Special Needs Mutual

Last Saturday we had a very special group on CC2.  We had the Special Needs Mutual come to have a good time on the Challenge Course.  Most of the girls would not climb, so we did about 5 reverse pulls.  Most of the girls just wanted to swing.  That was difficult for the Elders, because it is hard to get them off the ground enough to make it safe.

How many men does it take to swing an adult woman?  5!

Elder Phillips helping a young women

 Katie was a young women who didn't have the use of her legs.  With the help of the Elders, she was able to climb.  When she got on the log, she needed a little more help and I went on rabbit ears and helped her over to the nest where she was able to do the zip line.

This was a wonderful experience for everyone helping and participating that morning.  We all loved the spirit that these young women brought to CC2.

Weekend Visitors

One of the benefits of the mission is having our family members come stay at camp on one Saturday night a year.  It was really special to have our grandson Kai come and stay in our 5th wheel with us.  It's great having a one on one with him.

We started our evening by going to the lake.  Kai enjoyed the ride and did the steering while grandma and grandpa did most of the paddling.  We only got a little wet.
Then we went to the Challenge course to help other families have a good time on the zip line.  Kai decided he didn't want to zip.  

When we got back to the trailer, we had a camp fire located at the Sunrise fire pit.  We roasted hotdogs and marshmellows and enjoyed eating s'mores.  It was a really great evening.

That's a s'more!

Kai is trying to keep warm

On Sunday evenings we can invite our friends and family up for a visit.  Scott and Marianne Robison and Mont and Jolene Anderson came to camp last weekend.  We took a hike to CC2 and showed them some of the activities we do.  Then we drove down to show them the lake, to camp Hinkley to show them the cabins and pavilion.  

We barbecued hamburgers and watched a cow moose and her baby cross through the back meadow.  Then we even had a great game of marbles.  It was fun to have them come up and show them around.

Notice the deer in the background

Legacy Lake

Moose behind our trailer

Celebration!

The 4th of July was a really fun day!  Many of the missionaries went home for the weekend, but none of our children were around, so we stayed at camp.  They closed the camp to any visitors and there was only about 15 couples here.  Some went on a ATV ride in the morning.  Then we had a barbecue around 1 pm.  

Later in the evening, about 10 couples went to the Oakley rodeo.  It was a really fun evening.  Elder Curtis used to compete in many of the rodeo activities and could tell us anything we wanted to know about the competition, judging, etc.

The Wall

We have this really cool activity on CC2 called the wall.  It is about 12 feet high and all the girls have to get over it.  We use the scenario that this is the Berlin wall and you want to join your extended family so that you may practice religious freedom.  You have 15 minutes before the guard returns with his guard dog.  Your whole family has to get over before that time.  The problem is that the last girl has no one to help her over.  It is sort of dangerous, so I get right in there and help with the spotting.

I had a really spiritual experience last week, as one of the girls who was last could not get over.  She started crying saying she could not get over and please don't leave her.  The facilitator did an awesome job asking them about doing proxy and doing work for the dead.  They then all gave her a helping hand and helped her over.  I was quite emotional!  The spirit has been very strong this week with girls and even the families.  I have a picture but can't figure out how to blur out the girls faces, so I can't post it.  I will try to add it later.

Saturday looked like a beautiful day, but then all of the sudden it started raining pretty hard.  We thought it would just pass over, so Elder Duerden and Elder Asay just kept balaying and didn't go get their rain jackets.  But it didn't stop and pretty soon they were drenched.  The participants were drenched also, but we always keep going unless we have lightning, and there wasn't any.  I was in the nest with an umbrella propped at the top of the pole, so I didn't get wet. (You can see the large raindrops)  The good thing about the rain is that it makes the zip line faster, and I was able to touch the pole when I came out of the nest.  I have tried and tried and have not been successful until that time.

This is Sister Monfredi having a good time!  We often show the young women how to fly to help them understand how safe it is and help them overcome their fears.

Wildlife Update

Here is a picture of the robins in the front of our trailer.  It looks like there are 2 baby birds.  The mother gets pretty upset when we try to look in at the nest.  Steve just sticks his phone inside and takes a picture.

We have seen a few new fawns.  They are so cute, at this young age they are spotted.  The other day we were driving down the parkway when a mother and her young fawn ran across the road.  We pulled over as they were headed up the hill.  The fawn immediately dropped to the ground and you couldn't see her, she was covered by the grass.  Steve walked up the hill and took her picture.