Youth Conference

Because Jonathan is in Young Men's and I am in Young Women's, we both were able to attend Youth Conference. This was actually the first Youth Conference I had been to, so it was quite an experience for me as well. We took all of the youth 14 and older down to Goblin Valley to camp, hike, raft down the Green River, learn from devotionals, share their testimonies, and eat good food. Along with Jonathan and I, the Young Women's president, Megan, the Young Men's president, Calvin, and the Bishop and his wife came, along with three young women and four young men.

The whole group went on a hike through Little Wild Horse Canyon, a slot canyon.

Megan and Melissa

Jonathan found a new home for us.

And some new cuisine.

Jonathan with Ali and Sydney. Calvin told the kids he would give them a dollar if they caught a lizard. Jonathan was the only one who could do it besides the Bishop.

Jonathan and I were in charge of dinner on Monday night. We made dutch oven pizza and peach cobbler. Yum yum.

McKay, Alex and Melissa

Jonathan, Sydney, Ali, Todd and Bishop Gardner

Sadly, no one took pictures during our rafting expedition down the Green River. I think we were all too worried about losing our cameras to the rapids. We took two different groups - Ninjas and Pirates. Jonathan and I were both Pirates. Yarrrgh! A woman in our ward and her friend were our guides. The kids had a lot of fun navigating the rapids, riding the bull, and splashing and pushing each other in the water - which actually felt great considering it was 102*!

That night we went hiking around Goblin Valley - named for the strange rock formations. It was fun picking out shapes from the rocks and climbing up and down them. Here is Alex, Todd, Andrew, Sydney, Ali and McKay.

Don't even ask me how Jonathan got up there. He's practically a mountain goat.

A view from between a couple of formations towards Goblin Valley.

Climbing around on the rocks.

We even had a chance for a snapshot as the sun was setting. Oh, so cute.

They call this formation the Three Wisemen. I think they look rather like knights from far away.

And one more group shot. From top left to right, Alex, Ali, Megan, McKay, Todd, Andrew, Melissa, Sydney, Me, Jonathan, Sis. Gardner, Bishop Gardner, Calvin.

By the end of the trip, everyone was dead tired. I think the kids slept the whole way home. :) Megan and I ended up getting a little lost and taking a detour through some very small Utah towns, including Ferron, Utah, where my brother's current mission companion is from. I had just heard about it two days before and had wondered where it was. Imagine the surprise when we ended up driving through it, haha. The detour put us an hour behind everyone, but the scenery was beautiful and I'll probably never go there again, so I guess it was worth it to see it once! For the most part, Youth Conference was a success and everyone had a fabulous time. It'll be hard to top the trip next year!