Summer Recap

This summer was beyond crazy but one of the best summers I've ever had! It went by super fast but I loved every moment! I got to meet some great people and had so much fun at staff training! I had the privilege of working with five incredible teams of counselors at five great churches! I also got to go to New Orleans for a week to serve at the ELCA National Youth Gathering and I am so thankful for that experience! In addition to camp and the Gathering, I went to two weddings! The first one in June was two friends from school so I got to see a lot of Biola friends and it was so fun! At the end of July, my friends Stephanie and Jeremy got married and it was so fun to be in their wedding!! It was a packed summer and filled with so many memories!
One of my favorite weeks definitely had to be when I got to work at Solheim Lutheran Home in Eagle Rock. I had a great team and we got to sing and do crafts and Bible Studies with old people all day! We had lots of adventures in LA too and so much fun and many memories! It was great to return to some churches that I worked at last summer and see campers I love!
I am so thankful for the opportunity to work at camp and be a part of such a powerful ministry! I hope and pray that next summer I am able to work!
This is my last post on this blog until next summer..be sure to stay up to date on my school blog at http://thesearethedaystoholdonto.blogspot.com/ (that is if I find time to update it!)

~Amanda

Newport Harbor

I got to spend my last week of camp by the beach! It was GREAT!!! I had so much fun with a small team of three counselors and only 8 campers! Newport Harbor Lutheran Church is the church where Pastor Brad now serves and it was so great to spend some time with the Stienstras!!! Their grandkids, Kylie and Noah, were staying with them for the week and attending camp. Johna was there on Sunday and it was so fun to spend time with her! The U.S. Open was going on in Huntington this week so on Monday night we went down to Ruby's on the Pier. It was so fun! And good! (They have gluten free burgers!) We stayed with an adorable and quite amazing couple, Pat and Marge. They are an older couple and it was so fun to listen to them talk about the places they've lived and travelled to. Marge made up breakfast every morning and had stuff for us to make our lunches each day. We all got our own rooms and beds and it was great! We watched the Olympics each night with them and ate the best food! Newport was a great place to end the summer. It was low-key, the kids were good and had fun, and the weather was wonderful! I'm so thankful for the Stienstra family and I'm so glad I got to spend time with them and at their church:)

Salem!!!!

Sorry for the delay in the updates on my last two weeks of camp. The end of the summer was insane for me! After my adventures in New Orleans and the airport, I got to go to one of my favorite chuches, Salem Lutheran in Glendale! Disa and I got to stay at Grandma Lee's house for the week! We had almost 60 kids this week and it was HOT HOT HOT! We had to try and keep the kids in a lot. This week I got to work with first graders and it was great fun:) They loved listening to me play guitar! It brought me such joy:):):) We got to eat Persian food, go to the LA Farmer's Market, hang with Pastor Sarah and her new baby (the coolest pastor around!), and spend time laughing with the ever so sassy Julie! Julie was our church contact and she is so much fun! She took us to Wendy's for frosties and french fries one night! It was a blast! I got to work with an excellent team as well. We had six people this week. We laughed and sang the Pasta Song A LOT! We also had an adventure in the three story Target in Glendale! On top of a crazy week with what seemed like a million kids, one of the counselors had a broken nose. During his time off on the weekend prior to day camp at Salem, he took a baseball to the nose. So he went to the doctor's a couple times while we were in Glendale that week and I got to take him one afternoon when they rebroke it and put it back in place and put a brace on it. I felt so bad for him! But he's tough and was a trooper. We watched a lot of movies and had so much fun at Salem! I can't wait to work there next summer! They've already reserved the last week in July for next summer:)