Happy campers!

This month we have had the joys of two long weekends in a row; the holiday of Ascension (Thurs 2nd and Fri 3rd June) and the holiday of Pentecost (Monday 13th June). Which resulted in two absolutely wonderful camping trips! The first was a visit from the Batemans and we found a gem of campsite in a place called Saanen (the German speaking part of Suisse). The campsite was a fab find, it had spotlessly clean facilities, a 'lounge' room with a mini kitchen (I guess a refuge for soggy campers) and even an outdoor fire area with a grill for a BBQ. We pitched up our tent (perhaps a little too close to the train line which we discovered in the middle of the night!!) and used that as our base for exploration of the area. We had beautiful weather (only a slight shower one evening) and Isaac was loving being outdoors most of the day...that boy has endless energy! Here are the photos to prove what I'm saying is true (in case you're the kind that needs to see to believe!)

We visited Gruyere, a beautiful cheesey town...

Despite the reputation Isaac was not impressed with Gruyere's famous double cream and mirangues!

What's a BIG brother for but to tease...?!

He is quite adorable!

This actually looks like something profound is going on, actually Isaac is pointing out a bin to Mark (his new obsession with putting things in the bin) It is really quite amazing to see Isaac's ability to spot a bin from really far away!

After all what's a BIG brother for but to tickle...?!

...And a BIG sister but to cuddle?!

Here's the grill I was talking about...

The boys did a fare share of adventuring....

...And also of recovering!

Although he tried he's not quite big enough to join in the adventures yet...try telling him that! 

The inevitable cafe stops were a must, especially in Julie Andrews' hometown of Gstaad (we did invite her for coffee but she declined, she didn't want to intrude on Bateman family time)

We had a few days at home

And this is just to prove that Mark does work hard!

Just as the Batemans left I was immobilised by a stomach bug (the first of its kind that I have ever experienced) I was ill for 3 days straight leading up to our planned weekend away to Marseille France with our 20's and 30's group. We prayed and I did my best to convince myself that I was well enough to go despite feeling weak and feeble on Friday morning. It looked pretty doubtful. But sure enough God healed me and by Friday night meeting time I felt so much better and we were able to have another fantastic and blessed weekend away with some great friends. One of our group grew up on a farm in Marseille and it was on this farm that 16 of us descended with our tents and a sense of adventure. We had wonderful food, fellowship and fun including beach trips with intense games of volleyball, hikes with intense jumping-in-to-the-sea-off-rocks episodes and even an evening of furnace-baked pizzas with an intense Italian-American  chef! We are so blessed to have the friends that we do and we thank God for them, Again...here is the proof:

And now, the countdown for the end of term has begun...two more weeks to go and we'll be in the Uk and looking forward to heading out to Jamaica!!

Please pray for health and protection leading up to as well as on holiday, also we have a children's ministry event on the 25th June where we'll be sharing the gospel with Kids, we value your prayers so so much.

Also, for those of you who didn't know, my parents are having a camping adventure of their own and are backpacking from coast to coast in the Uk to raise money for Christians Against Poverty (the charity they work for) they are keeping a blog of their progress here:  http://backpackingcoast2coast.blogspot.com/ and would appreciate any generous sponsorship!