So here we are and it has been 3 weeks... I dont really have an excuse as to why i didnt post, but hey, who's keeping track?!?

Camp has been incredible the last three weeks. One reason is that it FINALLY RAINED!!! Praise Jesus, i cannot even begin to tell you how much we wanted rain. The forest is still closed because of the fire danger. But hopefully it will be open in the next couple of weeks... I feel like so many things have happened in the last three weeks. Two saturdays ago was halfway day! I cant believe i've been here over a month now, it feels like camp just started. And we only have 3 more mondays after today!

The Lord has done so much in the last few weeks i cannot even understand it. i have learned so much and grown an incredible amount just in the last little bit. It is getting to the point of the summer where everyone is getting tired and is starting to slow down, but i know that we cant do that. We have all dedicated our summers to this ministry and it is too far in to give up now. 

The groups that came in the last three weeks have been incredible. Several groups from DFW came through and it was really great to hear some "ya'll's" being yelled around camp! 

so we were in the Capitan 4th of July parade, which was pretty awesome. If you just think of small town America, you've got the perfect picture. Camp has pretty much been the same ol' same ol' lately. 

Now lets get on with the pictures. picture overload: commence.

monDAY 30: Keith and i are team leaders together, and get to lead kids in crazy cheers and dances everyday. it is tiring, but so great!! 

tuesDAY 31: Capture the flag on tuesdays is the best time to get your junk food on. Also, this is the time the sun starts going down and the day starts to cool off. 

wednesDAY 32: Tori's birthday= troughing in a birthday hat and a noisemaker. this may be my favorite troughing of the summer. 

thursDAY 33: Water slooge costume of the week: steve and lisa. it was almost creepy how much we looked like them. also, forrest shaved his head and glued his head hair to his face for a steve dirks soul patch. 

friDAY 34: Mission impossible is not complete without dressing like a kitty cat. This is Kerri, she is so near and dear and i wish she could have stayed at camp forever. 

saturDAY 35: fivefingers!! i usually hate having the same things as people, but when it comes to these i am okay with it. 

sunDAY 36: we went to church in Roswell to see some of the campers that came this week and everyone fell asleep on the way home except for matt and i, and we couldnt not take pictures.

Here is another week!! 

monDAY 37: water balloon fight!! not really. but it would have been fun! 

tuesDAY 38: i did it, i bought Chacos. And it was the best investment i could have made, maybe even better than college. yep, better than college. 

wednesDAY39: Keith is known for his one footed back flip, and we decided that this week i would be the one to do a flip. it was awesome and i felt copious amounts of cool. 

thursDAY 40: water slooge costume of the week: deb and napoleon dynamite. pure joy. 

i cannot believe that i have been here for 40 days! 

friDAY 41: Can you say aussie style? i can!! face first off of a 40 foot rappelling wall? okay!!! 

saturDAY 42: this is my dear friend kaitlin. she is great. 

A little catch up.

Hello friends!! 

Sorry i've been missing for the last 2 weeks. We had our first week of camp two weeks ago now and the staff went to Albuquerque for the weekend, (aka: why i didn't post) But everyone survived staff training week and had a wonderful first weekend as a staff. The first week of camp was a leadership group from Texas, they were an awesome group and it was a great way to start off the summer. Then once they left we had the longest weekend in the history of lone tree, they left on friday and since we aren't starting work until noon on mondays now we had what felt like an eternity off. So most of the staff headed up to Albuquerque for the weekend, it was definitely action packed. My roomie from last summer Taylor Tvede was in town and so was our program director and dear friend  from last summer. She is biking from Austin to Alaska, check it out!! (TEXAS 4000 FOR CANCER). Then it was back to camp for the next week, which was our first week of real lone tree programming. With a mostly new staff i was wondering how the week would go, and it ended up being incredible. Everyone gave their best and camp ran so smoothly and the kids had a blast. This week i really saw why we are at camp and why we do the things that we do, it was an incredible reminder of the reasons we are working here. I got to see so much growth, campers were conquering their fears and learning about life in Ephesus. I got to see people that thought they couldn't do anything do everything. Seeing the reactions of the campers on monday to how different the teaching style and subject matter were and then hearing them tell me the stories of Ephesus that they learned through the week were absolutely incredible. I pray that this is what the rest of the summer is like, and i know that it can only get better from here. Seeing kids dig into the bible and be able to tell you the stories behind what they are reading is absolutely incredible. 

