Leaders in Training

This year, instead of participating in the regular Scout Camp, Taylor chose to apply and participate in the National Youth Leadership Training Camp.  He spent a week up in McCall doing all sorts of leadership based activities.  He said a lot of it was listening to seminars, and then applying the skills they had just talked about.  He really enjoyed it. 

At the end of the week, they had a special graduation ceremony for the scouts who participated in this training, so I booked a condo and we took the rest of the family up there for a fun weekend.  Little Emma was only three weeks old...but she traveled really well, and seemed to really enjoy sleeping in the huge bed.  In fact, Andy and I were amazed at how one so small could completely take over a King sized bed.

Here is the group of NYLT's...they were divided into 10 patrols, and in true Scout fashion, part of the ceremony was sitting through 10 different skits. 

Emma survived the skits by taking a long nap.

There were huckleberry bushes everywhere, so we let Lainah, Matthew, and Addy pick huckleberries.  Addy was sharing some of her yummy treasure with Daddy.

Matthew would sit and watch for a little while, and then he was off picking again.  By the end of the ceremony he had purple fingers.

Rachel and Brooklynn kept me company on that hard log the entire time!  They kept asking me why none of the skits were funny!  And a few times, Brooklynn would whisper to me, "Mom, I don't get it..." to which I would reply, "that's okay Brooklynn.  It's a scout skit...there's nothing to get!"

Here is Taylor's patrol.  When he went up for the week, he didn't know if he would know anyone up there because he was the only boy from our ward who signed up for this...but he ended up being in the same patrol as a friend from school, and became friends with the rest of the boys. 

They were awarded a special neckerchief and slide, and a couple badges for the training.

I missed him a ton, and was so excited to give him a hug.  This was the first year of him going up to Scout Camp that Andy didn't go up at all, and it made me miss him more and worry...because I knew his Dad wasn't up there looking out for him.  He's growing up and is a great kid.

This is Taylor's Camp Counselor, Jeremiah.  Jeremiah had asked Taylor to introduce him to us.

He shook our hands, and told us what a great young man Taylor is...told us about the leadership he had displayed during the week within his patrol, and invited Taylor to apply to come up next year as a Counselor.  It was one of those moments as a parent that you think, "okay...maybe we aren't doing everything all wrong!"