Michigan Pies

Michigan pies are an integral part of family camp. This year we got to introduce a number of new families to these delicacies! In fact, demand was so high that at one point we even had to have Randy and Eileen run out for more bread. I think in total we went through approximately 6-8 loaves of bread. We made a huge array of flavors. The peach pies, made with peaches from our own tree, were a huge hit. Another favorite this year was peanut butter, chocolate and banana. I had one of those, myself, and they were fabulous. Some of the other popular flavors were cherry, chocolate and marsh mellow, and pizza.

Here's some of the results!

Honoring Grandma G!

This afternoon Julie and I got the chance to honor Grandma G before she returns home.

Since the day before Jon and Rachel's wedding, when Auntie was injured, GG has been an indispensable aid to her in her recovery. She has spent the last three months being Auntie's mother, friend, nurse, personal shopper, driver, cook, physical therapist and so much more. Therefore, it was with pleasure that we were able to party with her today as she prepares for her return, later this week, home.

They selected Chili's for lunch and we had a delicious meal. Then we headed to the Logan's for some card playing (naturally!). Grandma G totally rocked at Golf; especially the second game.

Here's GG's first quad ever (the same 4 cards adjacent to each other). That's a -25; which is an awesome goal in Golf! At the time she was a bit behind in the game. This hole (hand) brought her closer to the lead.














However, then Julie got a quad of her own! That made the game a bit more interesting.















Then, Tod got an amazing Quad Skipbo - the holy grail of Golf and a -50! That put him in the lead!















Most people would have been discouraged by taking the lead then watching two players get awesome hands to jump ahead. Not GG. She just dug in and popped a Quad Skipbo herself to take the lead for good!















Here's the winning hand!















Congratulations to GG. It was an absolute pleasure to hang with you, get worked by you in cards - and just have a chance to honor you for all you have done for Auntie and all of us. You are an inspiration!

Here's a final picture of GG and Rachel together. I would have included some interesting, good news from the card game about Rachel... but that never really happened. She pretty much was behind from hole 1 till the end (sorry Rach!). But, she did show GG the love!



















GG, we can't wait till you return in September for a short visit! We love you!

Weekend Plans?

Because of my weird work schedule I have a three day weekend that starts in about 5 hours!

I feel like such a pig having so much time off.

There's a bit of administrivia I have to deal with over the weekend. I'll probably tackle that Friday morning to get it over and done with and out of the way. Wish me luck.. because as you probably all know.. i loathe paperwork ;D

Then.. I'm wide open! If you any great ideas.. I'd love to hear them. And, if you'd like to share YOUR weekend plans.. have at it.

I do know one thing. It's supposed to be relatively hot on Sunday and I just got two new books from the library. So... I think there is a definite chance for lounging by the pool Sunday afternoon ...... ahhhh.....

Tim the Photographer

In order to get the Truckee rafting pictures, Tim gave me the memory card from his digital camera. On it were quite a few pictures. Apparently, he doesn't clear off the camera very often. Which is my good luck.

So.. why not pass along a few of his best efforts?

Here's some roses that Tim grew. He has a major green thumb.















And here's some of his tulips. The man can do flowers.















Here's some simply gorgeous nature shots. Gorgeous!





























And here's some family and friends!

Rafting the Truckee

A bunch of us lazily rafted down the Truckee River while in Tahoe. Tim decided to be our nature photographer and captured these pictures of the event. Thanks Tim!

Jon and Rachel:
















































Here's more of our crew; Hannah, Anna, Emily, Taylor, Aaron, Courtney and Blake:





























And here's Tod and Julie.. going through the rapids at the end of the trip.

My Man Wa-Wa!

I am practically jumping out of my skin right now. I have meticulously ensured that I did not hear anything about the British Open results this morning because my man - Tom Watson was the leader. Now, I am home and watching the final round and Tom is ahead by one stroke standing on the tee of the 18th hole.

I cannot even express the hope I have that he will win. Tom is the consummate athlete and man. He came to prominence right about the time I took up golf and he was my hero when I was in high school and college. I respect and admire him so much.

So, it is unbelievable that he would be leading the British Open in 2009 at the age of 59! If he wins he will be the oldest man - by over 10 years - that has ever won a golfing major.

Okay.. he just teed off and he is in the fairway!!! He looks calm walking down the fairway. Oh, to be him right now! How often do you get a chance when everything goes just right and you are young again. I am only 48 right now and I dream sometimes of how it would feel to be young again. I can only image what Tom is thinking. Just one more iron and two putts. You can do it!!!

It's not like Tom's a hack. He's won this tournament 5 times before. And, if he wins he will tie the record of 6 wins. But, holy cow! He's doing it.

Okay.. time for his iron shot to the green..... oh my... just over the green and off the back side! He just jacked an 8 iron! Oh, crap. My chest is tight. I wish I could be there right now. Listening to all the fans cheer you on as you approach the 18th green in the final round. Does it get any better than that? How many times in your life do you get to hear people literally cheering you on to victory in anything? Then think of how many times it happens in the most unlikeliest of situations. Oh my gosh. Breath Tom!!

As I sit here typing this Hannah is just sleeping on the couch! Does she understand the situation? How can she just lay there and sleep?

Okay. Tom is going to putt it. Thud Thud Thud... Oh crap. He rolled it at least 8 feet by the hole. Yikes. Those are just the length of putts that it gets so hard to hole at age 59. Nerves of steel at 20 or 30 let you down sometimes when you get older. He's made thousands of these putts in his life. Is it wrong to ask God to bless him with just one more? For being such a class ambassador for the sport? Or just because?

Here it goes!!!!!!! Aaaarrrggggg!!! He missed it. Oh, man. I'm so sad right now.

