Oh yeah....a bear

A few posts ago I said that I usually waited until something interesting happened before posting. Then something interesting happened and I'm just getting to posting it today. oops.

Adam and I and other youth staff were out in the woods last Monday night preparing for a game of Nero with all the Jr and Sr high schoolers.

Nero??

Oh, yeah...um, two teams of kids, one tree with flags on it, youth staff in hiding with squirt guns and water balloons = tons of fun.....until a staffer gets spooked by a huge mamma bear

That would be ME!!

I had just gotten settled in a *perfect* hiding spot and figured out where I could crouch unseen and step unheard. The game was about to start and I turned when I heard a noise behind me to my left. A little bird landed in a bush about four feet from my face. I was amazed that I was that close to this little bird! My thoughts from here on:

"I wonder what kind of bird that is...I've never seen one with that coloring...hmmm it doesn't even know I'm here...I'm pretty sneaky...What is that thundering noise behind meAAAGGGGHHHHHH a HUGE BEAR!!!!!! She doesn't know I'm here either!!!!"

Well, the huge black bear (about as long as the breadth of my arms) thundered (literally, you could feel the ground shake) away from our playing field. Vic, another youth staff said he saw a cub climb a tree about the same time I yelled "BEAR"--yeah, a cub on the other side of me. Just what you don't want: cub, You, big mamma bear.

Fortunately the sow was probably just trying to draw our attention away from her cub and they soon left the area. Needless to say, it was a good way to get my adrenaline going for a really fun game!

visitin' the states

In honor of our upcoming trip down south (that's the Northwest for all of you in the lower 48), here is a map of states we've visited. Here's mine first:


create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.



...and here's Adam's. I think he needs to get out more, don't you???


create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.
Thankfully we'll be adding Idaho and Montana to Adam's map in the next month and a half. Thanks for the link, Krista!

We are headed your way!

...if your way is in Oregon, Washington, Idaho or Montana! We'll be travelling through those states mid-September through mid-October to speak to churches, small groups and friends about our upcoming ministry in Bolivia. We would love to see you! Drop us a line if we haven't already contacted you.