Brady White Concert

Tonight we had the chance to host Brady and Jen White at 2Deep, and they put on a concert for us. They did great and the campers really enjoyed them. Little Dax Braner even got the chance to show the audience his gift for singing! He did an excellent job singing along with Brady, and I think he stole some of the ladies hearts! Enjoy the photos I made of the concert. Thanks for reading!

Nate

Backpacking.

I just went on my first ever backpacking trip and could not have asked for a better group of campers to share the experience with! All but one guy from cabin six, a couple guys from cabin seven, four girls from cabins six and seven and our fearless guide Erica. We had a blast, got some great conversations and saw creation... no, experienced creation! It was a great journey. Here are a few photos I made along the way. I'll pass them on to the camp photographer so hopefully she can post some on www.campkivu.com, and I'll post some on my blogwww.framesofn8.tumblr.com . Thanks again for sending your campers to experience stuff like backpacking trips with us!

Nate

River Fun!

We took a bunch of senior campers down the Animas River in town today! It was a super fun time of floating the river 2 times and then finishing off with a little fun at the end of our day. Check it out!

Ninja in the Kitchen

There is a new addition to the kitchen...it is a ninja...it is also a blender...and it rocks.

See another Ninja opinion at:

http://branerpartyof7.blogspot.com/2010/03/best-blender-ever.html

The Kivu Garden!

I'm so excited to show everyone one of Kivu's neatest additions this summer....our camp garden! A group of guys have been planning, constructing, and planting fruits, vegetables, and herbs over the past few months. The guys that designed this garden are A-MAZING! (to say the least) The garden lies conveniently behind the warming hut (kitchen). This past week we were so excited to have our first harvest of the gardens' herbs, which were used in our rosemary onion crusted pork chops, baby red potatoes, and yesterday's breakfast, stromboli loaves.

Stromboli Loaves with fresh basil and oregano...

There is no certain recipe for this breakfast, but here is an idea of how we made our 50 spinach stromboli loaves yesterday morning...enjoy! :-)

Recipe:

Lay out pizza crust dough or any basic dough recipe on a sheet cake pan. Roll into a 1/2" deep 9x13 rectangle. Brush with melted butter or olive oil. Sprinkle with basil and oregano, fully covering the dough. Sprinkle ~1 cup of mozzarella cheese across the middle of the dough, followed by ~1 cup of fully cooked italian sausage crumbles. Next, sprinkle 1/2 cup seasoned cooked eggs on top of the meat and cheese. Lastly, add spinach leaves on top of all ingredients (approx 1/2 cup). Roll length wise into a loaf, bringing both edges together. Pinch tightly together so none of the filling bakes out. Flip the loaf over so the pinched side is facing down. Bake at 350 degrees for approx 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and the middle is no longer doughy. After removing from the oven, brush with olive oil and sprinkle fresh basil on top. Enjoy!!!

Top Chef 3 and A Day in the Life of a Turkey Slicer

So, yesterday was Top Chef competition take 3! It still hasn't gotten old! Each time it's new chefs and new ingredients...okay the dishes all usually include chocolate because lets face it; the kitchen staff is all girls and there is nothing we like more. Three teams, four main ingredients per team and we came out with some interesting looking dishes. Pumpkin/oreo pie, cookie/pudding volcano, banana/white chocolate frozen yogurt pie...They all tasted pretty good and all the kitchies and cooks seemed to have a really fun time getting free reign in the kitchen and getting to feed sweet goodness to the Institute class and four judges.

Pics:

After a fantastic day of cooking sweets, came the task of slicing turkey... Everyday we send kids out on trips with a turkey sandwich (apple, cookie, & chips) lunch. And to be good stewards of our money and be able to send out fresh sliced meat every day, we choose to slice our own turkey. We have an awesome meat slicer that helps gets the job done amazingly, but it's also everyone's most dreaded kitchen item to clean. The cooks informed me that turkey has been taken for granted around here, so now I hope it's getting it's well deserved "shout-out." Today for our Hollywood dinner and for trips tomorrow, I sliced 100 lbs of turkey. That's about 1,400 slices from 8 turkeys piled high and ready to be made into a yummy sandwich on our bakery fresh baguettes.

