One Last Summer Hurrah and an Answered Prayer

Friday after the kids were out of school, we packed up the van and head out on one last camping trip. We had planned our last camping trip for a couple of weeks before at Gold Springs Park, but it had rained all weekend and we ended up canceling our reservation. We were totally bummed and really wanted to get one more camping trip in to finish off our awesome summer. We didn't want to spend too much time driving, and being that it was the long weekend, all the conventional campgrounds nearby were completely booked. So we decided to venture out to the exotic destination of Del Bonita and camp out at the local campground. Daniel and I stopped by the Wednesday before on our way home from the temple. I noticed that the thistles were pretty bad especially around one of the swing sets, so I made a note to bring garden sheers and gloves. When we arrived Friday afternoon, I put Kathryn to work right away clearing thistles while I got the tent set up. It was a beautiful afternoon, with just a little wind. Being the smart mom that I am, I knew there would be plenty of space for flying kites so I brought a bunch of our 60cent kites that I had bought earlier in the summer. They fly amazingly and are really easy to get up in the air, so the kids did that while I was setting up camp.

Once camp was set up, we just took some time to take in the beauty that was all around us.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner and planned to make smores for dessert, but had to wait a while for the wind to die down before starting a fire. And just like magic at about 7pm the wind stopped, and we were able to enjoy some tasty smores.

Before bed we all sat around the campfire and read scriptures together.  The kids headed to bed around 9pm and I stayed up with the fire a little longer. I headed to bed at 9:45, the earliest I've been to bed all summer...or like in forever. At 11pm some car headlights shone on the tent, to single the arrival of Daniel, a surprise visit! After he arrived the wind really picked up and I said, "well I guess we'll get to see how our new tent holds up in the wind." 

Saturday was a beautiful day, it was warm and a little windy. Daddy headed off to work and we got ready for a lazy day of outdoor fun. After breakfast was cleaned up, we headed out for a nature walk. I came prepared with masking tape so that we could make nature bracelets by wrapping it around our wrists with the sticky side out. The idea is then that you collect bits of nature and stick it to your bracelet. The girls and I all collected things like flowers and pretty leaves, James collected rocks and a single dandelion. Such a boy. The rest of our day was spent with flying kites, playing clue, teaching Tansley how to do a sudoku, folding a cutting construction paper, having little naps, swinging, playing on the slide eating food, and generally just having a great time enjoying the great out doors. 

For supper I had planned to do a wiener roast, but it had been windy all day and I wasn't sure it would be a good idea to have a fire. But just like magic, at 6pm the wind died down and we started a fire. We sat around the fire eating hotdogs and smores. Ella was tired and fell asleep in the chair eating a hotdog. We kept the fire going strong until after we had read scriptures and sent the kids to bed. By then Ella had woken up and her and I sat by the fire until the kids got settled and were sound asleep, then we too headed to bed around 10pm. Again in the middle of the night the wind howled and I prayed we'd be safe and the tent would hold up.

