Summer Youth Group

Thought I would take a break from the trip-visitor-local produce cycle I've gotten myself into and share some other stuff I've been up to this summer on Guam. Leading the youth group at our church has been a big part of that. With the kids out of school, we've taken on game nights, movie nights, bowling, Vacation Bible School, and even a slumberparty! Here are a few pictures from our summer gatherings:

 Real-life Angry Birds! 

Bonus points: No windows were broken so there was no angry church council.

 Getting ready to play our favorite game... an LCG original...

 Beep bop! It's kind of like freeze tag in the dark... but 10 million times more awesome.

The kids ninjas around here take it pretty seriously...

Unfortunately, summer also means going away parties. We said goodbye to Cheyenne (bottom right) right after school got out in June. But don't worry, we sent her off properly with a girls group slumberparty. Mr. Nick was in Japan so we had the whole house to ourselves!

Therefore... an epic Footloose dance party ensued

as did a raid of Ms. Peyton's closet and Halloween costume box :) 

Turns out you never outgrow the fun of playing dress up into the wee hours of the morning!

 You do outgrow your ability to stay up until 5a.m. I only made it to THREE. These girls were passed out with the light on... on the tile floor... until 10 when someone's mom showed up. Slumberparty success!


Hard to say goodbye to this girl though. Cheyenne went on both Manila trips with us. Together we have witnessed miracles. After learning to love Guam, she will finish high school in Arkansas.

 Our youth helped out with Vacation Bible School

The kids had fun on their desert journey (though personally I prefer the jungle)...

Another day, another island sunset. No biggie...

 

Four of our youth are in their middle school band, so our youth group went to see them one night, then came back to our house (down the street from the school) for dinner and games in the neighborhood.

Summer in Guam is the perfect time for frozen yogurt outings... and general goofing off.

 This week we had one more big youth group gathering to play our favorite game, Beep Bop. This time several of the youth requested Mr. Nick to come and be one of the boppers. I don't know what they were thinking. He bops really hard.

It was also Coleman's going away party. His family went on the Manila trip with us in April. In fact, Coleman went on every trip I have planned here. He's an awesome leader among the youth and one of those personalities that will be impossible to replace around here. I have loved getting to know all of the Nelsons. They leave on Sunday to move to New Mexico. And like every family that passes through the revolving door of our church, they leave a huge hole.

Thankfully, as our seasoned families leave island for their new orders, new families are showing up. And there won't be any more going away parties for several weeks. In fact, now that we have said our goodbyes to the Nelsons, the next goodbye on the table for our church is actually... us.