YW Camp and FSY

Mollie's long awaited day to attend her first YW camp finally came! I knew she would have an amazing experience and I wasn't worried about her at all....except for all the rain in the forecast. But what's girls camp without a little excitement? Her snacks were packed, secret sister gifts wrapped, gear loaded and hair braided....and she was off!

She's made some super cute friends in this ward and it was a first for many of them since they haven't had camps since the pandemic. 

They loaded up in the big 15 passenger van and off they went!

It was hard not hearing from her all week with no cell service. But at some point they went into a town and Brooklyn took this picture and sent it to me. I was glad to see they were smiling and alive. They did get rained on quite a bit it sounded like but they stayed busy braiding hair and giggling and eating junk. Just what girls camp should be. 

That same day we sent Carter off to FSY! I figured if we had to take a week out of the summer to plan all our things around, they may as well be gone the same week to simplify things. He was SO ready to go. Registration was a breeze, finding dorms were a different story, but we made it. He was so excited and basically pushed me out the door. I insisted on making his bed and he let me do that, just barely. 

I was going to miss Carter big time! I knew who Mollie was with and knew she had friends and what they'd be doing for the most party but FSY is totally new and he knew NOONE and i had not a very clear idea of what he'd be doing. But I've heard from others how incredible of an experience it was for their youth and so trusting he was in good hands, I took off! I took solace in knowing I could text him. (although when I did he barely responded!)

I barely made it to my car before I called him and asked him if he wanted to eat lunch together. He said no mom, I'm good. Bye for a whole week!!!!

And a week later we got to pick him up at the crack of dawn. He was even wearing his I love mom shirt. Man it was good to see him and I could hardly wait to hear about all the experiences he had. He made so many new friends and had some great experiences and even came home with a girls number!

We went to breakfast and he told us about the dances and the games and all the classes he had to attend. He learned alot and said that an apostle even came to visit. I believe it was Rasband. Stories of feeling the spirit came out slowly over the following days. I know he grew spiritually and had some awesome personal experiences. We also had a good laugh when he showed us the goose egg on his head from walking into a handicap sign. HAHA!

I'm so glad my kids get to have these experiences through church activities and come back spiritually stronger! Love my kiddos!