This last week was so jam packed i had a hard time picking what pictures i would use. but i promise they'll all be on facebook! 

sunDAY 16: I told you that a hefty amount of these pictures would be of sunsets, and here we are. I was driving back to camp and couldnt stop looking at this beautiful sunset. 

monDAY 17: Here we are again, i just cant believe how beautiful the sky can be. it is truly incredible. today was the first day of camp and it was great to get started! 

tuesDAY 18: This was the first day of rappelling with campers, it was awesome, minus missing my partner in crime Taylor McAlpine. I love my job.

wednesDAY 19: Whoops!! i missed one again!!   

thursDAY 20: This was the first rodeo of the summer, and i have gladly passed the rodeo clown torch to Leah. AMEN! we also discovered that both of us can fit in the clown pants. Necessary? yup.  

friDAY 21: This was on the drive to Albuquerque, since we got off on friday we all went to ABQ to see some good friends and have some good worship. It was a great escape for the weekend, and i couldnt resist this sunset. With it being so dry and windy here the dust was collecting in the sky and made for an incredible sunset. 

saturDAY 22: here's the story, forrest and i started talking in weird, small mouse voices and we just cant stop. so then we decided we were puppets and that we should have a puppet show. we went into a bookstore that happened to sell puppets too and i decided that these would be our puppets. i would be a cat, of course. and he would be a horse. 

sunDAY 23: my dear friend kylee is riding her bike from Austin to Alaska and she rode through ABQ. It was so great to see her and be able to spend some time with old staff. She was such a blessing to me last summer and camp just isnt the same without her. Oh, and forrest proposed to kylee with a ring pop and a rose in front of her whole team. she said no, as many times before. 

 monDAY 24: It is finally time for real camp!! This was the first night of teaching. Steve was showing the kids how the early churches functioned. It was awesome seeing the kids react to this sort of teaching. 

 tuesDAY 25: Meet the Lone Tree rules ninja. Do anything wrong and you will feel his wrath. he came out for a visit during a campwide game of capture the flag. and decided to take everyones sunglasses.  

wednesDAY 26: this summer instead of having crazy costumes at dinner we are taking a more spiritual approach. So each night, dinner has a different twist. tonight everyone at camp had to walk half a mile to get the water for their kool-aid, not knowing what they were walking for and how long they were walking for, it was interesting to hear some of the reactions and to see them change as the reasoning behind the walk became evident. I had a great talk with a girl on the way back and she shared some things with me that were incredible and made me truly see why we run camp the way that we do. 

thursDAY 27: alright, today is going to have several pictures. i couldnt choose and too many things happened. first off, taylor and i went down aussie style on the rappelling wall, which is a big deal. slash, i was terrified. but it was awesome!! 

second thing: we had the lone tree water sludge. yes, sludge. Ellyn and i dressed up as an old couple, and somehow stayed in character for the entire time. Joe was a luchador and forrest was his compadre. this was a blast. 

and lastly. someone found a bat and a baby bat in the worship center and moved it outside. so obviously we flocked around it. and maybe forrest and leah licked the bats. but dont judge so quickly, its camp and these things happen. 

friDAY 28: this is rachel, she shared so much with me this week and she rocked the house rappelling, and doing everything else at camp. it was so great getting to know her and hang out with her this week. also, she told me i dont have to shower for a week, as long at i have huggie wipes. 

and you better believe i'm taking up her offer!! 

saturDAY 29: the first week of campers left and when we were done cleaning joey and i found this nutri-grain bar that potentially expired in 2000. and we obviously ate it. it still tasted great and i havent died yet, so maybe they have the shelf life longer than a twinkie. 

sunDAY 30: so many things happened today, Taylor and Chris came down from the lake to visit. what is this, two weekends in a row of my roomie!? okay!! but we all went to church then to eat at schlotzkys,  where joe proposed to taylor. tori, the red headed step child was stuck in the middle of the situation. and maybe this is the fifth proposal taylor has gotten? just maybe. haha

so there are two weeks of my life summed up in a few pictures!! i hope yall are still enjoying this and that i'm not boring you to death. thanks for reading!! 

a few things you could pray for:

-open ears for the campers, that they would be willing to hear what is being taught this week

-stamina for the staff, its going to be a long summer so we need to pace ourselves.

-unity among the staff, its great already, but pray that it can continue and that we can be united for these campers. 

-safety, through all of our activities and insanity that we do through the week. 

-rain, please please pray for rain. it is so dry out here. not only is it as dusty as the dickens, but the forest is closed because of the fire danger. which means we cant do digglers, which is one of camps most popular activities. 

love yall!! 


