The quarter game

Sure, a couple of these photos look like an eerie seance, a scene from horror movie where unsuspecting youths gather to speak to spirits but who are eventually frightened to tears when the candles suddenly blow out and things in the room start to levitate.
But it's not. It's not even close.
In fact, it's an innocent game we all endearingly call "the quarter game."
A quarter is flipped at the end of the two rows, which rows represent two teams, and if the quarter is heads up, the team captains — the only ones with their eyes open — send a hand-squeezing message to the other end of the row. The players at the end of the each row must compete to be the first to grab a nearby object when their hand is squeezed. The team with the fastest hand communication (no talking or peeking allowed) wins that round, etc.
Yada, yada, yada... Any honest young man will admit his favor of the contest is almost entirely due to the game's expectation that he intently hold the hand of a lovely young woman. And who can blame him.

In the first photo, below, we show evidence of Chase Rue sneaking a cheating peek.

Below, Bro Brigg Rasmussen tosses the quarter and gets a heads-up.

Below, everyone jumps up to see who will grab the cup at the end of the row the fastest. 

Below, everyone concentrates on getting a hand squeeze message to send to the end of the row. Some appear to be "concentrating" more than others. 

Below, Chase, Jonah, Cody and Lane prepare for the next round.

Knock your socks off

                                                                                                                                                                                      Pull the socks off of your opponent before he pulls your socks off.

Using a tornado turning strategy, Nate McHenry beats Lane Watkins in a 20-second battle. 

McLane "Mac" Clayburn bests his opponent Nate McHenry in 20 seconds.

Raccoon

While the crew was going door to door selling American flag posting services in The Cove last year, Jonah noticed a live raccoon huddled in corner on someone's front porch — after he knocked on the door. The little coon just stared at us ominously for a few minutes with its beady little black eyes.
Irony: We went camping the week before and didn't see any animals.

Campout: Ice fishing at Brigg's Cabin / Scofield

Klondike 2012

It started with a simple sketch...

Campout: Burraston Ponds, Utah

Because the troop arrived at Burraston Ponds without any fire wood, we spent the first couple of hours scrounging nearby scrub for sticks and brush — playing Dukes of Hazzard along the way (jumping through Bro. Souter's car door windows).

Bro. Rasmussen rescued the group later that night by dragging a full, medium-sized tree into camp with his truck. The boys immediately went to work, breaking it down into smaller, fire-pit-sized pieces. 

We chatted and played mystery games around the fire till midnight.

All the boys slept in a tent, of course, but Bro. Souter braved the crisp night air, which dipped somewhere in the mid-teens, in his hammock. Brrr!

We played Frisbee, fished from the shore (unsuccessfully) and took the rubber raft for a spin around the lake.