Our Philmont Scouting Adventure -- Day Three

Presenting our family at the FHE banner parade!

And the miracles continue! Four posts in one day!

Today Philmont Training Center got down to business. Herman put on his very dashing scout uniform and headed to training meetings with the general Young Men's presidency of the Church. The younger four kids headed off to various kid's activities, and I got the chance to do as little or as much as I wanted to do. In the morning they had a women's meeting where we met to talk about all of the neat things that we could do and sign up for the activities. I had a plan for the things I wanted to do, and despite the huge number of people signing up for the available slots, I was able to get into the activities I wanted. Maybe it was because I was choosing all the unpopular things. I don't know. I wanted to mix up doing a few crafts with some physical activities like mountain hiking and a ropes course. It all worked out. Hooray!

Heading to class!

Things got tricky when we found out that somehow Hyrum had not packed his long pants for the trip. He had to have those in order to do the horse rides later in the day. I had some extra time after the meeting, so I thought I would just make a quick trip to the nearest Wal-mart to pick him something up. According to our GPS, the nearest Wal-mart was 25 miles away in Taos. No big deal, right? I got in the car along with Denise Griffin, the stake primary president from our stake. Her husband is the high councilman over scouts in the stake and a big scouter. We thought we'd be able to drive and be back before lunch. So we headed out. And we drove. And drove. And drove. Each time the road turned, it seemed as if the GPS told me that I had a lot longer to drive. The half hour drive ended up taking an hour and a half. Ugh! We had not planned for that. The nice thing about the drive was that it was through absolutely GORGEOUS mountain country. It was the most beautiful drive I have ever taken. It would have been even more enjoyable if I had actually had the time to take such a drive. I was hoping for something quicker. Oh well. We made it to Wal-mart at least and picked up the things we needed. I played it safe and got a couple of sizes because there was no way in the world that I was going to make that drive again during camp.

I had signed up to do a Cathedral Rock hike this afternoon. It was the most vigorous and difficult hike offered this week, and somehow I thought that I would be up for it. We'll see. It turned out that we were fifteen minutes late getting back to Philmont, so I missed the bus for that. Luckily Denise got to her class on time. I was going to feel horrible if our super tour of the New Mexico mountains ended up keeping her from doing something she wanted to do. I was a bit bummed about missing the hike, but I got the chance to sign up to do it again on Thursday, so I'll still get the chance to see if I am a hiker like I think I am or if I'll be that story that everyone tells about the schmuck who signed up for the super hike, only to flame out half way through. And, as it turned out, it was probably good that I wasn't on the hike today. You'll see why in a second.

So what did I do instead? Laundry. That's right. Laundry. We had a ton of it, so I figured I'd take this afternoon to get caught up. It ended up being pretty neat. When I first got to the Philmont laundry there wasn't anyone there, so I loaded up the loads I could, sat down and read a little bit while I waited. Even though the laundry had tons of washers and dryers, it seems as if everyone at Philmont had decided that Monday afternoon was a great day for laundry, so I had to stagger my washing quite a bit. While waiting for everything to get done, Herman called to let me know that a huge storm was coming our way. I had about half of my four suitcase-full laundry load done, so I decided to quickly run two of the suitcases back to our tent. As I got to the tent it started to sprinkle. I quickly closed up the tent and threw our chairs and outside stuff inside so they wouldn't get soaked. Then I headed back to the laundry room which was on the other side of camp. About half way there the skies opened up, and I took off at a sprint. It was hailing like crazy. I have never been outside during a huge hail storm, but it is no joke. Not the most pleasant feeling in the world. I ran harder. I'm not a huge runner, but I'm not totally out of shape. But I have never run at high altitudes before. It was not pretty. I arrived at the laundry room and burst through the door. I was soaking wet and bent over, heaving in as much air as I could. The ladies there must have thought that I was dying. I quickly grabbed some air and explained that I wasn't used to altitudes, so they forgave me my very un-suave-like entrance.

Well, it poured forever. We were basically trapped as a group inside that laundry, so we got to know each other really well. It turns out that one of the ladies is the sister-in-law of our former bishop, Bishop Skinner. That was neat. We had a priesthood guy with us too, and he was married to one of the presidency members of the general primary presidency. He was there while his daughter and granddaughter were washing some clothes, and it was super sweet to see him interact with them. I really enjoyed the chance to be a little social while doing a mundane thing like laundry. I don't often talk to people while washing clothes, especially at a public laundry, so that was super nice.

The kids had a great time at their programs. Katie made a really good new friend, and she hung out with Katie almost all evening. Her name is Eliza, just like Minsy's name. At the end of the evening program Minsy saw this girl in the crowd and ran up to her, screaming "Eliza!" So cute. I guess Minsy has decided that Eliza is her new best friend too. Hyrum didn't end up going horseback riding because the huge downpour came right in the middle of that activity. Everyone else loved things. JoJo asked if we could come back next year. That's always a good sign.

Waiting for FHE to begin.

This evening we had a Family Home Evening together as a group. The evening started with a banner parade where each family came to the stage, showed our banner, and then told who we were and where we were from. I generally HATE these sorts of activities. Hate them. Why? Well, there are some people who just make these horribly amazing banners and look so put together. Then there are some like us who took some time to do it but didn't have a professional looking thing. I always feel so judged. Well, it turns out that this wasn't so bad. The crowd cheered for everyone equally, so I didn't feel like too much of a loser.

After the banner parade we watched a few brave families put on skits or do talents for all of us. The ponies next to the amphitheater came to visit during the skits, so I came down with her so that she could have a chance to pet them. Minsy is pretty nervous around animals, but she has this desire to touch them. Those two feelings war a bit with her, so she'll put out her hand, and then shriek in terror when the pony turns her way. Still, I think she enjoyed things.

It is interesting to me how much inspiration I am feeling out here, even in the times when we are not doing anything overtly spiritual. I have been thinking a lot about seminary and ways that I can become a better teacher in order to help the youth. But I have also been thinking of ways that I can be a better mom and help my kids to be all that they can be. I really get this impression that the Church is kind of circling the wagons and trying to strengthen the youth as much as they can in preparation for the difficult times ahead. I want to do my part for this. I want to do better. I need to do better. I want to get to work.

So another day is done, and all is well. I hope the three oldest are surviving up on the trail during these crazy wet rains. I think of them often. The family is just not the same without them here. I can't wait to hear their stories.