Ockey Family Adventures: October 2023

Dax and Mark had the opportunity to attend FSY. We asked them both to write a little bit about their experience. FSY is a week long conference held by the Church to strengthen the youth. Our boys went to BYU with all of the cousins who were old enough the week after Bear Lake. It was so cool that they could all be there together.

The cousins gathering before heading to FSY.

The boys!

Tiff bought them matching shirts for the first day!

Sometimes they would run into each other!

They survived the week at FSY!

Mark

FSY was a really special experience for me. I got to room with my cousin, Daniel, and we had a blast. It was funny the first day, all the guys in our group weren't really talking to one another or interacting, but by the second day it was like we were best friends. Our counselor was named Alex, and he was awesome. He got us a football to throw around, pizza, drinks, and was super kind and spiritual. I enjoyed the classes, some of them by seminary teachers that I knew from school. I liked talking and hanging out with Daniel and the other guys in our group. Morning devotionals were always special to me. The Palmers (the head couple over this week at FSY) were amazing at bringing the Spirit into the rest of our day. Our group had a good time at the dances, and we went bowling 3 times out of the 5 days. We got ice cream, threw the football around, played games, and talked and laughed a lot. On the dress up day I loved the testimony meeting and the Young Men activity. Our counselor made it really special for us and included all the Young Men in the activity. I felt my spirit grow stronger while at FSY. Testimony meeting was super cool. We heard about 30 testimonies from our group and another group. It was super reverent and many of the girls were crying. The last night we all stayed up past curfew and did dumb stuff including mattress dominoes and moshing to songs in our rooms. I really missed the guys when we had to say goodbye, which was surprising to me how quickly we came together. Overall, it was an amazing week that I will never forget. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

This is what their quarters looked like!

Mark usually sent us a selfie every day so we knew he was alive.

Mark's FSY group!

We also have lots of pics of Mark and Daniel.

They went bowling almost every day.

We also received pictures of the not so great food!

Spotted one of the Studio C cast members when they tried to go bowling.

Mark had a fun group!

Everyone loved the dress up spiritual day!

Mark's group again!

Mark ate pizza--what????

Mark could see Dax's room from his room!

We are so glad that Mark and Daniel got to room together.

Last day!!

Dax

I went to FSY with my four cousins and Mark. I stayed with Josh who dragged me up every morning to run and kept me up late talking at night. We always went to bed really late and woke up on early. On the last night, we even stayed up all night long. We stayed in a room that had two beds, two closets, and two desks. My FSY counselor's name was Brennan, and he was the best. Our group consisted of 12 boys and 16 girls. They were nice and we all laughed and had fun hanging out together. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we would wake up really early and go on our morning run. Then we would go eat breakfast, gospel study, and have morning devotional. For the rest of the day we would go to classes, go to evening devotional, and go get ice cream at the BYU Creamery. On Thursday, we had spiritual day where we dressed up in our church clothes. We went to young men's devotional and had a testimony meeting at the end of the day. This was my favorite day. My favorite part of the entire FSY week was the testimony meeting when we all got together and shared our testimonies. It was a really spiritual experience. Friday was a party day where we played games, hung out, and went to a dance. Then on Saturday bright and early we packed up and left. It was a really great experience with the dances, and the classes, and really everything.

Dax took lots of selfies with Josh, too!

Dax with his counselor.

It rained one day, but they didn't mind.

All dressed up for Thursday!

Dax and his new friend, Aiden.

Pictures of inedible food came every day!

Can you believe Josh woke Dax up every day at 5:15 am?

Crazy kids!

This is the head man of FSY--Brother Powell.

Mandi did Dax's hair all cute!

Ummm....who is that?

Dad had fun with his group!

There were lots of great kids!

FSY was amazing!

Back Home

While the boys were at FSY, we had a bunch of fun happening back in Lehi with the cousins. Here are a few highlights.

Monday: Mom drove up to make some jewelry with her mom and sisters for her Grandma's birthday. It was a fun night hanging out with all of the girls. Mom loves spending time with James right now, too. Seth and Dad hung out at home until Mom made it back the next morning.

The Brunettes!

It was fun being with all of my sisters.

That James is always smiling!

Seth & Dad got a Frazil while Mom was away!

Wednesday: Dad went for a four-wheeler ride with Mr. Herrmann. They had been planning to take Mr. Herrmann's four-wheelers up to an area called Currant Creek for a long time. They got a really early start and were on the trail far up in the mountains by 7:30 in the morning. It was a little cold, but the ride was really amazing as they went on tiny, narrow trails, exploring areas Dad had never visited. He made a special effort to take some great photos, especially of the wildflowers for Mom, so that she didn't feel like she missed out. The best part, though, was spotting a few grouse running across the road. Dad couldn't catch them in a picture, but it was a mother hen and her chicks. It was a great end to a fun ride.

Dad had to get up very early!

Mr. Herrmann knew the area, but it was all new to Dad.

They peaked out on the skyline.

Wildflower pictures for Mom!

Found some snow even at the end of July!

The clouds cooperated for a picture.

It was such a beautiful ride!

While Dad was up in the mountains, Mom and Seth hung out with Melanie, Charlie, and Esther. They went to a new park and a new splash pad.

This park was a lot of fun!

The splash pad was even better!

We celebrated with a sno cone!

Thursday: Tiffany showed up, so we went mini golfing, stopped at Neptune Park for a minute, and then grabbed some ice cream.

Glow in the dark mini golf!

We love Handel's!

Playing with cousins at Neptune Park.

Friday: Dad had to work, so Tiff, Mel, and Mom, and all the kids hung out. They went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity and the Vineyard Grove Splash Pad. We had to wear those kids out!