ALSO!! 
if anyone would like to be pen pals this summer i would not object!! 
mail is such an encouragement here and it would mean alot to me!
here is my address! 
LTBR 
attn: Kelsey Lloyd
p.o. box 523
capitan, NM 88316

You've got to train before you can teach.

Hello again! so, we all made it through staff training week, it was a big adjustment getting back into the swing of camp, but it was an incredible week. I can already tell that the staff that has been put together this summer will do some incredible things. I feel like the week was so jam-packed with things i dont even know where to begin. Since i trained for rappelling last week with taylor, i was just jumping around on projects around camp. The creepy tan lines have already begun, as well as the mysterious work projects. The staff is already bonding and it was definitely a great start to the summer. 

I know that the summer is going to be an incredible one, the teaching will be a fresh look at the bible and i know that it will get the attention of the campers. We are hanging out in Ephesus and looking into the lives of the Ephesians, it has already given me a new look at the redemption and the grace that our Lord provides. and i am seeing how much love that the Lord has for his children.  I am praying for open ears for the youth that come through this summer. 

Here are a few things that probably only happen at lone tree, moving an enormous slushie machine, waking up at 4:30 to go on a hike, getting an Orion's belt series of bruises on my thigh,  testing out a new triple swing, practicing for our water luging competetion (25 seconds, a new personal record), eating peanut butter with a chunk of styrofoam cup after realizing that i dont have spoons, saving megan mills life.... not stressful at all. dressing up in our best old school athletic attire to be beaten by the fort yet another year in our volleyball competition. just another week in the life of Lone Tree Staff.

Now its picture time!!!  

saturDAY 8: Bring on the awkward tan lines, i'll definitely have a D-shaped tan on my feet from my fivefingers, along with watch, tanktop and shorts tans.... oh joy. also, every staff member has some sort of sunburn from this week. 

 

sunDAY 9: soooo Megan got a flat from a nail, and so did Morgan, but no one knows where the nails came from... Some of the staff trickled in on sunday and we got a last lazy weekend before insanity started for the summer. 

monDAY 10: I saw this beautiful blue jay outside of our worship center, I definitely missed the nature of New Mexico, the stars here are absolutely incredible, if you want to feel miniature, just look into the sky for a little while. 

tuesDAY 11: i feel like if you wanted to describe the lone tree guy staff, this would perfectly depict them, it all started with ken being ken and surveying the dining hall and providing staff with the knowledge of nature and the weather forecast for the day, when forrest decides to imitate ken and then george, ryan and joey joined. this standoff lasted a good 5 minutes, stone cold faces and all. 

wednesDAY 12: here is my little nest for the summer, and yes mom, it already looks like a tornado tore through, but it camp and we're all dirty anyway. during the summer cleaning our rooms and even ourselves gets pushed to the side, because when it comes down to it, a 20 minute nap sounds waaaay better than cleaning my room or myself when its all going to get dirty again. 

thursDAY 13: this was potentially the best day of the week, simply because of the fact that we were reunited (for a short time) as roomies from last summer. i hate the phrase roomies except for referring to megan mills and taylor tvede, who have been such an incredible blessing in my life for the last year, too bad taylor is working at the lakeshore camp and isnt with us this summer. but when a 5 day weekend rolls around you better believe we are hittin up the lake! 

friDAY 14: today was great, we got to run all of the activities on camp and go through them as a staff. this was a great ending to the hard and busy week we had. I also belayed off of the new rappelling tower for the first time, which by they way, is awesome. i might have the best office on creation. After belaying a few people down, i had to do a practice rescue in case an emergency ever arises. So, a rescue goes like this, megan "passes out", i then tie off her line and secure her where she is, unhook myself and hook into another line, rappel down to megan where i tie her into my harness and cut the line that she is attached to, that means i've got a megan dangling below me. then rappel down the rest of the way to safety, needless to say, megan and i are closer than we ever intended and i almost feel required to put her in my wedding or give her my firstborn. 

saturDAY 15: today steve dirks got the staff out of bed at 4:30 to go on a sunrise hike, which i was not into at first, until we got to the top of a hill and spent time in prayer as a staff and watched a beautiful sunrise from our Lord, this was an incredible time to spend together as the summer is starting. we have truly been blessed with an incredible staff and i am so stoked to see what the Lord will do this summer. after the morning hike we went back to camp and cleaned up and then were off for the weekend. it has definitely been a great start for what is seeming to be a great summer. 

Also, here is some lone tree lingo in case you aren't familiar. 

five day weekend: (blessing) when campers leave on friday instead of saturday and we have a weekend that seems like 5 days, which in reality is only 3.  