Sunday came, we got up enjoyed breakfast, boiled some water and had sponge baths, and headed off to church in Del Bonita. When we left there was nothing but a slight breeze and nothing to suggest I'd need to worry about anything. We had a very enjoyable time visiting the Del Bonita branch. They don't usually have a primary, but with my five kids and another family with 4 kids visiting "home" they put together an impromptu primary. It was wonderful, and spirit filled. The wind again had picked up, but the day was still pleasant. After church we headed back down to the campground, as we came up over the hill and around the bend I saw it...our tent blown up on its end against the camp kitchen, and flapping in the wind, I was afraid for the worst, but hoped that maybe all we would need to do is replace a few poles.
I pulled up, turned the van off, got Ella out and shut the doors. It must have been quite a strong wind to have blown the whole thing up on its end with all of our stuff in it, including a playpen. The wind was still blowing hard. I decided that I wanted a picture of this because I knew I'd be blogging about it, but my camera was in the tent somewhere, so I went to the van to get my phone. When I got to the van, I saw that the doors were locked and I could see my keys and my phone sitting there in between the seats. For some reason in my haste to check on the tent, I had taken the keys out of the ignition and dropped them there. All weekend I had been so careful not to leave the keys in the van because I had noticed before that the kids had been accidentally locking the doors. Our crappy situation had just gotten much much worse.
We were expecting Daniel later that day, but I had no way to reach him. There isn't any cell service at the campground, but I had noticed that up at the top of the hill you could get a signal...but that didn't matter because the phone was locked in the van. The girls and I got to taking the tent apart and I realized that the tent was in much worse shape than I had hoped. Poles were broken, joints were busted and the tent was torn. Some pegs were still in the ground with the loops or guy lines still attached and the velcro pockets that held the fly to the poles had been ripped right off. The tent was toast. I was sad. It was only our second camping trip in that tent, and we really liked it. With the tent down we began the task of trying to get our stuff out of it. During this whole time both James and Kymberly were in hysterics, bawling afraid of how we would get home and sad because our tent was destroyed. The thought entered my head “we went to church today, why did this happen” and immediately the response came in a very clear voice in my mind “you asked for safety”. I couldn’t argue with that, the Lord had answered my prayer and humbled me for having doubted him. If we had been at camp instead of at church, Ella would have been napping in that tent when the wind came up and tipped it over. I can only imagine the panic that would have caused. While at church the branch president had mentioned that he had noticed us from his place and wondered if we would need help packing up. I had told him then that my husband would be coming so we should be fine. There is only one farm yard that over looks the campground, and it wasn't too far away, I thought about going for a walk to get help, but then decided that we needed to pray first. We knelt together on the grass. I first thanked our Heavenly Father for the wonderful time we had had, for the safety that he had granted us, for the opportunity to go to church in that wonderful branch and be spiritually uplifted. Then I asked that he help us know what we needed to do. To send us help that we needed and bless us with whatever else we were in need of and to calm James and Kymberly and let them know that everything would be OK. I knew before I was done praying that we wouldn't be walking anywhere and that I should get started making lunch for the kids.
 I got the older girls busy folding up  blankets and pillows and putting clothes back in bags and I headed to the kitchen to start making lunch. Luckily I had left the coolers in the camp kitchen while we went to church so we had plenty of food to eat. I had just got the makings for sandwiches out of the cooler when a truck came down the road towards us. Over the weekend many vehicles had stopped in at the other camp kitchen and visited the outhouses or let their pets run, but this truck was coming out towards us. When it reached us there was a couple inside, they asked how things were going. I told them that we were in a bit of a predicament. They didn't have a cell phone, but they'd see what they could do to help. He took a look at our van and after some discussion decided that it wasn't a good idea to try to jimmy the locks on our new van. So instead, they decided that they would take Daniel's phone number and go up the the farm house and use the phone to let him know to bring the van keys and that the tent was down. As they drove away James was devastated that they weren't going to help us, I explained to him, that they were going to go call daddy and that they were an answer to our prayer. He said "No, Jesus didn't come to save us!" I told him that Jesus couldn't come to help everyone, but that he had sent this nice couple to come and help us. That is how he answers prayers, he sends other people to help us. Kymberly asked if she could say a thank you prayer, I told her of course she could, and she offered the sweetest prayer of thanks. Not long after the couple returned to let us know that the call had been made, Daniel had been reached and he was on his way. I thanked them, and let them know that they were an answer to prayer. We had just finished offering up our prayer when they arrived. The lady said "Wow, that gives me tingles". Now all we had to do was wait. While we were waiting the branch president's wife came down to check on us to see if there was anything we needed. We had all the food that we needed and plenty of blankets to keep us warm in the cool wind. So after we visited for a bit, she headed back home. After not too long, my knight in shining armor arrived to save us and help pack up our devastated camp.

Imagine the tent standing straight up on its back end with the roof smashed up against the camp kitchen. It wasn't the way he had wanted to end our camping trip. I had more fun things planned for another night with daddy. But we had fun while it lasted and we were glad to have got one more camping trip in before really getting into the swing of things. It also ended up being a great lesson for the kids, Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers, and most of the time it isn't Jesus who comes to help, but just regular folks that he sends to our aid. Now they'll have their own story to share in primary.