PEF Beach Retreat 2011!

And now we've made it to the beginning of the school year!  :)  PEF kicked off the year with its annual beach retreat, and I took a half day so Joshua and I could go for part of it!

The theme this year was hospitality as evangelism and outreach, and I think the students really, really took the messages to heart.  It was incredibly encouraging to see students reaching out to incoming freshmen, thinking about ways to expand their natural friend circles, and just seeking to love the entire body.  And now, three months into the school year, it's still going strong.

And here are just a few (okay, a ton...) of my favorite photos from the retreat!

Beach retreat 2010!!

PEF has (in my unbiased opinion) the very best way of kicking off the school year -- a three-day retreat at Ocean City, NJ!!  We of course go every year, it being David's job and all.  :)  But this was the first time in years that I was able to attend the whole retreat -- the beauty of being part-time means that I only had to take one day's vacation.  And it was definitely worth taking that one day off, to reconnect with PEFers... and to introduce Joshua to the wonders of the beach!

So we all met up for breakfast bright and early on Thursday morning.  At least, the students all thought it was super early -- we had been up for hours, as normal, since our cute little alarm clock almost never goes off later than 6am.  ;)  Joshua was on his best behavior, though, and had fun being held by new people -- no real stranger anxiety yet!






Then it was off to Ocean City!  We stayed at the Ark Retreat Center again, this great old house just a few blocks from the beach.  The first scheduled activity?  Hand-addressing flyers to be delivered to every single incoming freshman.  Gotta love the abundant supply of free labor...  I, of course, was too busy watching Joshua and taking photos to help out...  :)




And then, to the beach!!  I was a wee bit nervous about sun protection for our little guy, so perhaps I went just a bit overboard... But how stinking cute is he in his little sun suit and floppy hat??








OK, I've got to tighten this up and include fewer photos for the rest of this recap...  :)  Thursday night, we had the traditional walk on the boardwalk and Ferris wheel ride.  I had Joshua in the front carrier, and we felt he was perhaps too young to go on the Ferris wheel himself... Maybe next year!




And just a few more photos of the typical PEFer's fun in the sun...




The retreat was SUCH a fun time!!  What a wonderful way to get revved up for another school year.  Joshua is very much looking forward to spending more time with all of you guys!

Beach Retreat!

Every year, right before classes start up again, PEF goes on a beach retreat to Ocean City, NJ. Sure, it's been rainy and cold with gale-force winds for the last two years, but it's still a ton of fun! :)

The retreat focuses on evangelism, by way of preparing students to return to the daily grind of Princeton. This year, the messages were out of Acts 17, Paul's sermon to the Athenians at the Areopagus. (Yes, David prefaced his message with this picture of him on Mars Hill.)

And it was so much fun reconnecting with old friends! I'm so glad I got to go -- I missed most of the first day (Thursday), but drove up that evening with Greg (Aime's husband, the other PEF "staff spouse") and worked remotely on Friday. And played with PEFers in the evenings. And tried to go for a long walk on the boardwalk with David, before being driven back inside by the wind. :)

Bad weather aside, we still had tons of fun activities to fill our time!


Working on a massive puzzle


Apples to Apples


Pool shark Dion


Ping pong champs


Watching "Karate Kid"
(NB: the movie is SIX YEARS OLDER than the students in this photo...)


Beach football


Crazy high waves and water


Fun with jumping and burst mode photography


Most of the gang (minus some who had to leave early)
We're so thankful for the PEF community -- the retreat was so full of fellowship and fun. What an awesome, refreshing way to kick off the school year!