Wolverines at Gilchrist 2010.

Dear John,

The weeks are flying by.  You will be home soon.  Looking forward to having you back on American soil as soon as possible.  But in the meantime, here is what is going on right now.

Just got back from Scout camp with the Wolverines.  Every other year we join my previous stake for a Priesthood-based Scout camp.  They still get all their merit badges in, but there is a much more religious theme to the camp.  I've got a few pictures here for you, but since I'm making a DVD of the trip, I don't want to put a lot out there just yet.  I want it to be a surprise for them.  But here are a few highlights:

Meet the current group of Wolverines.

Wolverines:  Summer of 2010 near Black Canyon Lake, AZ

Meet my nephew, Austin.  He decided to catch a football with his face just a few minutes after we got our camp set up.  I was the First Aid guy at this camp, but I didn't expect my guys to be the majority of my patients.  Low-key stuff here, but I was the guy on the job nonetheless.

Austin Turner: Day one, hour one.

He, of course, was not the only one.  He was not even the only one from our troop.  He was not even the only one from our troop that day.  They play hard, but they play rough I guess!

The next day one of our boys decided that carving a piece of wood might be fun.  I don't think he started out wanting to cut a finger off, but that is what almost happened.

Onias tried to convince us (to no avail) that this didn't need sutures.

I look like the surgeon for a biker gang!  And Onias looks like he got a little too much nitrous.

(Way too happy to be getting sutures if you ask me.)

Pre-op and five days post-op.  That's gonna leave a scar!

The camp had a first-aid kit from the district that was three or four times the size of the field kit that I always bring with me, but after looking though it I quickly realized that mine was far better stocked than theirs.  We had the run-of-the-mill stomach aches, diarrhea, cuts and scratches.  One boy (not one of mine) came to me with a previous wound on his chest from a bicycle accident.  However, he never treated or covered it and the filthy, filthy, filthy camp shirt he was wearing kept rubbing into it and got it infected.  Had to clean it out, disinfect with H2O2, and then dress it with an antibiotic ointment and tape some gauze over it.  That was the last day of camp, so hopefully he'll go home, tell his folks, and have it followed up.

The boys did quite a few actual Scouting things.  Here are a few examples below.  Again, I don't want to put too much up right now since I'm putting together a DVD for them of the trip.

Gotta love Scout Camp!

Of course the Scouting stuff is only half the story.  Every morning we would get up for a flag ceremony and a morning devotional.

Lining up for morning devotional.

We also had the opportunity to listen to some very inspirational speakers out in the beauty of the Arizona   high country.

The boys listening to President Stan Lawlor of the Apache Junction Stake.

The boys really enjoy the more primitive style of camping as compared to an official BSA organized camp.  There are pros and cons to both, but this camp is very special to me...so I am biased.

With that in mind, good night.