friends retreat

this past weekend almost 30 of us headed up to Covenant Pines for our annual friends retreat. It's a great time to get away from our busy lives and reconnect with those who are closest to us. Each year brings a slightly different group of people which makes each retreat unique. It was also a different experience having an active 1 year old to take care of but there were plenty of people willing to play with Sophie, read her books, and just make her laugh. It was fun to see that our little girl is loved by so many. Sophie was great this weekend. Even being surrounded by people constantly and being in new surroundings, she hardly stopped smiling the entire weekend. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

she was really scared of the drum at first but she quickly learned it was pretty fun to play!


guitar lessons from uncle matt


we got about 10 inches of snow while we were up there...Sophie's a little scared of it but she did great walking in it!


had to have a picture to show how deep it was!


yep, that's our cute little marshmallow!


bedtime story with uncle matt & sarah


helping clean up before we left...she of course was incredibly helpful (:

While this was a fun weekend, it also had a sadness surrounding it. For the past 3 years our friend's dad has joined us to help facilitate our weekend. He asked us hard questions, he cared for us, and genuinely wanted to know how we were doing. Unfortunately he was unable to make it this weekend as his health is failing. And while we were all saddened by the knowledge that he will probably not be with us much longer, it was also amazing to hear how much he has influenced us all. We also missed our friends Matt, Chad & Heather and their daughter as they stayed home to be with their family during this time. Please keep this incredible family in your prayers.