Family Camp

I love Wyoming. I love its gently rolling hills, the beautiful bluffs covered with sage, the Rocky Mountain sunsets, the tumbleweeds blowing across the interstate. I think a lot of people do not realize the beauty that Wyoming holds. Which is how Wyoming-ites prefer it. Keep the greenies (Coloradans) out! Yeah, I know, I am now a Coloradan, but I grew up in Wyoming so it doesn’t count. hehe.

On Thursday evening, Adrianna and I picked up my sister Cindy and drove up to Family Camp. Greg couldn’t come as he had to work. It was on this drive up to Family Camp that I got my very first flat tire. Of course it would happen at a time that Greg wasn’t with me! The road to camp is a bit rough and I must have hit a rock just right so that it pinched a nice sized hole into my tire. Thankfully there was someone right behind us and they pulled over right away to help us. It turned out to be someone else heading up to camp. Adam changed our tire for us and we were so thankful. Since we were only 4 miles out from camp, we decided to drive the remainder of the way on the little donut.

We arrived just in time to unload our stuff into a cabin and go off to chapel. Our friend Nathan Long arrived right as chapel was ending. As we were getting ready to go to the canteen for some soda, I noticed a couple guys across the way that looked familiar. It turned out that they were familiar; the younger brothers of my first boyfriend. They were 5 and 6 the last time I saw them and so now, 14 years later, they are 19 and 20. I don’t think they remembered me. Tim and Doug have turned into very nice young men. Tim played with Adrianna a bit over the weekend and also showed Cindy, Nate, and I how to do a really cool card trick that I cannot wait to show off. Anyways, on Thursday night Seth Uptain and Nathan taught Cindy and I how to play Rook. What a great game! It was Seth and I against Nate and Cindy.

On Friday, we woke up early so we could go have breakfast. One thing about Family Camp is that the food is usually pretty good, and this year was no exception. After breakfast was chapel. Then, we had a bit of free time before and after lunch, which we spent playing Phase 10 and volleyball. Dad found out about my flat tire and drove up on Friday evening after work to pick up the tire. He then drove back down to Wheatland and bought me a new tire on Saturday morning and then drove back up to camp to put on the new tire so I wouldn’t have to drive all that way on the donut. Isn’t that sweet? It sure meant a lot to me that he would do that.

Also on Friday evening, Nate and Cindy and a small group of kids took a quick hike to the small cave near camp that I had discovered when I was maybe 16 or so. I wish I could have gone, but I had forgotten to bring Adrianna’s baby sling so I had to hang out at camp. Oh well. After they got back, it was time for chapel again. And then another late evening playing Rook. Nate and Cindy against Ruth Uptain and I. We lost, but it sure was a close game!

Saturday morning after chapel we played some more volleyball. Then, it was time to go. Dad followed us back down the mountain and we, along with Nathan, met Mom at Pizza Hut for some lunch. It has been a long-standing tradition to go to Pizza Hut with Nathan after camp.

Adrianna was a little angel during our time at camp. I was pretty nervous about taking her up there alone. But she did wonderfully. There were so many little kids up at camp. Rose and Anna now both have two children each, and I really had a good time chatting with them about motherhood and all. And all the little toddlers love looking at babies, so Adrianna was a hit with them.

Another highlight of camp was the time I got to spend with Cindy. It was just her, Adrianna, and I in our cabin so we got a lot of quality time together. This in itself made going to camp totally worth it for me.

Nathan decided to come down to Denver for the remainder of the weekend. He brought his dog, Shadowfax, with him. Shad and Lynette were also at our place. So that meant that we had 5 dogs. What a madhouse. Shad, Lynette, and Greg were hard at work in the backyard when we arrived. What a difference they made – between their work yesterday and some weeding that Lynette and I did today, I think we filled 2 trash cans and 5 more garbage bags full of stuff. We are so thankful for all their help so we can get this house ready to sell! We had dinner at RockBottom. For dessert, Greg made us all parfaits. What a great end to a wonderful week!