Life as Wife of a Raft Guide

Two weeks of living in a field, showering from a cold hose that smells of rotten eggs, wrangling a four year old, two year old, and 10 month old, putting those three kids in and out of their car seats to get to the next awesome photo location to catch the crew on the next big rapid, cooking for 6-14 people three meals a day...that has been my life as the wife of a raft guide, and I wouldn't change it for anything.
Kyle has been serving as a raft guide for another season with Peak 7. This year the boys and I decided we wanted to see him a bit more often, so with that we added a whole lot of responsibility. It was optional, it was a bit stressful, but also a whole lot of fun.
We were loaned a camper trailer to stay in which made the last two weeks much more manageable, especially considering all the rain we had. Despite the trailer and the rain we spent most of our time outside, at the park, at the river, at the petting zoo, and on the awesome rope swing we had near our camp headquarters. My boys had endless amounts of fun with all the raft, ascent, and climbing guides. I'm not sure that these college kids knew that they were also signing up to be babysitters and playmates to preschoolers and babies when they signed on with Peak 7. My kids love them all so much and simply could not get enough of their attention. Everyone handled their craziness like champs, the staff this year is pretty awesome (although I loved them all last year too).
I also got to go down the Wenatchee River, it was a total BLAST. I went down once with Austin while Kyle watched the kids and we had a pretty easy, laid back ride as the group we were with wasn't the best paddlers and the big stuff (please excuse my very technical terms) probably wouldn't have been the wisest choice. It was still fun despite the fact, but then that afternoon two of the female ascent staff watched the boys while I went down with Kyle, some of the ascent staff, two good sized middle school boys, and one of their male leaders. We had a strong boat. Kyle said it was one of his best runs down the river, and it was a AWESOME!
I loved getting to go down the river with Kyle. It's not like that army ever had a "take your wife to work day" so getting to go and see him first hand in his element on the river was fun. I often wonder how he is able to share the gospel with kids on the river in the short time he is with them and I got to see that too. I often have leaders from groups that are out of the river come up and tell me how much the love Kyle and enjoy being in his boat and I totally understand why. Not to brag, but he is pretty awesome. His fun, kind spirit and ability to relate to a lot of his participants definitely works in his favor. He keeps his boat engaged and laughing the entire time.
When we first entered the boat he was talking with us about teamwork and how he wanted us to be awesome paddlers so that we could hit the big stuff. We did some practice and once we got it Kyle asked us if we all felt the tingly feeling of team work. We all felt it, well, all but one of the middle school kids. He said he wasn't feeling it. We made jokes that he probably had some sort of disease that inhibited him from feeling it, because it was definitely there. He laughed and we all paddled along. Kyle had us play games, do trust exercises (one of the kids said he didn't trust Kyle, so Kyle had to earn his trust, and did), and we went through some awesome rapids. Kyle encouraged us, coached us, and got us all to work together so we could have some amazing hits. About three-quarters of the way through the participant not feeling the teamwork tinglys yells "I can feel it, I can feel that teamwork tingles!!!" It was after going through one of the bigger rapid on the Wenatchee River. My guess is, it was adrenaline, but we all cheered, everyone on the boat finally had the teamwork tingles.
After the last rapid and as we were heading to the take out Kyle took the opportunity to make things a little more serious. He asked if anyone in the boat had ever had a struggle. He then talked about how if you put people on your team who want to work for your good then we can get places faster, stronger, and be more successful just like when we worked together on the boat. He asked us how we felt having a guide who knew what he was doing and where we needed to go. We then compared that to how we felt when on our trip he let one of the middle school students be the guide and didn't know where to go or how to guide us there. We then talked about how God knows where we are going and how to get us there. That He is the most important person we can put on our team and then surrounding yourself with other people who encourage us and support us can help us reach our goals, verses hanging out with those who only bring us down.
We also had a few discussions throughout the trip about how God will never leave and forsake us, even when we are going through the most difficult trials in life or swimming through a whitewater rapid, He is always there.
This group was a little different that the typical group Kyle might take out with Peak 7. This was a middle school youth group. But more often Kyle has teens and young adults from homeless shelters and homes of transition. I am so proud of Kyle for deciding that this is the type of ministry he wants to work with. God has truly given him a gift and great ability to work with these people from various walks of time.
I often find myself a bit envious of all the fun he gets to have (he also go to do ascent and Wilderness First Responder training this year). Someone ask me how I feel about Kyle getting to be out having all this fun while I am at home raising the kids. I honestly believe that I am right where God wants me. I feel so blessed to be able to spend most of my time with my kids. It doesn't mean I don't crave adventure (because I did say I was a bit envious) but I search for the joy in my everyday life. I enjoyed getting to serve the staff of Peak 7 by giving them a home-cooked meal these last two weeks. The staff truly makes great sacrifices. Most college kids don't spend their summers the way this awesome group is, and I guarantee the staff of Peak 7 will walk away with a more fulfilling summer than any of their peers. Volunteering your time is never a easy commitment, but they realize that the people, the difference they can make, and the glory they can bring to God's kingdom is all worth it.
Did you see I said the word "volunteer'? That's right, the staff isn't paid. They all have to raise their own support. Kyle didn't do much support raising this year. Let's face it, asking people for money isn't the easiest. But if you feel like that is something you want to do, or are looking for a great organization to give please look into supporting Peak 7, you can give support to Kyle individually or Peak 7 as a whole. You can go to www.peak7.org to learn more about the organization or to make a donation. They have made it really easy to give online, so just look for the link that says "DONATE." You can also help (through July) by simply voting everyday for Peak 7 at https://www.facebook.com/thenorthface?sk=app_196355270522425, if they get the most votes they will win a $25,000 grant. I also encourage you to go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd0uAgCd7co and watch the documentary True Ascent which will give you a first hand look at their ministry through their ascent trips. If you are in the Spokane area they are also always looking for volunteers for various things from taking pictures to helping with community events, it is a great way to spend a day!
The most important thing I can ask from any of you is to pray. Pray for the staff,  the organization as they get kids often facing difficult situations into the outdoors, and that God prepares the hearts of the participants. The main rafting season is coming to a close for Kyle, but he will have a few occasional trips throughout the summer and will be joining a few ascent trips as well, prayer is always needed and appreciated and amazing things happen through the power of prayer.

