The Teddy Bears' Picnic

     Well, not really teddy bears, just the Sackville Ward. (Does anyone remember the old Teddy Bears' Picnic song?) It was a beautiful day and the contingency plans weren't needed. There was enough of a breeze that 75 felt comfortable, almost cool.

     Instead of going up the canyon like we're used to at home, we all met up at a park by one of the hundreds (really--hundreds!) of lakes in the area. We think it was within the ward boundaries--there are dozens of lakes within the ward boundaries.

     We took the turn off and drove up the road. At one point we came to this delightful, old, one-lane bridge with an awesome view (below) off to the side. And this wasn't even the lake we were heading to.





The road wound around and finally it became gravel with several side roads. After traveling for a couple of miles and seeing no signs, we wondered if we were going to the right place until we saw the glint of cars through the trees. There was a huge parking lot full of cars. Several groups were taking advantage of the beautiful weather, and the park was big enough to accommodate everyone, including the Halifax Water Department party.

Some of the younger people played volleyball while the older ones visited

Different groups put Slip-n-Slides on this hill. The water had to be hauled from the lake, but they put soap in the water that make it slipperier. 

Two of our favorite people were in charge of the grills. Owen Darling, a new convert last fall, is on the left with the blue ball cap. Bradly Johnson, our former bishop, is behind the grill on the right. Both are great guys and we love them.























We could just barely see the lake through the trees, so we decided to take a closer look.

Elder Holbrook thought he saw some sand so we walked over to it. Yup, a small beach (all of it can be seen in these two pictures), with a lifeguard.

 The Water Department group put up a bounce house and didn't seem to mind if kids from other picnics wandered in. At least none of our kids got kicked out. They must have decided we were all customers, so they didn't mind sharing!

A beautiful day, spent in a gorgeous setting, visiting with friends. What a great way to spend a Saturday! Definitely a day to enjoy on our mission journey.