It's been so long since I've blogged, I can't believe it! It's been basically a whole month! I have so much to catch up on and don't know if I'm going to be able to do it all. I've been on the computer a while catching up on other people's blogs (Lizzie, you need to blog! I miss you guys!) and I would like to take a break, but then I'll never get back on. So, first I'll blog about the big events before just summer with seven kids. I flew on a plane by myself so I could go to Girls Camp in California. It was a terrifying experience. The actual flying wasn't a big deal, but everything before that was awful. Dad wasn't sure if they would let him walk me up to the gate or not so I was thinking I would have to go through security and find the gate and listen for the call to board all by myself. That really scared me. Luckily, they let him walk me up there, so he was there until I had to get on the plane. So, I just found my seat and that was it. I actually had the same seat both times, by the window. I was so glad. Flying was amazing. It was so cool to see the farms look like a patchwork quilt and see all the tiny houses. It looked like a bunch of little doll houses. My favorite was when I could see a football field or a baseball diamond because I knew how big it really was and it looked a couple inches wide, and I could still see the track around the field. The clouds were also gorgeous from where we could see them. They were right there! Right nexy to us. They didn't even look real. It was amazing. On the way back from California I sat by a girl close to my age and we talked pretty much the whole time so that was really fun. She was flying in for the EFY at BYU. She brought a Disney coloring book and we colored together. It was really fun. Overall it wasn't that bad, I guess. I could do it again. But I don't really want to do it with Anna and Gracie. That sounds really overwhelming to have to be in charge of them and keep them busy during the flight. We'll see if I have to do that.
Girls Camp was great. I'm so glad that I got to go with them. Our Stake divides the girls up by year, so all the 1st years sleep in a cabin, all the 2nd year sleep in a cabin and so on. Last year there were probably twice as many as this year. There were seven of us this year and two of those girls got there the second day. So the first day there were only five of us and two of the girls didn't like to participate very much. But oh well. Girls Camp is so fun. I love the songs and the activities and the devotionals and the meals. I love it all. My relationship with everybody is kind of interesting. They're nice to me and we're all friends, but it doesn't take much for me to get pushed to the last priority. That's kind of how I am everywhere. I'm just not loud and pushy enough. I got along pretty well with the girls in my cabin though, so that was good. Whenever I come home from a church activity like this I talk when I get home. This was how I was at Girls Camp last year and the trek. I got home and talked and talked and talked. I was alone with Mom this year because Anna and Gracie were still at Dad's and Steve was at work and I was talking to Mom about an activity we did. It was the iron rod activity. They had a plastic rod for us to hold on to and we had to hold on to it and walk while we were blindfolded. All along the way the YCLs would be the tempters and told us to stop or let go or that there was a hole that we had to go around. It was the scariest thing I've ever done. Some of my best friends in my ward were YCLs this year and when they told me to let go it was awful not to listen to them because I would always trust them. At this point in the story all of the nights of getting 5 hours of sleep and the sun and everything hit me and I started to sob. I was sobbing. I could not stop and I didn't even know why I was crying. The story wasn't that dramatic. It's amazing what camp does to us. Yesterday, we were at Diane's mom's house with a bunch of the boys' cousins and one of them (he went to EFY too) had gotten back from Scout Camp that day and he fell asleep on the couch. It was really funny and totally reminded me of Girls Camp. Anyway, Girls Camp was fun.
Now for EFY. I don't know what to say first! Well, first of all I didn't go to the I kind of have mixed feelings about it. I was kind of lonely the whole time. The way I would describe the first day of EFY is going to Disneyland and trying to remember everyone's names. The first day was very overwhelming. All week it was a battle of feeling alone and wanting to go home, feeling the spirit and thinking it doesn't matter if I'm popular and actually feeling included, because I was sometimes. All week I was battling with myself about whether or not I liked EFY and wanting it to be over so I could sleep in, but I didn't want the last day to end and when it did end I really missed it. The day after it ended Nathan and I sat around all day and did not know what to do with ourselves. At one point we both sat down on the couch and I said, "I don't know what to do. I'm so bored." And Nathan's like, "Amen, sister." We still talk about EFY all the time. In the middle of a conversation I would say, "You know what that reminds me of?" and Nathan would be like, "EFY! I can't believe it's over!" It was really fun doing it with him and two of his cousins. One of them was in my group (the one who fell asleep on the couch), but Nathan and his cousin were in different groups, so we didn't see eachother too much, but we drove half an hour there and back everyday and even though it was three boys and me, I was able to keep the conversation going most of the time. So, that was fun. So, overall I liked EFY and I am definetly going again next year. Even though it won't be the same. You know the people over it all? I think it's called the directing couple. Ours said that they 'adopted' us for the week. But our 'mom' got sick half way through the week and had to stay home. But our 'dad', Brother Little, was the best. He was so hilarious and serious about the gospel at the same time. He had the best stories about his kids at home. He had this one about him and his 8 year old son (give or take a few years). They turned on the TV and watched the last hour of Free Willy. After it was over and they were watching the whales during the credits his son asked, "Dad, what's that TV made out of?" and Brother Little said, "Well, the screen's a piece of glass." And his son's like, "A piece of glass. How long did we watch that?" "About an hour." "Wow, that's a long time to stare at a piece of glass." There was more to the story, but I don't remember it. I just loved listening to the stories about his kids. He had a lot more stories and fun images and stuff, but I can't write about all of them. So, it won't be the same next year without him, but I'm sure it'll still be fun. Especially since I know what to expect so I won't be so scared about everything.
So, back in Utah with seven kids. It's crazy. We went to the eye doctor yesterday. All of us. It was a long appointment. We were there all afternoon and we took up the entire office. It's crazy, but I love it. I love it when we're all together. I might not if it was any other family of all boys. I went to a friends' house the other day and they had a lot of boys. It scared me. I was only there for a couple hours and when I came home and saw how calm the boys were it was so amazing. Today everyone went to Trifalga (it's a theme park?), except me. I was in bed when they all went. They all came back right around the time Diane's visiting teachers came. We were all starving and ready for our late lunch so while Nathan made us pancakes we all sat and watched him. I'm sure it would have been a sight to see; seven kids crowded around a small counter watching the oldest brother make them pancakes in a very echoy kitchen with women visiting teaching in the next room. It was kinda funny. So, I love our full house. It's fun. But, I am looking forward to going home. I miss my small youth and my little loft and my walks that I went on daily to prepare for trek. I think I'll keep doing those, though it might not be everyday. We go to Idaho one last time this summer next week and then we go home.
