This week was Young Women's Camp.  Yay!  I got to go!` It was tons and tons and tons of fun.  I was assistant camp director so I got to interact with the girls a lot.  This year Savannah was a Youth Camp Leader, Sarah was a 4th year, Megan was a 3rd year, and Mariah went as a 1st year.  Four daughters at girls' camp!  What richness.  What a blessing to be there, too!

Cheyenne, Cali, Bethany, Benjamin, and Kevin went to Grandma Gazdik's for the week.  She only lives around the corner, but it was easier for the kids to sleep there since then Kevin wouldn't have to wake them early each morning and spend extra time getting them ready, feeding them, and driving them over.  Still, he wanted to be with them, too, so he just moved in with his mom for the week, too!  Grandma did a great job getting the kids to ballet, parties, activity days, tennis, and piano lessons.  I think they all had a great week.

Savannah, Sarah, Megan, Mariah, and I left for camp Monday morning after breakfast provided by the stake YW presidency and a brief devotional.  It was just our ward this year!  We drove to our campground in Green River, Utah right next to the Green River itself.  That day we had a get to know you game (organized by Sarah), decorated shoes, made hair bows for the battered women and children's shelter, had dinner, and sang campfire songs led by our very own super-silly Savannah, who knew all the words and the proper silly way to sing them.  We laughed so hard we cried.  That night we learned about the stars from President Hylton.  That was definitely a highlight.

Tuesday we drove to Arches National Park and hiked to the Delicate Arch.  It was beautiful!  And windy!  Which was good because it was also quite hot and the wind kept us cool.  Well, it kept me cool anyway.  I don't feel the heat at the same spot on the thermometer as others do apparently.  The girls all did the hike just great.  Afterward we walked to another double arch that had shade and a lovely natural amphitheater and had a devotional.

Wednesday we split our numbers in half and took two trips down the river to see the Crystal Geyser.  We had great fun on the river.  We ran our raft right over a log we were trying to avoid, but after that we got better and managed to catch up to the other raft so we could douse them all with our baling bucket.  Bishop Roylance became our resident viking, instructing us, "Fighting Speed!"  The second trip had more wind so it was a little harder for them.  Sarah came back with five blisters!  Her hands hurt so badly!  That night we had another great devotional from Brother Gierisch who is employed in the decorative work done in the temples.

Thursday we drove to Goblin Valley.  Again it was hot but the wind kept things bearable.  The girls fanned out and climbed and explored.  We only had one big fall and the girls thought it was very exciting.  No one was hurt!  Then the wind kicked it up several hundred notches whipping sand into our eyes and we headed for the safety of our cars and drove back to camp.  That night we had skits and sang, received awards from our YCLs, had one last devotional and then had testimony meeting.  The spirit was strong and I could tell the girls all were feeling a great love for each other.  That was really neat.

We broke camp early Friday morning and were home by lunchtime!  It was great fun.  I was so glad I could be there.  Savannah, Sarah, Megan, and Mariah were glad that they could be there, too.

We've had a great time being back together as a family, too!  We had a super father's day today.  We had Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik over for dinner and presents and gushy cards.  We are so thankful for all our grandpas and for our wonderful dad, Kevin B. Skinner.  So, so, grateful for that great man and for all he does for all of us -- including making it possible for Mom to go to camp!