Rich, Heather and Alana’s Blog

This weekend we had a youth campout at Fall Creek Falls, about an hour from Chattanooga. We had a blast, and I am always reminded when we get away with our students how much God uses those times. There is always a ton of fun and laughter, but our retreats with the kids tend to be exponentially more meaningful than a typical Sunday evening youth group.

Here are some fun pictures of our weekend…the weather was GORGEOUS, and at night it got down to about 40 degrees, so we were glad we had long sleeves, pants, and blankets!

For me, Saturday evening around the campfire was the highlight. We sat and roasted marshmallows for smores, and talked and laughed. Times like this remind me how much God created us for community - to genuinely care for others, to share in their joys and pray for their burdens. To know and to be known by fellow believers.

We listened while Josh impersonated Johnny Depp, Steve Irwin, and Jack Nicholson. He is truly talented and absolutely hilarious. At one point I couldn’t stop laughing! Then when it got dark we played Mafia and the townspeople won!

Here are Rich and I at the evening session before it got darker and the temperature dropped!

Then, Sunday afternoon was the church picnic. Now, I have always enjoyed the church picnic, but by the time we got there, we’d come straight from the campout with not much sleep and no showers in 2 days! Since I am a wuss and can’t handle more than one night without adequate sleep, I was feeling pretty low-energy and useless!

I mustered up enough energy to enjoy a big waterslide (see picture below) but other than that I just kept thinking of home and sleep and warm showers…

All in all it was a great weekend, and I am thankful for our church, our youth pastor (Kenny Engels, who married us), and our students, who impress me with their desire to know and please God.

Caution: Long Blog ahead!!! Not for the faint of heart. But it will be FILLED with fun pictures, so we think you will enjoy!

Wow…there are some experiences that one just cannot put into words in a satisfactory way. This weekend was one of those experiences.

Anyone who knows me for two seconds realizes that I am crazy about my family. I am so incredibly thankful for the immediate family and husband that God blessed me with. When Amber married Jonathan and moved to South Dakota, I was worried that Rich and I would not be able to see any of her volleyball games that she’d play as a Junior and Senior at Black Hills State University. You should see thier schedule - the games are all in North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Wisconsin, and Colorado…all very far from us, making it difficult to take the time off work to go see her play.

Well, this past weekend her team played a tournament in Columbia, Missouri, only 8.5 hours driving from us in Chattanooga. Rich and I decided to surprise Amber by showing up to watch her tournament, and we set out on Friday after working only half of a day. Because of Labor Day weekend traffic, it took us about 10 hours, but we arrived in anticipation of freaking Amber out!!!

She was so surprised that she screamed and scared the girls on her team who were in the hallway at the hotel. Then she cried and Rich got some, um, interesting faces on camera. These are a couple of the decent ones!!!

We had a super fun day on Saturday, watching two matches and Amber’s team won BOTH! They are a VERY good team, and Amber is such a strong player that she plays both offense (outside hitter) and defense (back row). Rich and I so enjoyed meeting the girls on the team and Amber’s coaches! Here are a few of the INCREDIBLE images that Rich got from the games…

Double blocking…

Her mad defensive skills…

Amber’s fans who wish they could be there for EVERY game…

Her serve…you do NOT want to be on the other side of the net for this…

Her cute self before match #2…

I just like this cool funky angle shot while the team waits for the serve…

One of her awesome hits…

Saturday night we went to St. Louis along with Amber’s team. Since the tournament was Friday and Saturday, they decided to spend Sunday and Monday in St. Louis before flying back to South Dakota. Saturday night, Rich and I walked from our hotel to a VERY yummy local italian place (called Sanfilippo’s) in the heart of downtown St. Louis, a couple of blocks from the Busch Stadium where the Cardinals were playing and only a few blocks from the Arch. Our hotel was awesome, and we really enjoyed the dinner…

Sunday morning while Amber’s team slept in, Rich and I went to the Arch! Neither of us had been to St. Louis or even seen the arch, so it was an incredible experience.

We walked about 5 blocks and got there when it opened at 8 AM and before there was much of a wait. We bought our tickets and went up in the tram…all the way to 630 feet. Taller than the Washington Monument and twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty. Wow. It makes you feel all dizzy and weak to look down over the city from that high. You are really trusting the stainless steel construction!!!
That’s me leaning against the lightpost and I’m still like 30 or 40 yards in front of it! Get the enormity of the thing??? It’s immense.

Very cool light this early in the morning…

Rich and his artistic eye captured this angle of the arch…

Going up in the tram was the most claustrophobic experience of my life. I was SO SO SO thankful that the ride up was only about 5 minutes long or I really think I would have fainted. Each section of the tram was TINY…way smaller than I would have thought, with room for only 5 people sitting VERY close to each other. But it was a means to an end, not an end in itself. Let’s just say it wasn’t fun like a ride at Disneyworld!

Rich took this picture from the viewing windows at the top, and so the shadow of the arch is very visible in sunlight.

We met up with Amber and Jonathan and the team at the St. Louis Zoo for a bit…and then Amber’s coach let her leave the team to eat with Rich and I before we left to head back home. We had a great time at lunch with Amber and Jonathan at the St. Louis Bread Company. Yum.

Then we had to say goodbye. This is the sign I made to cheer for Amber (she’s #6). My throat hurts from all the cheering I did this weekend.

We will miss you, Amber and Jonathan. We love you and can’t wait to see you again! Amber, I am so so so proud of you! You are the best sister I could hope for, and an AMAZING volleyball player!

then Rich and I drove to Nashville to spend the night at a hotel there before finishing the trip on Monday morning. We checked in and went to the Cheesecake Factory, one of my favorite places ever, but Rich had never been there!!! These are our excited faces about eating there together for the first time. We had a blast, and split a piece of Oreo cheesecake!