This week has been great for me at EFY, but I guess a little stressful for everyone else. It is really cool to have Melinda and Heather here. I really like their counselors as well, they are down to earth and not the completely crazy we should always be happy and cheerful. I think that being more of a realistic person actually helps people be more of a happy and cheerful group because they want to be, instead of because they are being asked to by the counselor, or "guilted into".
So our session director is AMAZING. Brother Hank Smith is a seminary teacher in, um, Arizona? He brought his wife Sarah (who is an EMT and former nursing student, which means Emily my co-counselor and I think she is really cool), and his 10 month year old son Mason Savage Smith. He makes me miss my nephew and niece a LOT. Something random and funny about this kid is that he has a bronze/orange tint to him. At first I thought either he was being exposed to the sun too much, but then noted that the Smiths were very shade-conscious. Hmmm. So I asked. It turns out that he favors squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes so much that they can hardly get him to eat anything. So yes, this kid is orange because he eats his vegetables. It looks like he has a tan, which is darker than mine, but his parents are nothing near that dark. I will try to post a picture, he is really cute, and cuddly even with nice strangers with bad breath like me. :)
Harry Potter comes out soon, and there are actually 3 participants leaving early to sleep outside Barnes and Noble to get some of the first copies off the presses. Wow.
So there is a participant named Jeremy that is living in Beijing with his parents who work for the State Department or something. Jeremy has Cerebral Palsy. He has surprising mobility, is able to walk, speak clearly and with a normal speed, and he is able to do many things. He is visually challenged and needs to read with one eye less than an inch from the page to make out the letters. So that's pretty amazing. Here is the real amazing part. Jeremy wins prizes at top level recitals for playing the piano, he carries a harmonica with him at all times just in case a group that breaks into song needs some jazzy backup. Jeremy can quote General Conference talks almost word for word, and even is able to do impressions of the delivery in a General Authority voice that makes you look twice to make sure L. Tom Perry isn't the one reciting. He hasn't missed a day of scripture study in years, in spite of the difficulty it is to read. Wow. His counselor, Matt, was having a hard week I think towards the end of last session, and I have never seen him smile so much. The group is unified and most of all, having fun. In Matt the Counselor's words, "I think they think they are helping him, but towards the end of the week, they are going to realize that Jeremy has helped them". And that is really true. They were the last ones to finish a lot of the games last night, but they won in the stuff that really matters (and the stuff that gets you points). Most kids don't know that the group first to finish is awarded some points, but the group that stays together gets points for unity, the group that cheers for their company gets points, and the group that cheers for other companies gets points as well, so Games night is more of an exercise in unity than a contest for athleticism. Anyways, this company had all the right stuff. And they drank lots of water, which got them brownie points from me, as a Health Counselor...
On another random not, the maker of Cranium, not a member of the Mormon Church, wrote in his explanation of how the game Cranium came to be, that one of the reasons he and his co-worker made it, was because there were few games out there where "everyone can shine", which is the motto of Cranium Company. Also that there was so little out there to help the families of the world to connect and get away from the lack of virtue on every media avenue. Pretty cool, check out their website at www.cranium,com. Also for those who are interested in some cute little kid pics, look here. I think I might make some onesies like this for my future growing pool of nieces and nephews. Haha.
