down by the river, just you and me

This weekend was the COG campout/picninc/Sunday service up at Canyon Lake. All the men and boys of the church left on Friday evening, and had a great time sleeping on the ground in the rain with snakes and mosquitoes for 2 nights. All of the women and girls were wishing they could be up there in the rain, too. So this morning, everyone who wasn't already camping drove out to the lake to, as Mom says, "crash the boys' party."
We took pictures, but they're not great because of the rain, wind, and mud.
Here's Dirk giving last-minute directions.


Boys coming to help the girls out of the cars.
Once everyone was there and sufficiently muddy, we all gathered under the shelter to sing a couple of hymns and hear Dirk preach a (short) sermon.




Then it was time for skipping rocks, getting dirty, falling down, jumping in the cold water, and building the fires for the meat.


The rain made it difficult for us (I mean, the guys) to grill, but they pulled it off beautifully.
The food was great, the fellowship was even better, and we can't wait to do it all again...in the sunshine.

All that, and we only lost one person. RIP