Ward Camp out 2009

Ryan and I made the decision to go to the Ward camp out this year. We have passed it up before but due to the age of our children and their excitement we thought we would give it a try. It took several days a whole lot of borrowing and list after list to get prepared and ready for what is a 24 hour trip. We are not campers and had seriously nothing to bring along. After hitting up all of our friends and neighbors we scraped together a tent, tarp, sleeping bags, lanterns, flashlights, blankets, and all the other "outdoor " necessities. The children were thrilled and we loaded up and headed north to the Tonto National Forrest. I love the outdoors one of my favorite hobbies is fishing and I really enjoy the mountains and pine trees. Not going to lie though sleeping outside, dirty is not high on my list of things I want to do. We didnt get up there until after dark and setting up a tent that you are unfamiliar with in the pitch black with only lantern light is not an easy task. Thanks to the Hunts we ate well that night and throughly enjoyed ourselves. Although it was cold we slept warm and were well rested the next morning. U nlike many of our co-campers we had a pleasant evening. I am a night owl and sat up outside watching the skunks come in and clean the ground. I think they were in heaven considering how much food had been left on the ground. Those little scavengers sure cleaned up well. The turnout was amazing over 250 people showed. We were treated to a breakfast the next morning and tons of entertainment. There was a zip line, fishing, s'mores, creeks to explore, friends to play with and campfires to throw things into and watch them burn. We had planned on staying late into the afternoon however mother nature had different plans. When the black cloud began to roll in and the thunder and lightening got fierce we decided it was time to pack it all up and head home. On the way we stopped at the fish hatchery and fed the trout. The kids thought this was the most fun and so did our husbands. Quite a few of them had a contest to see who could swipe one of those fish up into their hand. Brent caught a live one and Ryan scooped up a dead one and violently wiggled it hoping that all who saw would think it was still alive. Overall we all had a great time and to be honest I think that we would all be excited to do it again. Thanks to Gilbert 3rd for putting it all on and for Ryan for all the effort getting ready to make sure we were prepared. Enjoy all the pictures I will post as many as I can.