Wimberly's Annual BBQ

Every year, our friends Jerry and Peggy Wimberly open their home up to an open house style BBQ for singers and fans and families to come together and eat and play and have fun getting to know each other better. Yesterday was that day! And included in the event was a surprise birthday party for Terry Stockman of The Tradesmen, and for Peggy Wimberly, our lovely hostess!

Below are some pictures of the day's activities:

One of the birthday cakes
Bob Hughes of Crossroads during sing-along
A view of only part of the crowd!
Evidence gives us a song
Dick Hilleary and his wife, Reba

A mixed group from various other groups

Our TJ got to help by playing guitar!Harmony TrioOur dear friends, The Johnson Family Quartet perform a song written by Bonnie and Ben!And we enjoyed performing a few songs, too!!

Below is our debut with our instruments included!
Looking forward to next year!!

Homeschool Family Camp 08

HOUSE CHURCH/ HOMESCHOOL FAMILY CAMPOUT '08
Shake Campground in Mountain Home State Forest

Immediately upon arriving back in California at 10:15 PM, we went from the airport in San Diego, dropped off our friend who picked us up, stopped by home for not longer than 1/2 and hour- just long enough to throw our sleeping bags, pillows, and a couple mattresses in the back of the van, and pet our faithful Lollie dog(who was so excited to see us after ten days that she was squeeling!), then off we flew down (or should I say up) the road to central California for the fifteenth annual Homeschool Family Campout(another "first" for us). We drove through the night (about 6 hours)to arrive just in time to find a few campers already up and preparing their morning hot water over the fire!

Three Little Happy Campers!!

Meal Preparations Crew
And don't forget the Clean-Up Crew!! Above and Below: A game of Mad Gab!!

Hanging out, playing games and talking
A missionary family from Nigeria (Africa) were there visiting. They gave a beautiful and dramatic Bible reading with hand motions. We really enjoyed talking with them about their work, and sharing stories about differences in foreign cultures, religious beliefs, and other interesting things. Sunday worship meeting

Having missed the last fourteen annual campouts with this group, we didn't want to miss out again! So, even though it was a long drive and we were tired, it was GREAT to visit with old friends and make some new ones, get in some mountain hiking and other "playing", eat good food prepared by loving hands, worship the Lord with fellow believers, and enjoy the scenery including the DEER family (not DEAR family!) which crossed our path on the way home!

It was nice to get home to a good hot shower and our own comfy beds!!

We are thankful to God for His provisions and care for us during our vacation!

And thankful for so many new "firsts" to get to share with you!

Jammin'

It's always fun to get together with other musical people and do some jammin'.

We enjoyed a few times of doing just that!

At Camp:
And at the Cinncinati Airport!!

We were standing in line at the coffee shop in the airport (yes, a Starbucks!). A man was standing there with a case that looked like my mandolin case, so we asked him about it and he told us it was a mandola. As we stood there talking, the idea of jamming came up, so that's just what we did!! We played about three songs before he had to catch his next flight.

Of course, there were lots of onlookers to our impromptu session. A group of Canadian youth were there for some event. Their tourguide came up to us afterward and said that she told the kids that we were there to welcome them with our "American bluegrass" music!! I thought that was pretty funny considering we were playing gospel songs! Anyway, it was a fun experience!!

VOLLEYBALL!

Guess what! I did end up finding more pictures of the volleyball crew!

Andrew numbering off the guys!

We had so many players we had to break up into three teams.

Then came the fun part-SPEED VOLLEYBALL, where the third team rotates onto the losing side after each point! Makes for a fast moving game, and you better pay attention to when it's your team's turn on the court!!

The girls numbering off

Finding your team members!

Allison's an obvious team 3!

Above: Here's a whole bunch of players

Below: OK, everybody, make a funny face!

SILLY PEOPLE!!

Too Many Fun Activities

There were just too many fun activities to do at camp!

Below are just a few examples:

Mr. Wissmann plays a "mean" game of air hockey with Bethany

I'll not say who won!!



Mikki, Amy, and Mitch had some sore muscles after shooting clay pigeons. This was another "firsts" for us. All of us were able to hit at least one!!
Indoor Hockey was a hit for young and old alike
"Take Two" (otherwise known by the Wissmann's as Take One) was played by many.
The first Kayaking crew
This was also a first for us as we had never been kayaking, nor down the Mississppi River, nor in the state of Wisconsin, which was the beginning point for the kayak trip!!

Mikki kayaking solo on the lake at camp
Above and below- The Mighty, Mighty, Scoop-Noodle Challenge

A very fun game for all ages!! Best when played with LOTS of people!



Archery
Climbing the wall
This was SOOOOO Funny watching Ben, TJ and Mikki on the Zipline!!!

For all you daring folks out there, this is the ride to go on!

There were lots of other things to do, but I didn't get a chance to take photos nor post all of the ones I did take. I think we must have played at least a hundred games of volleyball while we were there. We got some really sore muscles by the time the week was done!! Needless to say, we had a great time doing things we don't usually get to do, and playing with all of the other families who attended. I do have two pictures I'll try to post later of the volleyball crew. What a bunch they were- I think we stayed up til after midnight a couple of nights!

Bible Memory Verse

While at camp, everyone worked on memorizing PROVERBS 2:1-6 including hand motions. Rachel and Ruth Wissmann usually led the verses and taught the hand signals.

My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you,

so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding,

Yes, if you cry out for knowledge, and lift up your voice to understanding

If you seek for her as for silver and search for her as for hidden treasure
Then you shall understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God
For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding
There was one day when two of the Wissmann boys had to fill in for their sisters in leading the verse time. It was a pretty funny sight to see these guys up there, bless their hearts!