Girls Camp

Yes, Paige and I survived girls camp this year(me,just barely).
Girls camp was a blast.  We had ward girls camp this year which meant we could go when and where we wanted too.  The theme for this years camp was"Choose to shine in your amazing race".  The leaders put together activities for the girls to do that were around the theme and the T.v. show-The amazing race.

We meet at 5:45 A.M. that is

why it is dark outside. The great Relief Society and put a yummy send off Breakfast together for us.

We then talk about 100 years of girls camp-a cake with service opportunities-candles!

Each girl received their own backpack filled with goodies and a bandana for the team they would be on.

 And we were off....

 We spent one day and night at Bear lake.  For the race activities, the girls had to read a compass and find posts that spelled a word ( each team was different) and come and get their next clue for the next activity.  They then had to come to me and learn how to tie two kind of knots and learn how to  lash. When they passed them off they got another clue..telling them to lash swim noodles together to make a raft. One person had to ride it and the rest of the team had to have a hold of it.  They had to find their way out to a tall post that had the last clue of the day on it- Find the mat.

The girls where then free to have fun.  We rented a speed boat, paddle boat and a water trike. We also had a few rafts and a canoe.  The canoe is a whole story in it's self.
We then cleaned up and went to a camp ground and unpacked, set up tents and made dinner. We were behind schedule and din't eat until about 8 p.m..
However, I wasn't feeling wetland went and lied down. About 1/2 later I was feeling horrible and asked for a blessing. The great Bishop and his councilor gave me one. I was nauseous and very dizzy. Also had the chills. Everyone thought I had heat stroke- I don't! I drank a lot of water while at the beach and stayed in the shade most of the time.  A lot of the girls got burned, I didn't.
Because I was ill, I missed the Faith walk that some of the leaders had put together for the girls.  I heard it was very spiritual.  The girls didn't make it back to camp until around midnight. The leaders, even later than that. *clean up duty for everything they had set up earlier.*

Day 2

Parker's new look

Parker has been complaining for a while now that he can't see things that are kind of far away.  When he asked me during church if I could read the hymn numbers, I could, he couldn't, I decided to take him to the optometrist. Guess what? He needs glasses. He choose the frames he wanted and only had to wait 5 days to pick them up.  I am very impressed with him remembering to wear them so far. Of course it has only been about 4 days but he never forgets to put them on.

Parker also earned hi Wolf in cub scouts this week. Way to go Parker.

Fathers & Sons Camp Out

We just got back from the annual Fathers & Sons camp out.  Braden was not able to go with us this year because he has a job!  He literally started work the day before the camp out, so he didn't have much say about asking for time off.  I feel like I've crossed another milestone in life: having a son that's "too old" to go on the Fathers & Sons camp out.

We gave a couple people a ride to the camp out, the Lawsons, and being natives from the area they recommended that we stop on the way up the canyon and take a short hike.   The trail was about 1/4 mile and ended in a 20 foot waterfall that had carved out a large cave-like area at the bottom.  It was pretty cool.  The name of the trail was Grotto Trail.

The camp out was  held at Blackhawk Campground just off the Nebo Scenic Loop.  I found this site for the event and was hoping that it would be an enjoyable place.  Rain threatened on the way up Spanish Fork canyon, but by the time we arrived at the campground it had mostly stopped.  This site itself was beautiful.  We had a group site that took an entire loop in the campground.  There was plenty of room to spread out and mountain meadows (and the fire) kept the boys occupied. 

Zach and a friend disappeared for a long time Friday evening and later came and said that I had to come see what they had built.  They referred to it as a "fort".  Turns out they had built a wood igloo from branches and sticks.  It was pretty impressive.  The pictures below do not do it justice.  There is really a lot of room on the inside.  If we had not been strongly cautioned about bears in the area, I would have let him sleep in it.

The turnout for the event was the best I've seen in all the years we've been in this ward.  There were probably at least 80 people there, probably more.  Everyone seemed to have fun and several people commented on the location. At above 8000 feet, I expected it to be quite cold at night, but it was actually very pleasant.  The only negative thing was that at odd hours swarms of gnats would invade the camp.  They'd hang around for an hour or so making everyone miserable, then disappear.  Other than that, however, it was a really good time. 

Parker's (Abbreviated) Machine Pitch Season

Parker has been enrolled in the Lehi City's Machine Pitch baseball league this year.  Due to his broken arm, vacations, reunions and such he really didn't have a chance to play much, but he definitely enjoyed it when he did.  He played his first game just after his cast came off.  I was nervous that he would re-injure his arm.  He was a little unnerved about standing up to the plate with this machine chucking balls at him.  He got a hit at his first at-bat.  He was so shocked himself that he forgot to run and the other team threw him out at first base.  In the field, he played right field -- at this age that means the back of the infield -- and I don't think a single ball came within 30 feet of him. 

Besides that game, he played in one other game, the last game of the season.  He got a base hit, then rounded the bases to score a run.  He was so excited that he forgot to touch home plate and had to come back to do that. After the game his coach told the team he had been keeping track and they had won all of their games.  He then handed out a "first place" medal to each player. 

Despite not being to many of the games, he thought it was a lot of fun and says he wants to play again next year.  Here are some pictures from the final game of the season.

Making contact.  Parker gets a hit!

Ready to go on first base.

 Another hit!  Parker goes to third.

 Bringing it home.  Parker scores a run!