Easter in Canada- My parents visit!

Hello to everyone who reads this! I am still not very good at keeping this up to date. I went to Canada with 17 other people over Easter. We went to another Young Life camp called Malibu on an inlet. It was a great experience. It was beautiful there! I will post pictures soon. We helped them get prepared for the summer. You have to take a boat taxi to get out there. It was a trip that will never be forgotten. It was a great time with friends. My parents came a few days after I got back from Canada. I loved having them here. It was so fun to have them be able to see where I am at and what I am doing. They were amazed at the beauty of this place. Pictures can't even describe the true beauty here. While they were here we did a lot of fishing! Mom was of course loving that! Dad was able to sit and read and study. It is so peaceful and quiet here that is easy to do. We also met up with my Uncle Tim and Aunt Teresa and the boys and Emily for dinner one night which was a blast. So fun to have the family together. My parents just left about 5 min. ago and I was sad to see them leave. I am not sure the next time I will see them which is hard for me. At the earliest it will be October which seems so far away. I am so thankful for my parents and the support they have shown me while I have been out here in OR. I love them dearly! A few fun things that happened while they were here, we went on the screamer which is a giant swing for three people that raises you 50 feet into the air and then you pull the cord to release yourselves. It was a blast! I will post pictures and maybe a video soon. Also mom and I had a great time the first time we tried to go in the boat together. I had never paddled a row boat only a canoe so you can only imagine the laughter and tears of joy that were flowing from us. Lets just say we didn't go fishing in the boat that day. Although the next day dad took me out and gave me lessons on how to row and I am much better at it now. I may not be a pro but i can get from point a to point b and back! Well, that is a quick update of the last few weeks I will write more soon and post pictures of my adventures!

Janelle

Sorry it has been so long!

Well it has been a long time. Life has been very good in the Canyon! I had a great trip home at the end of February. I was able to spend a week with my family. My sister-in-law was able to come over with Titus and Ava for a few days. I really enjoyed seeing them all! It was a great time of reconnecting with friends and family. I had not been home since Thanksgiving. That was the longest I had gone not seeing my family. I am so thankful for all of them and their love! 

Since being back in the Canyon I have stayed here. I have not been into town for 2 weeks and after this week it will be 3. It is kind of nice to just stay away form the busyness of the city and just relaxing in the quietness of the canyon and the relationships I have built here. God has been so good to me. This has truly been a life changing experience. April first will be my six month mark. That means I only have six months left of my internship. The time has flown. I am just praying that I can make the last six months even better then the first. Please be praying as I enter into the busy part of the year. Summer is quickly approaching and my schedule will get very busy. So, one more really exciting thing! My Mom and Dad are coming out here for a visit in April! I can't wait. I will be going to Canada for Easter to a young life came near British Columbia and they will be coming to Oregon just after I return. It will be so great to have them here. Well, sorry it had been so long but please be praying for me as God continues to challenge me in new ways!

Thanks!

snowbaording

Well, hello! I want to share a story with you about my day yesterday. A group of us went up to a mountain to ski and snowboard. I had only skied once maybe twice in junior high. I decided snowboarding would be more fun! I love to wakeboard so I thought this will be fine. Well thats the funny part. I followed my lead and got on the lift that I was told would take me to the over easy part of the mountain. ( I should have gone with my gut and gone on the bunny hill first.) So I get on the lift. Mind you I have no idea how to get off with a snowboard and no idea how to ride this thing attached to one foot. Then I realize that the lift I am on will not let me off part way up the mountain but is taking me to the very top. At this point I am scared and want to get off but what can you do. Well, we got to the top. I got off the lift but of course i fell in the process. Great start! Then for the next hour and a half or two I fell and fell and fell again. I did not even make it half way down the mountain before I had to take off my board and start walking. I was miserable. I was in so much pain and still had no idea how to control the board. It controlled me! I hate that feeling of being out of control. I was so far up the mountain that I rode the lift down. Yes you know that lonely person you see coming down on the other side of the lift as you go up to ski down. That was me! It was a very humbling experience and the next time I decide to go up the mountain to ski I will first visit the bunny hill and learn how to do it! Lesson learned! Never again do I want to go through that NEVER! Well yesterday you can just imagine how emotional I was but I can say that today I have been able to sit back and laugh and see the lessons I learned. Starting off small is a good thing!

WOW!

So I have to say I have not been good about posting on this blog. I promise to work at that and get better at updating! So this was my first Christmas away from home:( It was hard but I am very blessed to have an Aunt and Uncle who live near by that I was able to spend the holiday with. Well the canyon is not used to getting a lot of snow and we got its just before Christmas. We had a few bad snow storms come through and most of us (interns) drove through one to get out of the Canyon for the holiday! We all made it safely to our destinations that night with lots of prayer! I felt kind of at home with all the snow and cold weather. The sad part is it has all melted. It was 57 degrees in the canyon on Sunday. We now have lots of mud! But life here is good. I am excited for everyone to return from their vacations and hear all about them. We have been working hard the last few weeks and have another group coming in tomorrow for New Years. After that the whole staff of the camp and their families are going to a retreat at Canon Beach! I can't wait! It will be a great time of refreshing and fellowship as a staff and body of believers. Well, I will post pictures when I return from the retreat! Our God is an awesome God! Miss you all!

Love ya!

Taralyn, Jeremy, Janelle, Jessica, Juliana

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I had a great one! I surprised my family and flew home for the holiday! Our WHOLE family was together! It was wonderful. It has been nice to spend time with friends and family although I will admit the busyness of life outside of the canyon is kind of overwhelming. I miss the quiet peaceful feeling of the canyon were there are not as many distractions. I miss the beauty of the hills and my friends. But it has been great to spend time here and I am excited to go to church tomorrow. God is so great and I feel so blessed to have the family I do and to have the opportunity to take the journey I am on. There will be no surprises at Christmas. I will be spending it in OR at my Uncle Tim and Aunt Teresa's house. We have a very busy schedule at camp when I return all the way up to the week of Christmas. Well, enjoy all the of the Christmas shopping and baking you have to do I can't wait to make Christmas cookies. Please pray for me as I travel back to the canyon on Monday and pray that God will continue to teach me and grow me. Thank you for your prayers.

Love ya,

Janelle

Over a month!

Wow! It is hard to believe I have lived in the Canyon for over a month! I love it here though. It has been a great month of building relationships and seeing God in so many ways! I am in Hermiston now at my Aunt and Uncle's for my weekend just to get away for a little bit. We have a had very busy weekends at camp. I am getting really good at cleaning toilets and making beds! I also am slowly and I mean very slowly getting over my fears of spiders!!!!! I had to kill 12 the other day and I screamed every time!!!!! No fun! But I feel so truly blessed for this opportunity to serve out here for this year and am excited to continue to bring you along on this journey. I will post more pictures soon!

Janelle