July Wrap-up

July started off with a bang with our big July 4th party at the farm! Things stayed hopping for the rest of the month with...

• Ranger having his first babysitting gig July 5-8! He rode his bike and picked up Thomas Jacob from his camp at HPPC and then they spent about 2 hours at our house and then Ranger rode his bike to take Thomas home. Ranger took it very seriously and did a great job.
• July both boys did basketball camp at Park Cities Baptist Church and they both ended up liking the camp and basketball. Maybe more basketball in our future?
• Cadie went to Mo Ranch with DD July 10-16 and they stopped in Austin on the way home to go to Wes' 2nd birthday party at Whitney and Daniel's house.
• Colton went to Musical Theater Camp at Dallas Children's Theater with Luke Cherkassky. They got to pick their characters and Colton was Tails (from Sonic), of course.

During the last week of July, Colton did his 2nd week at Sky Ranch, Ranger went to Horn Creek with Nina and Papa, and Cadie was at Ute Trail for the confirmation trip. We had 3 Sky Ranch camps represented! Grant and I enjoyed time together and spent two nights at the Farm before picking up Colton on Saturday morning.

 

JR to Horn Creek

We had 3 kids at 3 Sky camps! Colton at Van, Cadie at Ute, and Nina and Papa took Jack Ranger to Horn Creek for the week. Nina and Papa reported that Jack Ranger was a pleasure and so kind and fun. They said he made their trip so much better and they loved having him with them.

They left on Saturday and went to Clovis, New Mexico to visit with my Mom's Aunt Marci. Ranger got to meet Dax Ranger Simmons! The only other human Ranger we know. Nina and Papa said he was super well behaved and a great traveler. 

Ranger said his favorite part of Horn Creek was the trail ride. He rode a horse for the first time this year and horses' name was Sundae, as in "ice cream sundae". They also hiked Rainbow Trail. Ranger said he already knew most of the kids and played a lot with Cadmon and Jackson. It sounds like there was a lot of mafia and hide-and-seek. I was not super pleased when Ranger told me some of his expert hiding secrets, including hiding in a trash can! 

They drove a straight shot home and apparently JR was so tired that he slept for most of the morning in the car. They got home on Saturday evening and Ranger had a day to recoup before the kids headed to Georgia on Monday for cousins camp.

Cadie Colorado Confirmation Trip

Cadie spent July 25-30 at Sky Ranch, Ute Trail in Powderhorn, Colorado as the final step in the confirmation process. She made it through, but was not a big fan. She started crying the minute she walked in the door at home. She was cold, wet, and a rat in their cabin that they named Agatha sent her over the edge. DD and Big John joined them at Ute and traveled home with them so I was glad she had people around that love her. 

Tuesday Update from Anna Crumpler - "Colorado Day 1 Recap"

"We are having a wonderful first day here at Sky Ranch! We had an action-packed day full of kayaking, hiking, hockey, and fun! One of our favorite moments was when we all did a polar plunge into the Lake San Cristobal – see a video attached!  We have already been so blessed! On top of that video, check out some pictures from our day attached to this email.

 Tonight, our students will hear about Spiritual Gifts; how each one of them has been given unique talents by God to use to benefit themselves, the body of believers they are a part of and most importantly the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Pray for Anna as she prepares to deliver this message and pray that the hearts of our students are open to hear it.

 Other prayer requests for the week include:

1. Continued good weather! We were very blessed that the rain held off to allow us to kayak today, and we pray that the weather cooperates with us throughout all our activities this week
2. Continued bonding! It’s been so fun to watch our students create friendships and support each other. We pray that these continue to develop into life-long friendships!
3. Continued presence of God! The Lord has clearly been present in all our details this week. We continue to pray and welcome Him into our experience. We also pray that our students have eyes to see how God is working this week and cultivate deeper more meaningful relationships with Him through what we do here. 

Thank you again for sending your students with us this week, and for your continued support and prayer! We will check in again tomorrow."

Wednesday Update from Anna Crumpler - "Colorado Day 2 Recap"

"Hello All,

 God is continuing to move here at Sky Ranch! We have had an amazing day! We spent our mornings at the High Ropes course here at Sky Ranch and our afternoon White Water Rafting the Taylor River in Gunnison! We couldn’t have asked for a better experience so far! Check out some pictures from our day attached to this email.

 Tonight our students will hear about God’s Story from Savannah Pace. We will talk about the already/not yet of the Christian life, God’s story for all of history, and how we as a church and as individuals play a role in that story. Pray for Savannah and our students as we prepare for this important message and time together.

 Other prayer requests for the week include:

1. More prayers about weather! We barely made White Water rafting today and our big hike tomorrow is currently contingent on the weather forecast. Please continue to pray that the weather allows us to do our activities!
2. Opportunities for vulnerability! Throughout all the fun activities we do we crave moments of real genuine connection and conversations about Jesus. Pray that we that God creates space for those!  
3. That our students would seriously begin to consider what it looks like to be in Christian community. So much of what we are talking about this week is about what it means to be part of a body of believers and asking students to pray about joining the church. Pray they learn something about the church in this time and that they feel moved to become Covenant Partners at HP Pres.

 Tomorrow we take out on trail, so we will not be able to send out another update email. We look forward to touching base with you all when we are back Friday afternoon! If weather prevents us from hiking, we will update you on that as well."

Friday Update from Anna Crumpler - "Colorado Day 3 and 4 Recap"

"Hello All!

We are back from our hike! We ended up having an adjusted day yesterday with hatchet throwing/archery in the morning and then an adjusted hike to be safer and closer to camp in case of inclement weather. I know all of staff is so proud of the endurance and perseverance our students showed making it up the mountain. No way to experience God better than to be in the midst of His creation! Here is a picture from the top of our hike! Now we’re back at camp getting ready to surprise our students with a trip to closest town for ice cream and then a night packing and getting ready for tomorrow.

