Monks Family Vacation

This summer, our family decided to take a family vacation to Philmont Scout Ranch. It is in New Mexico, and we live relatively close to it (about 7.5 hours away). Also, scouting is actually something that our entire family does, and this was the last year that our church will be chartering our scouting units. So we decided to go to our church's big conference at Philmont this past week. 

There were amazing classes and activities for campers of all ages. Andrew attended the class sessions, and the kids and I did some fun activities. 

We got to stay in these big canvas tents, with wooden floors and outlets, not to mention real bathrooms and showers nearby. This is camping that I can handle! Andrew did a phenomenal job packing the LARGE amount of bedding, equipment, supplies and clothing we needed. 

Let me just say, Philmont is amazing. It has everything you could imagine for family fun.

 The kids were huge fans of gaga ball.

 My favorite part? All meals provided. No shopping, cooking, or washing up! The dining hall had this random old Luigi sticker on one of the drink dispensers. We don't know why. But it felt like a good sign!

 Clayton did not quite appreciate the menu as much as the rest of us. He survived the week on dry cereal, PB&J's and cheese.

 Brian on the other hand was a huge fan of the food. He and Andrew agreed it was the best Scout camp food they'd ever had.

 Seriously, this place is stunningly beautiful. A gorgeous villa and the surrounding 60,000+ acres were donated to the BSA by the Phillips 66 owner in 1938.

 We had a variety of weather including several thunderstorms, but the sunny, breezy days and cool nights were enjoyed by all.

 Each family made a family banner. We had each of us decorate one letter to represent ourselves.

 Checking out the national Scouting museum:

 The camp is staffed by about 2,000 people! Our camp counselors were an amazing bunch!

Our group got to spend the week with Charles Dahlquist. He was the Young Men's General president of our church, and the National Commissioner of the BSA. He is unbelievably talented and fun! 

 Dory with her group, doing leatherwork.

 Brian trying out ceramics. The kids did so much more fun stuff, but we were all so busy I don't have pictures of all of it.

 Brian's only sadness at the dining hall was when they ran out of ketchup. So I drove a few miles to town and bought him some. He said it was the 'best surprise ever!'. It is hard to overstate how much this kid likes ketchup.

 All three kids got to help in a big flag ceremony on Tuesday. They did a great job and earned some Philmont neckerchiefs and hand-carved bolos.

And then on Tuesday . . . I got a phone call that Brian was in the infirmary. He had tripped and fallen on the obstacle course. I went and picked him up, and I immediately saw that his right arm was swollen and he couldn't move it. We drove to the nearest place to get x-Rays (about 45 miles away) and yep, it's broken! 

 Sadly, it was his elbow/growth plate that broke, which made things more tricky. If it had been the middle of his forearm for example, he probably could've managed the rest of the week at camp in a splint. But the doctor strongly recommended we get him to an orthopedic doctor for a consultation ASAP.

 So, just a bit after this picture was taken on Wednesday, the boys and I drove home. It was a huge bummer that we didn't get to continue the rest of our vacation (besides Philmont, we had planned to visit family and friends) but we all knew we needed to make sure Brian was seen to. 

 Luckily, I got him in first thing Thursday to the orthopedist. He is in a cast now and more comfortable (albeit hot and itchy).

 At least Andrew and Dory got to stay and represent the family for the rest of the week! They won the horseback trail lottery and Dory was thrilled.

 More fun at the craft center!

I think we will return to Philmont someday! It was so much fun, and our trip was memorable to say the least. 

Spring has sprung!

Our busy spring is flying by! Here are a few things I want to remember from it. Clayton had a great time playing basketball at the Special Olympics. 

I went on a trip to Salt Lake City to attend the LDS-BSA Relationships conference. It was a really fantastic opportunity and I had a great time. It was surprisingly fun and energizing to go do something unique all on my own. Here I am at my old stomping grounds- BYU. 

The conference attendees- really wonderful group that shared great ideas and support. 

The trip was made possible by my wonderful mother-in-law who flew out to lend a hand! 

Dory has definitely enjoyed her Scout campouts with Dad. 

Dory's Webelos den to go on a field trip to our veterinarian's office. It was a really cool visit! 

She brought her own dog to demonstrate an exam, and showed the kids x-rays, worms, the surgery. Very cool. 

