Our very last “summer roadtrip” responsibility was dropping Hunter and Bennett back off at BYU (Just three days after their BYU tennis camp) for FSY (For the Strength of Youth church camp). Luckily for them, they stayed in different dorms than they did the week before, so it felt like a new experience. Unfortunately for them, the sports camps have way better food! FSY is feeding 4000 people and they are definitely going for quantity over quality.
We got them settled in their dorms, gave them hugs and gave them obligatory “have the best week, go out of your way to make friends, please participate…in everything, and don’t forget to call me!”
And with that, we said our goodbyes and started the 10-hour drive home after being gone for most of the summer.
I am happy to report they took way more pictures at FSY than at tennis camp and I can piece together much of their experience thanks to the photos they took.
FSY camp started several years and kids typically are assigned to go every other year. Hunter has already been two times (once at Eastern Arizona, once at Northern Arizona) so if he was going to attend for a third time, he wanted to try something new, which is how we landed at BYU. He felt as though he was on the older end of his group, even though several of his Arizona friends also attended at BYU the same week. He roomed with a tennis teammate from Arizona and they had a great week together. One his highlights included the day they got to spend at the MTC – one of the advantages of attending at BYU. He’s fully moved into missionary preparation mode so the MTC experience was impactful.
This was Bennett’s first year of FSY – which means he’ll only get in two rounds before he graduates high school. I didn’t love the idea of sending him to BYU for his first year, but it just made the most sense to send my boys to the same location, the same week. (It may be a little bit of a letdown going from BYU with their 4 sessions of 1000 people in one week, to Eastern Arizona with their 500 people!)
Bennett also roomed with a friend from Arizona and made plenty more while he was there!
He said the MTC was one of his highlights as well. He also enjoyed the many classes they could choose from. And really, he hasn’t met a social gathering he didn’t love!
With our time running a little short with Hunter under our roof, I love that he and Bennett had the opportunity to room together at tennis camp and then turn around and have the shared experience of FSY. And even though they weren’t roommates or in the same group at FSY, they saw each other regularly throughout the week and shared in what they were experiencing.
I’m watching their relationship transition from big brother/little brother to peer/friend and I’m here for it! I love that they are making memories that belong just to them and building a relationship that will hopefully continue long after they are no longer living under the same roof.
