3rd love of my life - loon lake

Behind my Lord and my husband of course. I hesitate to even post the name of this lake in fear that it will result in an overcrowding of my getaway locale. However, based on the fact that in reality no one reads this, I did. Loon Lake is my happy place. Not that I'm not happy in other spots too (especially when I'm with my husband), but this is just the creme de la creme for me. My entire family goes for at least one week every summer and my relatives have been going since before my dad was born. It's in our blood. You just can't beat the sandy beach, sunshine, special snacks, horseshoes, games, campfires, family time, and traditions that have been repeated summer after summer after summer. Here's a few snapshots from our time this year....

late night board games:
sandcastles with our niece and nephew:
a loon lake tradtion- lil smokies roasted over the fire:
kickin it at the beach:

love at the beach:

the whole gang:

lunch time:

fellowship . friendship . feasting . & fireworks

We rounded out our two weeks of housesitting by having our dear german friends come and stay with us our last two nights. For the story of how we first met go here. It is incredible that we have spent less than a total of a week with them, and yet the likemindedness is so apparent. The fellowship that we have with other believers is deep and true and intimate. We are so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with these special friends who we met under very special circumstances.

We spent our two days at the mansion hanging by the pool, taking them fishing for the first time (where Pete caught his first fish), cooking delicious meals together, talking, laughing, hot tubbing, and chasing the beefalo. And of course we had to show them a decent small town fourth of July celebration, so we took them to the Naches firework display on the 3rd of July. Apparently Naches has so much americana running through it's blood that they celebrate our independence on the third and fourth of July!

Early Sunday morning we packed up, said goodbye to the mansion and drove to Seattle. Pete and Olga had been listening to Mark Driscoll's sermons online throughout their 7 month trip around the world so we went to church at Mars Hill so they could experience the real deal. Lucky for us our dear friend Joey lives in Seattle and is the best host/tour guide around. We spent the rest of that day and the next touring Seattles hot spots, chocolate shops, markets, parks, skyline views, trolls under the bridge, and a few little restaurants (delicious doughnut shop, gyros, southern bbq). There was also a little 4th of July bbq, a board game, and some rock band thrown in for good measure. The things we did were special and fun, but the relationships were our favorite part. I think it's safe to say we all ended the weekend encouraged by the friendships and the time spent in deep, meaningful conversations. To have this kind of love for our friends and brothers is overwhelming and made us walk away from the weekend with our hearts filled with praise for our God.