Mountain Quest

The boys spent last weekend being ninjas on the mountain--literally! They participated in their first Mountain Quest. They spent Friday morning packing a tent, packs, and enough food for the weekend, and then they were off. I was so grateful to see this picture on Facebook Friday night:

 There was no cell service up there, and it was good to see that they were there, training, and basically dry since the forecast was for rain all weekend.

It was a little surreal. I realized Brad and I had never gone 24 hours without communicating--at least via email--since we started dating in 1998. I'm not a fan. But...they had a fabulous time training. The highlight, though, was the hike to and through the waterfall.

Evan was barely big enough:

 His feet couldn't actually touch, and I'm so grateful to know that Mr. Hardee had a death grip on my little guy:

 Evan said it was really cool to go from being held by Mr. Hardee to being passed to Mr. Bryan and then a whole team of ninjas:

 Brad was up next:

 And if I was still teaching symbolism I would totally use this pic for a Christ symbol:

They said it really is something you just have to experience.

They are still adjusting to life off of the mountain, but they are already talking about next year. I'm so very grateful they were able to experience it together, and I'm awfully glad to have them back home, too.