Colton Returns: Sky Ranch Session 7 - One more time in Buzzbarn

Colton and Parker went back for more! 

Colton's award said, "Firm Faith - Colton, it was awesome to have you in BuzzBarn. Both weeks you showed a deep desire to learn and understanding pursuing Bible study. You asked good questions when you didn't understand or wanted to know more. Keeping honoring God with your questions. Shawn, Jace, and Brandon, Hebrews 11:1"

From Colton: Sky ranch was a lot of fun. Shawn was still there and so was Brandon. We hung out together and it was awsome. Also parker was there and big John picked us up when I got home my house was broken.

Note from Erin: It is true. Our house is broken. We had a leak in the laundry room that has resulted in the demolition of our laundry room and kitchen. It will be even better when it all gets put back together. But for now, it is a little overwhelming. I was so grateful that Colton was up for another week at Sky. Cadie and I dropped him off on Sunday afternoon and he was pretty anxious about whether or not Shawn would be his counselor again. Thankfully, no drama as needed as Shawn greeted us right away at the cabin dropoff. Whewww! Big John picked up both Colton and Parker on Saturday morning which was such a huge help with all the moving parts at the house. Thanks Big John!

Texas the Musical: Nina and Cadie date night

Written by Cadence Nicole Pearl Walsh:

Nina and I went to see Texas the Outdoor Musical in Palo Duro Canyon today. We had a fun girls night with ice cream, popcorn, and live theatre. Texas is one of my favorite shows, and it’s performed in an amphitheater at the bottom of the canyon. My absolute favorite part of the show is the stunning costumes which have lots of pretty colors and details! Everyone seemed to think that Nina and I couldn’t handle the navigation, or that something else would go seriously awry. Luckily, we proved them all wrong, and the night went splendidly. I even bought a new pair of themed socks from the amphitheater gift shop! The show’s finale included a very impressive fountain display, patriotic costumes, and lots of fun dancing. Having an exciting girls night after a long day of travel was the perfect way to conclude our evening in Amarillo!

Cadie almost goes to Galveston on HPUMC High School Mission Trip

By Cadie Walsh, "This summer, I went on the HPUMC high school mission trip! Everything started out a bit wonky because we were supposed to go to Galveston for a week, but had to relocate the trip due to hurricane Beryl. We were only informed of this change in plans 2 days before the trip! Despite this setback, the mission trip was a success! Everyone stayed at the Hilton Anatole, and we did service projects around our city. The 110 or so students on the trip were split into 11 van groups, and I was in van #7. My van leaders were Jake (aka Tony) and Andie! Kat Cali was in my group, and the trip allowed us to become much better friends. Our group did service projects such as cleaning/painting/mulching a playground, cleaning litter off of hiking trails, volunteering with kids, sorting uniforms for kids in north Dallas, and constructing furniture for a Salvation Army-like store. My wonderful roommates were Margaret, Mikayla, and Lily! One of our youth pastors, Desi, did all the sermons. We learned about the story of Jacob and Esau in great detail, and our theme of the week was "Onward". Overall, I had a lovely week getting to meet new friends, and serve my city!"

Washington Gullickson Family Renion

Eric and I started plotting this trip about a year ago and it went better than I ever could have hoped for! The weather was perfect, no one had travel challenges, Inspiration Lodge was great for our family, Eric planned great activities that we all enjoyed, Alan and Shanna and their two sweet girls (Harriet and Della) were able to join us, and we laughed and ate and played games and made memories. It was wonderful. Here is a loose recap of our time together:

• Wednesday: Everyone arrived and gathered at the vrbo in Leavenworth. Nathan made us a delicious dinner, and we sat on the back porch and played "Cards against maturity" which was really fun. The boys took turns riding the 2 electric bikes that Eric had brought over for us to use. They were a big hit during the entire trip.
• Thursday: Alpine Coaster which Colton said was his favorite activity of the trip. Me, Nina, Bethany, Josiah, Colton, Samuel, Cadie, and Ranger went along for this adventure. Colton ended up riding the coaster 4 times! I bought him two rides, he got a free one due to a slow rider in front of us, and a nice person gave him another ride. I rode two times and I thought it was kinda scary! After the coaster, we met at 3pm at a local park for a special picnic lunch/dinner cooked exclusively by Eric. It was delish and then we all played a game of kick-ball that ended up being pretty competitive. Papa served as the always-pitcher and self-nominated referee and we think he was brided by the other team.
• Friday: Water rafting for everyone except Cadie, Colton, and I. We stayed back and Anna took us on a tour of ridge to river. I also spend time that day getting Colton and new scooter and taking him on the awesome bike/scooter skate parks which he was fixated on doing.  Pizza dinner at our vrbo after the float.
• Saturday: Bethany, Nathan, Nina and I hit the Farmers Market in the AM. The afternoon was floating the Wenatchee river with paddle boards, tubs, and rafts provided by Eric. Water was cold but beautiful and we all had a good time. It was unfortunate that Nathan, Papa, and I had parked the incorrect take-out spot. But Papa was able to hitch a ride to where we had parked our car and it all worked out ok. Dinner at Yodeling in town. Alan and Shanna and their family joined us. Fun game of Telestrations that evening in the living room (Josiah was the organizer).
• Sunday: Slidewaters Water Park with a cabana (so nice!). CJ and Henry tried the surfing and we all had fun watching them. Winery after the waterpark and Mexican food at a restaurant in the local town. Good-byes already! So sad.
• Monday: Cleaning up and checking out. Our flight wasn't until later in the day so we took Ranger to Ridge to River because he stayed until the next Sunday with Eric and Anna. Colton, Cadie, and I were able to stop by Leavenworth one final time before heading to the airport. Colton and Cadie both were impressed by the town's commitment to their Bavarian theme. Grant picked us up as he wasn't able to attend due to conflicts. We missed him!

