Back and Then Gone Again

Well, it's that time of year again. We are running at full speed...and aren't anywhere near the finish line! :)

We just got back yesterday from an amazing week up at the castle! Crossroads Bible Church came out to help and did an amazing job! I don't have much time, so I will put some pictures up later.



Today was the reunion for camp, it was a blast to see everyone again. After the reunion, we went to get pizza and then on to church. It was a great day to end our time together with the team. We will miss them a lot.

However, that is not all that has been going on. Yesterday morning Katka and I left camp a little early to go and pick up another team that was coming into town. Northshore is my home church, and I am so excited that they get to be here with us. Today was orientation for them, and Mateja did a great job leading them. We leave first thing in the morning. We had an English camp planned with them, but we only had 1 signup. We decided to rent 3 vans and take a road trip to Spain! I am really excited about it. There will be 24 of us total, and it will be a week of camping, laughing, and getting to know each other really well!

I am also responsible for a group of 5 interns. I wish that I could say I am taking care of them, but I am pretty sure they have been taking care of me. They have been doing an amazing job keeping me sane, and helping each of the camps and different groups on track.

I spend my day today jumping back and forth between the teams, making a million decisions, and making sure everyone had money and everything they need for the week ahead. Not the most relaxing way to spend your first day home after a week of camp! :)

Ok, I am off to bed and I will write again in a week.

Welcome New Team Members!

In the midst of our crazy summer schedule, we are so excited to have some new team members. Hondo, Trish, and Caleb arrived into Slovenia yesterday after spending a few days in Germany. We have got to know them more over the past years as they have taken several trips to Slovenia, and we like them a whole bunch. If you want to check out their blog, head to
http://teamwynnfamilyblog.blogspot.com/



In a few hours we are off to pick up our first team for English camps. I can't believe that it has already started! Our blog posts will be very sporadic over the next weeks and months, but we'll do our best to keep you posted.

Don't Do This!

Yesterday the news reported the first case of swine flu here in Slovenia. Apparently an American girl brought it with her when she came to Slovenia a few days ago. I am not an expert with this new epidemic, but I am learning more each day on how to protect myself. I included a picture of one of the things I will stop doing over the next few months until this virus in under control.

It's been a full week!

Since I haven't had time to give more regular updates, here is just a summary of some of the things that we did last week.

It was perfect weather for youth group in the park last week. We played cards, soccer, talked, and ate some good food. When it started to get dark we walked to the center of town to watch the ballet perform live...and free!

Jure has been apart of a band for the last half a year, and he had his first show this last week. A bunch of us went out to support them, and had a great time. Jure is the lead singer and did a great job. I was trying to be his biggest fan in the back, but I think Miso beat me with some louder yells.

Here is a group shot from our team picnic. The Woodards hosted us, and made some good food. Even though we were missing some of our team, it was a relaxing time together to welcome the summer interns.

Patrik and I hanging out at the picnic

We are moving out of our apartment right now as well. Not the best timing with camps, but it is going quickly. We did all the big things in one day which was nice. This one didn't fit into the elevator...and we live on the 4th floor!

Great Friends

Right before Katka and I headed back to Slovenia we were able to grab coffee with Christina and Anna. We were planning on Christina, and were totally caught off guard when Anna showed up. After spending over 4 years in Slovenia with both of them, it was really special to be together again. We only had 45 minutes together which went by really fast, but it was so great to be with both of them. We each had time to share how we were doing and then we had to go pack and catch our flight home.



We got home from our encouraging coffee with Christina and Anna and realized that we had misread our flight time. As I looked at my computer it was 11:24, and our flight for Amsterdam left at 12:55. We packed everything in about 5 minutes and I made the 40 minute drive to the airport in about 30 minutes. Katka said I was driving fast. I agreed. We got to the airport at 12, about 55 minutes before our flight left. At a small airport that isn't a problem, but at Seatac when you are flying internationally it is a problem.

We ran to the checkout counter, repacked an overweight bag, got our tickets, ran to the security check point, begged the lady to let us go to the front of the line, took half our clothes off and walked through the scanner thing, got dressed again, ran to the underground shuttle, rode it to terminal S, ran to our gate...all in only 12 minutes! We got to our gate and realized that they were only halfway done boarding the flight and that it was only 12:12. So, we sat down and relaxed for about 30 minutes before boarding our flight. Nothing like starting a long flight around the world stressed out and sweaty.

