I love history, especially US history.  As evidence of this I submit to the court
Exhibit A. The very first book I ever bought from the Scholastic book order was a book about Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. I was 9.  Morbid, I know.
Exhibit B. My roommates found me reading a book called “We Hold These Truths” by Mortimer Adler when I was a freshman in college and were dumbstruck when they found out I was reading it for fun.
Exhibit C. I taught my 1st and 3rd grade children everything I could cram into their heads about US history during the years we homeschooled in New Jersey and then took them to every sight I could get them to. When it was time to visit Washington D.C. and Philadelphia I crammed as much constitutional history into their heads as I could.  I made them memorize the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the constitution.  I was one proud mama when my two boys could answer all the questions the tour guide asked when we visited Constitution Hall in Philadelphia. When they wouldn’t let me take pictures of my boys in front of the Constitution and Declaration at the National Archives I seriously considered life in prison and the ruination of said documents by flash photography just to get the photo.
Exhibit D.  I am on my fourth time through all seven seasons of West Wing.
Exhibit E. I convinced my husband to let me name our one and only daughter Liberty.

Lastly, Exhibit F. It should come as no surprise that Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is one of my all time favorite movies. I showed it to my boys way back when they were little and of course it didn’t mean much to them at all.  Needless to say, I have been waiting for the day when I could take the boys back to D.C. when they were old enough to really get it and appreciate it.  It’s an expensive trip and one I didn’t think would happen for a while yet, if it happened at all.

So imagine my surprise and delight when Cade and his two friends won 2nd place in the State National History Day competition and they get to go on to Washington DC to compete in the national competition. Woohoo! Pretty Darn Awesome!  I was not at the awards ceremony that day and was waiting to hear how they’d done when I got a text from Cade that just said, “Wegoin2DC!!!” Not even two seconds later I got a text from Rock, who was with Cade, that said, “Oh Boy”.
Here is the link to the boys’ website  Cecil D. Andrus: The Stand Against Nuclear Waste Storage

It should be a no brainer that Cade’s nerdy mother should be the one to take him to D.C. but unfortunately it was not.  In January was asked to be our ward/church’s Girl’s Camp director.  This is a huge job even when you know the girls you are going to be working with, have spent a decent amount of time in Young Women’s and have gone to Girl’s Camp some time in the last 25 years.  I fit none of that criteria.  But this has turned out to be one of the best callings I’ve ever had.  The inspiration has flowed, the relationships have blossomed and I LOVE this job that many women run from. Where’s the dilemma you ask?  Girl’s Camp is the SAME week as Cade’s trip.  Out of an entire summer it has to be the same week?!  I was torn.

So, I prayed about it and the answer came immediately, before I was even done speaking my prayer. I was reminded that I have been praying the last few months for a way to connect with my Caderade, who is in that tough tween stage.
This was it.

After that, the decision was easy. I’m a mother forever but a camp director for just a few months.  And even though I have put a ton of thought and work into girl’s camp and it breaks my heart not to see it all come together, I’m going to D.C. with Cade for this incredible opportunity.

Mr. Hymas is going to Washington and he’s taking the camp director with him!

Our Spring Break this year was pretty dull as breaks go, (no broken bones, for example) but we did take a day trip to see Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, ID.  We have been to the falls before and when they claim they are “the Niagara Falls of the West” I tend to roll my eyes, having spent some time at the real deal.  But, as I told my kids, remember all that snow that sat in our yard and on our roads for what felt like months on end this winter?  Well, multiply that by a big number up in the mountains, and then melt it all, and that’s how you get the Shoshone Falls we saw last week. WOW!!! This actually did come close to at least one section of Niagara Falls.  It was truly amazing. They told us it hasn’t been this full in decades. Rock says he’s good now for a lifetime.  No need to go back, cause it will never be this good again.  My New York relatives will roll over in their graves at that jaded opinion, but to each his own I guess.