Clayton found some 3D glasses frames and wore them to church. Looking good. 

We decided to paint our house siding. The original siding was this bright blue that we weren't crazy about (it is mostly on the side and back of the house). 

 Before:

After: 

We really enjoyed the temple open house. It is so exciting to think we'll have a temple just minutes away. 

Brian and a buddy at our church Cinco de Mayo party. 

Another merit badge fair. Yay!

My birthday was low-key this year. I was feeling really crappy from an ear infection and some nerve pain in my jaw. Luckily I was able to get in to see the doctor that day, and I'm all better now. 

My mom got me this amazing gift. It is a bracelet made from the handles of two antique silver forks from her grandmother! You can see the S engraved in the oval on the side for Spjut. I absolutely love it. 

My second cool birthday bracelet- a solar system from Sara!! I can never have enough nerdy jewelry. 

The family on Easter!

What do you do when you get a hole in your new Luigi shirt? You ask Mom to sew a Luigi patch on it. Because Mom does in fact have (more than one) Luigi patch in her sewing stash. 

Our Webelos science adventures continue. Andrew led the den on building and launching model rockets. It was so much fun. 

Approximately 6 years after I first said I'd do it, I finally painted my curio cabinet. It was a dated light oak before. I really like how it turned out. 

We took a little family trip to Poteau, OK. I'll share what Andrew wrote about it :-)

Andrew: Indiana Jones with Google.

We took a mini-vacation this weekend to the town of Poteau, in eastern Oklahoma. What’s unique about Poteau? Nothing, really. It does boast the tallest hill in the world. At exactly 1999 feet above the surrounding terrain, it just misses out on the 2000 foot designation of ‘mountain’. They have an annual 8K race to the summit, which I did, and came in 5th. It was a lung-buster.

But it is also the land of my kin. Four large generations of the Monks family called Oklahoma home before heading further west after World War 2. Many of them are buried in a family cemetery on the old family homestead somewhere in rural La Flore County. We decided to find it.

With little more than vague directions stating “6 miles SW of the town of Shady Point”, on the property of some guy who died 10 years ago, we set out. Driving to the rural township of Calhoun at the designated location, we found nothing. Thanks to Google Earth though, we knew there was a Roy Monks Road, outside of town. We went there and found a small sign for “Monks Cemetery”. Getting warmer.

We narrowed it down to a property with cow pastures and a double-wide but couldn’t find any sign of a cemetery. No one answered the door. The mailbox read Weaver. I wandered around the pasture in the rain but didn’t see anything hopeful. I was about to go home empty-handed, but I turned to Google one more time. The imagery was too poor to pick out any headstones, but floating in the middle of the pasture was the listing for a meat packing business in town. I dialed the number:

“Weaver Meats . . . “ a gruff voice answered.
“Hi, is the Mr. Weaver who lives on Roy Monks Rd?”
“Yes,” he replied warily.
“My name is Andrew Monks . . . and I’m looking-“
“You lookin’ for the cemetery?”
He proceeded to give me directions: across a water-logged pasture, over the barbed-wire fence, through a field of knee-deep, tick-infested (I took a couple home) grass and brambles, around a pond, and down an overgrown trail to a quiet hollow by a creek at the back of his property.

I followed his directions and found the cemetery. Overgrown and unkept, I felt like I’d made an archeological discovery. Instead of golden idols or lost scrolls, I found family. It was moving and deeply connecting. There were Monks names on markers, some children, whose names probably haven’t been uttered out loud in a century. They and their resting place had been forgotten. In truth, the place had probably only been visited once or twice in the decades since the last Monks inhabitant put the place up for sale and moved away. It was thrilling. I used to think genealogy was stuffy old ladies in a library searching microfilm - but this was an adventure.

I took plenty of pictures and will probably go back to tidy the place up. Maybe Brian’s Eagle Scout project can involve restoring the cemetery as a historical community landmark.

(It's Lisa again) We took the kids to this drive-in that they loved so much, we went back again the next day. 

Here is the only sign leading to the cemetery. It is nowhere close to it, and there is nothing resembling a path, let alone a road to get to it. It's amazing Andrew was able to find it. 

The kids fell in love with this dog who lived on the property. She was a sweetie.