Tonight on our final night Daniel will be talking about what it means to be a Covenant Partner and invite our students to deeply consider making a commitment to join our church body at HP Pres. We will also be taking communion together and opening the floor up for students to ask any hard questions they have about the Christian faith. This is always a powerful night, so we ask you to join us in prayer that God will continue and culminate the good work he has started this week.

Other prayer requests include:

1. Questions night! Wisdom and discernment from the staff answering the questions and boldness for our students to ask the questions on their minds. Pray that God is truly revealed in this night.
2. Rest! We take off bright and early tomorrow and we are definitely weary. Pray for an effective night of rest as we prepare for a long day of travel.
3. Friendships! As we get ready to leave, it is my earnest prayer that these kids will remain close friends. Pray that these relationships are even more solidified today and into the rest of their lives.

 We will be in touch tomorrow as we travel back to Dallas. We cannot wait to be back with you and share about this awesome experience!"

Colton is a Christian!

When we picked up our little buddy on July 30th, he was so excited to share that he accepted Jesus into his heart and he learned a new word - "chaffing." Sounds like a big week! He had been talking about wanting to accept Jesus into his heart at Sky Ranch this summer. He had wanted to do it at Horn Creek, but since we didn't take a family trip to Horn Creek this summer, he did it during his second week at Sky. He prayed with his counselor Travis and he said he wants to get baptized soon. We are so proud of his joyful heart and that he had made own his decision to move forward in his faith.

He had another big accomplishment. He did ALL the water activities. He has refused to get in the lake since kinder. Grant, Cadie, and I gave him a pep talk at dropoff and encouraged him to give it another try. I was so excited when I saw the pic of him on the app on the blob! He said it was so fun and he isn't scared of the lake anymore. 

He was in 4Score again, which he wanted. We also bought him a new plastic trunk that he used instead of a suitcase and he liked it a lot better. He said it was his best week at Sky Ranch yet!

Grant and I spent Thursday night and Friday night at CRC. James spent the night with us Thursday evening and we had a nice time eating dinner at Jalapeno Tree. I worked on Friday during the day and Starlink did not fail me. It was so nice to sit and work on the porch on Friday morning. Grant and I spent Friday evening at the farm and had a wonderful evening being there just the 2 of us for the first time ever. 

Grant picked up Colton on Saturday morning and then we spent a few hours at CRC. It was first Monday trade days so Colton and I stopped and shopped for a few hours before we headed back to Dallas. We had a great time at First Monday and we both got a few odds and ends. Colton got a visor, pair of boots, and M&M game. I got two cute shirts. Grant stayed at CRC Saturday evening to work on a few more projects and Colton and I headed home to pick up Cadie, DD, and Big John at the airport on their return from Ute Trail.

Happy Birthday Erin

Well this was such a fun treat to start off my day! Look what showed in from the talented Shannon Long in my McKesson inbox on Monday morning...

Sending birthday wishes your WAY,

Hoping you have the most special DAY!

Even though you’ve promoted AWAY –

I know that we would all like to SAY…

Happy, happy birthday to you, dear ONE!

We wish you all the happiness and FUN

Of another trip around the SUN!

We’re sure the new team is treating you RIGHT,

But we had to be sure to bring a smile so BRIGHT!

We’ll never quite be BY-GONE…

Even with this new BIRON…

Now that we’ve shared our little JINGLE,

We’re hoping you can join us for one last team MINGLE.

Wendy will be in town and we’re hoping for others, TOO!  😊

Join us August 4 for cabana casual by my POOL!

Now, we really have to GO,

But, look for something in your mail TOMORROW!

We’re so glad to celebrate YOU

Happy birthday all this next year THROUGH!

And on Sunday evening we had an impromptu birthday party at El Fenix with some of my favorite people! We had spent Saturday evening at the farm with Russell Jonas who was visiting from New York. I came back to Dallas a bit earlier on Sunday with the boys. Cadie and DD had gotten in town the evening before from their time at Mo Ranch. I decided it would be fun to plan a birthday dinner and so I texted and everyone who I invited was able to come! We went back to our house afterwards for TCBY White Chocolate mousse ice cream cake. It was such a fun evening and I loved that it was no pressure.

The weekend before we had a silly birthday dinner at Magic Time Magic where we enjoyed the always hilarious face swap picture. 

Happy Birthday America + Barndo is OPEN!

July 4th was even more exciting this year with the official opening of the Barn at the Farm. We had a party on July 2nd complete with BBQ, fireworks, and a ribbon cutting ceremony. The construction was not yet final so we waited until the morning of the party to move in furniture. Nina and Papa helped and it was a huge hustle! But it looked great and everyone had a good time. 

We stayed overnight with Nina and Papa and it was so amazing to be able to crash in our own place! We headed back to Dallas on the 3rd so we could participate in the standard July 4th activities including the parade and pooltime.

I am beyond grateful for this amazing gift of space, a place to entertain friends and family, ability to reconnect with nature (sunsets at the farm are my FAVORITE!), and create memories for our family. I can't wait for more goodness to come!

Message from DD, "Grant and Erin,
You all made this such a FUN event!  We loved being there with family and friends!
Everything looked so amazing and you all have worked so hard to make it so. Big John and I love our room (always available to share with others.).
The food was delicious and thank you for sharing it with us in Dallas. We had a nice meal Wednesday night with the Riley's from what you brought over to us Monday.
Grant, thank you for your patience and orchestration of the fire works show. It was so fun to watch you and the glee of the children.
You bless us over and over and over! Thank you!! DD and Big John"