to their friends and counselors. The last clue led us down to the field, where there were water games and a huge slip and slide for us to go down. The slip and slide is always a favorite of many. In the end, I'm proud to say that my team, the Pandas, won the whole race. Nice work, team! We all had fun getting wet just in time for the sun to go under the clouds. After the race, anyone who could stand the cold stuck around and had fun with a water balloon fight. Throwing water balloons at new friends is always a good way to make some awesome camp memories!

After the water games, we had some extended free time to shower (hopefully) and get warmed up, and also to just hang out and get to know our cabin mates a little better. I know a few cabins are hard at work preparing for the talent show tomorrow night. I'm excited to see what your creative kids are coming up with!

Soon, it will be time to wrap up the day with another fireside time, then cabin devotions, and then it's time for some much needed sleep!

Thanks so much for letting us, as camp staff, have a part in your kids' lives this week! I'm having a blast getting to know each one of them, and I am excited for what the next few days hold. I'm sure you will be hearing lots of camp stories throughout the next few weeks and months, so get ready to wish that you could come to camp too!

In Christ,

Amy Heitz, counselor of the HERO cabin