Sharon, Vermont

We were recently in Sharon, Vermont over the Labor Day weekend. This is our Ward's annual campout. The event takes place at Camp Joseph, located right next to a historic site where Joseph Smith (our Church's founding prophet) was born. The camp itself is magnificent - nestled in the Vermont hills.

It's isolated, so that everything is quiet, peaceful and beautiful to look at. It's hard to describe, but if you like camping...this is a great spot. It has bathrooms and showers - a real luxury when camping.

This was our last activity with the Ward, as we left for Austin the day after the campout ended. While bittersweet, we had a wonderful time with our friends in the Ward. G-Man had an amazing time playing with his friends.

I know it doesn't look like he had fun...you'll have to trust us.

A snapshot of all the activity going on...

As anyone who camps the right way knows...it's really all about the food. Camp Joseph was no exception. We were invited to our friends' campsite, so they could share a tradition with us for breakfast. I like to call these "heart-attack pancakes".

What a cute little cook....

Apparently, you fry up a good amount of bacon, then use all that wonderful grease to "enhance" the pancakes. Without a doubt, these were fantastic. Our friends even provided me with some sugar-free syrup ; )

One of our friend's husband brought a couple of interesting things. First, was a unique way to cook a turkey, with a modified dutch oven:

He also had a system he developed to launch "rocket bottles". Basically, you build up the water pressure in a soda two-liter bottle, so that it launches like a rocket:

Besides just being plain cool, it offered a fun game of trying to catch the bottles as they descend to Earth. I had to get in on the action...

I competed against more than just the 3 year-olds...I promise

I won't take the time to describe all the activities, but there were games, music, card-playing, volleyball...the list goes on. I just appreciated having the time to sit and visit with some incredible people. We would gather for meals, and a spiritual thought each night at the campfire.

One of the big events at Camp Joseph, is the Slip n' Slide. We take huge sheets of plastic, lay them down on a small hill, and run water (and dishwashing liquid, at times), down the slide. The kids and adults look forward to this every year...can you blame them?

It usually take a teen-ager or adult to overshoot the landing....

Since the only real way to appreciate the Camp Joseph Slip n' Slide is through video, I have some clips to show just how fun it was:

G-Man wanted to do it this year, so I tried to help him. I guess you can call this "help":

This next clip shows G-man's best friend, along with his father. It's hysterical...check out the "army crawl" technique this little guy employs:

One of our Ward members...let's call him A...wanted to experiment with mass and velocity. A's first experiment was to put his daughter on his back, to see if it would make the experience go faster:

With that done, he wanted to do one more test. The video speaks for itself:

Needless to say, it's an image that we won't soon forget ; )
On Sunday, we held Church at Camp Joseph - it was a very touching testimony meeting. In the afternoon, many took a short hike to the Joseph Smith Memorial, to see a reproduction of the Smith home and a touching film about Joseph Smith's life:

Some of the kids were given the VIP treatment
That afternoon, we prepared dinner. Our good friends took the lead on some out-of-this-world steak tips. I'm not going to lie...they were worth the entire trip ; ) It was fun to have everyone work together on a great meal

I guess I was "supervising" at this point...

As usual, I was involved in roughhousing with little kids. I don't know how it happens, but I always seem to be in the middle of it...

Papa Bear vs Bear Cub

It's Pile-on-Diggity Time!

The last night of the campout, the Bishop asked my wife and I to hold a "fireside" - this is a meeting with the entire Ward, centered around a spiritual theme. In days gone by, these were literally held at the fireside. My wife sang a beautiful song and I was able to give a talk about gratitude - and dealing with adversity in life. It was a great experience, and many told us how much it helped them. At the end of the evening, some good friends played a special video that they had created, showing how much fun everyone had at Camp Joseph. If you would like to see the 6-minute video, click below.