Cape Lookout

Thursday we got back from an amazing four days at the Oregon Coast with our church. As you know by now if you read my blog frequently, I'm not always very good about getting the "people pictures" in, so take everything you see and remember that we were there with a lot of church friends.

This is the view from the beach just steps from our campsite. It really doesn't get much better than this. In the distance is Cape Lookout for which the park is named.

This is the trail leading from the beach up onto the cape.

And the view from that trail back down toward the beach. You can barely see it, but there's another cape in the background, Cape Meares, which we also visited.

Cape Mears boasts two main attractions--a light house and the amazing "Octopus Tree," which looks something like...an octopus.

Us and Caitlin at Cape Meares

And how could you go to Tillamook County without visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory?

At low tide on the beach, you can get to these rock cliffs that are covered in barnacles and other little sea life.

We also hiked to the end of Cape Lookout. This is the view from Cape Lookout towards the south.

Of course, the whole group spent a lot of time just hanging out on the beach, walking, wading, boogie boarding, and playing volleyball, but I didn't have my camera down there for any of it but one volleyball game. :(

Having bonfires on the beach was another definite highlight.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip--maybe the best WPC camp-out I've been on.

More Violin Photos

Just an Ordinary Day

Is it weird to blog about plants? Anyway, this is my 7-Up plant which has been blooming lately. It's got these delicate little peach colored flowers, as you can see. It has other nice qualities, though, like smelling just like 7-Up soda, and being fuzzy all over. What more could you ask for in a plant--looks good, smells good, and feels good to the touch. They're apparently not very common, so I'm indebted to one of our friends who works for a nursery and is a plant expert for finding one for me.

And here's my other photography subject for today--my violin. For being such an important part of my life, it's sadly absent from my pictures. I'll probably take more of these, so violin pics will probably show up on here again!

Colville 2009

We returned Saturday night from another week-long missions trip to the Colville Indian Reservation. This was my fifth time going. I felt really privileged to serve with such a fine group of people, and I think we were all excited by the things God is doing up there. Our team from Westminster was pretty heavily involved in the construction part of the ministry, but different ones were also able to serve through VBS and the senior music ministry. It was a real whirlwind of a week. It's nice to be home, but part of me is sad to have it over and already missing everyone I spent the week with. I didn't take as many pictures as I have other years, and a lot of these are more artsy than documentary, but here they are.

Nice pose

The moon over the hills near the Longhouse, where we stay.

The beautiful entrance to the Longhouse

Evening sky

One evening we took our traditional hike up behind the Longhouse and the school grounds. This is looking roughly northwest, over the school grounds to a storm in the distance. We saw more thunderstorms than ever before.

One of the houses we worked on early in the process.

Getting closer to finished

Another house we worked on.

Friday evening barbecue at the Stampede Grounds is an important time. We invite people we have met throughout the week to join us for the evening. A good number of tribal elders attended this year, as well as kids from VBS.

Playing the stick game after dinner. The stick game is a special traditional game for the Colville people.