Laurel Falls.....well almost!!

Fall has begun!!! It is the perfect time for hiking in beautiful East Tennessee!! Though the threat of rain and chilly temperatures caused some of our group to choose to stay indoors on our first official CHUMC Youth Hike, we still had a great time!!!

Our plan was to grab some lunch and then head to Laurel Falls! We decided to try a new trail head, so our planned 1 1/2 mile adventure (from Dennis Cove) turned into more more than double that distance! We did see some of God's beautiful workmanship though!! The gentle stream and early fall foliage was really pretty! We didn't even let a little misty rain stop us. But, after a while, when we realized that we weren't even half-way to the falls, we made a group decision to forgo this nature walk for another......warmer/drier day and head to DAIRY QUEEN!!

But, the highlight of our adventure was definitely on the trail when we ran into local celebrity, and nature guru, Marty Silver!!! We could kick ourselves for not snapping a picture with him! We all told him that he had come to our schools when we were little.......all of our schools!! HA!

Join us on our next hiking adventure........when we will actually make it to the falls!!

Scavenger Hunt!

Sunday, we had an unbelievably good time on our photo scavenger hunt! Some of the students didn’t know what to expect……but they quickly found out that they were in for a good time!! It was Team Kristen vs. Team Jeremy and both teams were very motivated to win!!! The teams had a long list of various pictures they had to collect of their group doing crazy things around town! The groups each had 1 hour to capture as many of the tasks as possible on camera….with each task being worth various points. When time was up, we met back at CHUMC for a snack super and a viewing of all of the pictures on the big screen! We ate, we laughed, we played a little b-ball and hung out! And, even though team Jeremy won by a measly 25pts……..we all (youth leaders included) had an awesome time!! Here are some of the photos we captured on our adventure! Both groups "with an outdoor sculpture." (25pts)


Both groups completed "SHAKING THE HAND OF A EMS, FIREFIGHTER OR POLICE OFFICER"(75pts)

Team Jeremy got "entire group in one chair at the home of one of your members" (25pts)

Team Kristen got "entire group drinking out of the same can with their own straws" (25pts)

Both groups got "one member of your group in formal attire" (50)pts

Team Jeremy with "one member on a motorcycle." (50pts)

Team Kristen with "all member in a sandbox" (25pts)

Both teams with "entire groups reading books." (25)pts

Both groups "under a picnic table." (25pts)

Both groups with "entire team on a slide" (25pts)

Both teams with "entire team on kids riding toys" (50pts)

Jeremy's team got "building a pyramid on a football field and entire group blowing bubbles in the same pic"

But, Team Kristen got "entire team with blue tongues."

Both teams captured "entire team doing exactly what a sign says."

Both teams "bagging groceries.'

Both teams with a member "in a shopping chart."

Both teams "eating with a random family in a restaurant."

Both teams "working in or for a restaurant"

Both teams "pumping gas for a stranger."

Team Jeremy (Jeremy was taking the pic)

Team Kristen

These are just some of the pictures!! Again, we had a fantastic time.......even though Team Kristen lost! Everyone was a great sport!! Team Jeremy even got us free pizza and cheesy bread from the nice folks at Domino's!!!

We are glad we serve a God who enjoys seeing his children have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lake Day!!!

Nothing can stop us from having fun.......not even a little rain!!!! We had an absolute blast hanging out at the Seegers' place!!! We swam, we skied, we tubed and we ATE! Fun was had by all!Even our youngest "youth" had a great time learning to water-ski!!Thank-you Mr. Chas and Mr. Steve!!! Our crew is Brave!!

Adam learned to ski too! We had a great time and look forward to many more adventures!!

Homecoming

Nothing is better than homemade barbecue and all the fixens!! On Sunday, CHUMC had its Homecoming celebration. The youth and their parents, along with many other volunteers, did a fabulous job preparing, serving and cleaning up lunch!! It was a fantastic way to raise money for our annual summer mission trip to Johns Island!!

Here are Andy, Cham and the Seeger men manning the barbecue!! I'm glad we've got some morning people who aren't afraid to get up before dawn and start cooking!! Yep! It smelled good......and tasted even better!!!
It's also good to have some night owls on your team as well. Chelsea and Clay worked till after midnight baking cakes for dessert!!

Watch out! Chelsea has been up most of the night and is armed and dangerous!!

Here's the rest of the crew plating the desserts! Heather and Rachel are quite the saleswomen! I think they sold a bucket of cookie dough for the SHS volleyball team to just about every homecomer!

We had some great help in the kitchen!! Check out our domesticated men washing dishes!
Thanks to everyone who participated in our barbecue lunch!! It was a very successful fundraiser for Johns Island!

"Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God!" Philippians 1:3