Okay.. pull it together. He's still tied for the lead. So, now he goes to a 4 hole playoff!

Oh.. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!! My recording just ended as they were getting to the first hole of the playoff! C-R-A-P!!!

I guess I will just have to look it up online and see if he won.

I hope so... but even if he didn't I am so happy for my man Wa-Wa!!

Games!

Team Henderson and our friends are fierce game players. We love to play - and camp was a great place to hang and play.

Recently, we've been playing the card game Golf - that we initially learned in Michigan. Joanne - you should feel proud - because pretty much everyone in northern California now knows how to play ;D

The undisputed Golf champions are Team Scott. They're all pretty much amazing. Taylor and Aaron focus on consistency; routinely scoring incredibly low scores. Then there's Randy - who at one point was 73 under par (-73!) after just 3 holes! They won every game we played. Kudos to their success.

Hannah also bought a ladder golf game - keeping with the golf theme. If you haven't played before - you essentially throw some balls that are tethered together towards a ladder 'target' - hoping to get the balls to wrap around one of the three horizontal bars.

Now.. one thing you need to know. Having the balls lodge in a nearby tree (check out the very top of the image) is an epic fail.. Jon!



















And.. just in case you're wondering how I (Tod) did in the competitions. Well, check out the following picture. In keeping with our old tradition of 'notching' a picnic table seat for every victory.. you can see that I did okay!

Pier Jumping Pictures

The Pine Lodge pier provided an amazing launching point for jumping pictures. That is, if you are willing to jump into frigid Lake Tahoe. At an altitude of over 6,000 ft and an incredible depth - Tahoe is COLD!! So, each of these jumps is incredible for both its bravery and artistry!


PEER PIER JUMPING!

First up are some group, synchronized jumping pictures. Tahoe pier jumping requires a certain amount of peer pressure to get people into the water... so it wasn't a big shock that the initial jumps were group efforts.

Here's Hannah, Karen, Rachel, Emily and Anna launching!





























While they were in the water - heading back to the ladder up the pier Blake decided to .. drop in. Check out the expressions on the ladies' faces.















Here's another group; Hannah, Emily, Courtney, Karen and Rachel!




















COUPLES JUMPING!

Hannah and Courtney rocking the pier!















Rachel and Emily - holding hands!















And here's Randy and Eileen just before they went in. Bummer I didn't catch that one ;)
















SOLO JUMPING!

Here's a sequence featuring Hannah making a solo jump. This is a 180 with full extension! I particularly love the last image which features Hannah's hair just above pier level.

























































And here's some guys that were at the pier at the same time we were. This was a fantastic jump!






































MOTHER OF THE CAMP OUT JUMPING!

Julie nailed down the mother of the camp out with this effort. Hannah told her mother that she really wanted her to do the pier jump for her birthday. Julie was in street clothes and let Hannah know that there wasn't any chance she would jump in. Unbeknownst to Hannah, Julie removed her shoes, glasses and cleared out her pockets. The next time Hannah went to jump.... well... check out the action for yourself!

Hannah and Karen heading out:















Hey.. wait a minute.. who's that behind Hannah? As Hannah turned around she was shocked to see her mother right in front of her!















And there she goes into the frigid lake!































































All the rest of us were utterly impressed. Here's Julie once she dragged herself and her heavy clothes back to the dock!





























Hannah was so proud of her mom! Julie is such a gamer! She definitely was Mother of the Camp Out!

Highway Family Camp - Sunday Morning / Afternoon

I'm skipping by Saturday for now.. in hopes of acquiring some pictures from Tim to augment the story... and heading into Sunday - Hannah's Birthday!












Hannah said she thinks she's celebrated something like 11 birthdays at Sugar Pine Point. She's extremely used to her birthday pancake breakfast and last Sunday was no different. Here's some pictures of the morning feast.
















































































Here's the essential Victoria's Secret gift box again!















Hannah also got to enjoy a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday sung to her by the entire group during the Sunday morning worship time.



















Certainly, there were years when I think Hannah would have loved to have a big party at home with more of her friends able to attend. However, listening to her talk to her friends during the weekend you can sense that birthdays at SPP form fond, lasting memories.

The worship service, itself, was just perfect as we sat under the beautiful, clear Tahoe skies to sing about God's greatness. Emily was a significant part of our Vacation Bible School this year which a number of the kids that were at HFC had attended. It was a natural to her and the kids lead worship!















Here's Taylor and Courtney enjoying the music (and doing the hand motions!).















After the worship service we played a traditional game! Every year we attended Family Camp at SPP we played a game called Double Stuf't. This is a simple game. The leader (Tim this year) asks the audience for a number of items. Examples from this year included a shoe lace, a Giants cap and anyone having a birthday. If you have the item you race (crawling over people if necessary) to be the first person to get the object (and/or yourself) to the leader. If you're first - you get the Oreo Double Stuff cookie. This game is a real crowd pleaser and good for a number of laughs. This year was no different!

This is Hannah receiving her cookie for having a birthday!















Here's Hannah staring at the cookie before devouring it!












This is Julie racing back from grabbing a Mountain Dew from the bear locker to win her cookie! She was really moving!



















It was rewarding for Tim to pass along this fun tradition to a new group of campers!

After breakfast we headed on a hike to Pine Lodge - which was the family retreat for the Ehrman family. Also known as the Ehrman Mansion - Pine Lodge features a spacious (11K square foot +) mansion on approximately 2,000 acres including manicured grounds, sandy beaches, a tennis court and many additional facilities.

Here's a view of the mansion with Emily, Rachel and Anna striking a pose.















Of particular interest is the pier at Ehrman Mansion.





























Why the pier? Well, come back soon for more of the story......