Emma's First Getaway

When I read the Harry Potter books, I was always a little dumbfounded as I imagined sending off my child for an entire year to go get educated. I guess people do it all the time, but it seemed so weird to me! And now, here I am, with a whole summer ahead of me sending my child away for entire weeks at a time. Emma and I were laughing as we looked at the calendar and seeing how much she'd be gone. And just so you know, each event was something she really wanted to do, so it wasn't like I was sending her away against her will. She was so excited!

I was actually pretty surprised that Emma was so excited for her first adventure. For one thing, it was starting the Monday after school ended, with just a two-day weekend separating her last day of 8th grade and her first day of her first camp. This camp is called FSY, which stands for For the Strength of Youth. It's a camp put together by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for kids from age 14 - 18. There are camps at college campuses and other locations all around the world, and cost just $75 per kid for a week of camp. Emma was incredibly excited, even though she didn't have a single friend going the same week she was going. She wanted to go alone (????) and also really wanted to attend at Provo's BYU campus. 

Romney and I drove Emma down on Monday morning and I know that she and I were both more nervous than Emma was. I just really wanted Emma to have a good experience with her roommate and her company of kids - usually 10 boys and 10 girls. Most kids I know go to these FSY camps with a buddy. 

And indeed, when we arrived, there were kids everywhere roaming around in pairs. It took us a minute to find her dorm room, which was located down a very quiet hallway in a nice new building on campus, just down the street from the MTC. We found her room, and knocked on the door, just in case her roommate was already in there. I didn't hear an answer, so we let ourselves in, and sitting there at her desk was Emma's room mate. 

Her name was Hailey, and I knew instantly that my quiet prayers had been heard. This kid was clearly a kindred spirit with my girl. The first hint I had was that she was wearing a t-shirt that had all these cute chickens all over it. I tried to break the ice by asking about it, and wouldn't you know, her family owns and adores chickens, just like us! Their chickens are all named after Harry Potter and Star Wars characters. I was actually shocked at what a perfect match Hailey was for Emma. They got to chatting right away and it wasn't long before Emma was saying, "Okay MOM you can go now MOM." Ok! But one quick photo first.

I heard from Emma most nights that week and she was just on cloud 9. She had so many stories and things to say about the kids in her group, the things they were up to, the private jokes they had, how much she loved the counselors, the things she was studying and learning, the games they were playing....she gushed every single night. It was incredible. I was so happy and grateful.

On Saturday morning Troy, Romney and I all piled into the car at 6am to go pick her up. We found our tired and happy gal waiting for us on the curb:

Of course we went to breakfast after we got her, so she could tell us all about her week as we ate pancakes and eggs Benedict. The breakfast was not great actually, but being together was. And hearing Emma's enthusiasm was just wonderful.

Want to know what was hilarious? After we got Emma home and started the laundry and stuff, I got picked up by Emily to head out to a baby shower for the daughter of a friend of ours. I thought we were headed to Sandy. But....it was in Orem. About a mile from where we got Emma. It was so funny. Talk about There and Back Again! (And Again - since Romney and I went to check out dorm rooms in the same area on Monday, just two days later. I'm starting to wish I had a secret entrance to the magical land of Orem, Utah.)