Water luging: lone tree's water slide competition, costumes are required and the fastest time wins. best costume last summer. hands down. steve dirks in a child's size monkey costume. 

Morning: rolling out of bed at 6:55 to be at staff devotionals at 7. teeth brushed, clothes thrown on, coffee straight into the veins. 

Nap: a very rare occurrence, if a 15 minute nap can be acquired, then one is truly blessed, a nap can legitimately feel like a weekend. 

"i have to go to my room": code for "i have to poop" 

First things.

So, this summer i am starting many new things. More or less my life is changing. And i am beyond stoked about these changes. First off, i am returning to lone tree ranch, the camp that changed my life last summer. And if leaving the comfort and the people i care about so much isn't enough, my job is going to be completely different than last summer. Instead of being on mountain bikes, waterslide and digglers ( yeah, yeah, i know you are saying what on creation is a diggler?! well long description short, its a mountain scooter) I'll be leaving that job and this summer i will be a rappelling instructor. And the idea of that is almost enough for me. Aside from all of these changes at camp, i have decided to do something. Something I have tried to do and failed at many times. Go ahead, tell me how cliche this is, but i am going to take a picture everyday this summer (and potentially beyond summer) and when camp is over for the week and i have time to breathe, i am going to blog about the week and post the pictures from the week. I tried something like this last summer, except with disposable cameras and sunsets, but it was an incredible failure. So i am determined to do that this summer. The pictures will be of anything that happens at camp, probably alot of sunsets and pictures from my office, which happens to be at the top of a 40 foot tower overlooking the beautiful mountains. (hard life huh?) But they will be the things that matter and that make my summer something great. And along with the pictures you will get my rambles about the week along with prayer requests and camp life. So, here at the beginning of the 11 week summer i am about to embark on for the second time, i want to share this project with you. It will be a hard summer, no doubt about that, full of beautiful mountains, a staff that is already so so dear to me, campers that will make my job the most enjoyable, and hardest thing i'll do this summer, along with so little sleep i will be jealous of insomniacs, and the beauty of seeing youth hear the stories of Christ. And Christ is the reason i am doing this and the reason that i can get through this summer. I would not have been able to get through camp last summer if it weren't for the strength that God provided. Last summer was the hardest summer of my life, but i saw more evidence of Christ in that summer than i ever have in my life. So i am beyond stoked to get this summer started, and i want to share that with all of you as the summer progresses. 

Day 1: My wonderful boyf made the 10 hour drive with me, isn't he just great?

 Day 2: Here is the sad equation, Me working at camp in New Mexico + Connor working in Dallas = 2 months without seeing each other. He flew back to dally after a few minor hangups with the Roswell airport (that sends out 3 flights a day), so we said our so long for now's and he flew away from me.  

Day 4: Well, i've already missed a day, but camp technically hasnt started so it doesn't count yet. But this is Taylor, my rappelling counterpart, we will be bro's by the end of the summer. 

 

 Day 5: Here is what only a few hours of rappelling has already done to my hands. Just go ahead and call me resident BMW> burly mountain woman. 

Taylor and i started training yesterday, there is so much to learn and not that much time. But i trust our training and i know that we will be equipped with the skills needed to know what we are doing. I feel like a connoisseur of ropes and knots. (dont believe me, i only know 4 knots.) 

Day 6: Here is the start of many beautiful sunsets this summer. The sky in New Mexico is one of God's greatest creations. I was driving back into camp and couldn't resist this shot. 

Day 7: Week one is over, now how many to go?!?! I was filling up before going to dinner with my girl megan, and this pug was in the truck next to me, shout out to Abbey Thomas!! I have the weekend off and then real life at camp starts. One week of training then 10 weeks with campers. Maybe if i sleep every solid hour for the next 2 days i can store up some energy for the summer, but we all know that cant happen! 

This week turned out to be so far from everything i thought that it would be, but i will say that it was a great one and it feels so good to be back here. I am ready for the rest of the staff to get to camp and to get the ball rolling on the summer program. There are some incredible things in the works for this summer and i know that they will change the lives of some of the youth coming to camp. I am trying to remind myself that camp is not about the staff, or the jobs we have, or anything like that. But to remember that i am here this summer for the youth that are coming and to share the story of Christ that changed my life, and that i cannot be stuck in the routine, although we are at camp for 11 weeks, these campers are here for 6 days. Our staff can't get burnt out or get stuck in the monotony of our lives, but that we must rely on Christ for our strength and to stay refreshed in the word. 

I hope each and every one of you had a great week!

love yall!