Summer Adventures :)

Oh how the time flies..

Okay so Charley's in Missouri for AIT, and though he's been gone 5 weeks and still has 4 more fridays to go. I talk to him all the time, but still, I miss him a ton, I really do. He's one of my best friends and I don't ever want to lose him.

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As for other happenings, I got bored one Sunday and weaseled my way into my ward's girl's camp. And ya know, I honestly think it was the 3 near death experiences that made this year's camp one of my all time favorites. True, it was very weird being graduated and one of the oldest girls there. I mean, this was my ward, I know and love the girls and leaders.. and yet.. I felt as if I didn't quite belong. Anyway. On to the stories,

1) We camped near the river, and on the second day we were supposed to go tubing.. problem was nobody had been down the river. Bellows, Sis Potter and Sis Hollis accompanied me and Kylee down from our camp. The first couple minutes was fine. Calm waters, great scenery, deep cold water. But of course there had to be a hill. Our calm waters very quickly turned into dangerous rapids. I consider myself to be somewhat experienced when it comes to rafting.. but this.. this was intense. There were a few times when I honestly thought I could die. Adrenaline was pumping. We got to the bottom, a priesthood leader picked us up and drove us up to the top. The waters were amazingly more calm, ha, which was good. It gave us time to recover from our last experience. We got all the way to the bridge, floated past it.. then heard a scream. Sis. Hollis had been in front and when coming close to rounding a corner when all of a sudden a moose ran into the water in front of her.. ..So apparently there was this territorial baby moose who was gigantic and didn't like people at that particular stretch in the river.. I just laughed. It was a baby moose. Not scary at all. *my opinion does change later on* We jumped out at the bridge and walked back to camp.

2) Same day, our YW was split into 4 groups and each went to a station for an hour. Tubing (only to the bridge), rappelling, crafts and an obstacle course or games or something. Not only was I an extra person, but I've had experience with rappelling. Because of these, Bellows had me help her out as her belayer, the person holding the rope at the bottom of the cliff. My job was to make sure if someone slipped they wouldn't fall all the way down the cliff. That would be bad. Very bad. Kylee, as our medic, was at the bottom with me. Now, normally being the belayer is relatively safe.. Ha yeah, not so much this time. But it was an adventure. Whenever the girls' would come down they'd kick loose rocks down on us. Let me tell you, by the end of the 5ish hours we were there, we could have been pro rock dodgers. Kylee would yell 'Rock!' then our complete focus was on not only dodging, but keeping balanced. There were a few close calls, but besides a few scratches, we came out fine and filled with pride. And a lot of gospel ties to rappelling.

3) Every year we go on a hike. Well, I figured this year since I wasn't technically part of the yw's anymore it wasn't necessary for me to go along. So what'd I do? I pretended to take a nap. When they were gone I got up, helped Sis Allmon with the food a bit then walked to the top of the river and tubed down by myself. Smart? Ha not a chance. Fun? Eh, kinda. I was kinda nervous the whole time. I hadn't seen the moose from the bridge so I had no idea where he was. Coming down the river I jumped at each and every sound, worried that I was about to be run out of the river. By the time I hit the bridge I figured I was just being a wimp. This moose was a wild animal, animals move they don't stay in one place, territorial or not. I decided I would continue past the bridge and see if I could make it back to our camp. So I continue floating. I about 10 yards from the curve when I hear a thunderous noise a little ahead and to my right. I look and see a brown blob running away. I knew without a doubt it was the moose. In that instant I almost had a heart attack. Then he walks halfway into the water staring daggers my way. I struggled to get to my feet and once I did I found the water deeper and with a stronger current than I had anticipated. Looking back, baby moose (We named him Gawker) was completely in the water still just staring at me. Daring me to come closer. I ran as fast as I could, but it wasn't fast enough apparently. Throughout this whole thing a few things ran through my mind on repeat. "Oh Crap." "I'm so stupid, how could I be so stupid?" "I'm by myself, I could get trampled by this moose and die and nobody would know what happened." and "Crapcrapcrap." Honestly, I take pride in the fact that I didn't swear. I've never swore and plan to keep it that way. Risking a glance back, I almost fell when I saw him take a step forward. It seemed like it took me hours to make it safely onto the bridge and out of any immediate danger from dear little Gawker. I walked/ran back to camp, my adrenaline not calming down for about half hour.

That was girl's camp. Right after I spent a week at Dad's for Bosten's baptism. The trip as a whole was great, we pretty much played the entire time. Friday we went rock-climbing, 4 wheeling and caving. And Dad found a baby eagle that couldn't fly very well. We cornered it on a 5' ledge and took about 40 pictures...

 

 This bird is real. I've been told these pictures look Photoshopped but I'm here to say they are legit.

Dad here got about a foot away.. See the claws on this bird?! 

Caving, well ha, this was the most legit caving I've ever done. I loved every minute of it.

Bosten's baptism was amazing.. except for the part where I had to give a talk! The talk itself wasn't too bad, I told a story, read a song and went too fast. But besides that I enjoyed myself. Ha it was weird though, I realized that from her baptism day (July 8, 2012) I had been baptized 10 years, 1 month and 1 week ago (June 1, 2002).. Sure makes a person feel old..