Simplicity: 5 Awesome, Crazy, Exciting, Exhausting, Wonderful Days

Saying goodbye was definitely hard for Luke. These guys mean the world to him and they've all been there for each other through thick and thin.

Once we all had said our goodbyes, it was time to continue our 5-day journey up to the mountains in PA for the Gotwals Family retreat!

The "Gotwals Retreat" has been a tradition we've been doing since I was a kid. This year was huge because Luke got to be apart of this special event. The drive seemed very long and we were both utterly exhausted. I knew I had to stay alert because I needed to keep Luke awake. It was rough.

It's funny because till this day the "Mountains" is all I know to call this magical place up north. I don't know the name of the town or anything like that. All I know is that the two cabins that our family stays in are called "Sugar Bush" and "Sugar Maple." When I hear, "We're going up to the mountains" I can instantly envision four-wheeling, jumping off the dock into the pond, fishing, spot-lighting at night, and playing cards with my cousins. I cannot tell you how excited I was to have Luke experience this with me.

This picture says it all. THIS was The "Mountains" to me.

From Left: Me holding Ryan, Seth, Brooke, Jesse, Robby, Lauren, and Eric

We finally made it in around 1:45am and in no time were fast asleep.

It's tradition to all eat together in the same cabin around the large rectangle table. Breakfast usually consists of bacon, pancakes, eggs, etc.

It was so wonderful to be reunited with my family.

It's not long after breakfast that we're jumping in the pond or hopping on a four-wheeler. We just wanna soak up as much sun as possible.

These two just celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary in August and as their daughter, I feel so blessed to know that no matter what, they are committed to each other.

Feeling Sentimental :-)
Such a good looking couple if you ask me!

Anyway-

It was such a hot day that it was difficult to not jump into the smelly, fishy pond. I didn't swim long, but I definitely dunked myself several times so I could enjoy lying out.

Always ready for a silly face.. :-)

Just as people were starting to come out of the pond and get dried off, my Mother spontaneously got off of the bench, sprinted off the dock as she jumped into the pond. With all of her clothes on :-)

On my left is Jill, who my cousin Eric is currently dating. This was the first time I got to meet her and we really hit it off. She's a great girl who really loves God and I can see she makes Eric really happy :-)

On my right is Kim who I got to know this past year before I got married. She and Richie started coming to church and in the small time I had to get to know her, I grew such and admiration and respect for the woman she is. She really taught me a lot and inspired me to grow in a lot of ways. I desperately wish I could have had more time with her and that distance wouldn't get in the way of a really neat friendship that was starting to bloom. Richie and Eric are cousins, so they stopped by to spend the day with us. Their son Trevor is probably one of the cutest little guys I've ever interacted with!