GCC Staff Retreat

In October, Steve and I were blessed with the opportunity to spend some quality time with our brothers and sisters on staff at Grace Community!   I forgot my camera, but am blessed to know the very talented Missy Isbell who took these cool shots and put together some collages of our time together.  Full disclosure -- I also stole some of the details from her blog post about the same retreat b/c I am delinquent in blogging about it and she wrote it up while it was still fresh in her mind :)

The van ride there was miraculous in that with 26 people (including 3 babies) crammed into 2 big church vans, there was almost no crying, no motion sickness (that I know of), and we didn't even make a stop until we were about 20 min from our destination.  Even then, I'm pretty sure we stopped just because P. Hansen needed a Starbucks fix :)

We stayed at the most beautiful old Victorian mansion that was not just a bed and breakfast, but more like a bed and breakfast, lunch, and dinner!  There were some really cool ladies that made delicious food and took amazing care of us!

When we first arrived we had a chance to check things out and enjoy the beautiful setting. Funny -- just like I remember doing as kids when we arrived at a hotel on a school or sports team trip-- the first thing everyone wanted to do was check out everyone else's room!  They were all beautiful.  Ours was the one in the center of the top row on this collage.

That night after dinner, worship and teaching, we played the most raucous game of "I Have Never" and Paul's hilarious rendition of capture the flag meets ghosts in the graveyard "Underground Church." 

We were blessed to have a dedicated morning quiet time as a couple (well, couple +E) and the grounds were so breathtaking that we spent it outside each morning despite temps in the 40's.  Breakfast the next morning was amazing, but I wasn't quite warmed up yet from being outside that am.

Group photo time!  Can't believe they got a shot this good in just a few tries!  This is the staff of Grace Community + spouses and Ben Blakiston (Amy Hansens dad who blessed us by spending part of the week with us sharing insights he has learned in his years as a pastor).  Sadly, we were without Steve Anderson and Steve Scheperle.

A piece of advice for those 35 and older.  Do not challenge a group of 20 somethings to a game of ultimate frisbee.  It will end badly for you.  This particular game was 5-0, but we had a blast!  Stacy Simpson was such a trooper and played on a broken ankle from the previous weekend when Brooks dropped her doing a cheerleading stunt at Hawkeye homecoming!

That afternoon the ladies spent hanging out in Chi-town.  Missy is not only talented at photography, but also at doing u-turns in Chicago, in a 15 passenger van!  All the ladies + babies at the top of the Hancock building, although I guess it's called something else now. . . can't remember what.

Chicago pizza for dinner!  One thing we'll certainly miss in WA!

Me and my honey in my favorite spot in the whole city!

Elias just looking cute and entertaining himself during mealtime.

Although I was disappointed by the lack of staying up late to play games and talk (maybe that's what happens when you hang out with the 35+ crowd and people with babies, or it could be that Dave turned everyone off with his outrageous fart stories the first night :), the whole trip was so restful and I cherish the time we had in the vans together of all things b/c it just gave us a chance to get to know the team on a deeper level.  Oh, and if you ever have a chance to sit down with Deb Kirk, ask her to tell you the story of how she and Dave got together -- it's a great one!