The River Runs Through It

Yesterday was a great day on the river! I went fishing with Gunthar F and Abby E. Gunthar being from north Georgia had never Fly fished before but is an avid Bass fisherman. He got the cast down after just a few examples. Abby on the other hand has taken fly fishing the last 4 years here and had the best cast out the group. When I was fishing with her we hooked 3 nice fish but could seem to land one. Gunthar also had several fish on and landed this beautiful 16’ rainbow. It was a great day on the river!

Third Term Concert. . .

Jennafer & Brady White are headed to Kivu today and will be doing a concert "Live at the Lantz" tomorrow night! This summer we have been really blessed with talented musicians wanting to come and preform at Kivu! Last term we had Jake Armerding, this term we get Jennafer and Brady, next term we get our theme song creator, Steph Jones and fifth term gets Caleb and Will Franklin Chapman! So fun!

Jen & Brady are going to be great! They are great with teens and they are talented and endearing performers. (I may be a little biased because Brady is my brother and Jennafer is one of my very best friends!) The campers will walk away having fallen in love with this pair! You can go to www.bradywhite.com for more information!

Stories of Jesus Hike

Here's a snapshot of the view above camp where some of us hiked today as we worked our way up the mountain learning about the life of Jesus told in the Gospels. Zach, Sarah, and Gracie had a great time with counselors Callie, Kyle, and I. As we reached the top of the mountain we reflected on what it would have been like to see Jesus ascend to heaven when he left the earth. We were encouraged by a quote from Augustine that truly captures what that moment may have felt like.

"You descended from before our eyes and we turned back grieving, only to find you in our hearts."

May we all learn to walk as Jesus did as we allow his Spirit to come alive inside us.

Aloha Christmas

Last night we went to the 'island' to celebrate Christmas at our Aloha Christmas Party.

I got to witness some incredible surfing skills and sweet cookie decorating!

Sharing some Trinkle family Holiday cheer!

Thanks to the cooks we even had a Christmas tree!

"Mele Kalikimaka"

Familiar Faces From El Nido

This term is packed with campers who went with us to El Nido last Spring Break and it is so much fun to see those faces. I think the best part about the trip to the Philippines was the relationships we made. I feel like I really have a bond with these campers and it made my heart so happy to see so many of them at Kivu this summer! Of course, the four star resort and the amazing beauty of the water and the islands and the great ministry opportunities are also some of my favorite things about the trip, too!!!

Please sign up for Kivu El Nido 2011!! It will be the trip of a lifetime! The dates are March 5-13 and we cannot wait to book the entire resort this year!

Welcome to Term 3!

Second Term Is Over

Well, the last campers just rolled out of the gates (an hour late, but we love them. . . thanks both Reilly families) and second term is officially over.

It is so weird to get to know a group of kids so well and to form some really neat friendships and then for it to all be over in the morning and then to gear up emotionally for the next group who come four hours later. . .what a roller coaster! And the weirdest thing about this weird thing is that it happens every summer every two weeks and still I never get used to it!

Second term was great and now I am switching gears to third term! This will be a really exciting term because so many campers we know will be here. . .many of the campers who went with us to the Philippines in March are coming and I am excited to see the old familiar faces as well as the new faces!

Goodbye second. . .hello third!

Enjoy a couple great pics from the term.
Blessings,
Jamie Jo

Rock Climbing Cascade Canyon

Yesterday one of the funnest groups of campers EVER headed up to the beautiful Cascade Canyon to go rock climbing. Nestled back into the mountains near Durango Mountain lies a gorgeous series of waterfalls with some awesome cliffs for climbing all around. On our way there we stopped to eat lunch at Baker's Bridge (FYI: part of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed there).

We had a few expert climbers and some of the campers even got to jump off the waterfall! It was an experience I don't thing any of us will ever forget. Hadley said she could "sense God in the beauty of the place." It was spectacular. What an awesome thing to be able to play in one of the most beautiful places on earth with God's children.

Forgiveness and a Hike

The students who signed up for Institute today experienced a day of reflection on forgiveness. In the morning we watched a captivating documentary, As We Forgive, as two Rwandans attempted to come together to forgive each other after one of them had murdered a woman's family during the 1994 genocide.

Then in the afternoon we took a hike up the mountain above camp to discuss the movie and reflect on the struggle to forgive in our own lives. We wrestled with Jesus' teachings to forgive others 70 times 7. We realized how foolish it is to harbor anger and bitterness in little disagreements especially after witnessing a woman forgive a man who had murdered and destroyed her entire family.

It was a powerful discussion for all of us. Enjoy the pics of some of us soaking up the view from where we had our discussion.