Time with Family

It has been an emotional and difficult few days for us. We have been in the states for 2 days now, and all of it has been spent with my family. We had my grandma's memorial service yesterday, and it was a special time to be together and celebrate her life.

Today we spent the day up at my grandparents cabin on Camano Island. It was a little work party, but mostly we just wanted to be together. It was fun for Katka to get to see the cabin where I spent my summers growing up and where I have so many memories. Even though we are only in the states for a few days, we have been blessed to get lots of good time with our extended family. After our time at the cabin we took my grandpa out to dinner. It was a great time to celebrate my dad's birthday, to spend time with my grandpa, and to be together as a family.

We are planning on grabbing coffee together with Christina in the morning right before we fly back to Slovenia.

Intern Training

This last week has been quite an adventure...literally! I spent the week with all of the interns for the summer at a training and team building conference. I am in charge of the interns in Slovenia for the summer and so this was my first time meeting a lot of them.

We started the week off by embarking on an amazing race. It really helps get everyone through jet lag and also to expose some team dynamics in the first few days together. We started in Vienna, Austria, followed clues to Bratislava, Slovakia, from there we went to Budapest, Hungary, back to Bratislava, and then on to the Czech Republic. We had a blast together. We ran out of money on the 2nd day, which made the rest of the race a little more challenging. I am really excited about the group of interns that we have this summer.

Most of the training was really intense, but we did take some time to have fun. Here is the group learning the theme song.

Relaxing In The Sun

Julie and Jeret got back to our place Sunday after traveling through Europe for a month, and it has been so great to get some more time with them. Since yesterday was our day off, and it was almost 90 degrees, we decided to spend it doing something fun out in the sun! So we headed to lake Bohinj (near lake bled) to swim and relax. We had a great day and then stopped off at Glorija and Sebastians place for dinner. It is always a great day when my American family can be here in Slovenia spending time with my Slovene family.

The girls talking...they weren't really interested in swimming in the 'refreshing' water.

Jeret and I out in a canoe. Later in the day we set up a homemade fishing pole...but failed to catch anything.

The church in Bohinj

Birthdays

It seems like this is the season for birthdays! Yesterday was my dad's birthday, and then we also got to celebrate Tanja and Miha's birthday at youth group. Miso and Sreco came up with a great distraction, and they had no idea we had cake for them. Here is a little video of the birthday song.

Stalling My Friends Car

The other day I was stopped at a red light, waiting patiently for the light to turn green. We were stopped on a bit of a hill, I was the 3rd car in line, and I was driving someone else's car. When the light turned green, I went to pull forward and I stalled the car. When I finally got the car started and moving, there was a little gap between me and the two cars that were in front of me.

As I came through the intersection, I saw a car coming really fast from my right side, and it didn't stop and ran the red light. It went flying through the intersection right in-between me and the 2 cars in front of me! At first I was thinking about how crazy and dangerous this guy was not to stop at a red light...and then I realized that if I wouldn't have stalled the car he would have hit me at full speed!

I have never been so thankful for stalling a car!

Dance, Dance, Dance

Every year the graduating seniors from around Slovenia gather in downtown Ljubljana to celebrate. At 12 there were people from 5 different countries dancing in hopes of breaking the guinness book of world records for the most people dancing at one time. They form 2 massive rows through the streets and perform a square dance type routine. Today there was over 6,000 people dancing in Ljubljana. It is always fun (and really loud...all the seniors get whistles to blow during the routine) to walk through and see so many of our friends out there dancing. Here are a few that we saw and were able to get pictures with.

Back in SLO

Our conference in the Czech Republic was great. It is always a really refreshing time to be with our bigger team across Europe. We are glad to be back and ready for this final push until camps!

Here is our group picture from the conference-

Julie and Jeret were able to join us for a day at the conference, and then they left and visited the Auschwitz concentration camps and then headed on to Prague. I think they are somewhere in Italy now, and we are looking forward to connecting with them next week here in Slovenia.