4 August 2024
VOLUME 12 – NUMBER 567
An evening at Cow Pie camp on river trip
The 5th Ward young men's river trip was this week. I was pretty excited to go, because I love hanging out with the guys from the 5th Ward! The plan was to drive down to a campsite near the river on Wednesday, and on Thursday we would actually get on the river.
The drive to the campsite was pretty short, I slept through most of it. Once we got to the camp, we unloaded our gear (ammo cans, yellow bags, etc.) and set up the tent. On the evening, we did some exploring of the campsite, but we mostly played cards. I introduced them to a game called "Scum," which I think they all liked.
When the time came to go to sleep, we all found it really hard, because the ground was layered with rocks, and it was freezing! In the morning when we woke up, we packed up and headed to the river. Then we got our boats ready and officially started our river trip!
Marcelo and Kai on river trip
The first day was really easy. I don't think anyone found rafting very difficult, and the new guys got the hang of it within the first few miles of the river. I was put on a raft with Marcelo, who was the skipper of our boat.
Once we made it to camp, Dad wasn’t able to reserve the campsite we wanted, so we waited at the river for a little while to make sure no one else had booked the campsite. At about 6:00pm, we started bringing our gear to the camp. It up a little from the river, so unloading was a little difficult.
Isaac relaxing on river trip
Once our gear was at camp, we all broke out our dinners and ate. We set up the tent, and by this time we were all pretty tired, so we got in the tent to get some rest. We played some card games, but we mostly just laid down and talked until we went to sleep.
For Day 2 on the river, I was partnered with Monte. Most of the boys were pretty nervous, because they new that Red Creek Rapid was coming up, and they were all pretty scared of a Class III rapid.
Isaac and Dominic rafting Red Creek
Once we got to the rapid, we switched back to the skippers we were with yesterday, so that we were going down with the partners that we were the most familiar with. I was back with Marcelo, and we were one of the last boats to go down. I wasn't too nervous going down, cause I'd already done this before, so yeah.
Long story short, we all made it through Red Creek. The rest of the day was pretty slow. There weren't many rapids that I can remember. We had a few water fights with our water guns, and Dad shot out some "Little Bombs!"
Day 3 was much like the second half of Day 2—the slower part of the river. However we did go cliff jumping, and we had a Silent Mile, which, as always was really cool. We made it to our off ramp, unpacked and put everything in the trailer, and headed home.
RIVER TRIP VIDEO
To watch a video of the trip, CLICK HERE.
Loading up for 5th Ward river trip
This week I have been getting ready for youth conference for the 2nd Ward. I will be the only one out of the family who is going. The boys will be going on a river trip with the 5th Ward young men, and Veidi will be at home babysitting the Littles.
When I got to camp and got settled in we divided into groups, and we played games because it was olympic week. My group was Team Kolob. The next day we had a lake day, and I loved it more than I expected. I'm usually scared of bodies of water but this time I was not.
Campsite the night before the river trip
We also had Sister Hutton’s parents bring their boat, and they let us go tubing with it. I loved it so much! I had a fun time bouncing around and almost getting flipped. I screamed so much that I lost my voice the rest of camp.
On Friday we had the younger group come up for the day. Before they came up, we did a hike. After the hike was over, we found a safety patrol there about to tow the cars because it was hazard to the road, but they let us stay because we were a church group. The leaders were very grateful for the man.
During the day we did leather making. I had never done it before, and I really enjoyed it.
5th Ward river trip
Later that night we had testimony meeting and I felt the Holy Ghost so strong. I haven't felt it since going to FSY last year. I wasn't able to share my testimony. I got super scared for some reason and I felt like that was Satan telling me not to share what I learned this week.
Later that night they announced the teams places for the games, and my team got first place. I was super surprised that we won. In my group I had Jack, Riley, Abby, and Tyler.
My favorite game we did was limbo. I got super close in my group. I was second to last in the finals. Saturday, some of us got up and watched the sunrise, It was super pretty we had both Sofie's, Annie, Elise, Nash, Austin and Riley.
Watching the sun rise at youth conference
I had a great time being away from home and getting to know my Savior more. The theme of this camp was "I Am a Disciple of Christ," and I saw a lot of examples during camp.
I shared a tent with both Sofie's and Annie, and they showed me that they are true disciples. While we were getting ready for bed in our tent, before we started to talk they said they needed to do their scripture study. so we talked after everyone was done studying.
Eating dinner at Cow Pie camp
This week was the River Trip with the young men from the 5th ward, and it was really fun! I was a skipper and I had Dani, Dominic, and Aaron as my gilligans.
The first day went by really good, we unloaded everything out of the trailer and got all of the rafts loaded, and the vehicles parked. Then we got on the river. Dad had the skippers teach the gilligans on their boats how to turn a raft, so that when we hit a rapids, our gilligans would know what to do. We got it down pretty good.
5th Ward river trip
The first rapid came, and everyone did great, and for the most part listened to their skippers. The scariest part for me was on the first day when we went down Mother-in-Law Rapid (the second-hardest rapid on the trip). We hit a rock, and I almost fell off of my raft, but I caught myself.
