A Safe Haven (Last year of Out on A Limb Camp)

    So I attended my last year of Out On A Limb Camp out of 9 years this year! Man, I am feeling old.

I don't think there is any way I can describe this camp and have my readers get the same feeling or excitement I get every time I hear of it unless you've been there.  There is truly no other place like Peaceable Kingdom, Out On A Limb. 

    I have been to many places in my life that have made me feel comfortable, but this place has a special feeling, smell, sound, comfort, joy, people and I could go on and on!!! I've been attending this camp for 9 years and this was my last. It was a fun but a hard year, knowing that on Friday I would say goodbye to the people I absolutely love and have grown up with; to my family! I would say good bye to the Kingdom!  The Peaceful one, filled with acceptance and focusing on what we could do. The safe haven. The many trails I've walked and ridden on, the lake I fished on and often times told to kiss the fish, the cabin that gave us rest, the gulf carts that carried us from place to another (as well as the driver, Robert), the lodge that was always filled with drinks and gave us our 3 meals (Mrs. Angela the cook) as well as awesome dance parties!, the pool that was splashed and jumped in every day, the rock-wall that had seen many faces climbed for the last time and the zip line, the swing that gave me butterflies in my stomach every year, and the theater that heard many laughters and screams of joy if you had beaten some one at air hockey, aswell as the stage that had seen so many kids perform!!!! The PKRC staff and volunteers that have put up with us ever year, and even the new ones who got tickled like crazy! The TSRH nurses, staff, and volunteers who gave us meds and band aids! All the campers that made laugh and cry SO hard this year! I cried so much that if Tony and Zack were there they would have teased me as they did Kylie on her last year!  

     Thank you guys so much for making my last year so memorable, as well as all of my other years! I will be back as soon as I can Lord willing! I love you guys all very much!!!

Here are some pictures of my last year, but I have a lot more coming!!!

Camp pictures. 

All the graduates of 2015

 Camp Out On A Limb

 Kash and I.

 My camp Papie

 Pool Time

 Culinary Arts.

 Caught a fish!!

 Put Put

 All the staff and I from 2015

I hope you enjoyed the pics as much as I've enjoyed the people and the camp!!

More to come!!

Sweet 16 for a sweet young lady

       Wishing a most blessed birthday to this most amazing sister. 

 Guess who's 16 today!!!! 

    I can't tell you in words what I feel to be able to be with you when you turn 16!!! Sarah, you are my treasure! I have known you since you were 3 or 4, I have seen you go through trials beyond belief, I have been with you for most of my life! I have seen your tears and your beautiful smiles, I have heard your cries (which have often times caused me to cry) and have loved your wonderful laughter! I braided your hair and got a brush stuck in it once! I watched you leave the orphanage as you were given the chance for love and family, leaving me friendless and without hope (not trying to make you feel bad or anything)! I had lost you!
    Who could have imagined what God had planned!. A year later, I was given something I never imagined!!!!!. I was not only given a family, but I was given my best friend as a sister!. Wow. I'm still in awe of that!. It was too good to believe!. I saw pictures of you smiling and enjoying life in itself!!! Something I couldn't wait to do, and I would be doing it with you!.
    Then, there I was, at the airport standing next to and hugging the friend I had lost!!. From there, started an amazing adventure! I saw you, my sister, and looked up to you as an inspiration and example! You inspired me, gave me hope, showed me joy in the midst of trials, and made me laugh when more hardship came!
    I love watching you dance and sing, especially when you don't know I am! I love braiding you hair, I love dancing with you, I love taking random walks with you, I love filming movies with you, Alli, Stevie and friends. I love capturing images of your beautiful face, I love our little secret talks, I love being able to make you smile and laugh when you're down! I loved it when you were younger, the times you would get scared because of a dream or because you were the last one awake, you would wake me up, ask to sleep next to me or just have me stay awake until you fell asleep! And most of all, I love being able to see the beautiful young women you have become, how you have grown in the Lord, and how beautiful that heart of yours is!!
    Today, we went bowling with some friends to celebrate your Sweet 16! I saw that beautiful smile and heard your wonderful laughter! I saw you dance with your friends and sing songs that you knew, as if there was no care in the world, celebrating your gift of life!
   I love you very much and so thankful you are MY sister!!! Happy Sweet 16 girly!!!

Here are some pictures that I love of you!!!

You're such lady!!

Happy Birthday sista!!!

Erika M.