Fathers and Sons - 2007

On Friday, Johnathan and I headed out to our ward's seventh annual "Father's and Son's" campout. This was the first time in seven years that I was not in charge - for at least part - of the campout. It was really nice to go and not have to worry about anything. Johnathan and I had a great time.

We got there about 3pm and searched for the perfect tent site. We found one surrounded by trees. As soon as we were done with the tent, Johnathan and I went for a little hike on the Blackhawk trail. On the trail, Johnathan discovered what we dubbed the "Teeter-Totter-Tree". When we originally passed by this tree, Johnathan stopped dead in his tracks. I asked him what was wrong. He said that he heard a teeter-totter and was scanning the mountainside for signs of the apparatus. We then noticed that there was a breeze, and that the tree we were standing to would wave in the breeze and make a metallic squeaking sound just like a teeter-totter.

After our hike, Johnathan ran off to play with friends. I didn't see much of him that night until dinner. I made him a polish sausage, and then treated myself to a T-bone steak. Amber had laughed at me because of my well-balanced meal that I was taking. So I accomodated her by taking some cake with us. So, we had Steak and cake.

That night we enjoyed a short fireside conducted by the Bishop. We went around the group and talked about something that they remember about their fathers. I talked about the time that Larin Ward and I loaded up the four-wheeler and his odyssey and headed up Lake Canyon together as young boys. We had a great time until the Sun was going down. Then, I started to realize what we had done...we had left our homes and parents to go into the lone and dark wilderness. I was getting quite homesick and scared. Then, we heard an engine in the night. It was Dad and I think Vance came along too. They stayed the night with that grateful young boy.

Anyway...after the fireside, Johnathan went with friends and played some night games. He had a great time, but he has started to realized that he is not as fast as other boys. It really hurt his feelings that he was so slow. I guess that is something we are going to have to work on. Anyone know how to teach someone to run faster???

After a nice night's sleep, we got up and made breakfast for the camp - pancakes, ham, eggs, and Tang. We cleaned everything up and put our tent away. We had to get home for Johnathan's baseball game, but before he headed back up north, we grabbed a geocache called "Utah Valley Overlook". It had an incredible view of the valley below.

We had a great time together. It is fun to go on these campouts with my kids. I sure enjoy every one.