I had a really fun time cliff jumping, riding a rapid at Little Hole, and going down Red Creek Rapid, which their were no casualties on. I'm so happy I was able to go, and I can't wait for next years river trip.
Packing up at end of river trip
I just got back from a really fun trip with my freshman roommates. We went to Florida and stayed with another roommate, Maddy, and her husband, Scott. I love that we've all been able to stay close as friends over the years, and I'm so glad we could make this trip happen.
Even though I didn't get to surf at all while we were there, I had so much fun just being at the beach and boogie boarding. We also went to universal for a couple of days, and Harry Potter World was easily my favorite part.
London and former roommates in Florida
At one point, it was our last day in the park and we were waiting in line for Hagrid's ride. Well, there was a storm outside, so they shut it down. Many of the other rides were also closed, so we decided to just wait it out inside in the line.
We got really creative trying to pass time and did some dancing, yoga, and even watched a bit of Harry Potter. We made friends with one of the workers who even joined in on the yoga.
Eventually, we were running out of time before the park closed, so we decided to try and get at least one more ride in somewhere else. We left, went on a ride, and as we got out, one of the other outdoor rides opened up and we walked right on.
London and former roommates in Florida
Then we heard them announce that Hagrid's was opened again, so we rushed over. There was a bit of a line, but not too long. As we were getting on, we saw Ally, the worker we had made friends with while waiting.
As we were exiting the ride at the end, we were notified that Ally had given us a chance to go right back on the ride again. It was crazy! We were able to go on four rides before the park closed, and we couldn't have asked for a better way to end the trip.
London and former roommates in Florida
This is the week the 5th Ward went on their river trip, and Gloria was at youth conference, so me, Quinn, Joann, and Veidi stayed with Mom while they were gone. We had so much fun.
At first we went to the store to get cereal for us. On river trip week, Mom always lets each of us get our favorite sugar cereal. Then we binge-watched Survivor for the first day.
The next day, we had a no-screen day, so we played board games like Exploding Minions and Ticket to Ride. I had so much fun.
When the boys got back, we had to help unload and pack away all the river trip stuff. Later that week we lifted the rafts up into their racks on the ceiling of the garage. It was a little stressful, but we managed to get them up and away.
Dani and Isaac on the river trip
The 5th Ward young men had a river trip this week and Gloria had youth conference, so I stayed home with Quinn, Troy, Joanna, and Mom. I also had an orthodontist appointment, so I did not want to be sore if I was at youth conference.
On the first day me and Mom went to the store to get food for this week, and when we got home, we watched Survivor while we ate corn dogs and pizza bites. At night, we all got to sleep in Mom's room.
Quinn climbing
The next day we did a screen-free day, and we played a lot of board games. Later that day, we went to Mom's work and had dinner at a park. The food was really good. We took Misha, Mable, and Perdie (a training dog). Misha was giving me a hard time, so we put her in the car, and Mable and Perdie did so well.
On Friday Mom left for work, and I was home watching the three Littles, so we played video games and watched TV until Mom got home. I had a fun time staying home.
Packing up at Stonefly Camp
We went on the Spanish ward's young mens river trip this week. I do have to say that I was a little less excited about this trip, because I have had non-stop camps throughout the summer, but let me tell you now, I had a blast with the young men!
They did amazingly well for their first trip, especially the new skippers. It was a good last river trip for me, at least for two years. There were a few up's and downs, but overall it was super fun.
I think my favorite rapid this trip was Mother-in-Law. I went down it with Aaron Barco, and we aced it, along with all the other rapids. I'm glad that I have some good friends that make trips like this even more enjoyable.
Monte and Aaron on Red Creek Rapid
After the river trip, I put a plan that I've had for a few weeks now into action. I asked Hazel out on a date. It's kind of crazy that I have not been on a date in almost a year. For a while I just never felt up to it, but now—with a little help from Gloria—I was able to ask, and she did say yes.
I still need to work out the details with her, like the actual day that the date is going to be—she needs to figure out her schedule. Gloria and Riley are also going to be joining us to make it a double date.
Dad on river trip
What a great river trip! The 5th Ward young men did a great job, and it was a lot of fun. We have been planning this trip for months, and everything turned out really well. Isaac was a great acting-admiral for the trip. He is a great organizer and leader. For me, this was a bit of a good-bye trip for the 5th Ward, since we won’t be seeing them as much any more.
A few weeks ago on the family river trip, I was talking with Jen, and she had a great idea. She asked me if I had ever considered using radios for better communication. Why hadn’t we thought of this before?
Dad cliff jumping
With all our new rafters on this trip, I thought it would be very valuable, so I did some research and found a good waterproof, rechargeable, floatable radio. We purchased eight of them, enough for one per raft, and they were a hit! Thank you, Jen for the great idea!
Not only did it give me more peace of mind in being able to communicate with everyone, but the radios also made it a lot more fun. The boys developed a series of radio call codes, like “comms to tactical, clear all comms, radio check, etc.” My favorite? Every time the first raft hit a new rapid, we would hear the skipper report: “Fire in the hole!”
New river trip radios