Philmont Scout Camp

Warning: This is a really long post...

This is what my family looks like after a week of camping.

We were lucky enough to get to go to Philmont this summer. It's a little Scout Camp in New Mexico. It's scout training for Stake Presidents and Stake Young Men's Presidents. Stake YM Presidents have to be invited by their Stake President to attend, and we were lucky enough to be invited by President Moody and his family. While the men go to leadership training all day, the wives and kids can play.

Each of the kids were divided into age groups and had their own counselors. They had a huge building for nursey age kids, too, so I was able hand off Levi for several hours every day. The kids never EVER wanted to leave their groups. They had so much fun and made so many new friends. After dinner, the kids would run off with their friends, and we didn't see them until lights out at 10pm.

On the grounds there is a huge villa which used to be used as a summer home. Now, it's a museum and you can do tours, but there is a huge villa lawn that the kids would play on for hours. They would play frisbee, football, baseball, or just lay on a blanket and hang out. There were deer roaming free on the lawn, too.

During the day, the kids did their thing, and at night there were skits, firesides, parades, and other activities. The kids cried when we left. They said it was better than Disneyland. I think a lot of it was the Spirit they felt there all week. It truly was a little heaven on earth.

So, I had only heard of Philmont from Pres. Moody and Pres. Lytle, and they always said that if we had the opportunity to go, we needed to go. When we arrived, we were greeted by Sis. Wixom, the General Primary President, and President Gibson of the General YM Presidency. The entire week at Philmont was planned and run by the General Primary Presidency, and General YM Presidency. Those were our speakers at church on Sunday, they were the speakers at firesides, classes, and trainings. It was a seriously amazing experience.

Taylor had the opportunity to have her testimony meeting and a Q&A that was filmed with President Beck. She bore her testimony and asked him questions. She also had a fireside with President Beck and his wife. The week after she had these experiences, she had her first year at Girl's Camp. I asked her how Girl's Camp was, and she said it was OK. Not like Philmont, though. Sad that her first year at camp had to follow this Philmont experience.

I was able to have classes from the General Leadership during the day with the other wives. In those classes, they basically just told us how amazing and wonderful we are, and thanked us all for having so many children and supporting our husbands.

Some other things we did were:

Hiking- the kids did some 7-8 milers. Even Brooklyn.
Crafts- there was a huge handicraft building with every craft you could possibly think of.
Fishing- we found a little reservoir, but didn't catch anything.
Horseback riding- they have a stable on the camp grounds. Even Levi rode a pony.

We ate every meal as a family in the mess hall. I didn't have to cook at all. It was like a huge cafeteria, and we would just go through the line. Sometimes the food was good, sometimes not.

Here are some pictures, in no particular order...

Taylor is inside the orange blanket. This was part of her skit.

This is Blake doing her part in the skit. I can't believe how much my girls loved doing their skits. I am not a skit person. That was always my least favorite part of camp, but my girls were so excited for it.

Dylan just finished her skit. She was VERY proud of herself.

Levi had the best seat in the house.

Levi was always trying to run off, and it was pretty exhausting trying to catch him all the time.

Dylan played in the mud every second she could. If you know her, you know that playing in the dirt is her most favorite thing EVER.

She offered President Moody a mud pie. He was a very good sport, and he made her day by playing along.

These were the buses that took the kids to their hikes. The kids hiked A LOT. They got patches for all the hikes they went on. They earned so many patches. I learned that Scouting is ALL about the patches. I sewed Taylor's on her camp sweatshirt, so she had a ton of patches for her first year at Girl's Camp.

Lincoln waiting for his bus to go on his hike. Hiking was his worst thing about Philmont. He hated it. It was really hot.

This is his hike buddy. It's the twins from his baseball team (two of his best friends) cousin. It's a small world.

Levi and Brooklyn having a conversation on Sunday after church.

Brooklyn is doing her counselor's hair, waiting for her bus to the hike.

Taylor and Blake were in the same group. They were waiting for their 8 mile hike. I was so glad I packed the Camelbacks.


Breakfast

This was our home for the week. Our family had 3 of these tents right next to eachother. Levi and the girls were hanging out during flag ceremony in the morning.

Lincoln is on the bottom, third from the left. Notice President Beck and Sister Wixom standing in the back. Lincoln had the opportunity to be involved in the flag ceremony on Wednesday. He was one of the lucky kids to raise the American Flag. They made us sign a media waver, because they took lots of pictures for the Ensign and took some film footage. Maybe we will see him in the Ensign or on LDS.org sometime soon :) Either way, what an amazing experience for him, and Jim was a proud dad watching his kid raise the American Flag in his Scout Uniform at Philmont in front of the General YM President. Once in a lifetime experience, no doubt.

So, that was our week at Philmont. I don't know if we will ever get to go again. Only if Jim is a Stake President someday, I guess. We were really grateful for the chance to go. It was a fun family vacation, and Spiritual experience for all of us. Something we will never forget.