Oh oww . . . my sides, my sides! Yes, my sides are still sore from all the laughing this past weekend at Jet City Improv - it was HILARIOUS!!! There were 9 of us that enjoyed a beautiful evening of scarfing burgers at Dick’s, trying to find a place to hang out before the show, and enjoying a side-splitting performance by the improv comedians at Jet City. Good times, good times!

Speaking of good times, our next opportunity to gather is just around the corner - May 3rd and 4th up at Samish Island. We were approached last year by the caretakers at Samish Island to see if we could arrange a young adult work party, but our busy schedule did not allow it at the time. We told them that we would definitely put in on the schedule in 2008 . . . and here we are! It is also time for us to provide ministry at a local congregation, so Samish Island Congregation is the lucky recipient. Here’s the scoop:

What: Samish Island YAPS (and MAYAS, too!) work party and Sunday morning service. The camping season is just around the corner and Samish always needs a little ’spring cleaning’ to get it ready. We will be doing a variety of tasks, most likely including painting, so come in your grubbies and be ready to work! We will be working from 10am to 5pm, with a lunch break, and then we will be staying overnight to be able to put on the service the next morning at the Samish Island Congregation.

When: Saturday, May 3rd thru Sunday, May 4th. We will plan on being up at Samish by 9:30am on the 3rd and leaving Samish around 1pm on Sunday. For those interested in carpooling or caravanning, we will meet at our usual Starbucks in Marysville (east off of the Quil Ceda/88th street exit 200 in Marysville) at 8am - leaving by 8:30.

How much? Free! Well, basically yes :) The retreat itself is free, with the only cost being dinner on Saturday evening and lunch on the way home Sunday afternoon. The reason it is free is because the Samish Campgrounds have agreed to let us stay for free in exchange for our blood, sweat, and tears . . . err, work. Lunch on Saturday afternoon will also be provided by the campgrounds. Breakfast on Sunday morning will be provided by YAPS. Sorry, this is not a retreat where people can stop in on Saturday night after the work is done, as the only way we are doing this is in exchange for our work.

What to bring: Make sure you bring work clothes, play clothes, church clothes (whew! That’s a lot of clothes!), shower/toiletries items, bedding/sleeping bag, pillow, money for dinner and lunch, and work gloves (if you have them).

As usual, please RSVP as soon as possible so we know who to expect and plan food for. **Remember, please commit to the whole weekend - we are being allowed to stay for free in exchange for working - thanks!** We also need people to help in the service Sunday morning, so let us know if you want to help! :)

So, can we do this? Can we show the campgrounds a good cleaning by a dedicated group of young adults??? I say the answer is yes! So come join us and make this a weekend to remember!

- Erik Skoor
erikskoor@hotmail.com

- Sean Langdon
seanmlangdon@hotmail.com

By the way, this past weekend’s event marked YAPS’s 2nd birthday. That’s right, we now have 2 years under our belts - way to go! I want to thank my co-leader, Sean, and everyone in the group for all of their support over the past two years. We couldn’t do it without all of you. Let’s keep this going!