by Kaitlyn
The weekend started with getting up at 3:30AM so we could meet at the church parking lot at 4:30. Audrey stayed overnight Friday night so she could go with us. It was dark for the first couple of hours so people were sleeping and listening to music. After it got light out we broke out breakfast and the games. I think the back of the bus was pretty active the whole time. We stopped for lunch at a spot with a few different places to chose from. We got to the the Tennessee Fellowship Center at 2:00. We played volleyball, listened to the jamming, talked to people, had supper, and then we sang most of the evening. We left for the hotel at 9:00ish. Saturday night at the hotel I couldn’t find my clothes bag but everything worked out. I ended up wearing my jean skirt and tennis shoes to church (which I'm not used to doing). Sunday morning after eating in the hotel lobby, we loaded up on the bus and rode the five minutes to Athens church. The first thing we did was sing and have special numbers. Next was a Sunday school lesson in which Feddie told about his life in Romania under Communism and how he became converted and came to the US. It was very interesting. There was a short break before heading back into church for more singing, a sermon, and Sunday school for the little kids. After church, everyone went through a line making a brown bag lunch for on the road. We took a group picture, and then we all piled back onto the bus for the nine hour drive home. We took a very impressive 15 minute rest stop. All of our stops were very fast for so many people. Supper was at a McDonalds. It had a play place so it was very good for the kids to burn off some energy. We made very good time and were back at about 10:30ish.
Lexi brought a teeny-tiny set of UNO cards. Jacob joined the girls in the back for a game or two.
Lainey of course got handed all around.
Card games.
Ben and Wesley were playing a game on paper.
Jacob was in the back a lot playing with the little kids.
So was Trent.
Lainey finally likes Jacob and is starting to like the other boys.
Memory.
The littles got kicked out of the back so an older crowd could play a good game of Euchre.
I’m pretty sure these girls were NOT sleeping. Notice the smiles.
Playing Euchre in the aisle wasn’t as good as playing in the back but it still worked.
After we got there we messed around a little before we started a volleyball game (if you can call it that).
Tanya, Lexi, Sarah, and Rachel had a good time together.
Ben is in a clear canoe on the left side of the pic.
Littles liked the playground.
After supper the music program started. We went first and sang a few songs.
Spark, Whitney, Abby, and Mike were the next group up.
Susan led a girls’ group in a few songs.
Susan and Roger also played/sang with a few men from the community.
Gary and Darryl were next.
Lainey was busy sitting on different laps.
The Wettstein family sang.
And the last singers were the little kids singing a couple of songs.
After all the groups were done, Mike led everyone in singing.
They were able to jam a little bit more before it was time to find our hotel.
We snuck in some quick games of Dutch Blitz.
The drive to the hotel was about half an hour.
Before leaving for church Sunday morning, Gary and Brittney came on the bus a little bit.
We managed to get a group picture before hitting the road.
Mike and Spark provided the entertainment for the last few hours, reading poems, singing song, and telling stories.
And of course Lainey never lacked attention!
Thus the long-looked-forward-to weekend was brought to a close. It was an awesome weekend and I hope we can do it again next year!!
THE END.
