For the first time ever, our stake held a young men's camp at the same location that young women's camp takes place. My sweet husband was in charge of it, and he almost died from it. Not literally. But it was quite stressful for him.
The gals and the guys overlapped their camps by one day. Emma took off on a Monday morning - actually, I took off with her. They needed drivers and I have a minivan so I was the lucky winner! Oh, shoot, I'm about to reveal once again that I'm not a very nice person deep down inside. I really wasn't that excited to drive a bunch of hyper girls to Heber City, Utah. I love them but man can they be loud! But it was actually so funny - Emma revealed that she had no desire to ride with me. She wanted to hang with the big pack of girls who were all going in a larger car. I offered up my van as the stuff-mover. We put the seats down and crammed it full of stuff, including my dear friend who is the young women's president. Romney was along for the ride as well. So the three of us just enjoyed a leisurely and calm drive to camp, enjoying drinkies and conversation and a little music. Best drive to camp EVER.
Once we got to camp Romney got a little sad that she wasn't staying. She has been to camp many times and loves it. She mostly feels like she has grown out of young women's, but being there made her wish she could take part. Too late, though - she had already taken on hours at her job at the zoo. And in the end she had some good fun with friends at home.
Our stake has such a wonderful tradition of camp. The girls all know the ropes - pitching in, being kind, doing crafts together, enjoying time as a large group and also with their individual wards. It's awesome. Emma had a wonderful week, especially enjoying line dancing, spending time with dear friends, getting a bullseye in archery, and watching over a service dog while its owner helped in the kitchen. She really stepped up in her participation, even with her big sister not being there as a safety and support person.
Troy went up on Wednesday, and the group of young men enjoyed a day of camp with the young women. This was a first, and it was new territory for both the leaders and the kids. There weren't adults attending from every ward and the boys didn't really know what camp culture is like. It was a bit of a free-for-all, according to Troy. Everything I heard from the kids and even the adults was that it was awesome. It put a lot of weight on Troy's shoulders and on the first day I thought he might just keel over from stress, but he was able to cope better the next day in and I think it ended up being a very positive experience. Troy may correct me on that, but that's what I heard! I'm so proud of him, and admire him for the time and effort he put in to this.