Ranger HPPC Mission Trip to Kansas City

Written by Jack Ranger Walsh:

The KC Mission Trip started with an 8-hour bus drive to Kansas. We stayed in a small building owned by a nearby church. The place had 2 showers (one boy and one girl) and no air conditioning for the week. On Monday, we woke up and went to a non-profit organization's property. It was called Kansas City Dream Center. We did multiple things there such as painting, helping build a garden, and weeding. After we finished there, we headed to a warehouse full of donated clothes where we sorted clothes by size. The last thing we did the first day was canvassing. We went door to door giving out fliers for the VBS we were hosting at a park close by. On Tuesday we went to a recreational center with a gym and a diner. We helped clean and organize things there for a few hours. After, we split into two groups. Some people went back to the warehouse and continued sorting clothes while the other group went to the park for the VBS. Unfortunately, nobody came so we cut it and hour short and headed back to the place we were staying early. On Wednesday, we all did a really big scavenger hunt around downtown. We got pieces for a map and had to put them together. Different places were worth more or less points and we had to get a picture with as many as we could. My group won because Garner Godfrey and I split up from our group with permission and ran to a place that was worth 400 points (We won by 200). On Thursday we spent the entire day working at an old folk's home. We helped with many things such as weeding in the courtyard, decorating for the Fourth of July, making praise and worship lyric books, and more. On Friday we went to the Zoo for the whole day. My group at the zoo was Garner, Reiter, Brock, Drake, and I. This was the group of people I hung out with the most throughout the week. On the trip I got to know the two summer interns a lot better, Will and Chelsea. I was sharing a room with Drake Kelley and Garner Godfrey. Brock Marsh also broke my cot on Thursday, so I had to sleep on the ground for a few nights. Overall, I enjoyed the trip and would definitely do something like it again.

Happy Father's Day!

Poor Grant celebrated Father's Day fixing a leak and mold in the laundry room! While that is 100% true, we did go on a date night the previous night and had a nice time getting a massage and then yogurt afterwards (TCBY White Chocolate Mousse - of course).

On Sunday, we went to church together. DD and Big John came with Callie and Cadie. Grant and I came with Colton because I had dropped off JR at 7:30am to depart on the HPPC Kansas City Mission Trip. And Nina and Papa saved us all seats (on brand). After church, we had lunch together at Crisp & Green (Papa's choice) and Grant went back to work on the leaking and mold. A Dad's work never ends!

What an amazing group of men. All three work incredibly hard, are loyal, fun-loving, God-fearing, and invest mightily into their families. I am so grateful for these 3 that have poured into me and our family and I know would do anything for us. Thank you Big John, Papa, and Grant!

Ranger - Morph in BroLaw #36

This year at Sky Ranch I was in cabin 36 BroLaw. It was one of the newer cabins and had separate rooms. I started in the first room with kids I didn't know but my counselors were not strict, so they let us move beds. The people I knew who had been coming for a while all moved to the third room with me for the week. My counselors were Luke, Mason, Kyle, Austin, and Trey. They were all calm and nice. I was in Trey's bible study for the week, and I got to know him better than the other counselors. For Monday and Tuesday, it was raining a lot and almost the entire time we were in a lightning watch, so we didn't do many activities. The lake was flooded, and the docks were underwater, so we didn't do any lake activities. The kids I hung out with the most during the week were Henry Fee, Harvey Firestone, and Parker Shirley. On Monday night we got stuck in the dining hall after dinner because of lightning. We ended up being there for over 4 hours and then on Tuesday morning we got stuck there again for 2 hours after breakfast. The rest of the week was pretty normal except for no lake activities. Every time we had a lake activity scheduled our counselors would just take us to the Crazy Pool and we went like 5 times. My favorite activity was probably The Block AKA The Rec Center. My least favorite was the water slides because they were all closed but one, so the line took like 30 minutes because there were 4 cabins there. The counselors gave me the Responsible award for the week. It says, "We all agree that you are a very responsible kid. It seems that you are mature beyond your years. This is most definitely a characteristic that is needed for success. Keep being you and success will surely come your way. Trey, Luke, Kyle, Austin, Mason."