14 years of service...

I sure wish I had some pictures to go along with this post, but I had to share it anyway. On Friday night, Joe and the boys camped out at the Church for the monthly boy scout campout. It was quite cold, but not cold enough to snow, and heavy rain was forcast all night. But, being Boy Scouts, they camped out anyway in the tent that Joe and I bought 14 years ago. It was August of 1994, and we were newlyweds, about to drive out to BYU, carrying all our earthly possessions in a trailer hauled behind our 1989 Ford Tempo. We couldn't afford hotels, and our stuff could have been stolen anyway, so we were going to camp. We went to Sears to buy a tent that was on sale. To our delight, that one was sold out, so they gave us the next biggest one for $59.99. It officially slept 5. Really, the two of us plus our stuff. The first memorable moment with the tent came in Kansas as we struggled to pitch camp late at night (that means in the dark.) I don't remember the details, but suffice it to say that Joe ended up sleeping under the stars that night :-). We got the hang of setting it up, and we used that tent to camp at Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks while at BYU. Upon our return to the East Coast, we went to Shenendoah National Park several times, all while staying in the tent. Then when Jacob and Katie were born, camping was out of the question for a while, so the tent moved unused to Texas, California, Maryland, and then Michigan. While in Maryland, we upsized to a tent that could actually fit our whole family. It is mammoth. And our communication skills have improved as well--set up was a breeze, even the first time. Anyhoo, back to this weekend. The boys woke up to the fact that Joseph was sleeping in the middle of a rather large puddle. I guess he was on the downhill side of the tent. Jacob's set up was wet, but only a little. So Joe gave Joseph his dry sleeping bag and headed for the car to finish out the night. So, apparently the tent leaks. Sadly, it was thrown in the dumpster before they came home. I'd say we got our money's worth out of it. The site of them hauling all their wet gear inside was a riot. I had a sleepover with the girls in the family room, and hadn't slept very well on the couch, but I wasn't complaining after hearing their story. It took all of Saturday to wash and dry all the sleeping bags and clothes...I asked Jacob why they didn't go inside to sleep, and his sarcastic response was, "Because it's not the 'Boy Scout Way!'"