So I apologize if this is more like an advertisement that a normal family update, but this is what we have been up to and I wanted to share.
(Soon I'll post pictures of our trip, but my SD card reader is currently MIA so I'll have to find that first!)

Gunnar Turns 4

Like always come mid-April we have a whirlwind of birthday celebrations. We started with Ezra's on the 22nd, Mike (Kyle's Dad) on the 25th, Kyle and my mom's birthday on the 27th, and finally, Gunnar celebrates his on April 30th. I am so tired of birthday cakes and cupcakes by the end of April.

I was going to plan a big birthday party for Gunnar, but I got sick, plans changed, and we ended up just taking cupcakes into his preschool class. It was fun and he enjoyed it and felt special. 

He got tons of Ninja Turtle Legos, he really wanted a spaceship (Papa and Grandma later hooked him up with this) and robot, but was perfectly satisfied with his legos. After we celebrated with his class, we packed up and headed to the Lochsa River with Peak 7.

Peak 7 was generous enough to allow the kids and I go with them on their staff training event. I know anytime you take toddlers and a baby with you it is more effort than just taking a group of adults. It was a quick trip, we left Spokane at 4, ate dinner in Lewiston, arrived at the Lochsa River around midnight. Then we set up camp, were up around 6:30am, ate breakfast and then off for training they went. I stayed back with staff member Leah who cleaned up camp and then we took my boys and another young boy, Dane (who Gunnar isn't forgetting said "you are my best friend forever") out on a little hiking trip. We then returned and Leah and I got our turn to go down the river. It was so much fun. Our boat flipped twice, but it was a fun little adrenaline rush and was so refreshing. I realized that I needed to stop smiling because I was drinking so much water with my mouth open all the time...I was just having a great time. Ryker thought it looked like so much fun, he would cry whenever he would see Kyle or I on the raft. Gunnar, thought it looked scary. 

We after a few runs down the river we then went back to camp, ate lunch and packed up and headed to Jerry Johnson Hot Springs. The boys loved the hot springs and Gunnar won't stop talking about them and wants to go back. Much different from the water in the lake they are used to swimming and playing in. The water was the perfect temperature, any hotter and I wouldn't have been able to let the boys in, it was really perfect. After an hour in the springs we hiked back to the van, I cooked up some soup on the side of the road then we loaded up and headed back to Spokane. I believe we got in around 1 or 2 am. Thankfully we were able to sleep at the Peak 7 program house so we were able to get some sleep and not make the journey back home until morning after we got some rest. 

I have to say that the outing while quick and exhausting was really good for me. Rarely do I have a chance to go out with friends. It was so nice to be out enjoying God's creation with people like-minded. Having Christian friends is such a gift and I enjoyed my time. My kids enjoyed their time. Seriously, they had 15 people loving on them, playing with them, and caring for them. 

That weekend, my sister Jami graduated with her Master's degree in Psychology. So we went down to Spokane to her graduation. Then we took her and my brother's family down the upper Spokane river. It was perfect weather and we all had so much fun.

So while Gunnar didn't have a big party with his little friends we did celebrate with some great people and he had a great week. Seriously, camping on your birthday, I doubt it gets much better than that!

Pardon the delay in posting. I wrote this some time ago, was waiting for a least a few pictures, then forgot to come and update! Better late than never.