Stake Young Men's Camp

All three of our boys got to go to Young Men's Camp this year. It was a Stake camp, so there were plenty of friends, and everyone had a great time!

Their camp!

Off they go!!!

Mark:

Young Men's camp was really fun this year, as I was able to go with a bunch of my friends. Only two Priests in our ward ended up going, so Bradley and I were the only ones in our quite spacious tent. I spent most of my free time playing horseshoes or 9-square with a couple of my friends from other wards, and often the Stake Presidency. Our planned activities included rappelling, a trip to the reservoir, and team building stuff. The reservoir was quite fun. We all jumped off the stump at Tibble Fork and tried (and failed) at fishing. Rappelling was just a bit daunting at first, but I was quick to figure it out, and I sped down my second run. After our activities, three friends and I had to rush down the mountain to play a couple tournament baseball games, (which we won obviously), and had a fun time in the car and messing around in the store while it rained. The nights back at camp were cold, but not too bad, except for my tent buddy getting sick the first night and me not having a pillow. Overall it was a pretty fun Young Men's campout, with some questionable behavior from the ward next to us leading into a detective style investigation by several of the Young Men. On the final day, we packed up quickly and headed down the mountain to get some actual sleep. 

Mark and his buddy!

These are the only kinds of pictures you get from Young Men's camp.

Mark came down both nights to play in baseball games.

Dax:

Yet another year at the old Young Men's Camp and it was an interesting one. The food was ok but the 1st Ward breakfast almost killed that one kid. We had a good time doing all the activities around the camp, like splitting wood and playing kickball vs. other wards. We went to Tibble Fork and almost died from pneumonia. My friend and I were on a kayak and I told him I would jump off the kayak. I leaped off, but my weight flipped the kayak, drenching him. We dragged everything to shore and my friend was furious even though he told me I could jump. We laughed and laughed because he did not want to get into the lake. 

That night we almost became popsicles because it was absolutely freezing, but we still had a good time staying up and talking. The second night we decided to go on a hike along a nature trail right outside the camp. Everyone was scared of bears and the Deacons even carried shovels and hammers to defend themselves. A few of the other young men were scared to go into the woods at night or in Seth's and Mark's cases said we wouldn't see anything. The Teachers and most of the Deacons went on the hike with two of our faithful leaders Lewis and Lewis. As we set out on the Lewis and Lewis Expedition, we all had flashlights, and all of the Deacons were very scared. As we came to the start of the nature trail Lewis was in the front, with me second, and everyone else behind us. Lewis started talking about how this was prime cougar territory, and how they like to sit in the trees. Naturally, all the Deacons were now whining to go back. About thirty seconds later Lewis in the front said, "What are those eyes?" Everyone stopped and shined there flashlights in the direction he was talking about, and sure enough there were two greens eyes staring back at us. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was, and after seeing its tail and cat-like head shape everyone else was scared, while I was excited to see a cougar. Lewis and Lewis told us to go back. While they watched, everyone rushed back to camp. While my two friends and I excitedly talked about the sighting, the rest of our ward asked if it was a true story. Lewis and Lewis came back and told us that the cougar had run off. Everyone else went to bed scared, while my friends and I talked about the cougar. The next day we woke up and drove home. 

Mark took a few pics of his brothers.

Off to the frigid lake.

They did rappelling one afternoon.

Seth:

This was my first ever Young Men's Camp! It was so fun! On the first day, we drove down and got set up. We mostly messed around and had fun though. On the second day we went to the lake. It was FREEZING! The only thing at the beginning we were brave enough to do was canoe, but by the end we decided we were going to dump ourselves in the water. It was so cold, but I did that 4 or 5 times. At about 2:00 we went back to camp. When we got back we had dinner, the food this whole trip was horrible, but we survived. At night in my tent we were pretty good at sleeping. I thought we would be way worse! It was still very cold! 

The next morning we woke up and needed a fire. We were freezing! All the kids were trying and failing to make a fire; most had never been camping. We were finally saved by a leader with a lighter. That didn't stop the boys from being stupid with sticks though. That night we had confidence building activities. In the first activity we were blindfold and sat in a circle. Then the leaders than took us away one at a time. I was the last taken away. We were then read a spiritual message and given a cord that guided us to the end like the iron rod. The second activity was a wall 15 feet high with a board at 3-4 feet and 8-9 feet up. The leaders then let us use knees and hands to help each of us up, with one leader to pull us up the final section. The final activity was a bunch of stumps that we had to go through using only boards without touching the ground. I think my favorite was probably the first activity. When we got back we went to bed so in the morning we could pack up. In the end it was so fun! I can't wait to go next year.

Only two pics of Seth, too.

Brothers!

And don't worry! Mom and Dad had a great few days together. We tried to get everything ready around the house because the day the boys came home, we also left for Boston!!!

We did eat at Melty--our new favorite spot!