EFY 2013 St Petersburg Florida

This morning, I made the trip from the east coast to the west coast of Florida, then back again.

I drove Katherine, Megan, and 4 others to the 

EFY (Especially For Youth) Program in Tampa/St. Petersburg

We had a little picnic in the parking lot at the beach before registration and check-in.

It was a beautiful day to start an amazing week.

Just driving in to the parking lot confirmed that attending EFY can be a life-changing experience.

 Here is the entire group at our beach-parking-lot picnic

 The registration opened promptly at 11am.

The line was already wrapped around the building and up and down several flights of stairs.

At 10 seconds before 11am, they do the 10-9-8-7-6.... countdown followed by the 

EFY cheer (a series of claps and the chant: EFY ROCKS)

 Katherine promptly found a friend from our former Ward. 

They were so delighted to see each other.

 Megan has been hesitant about the entire experience. She is one of the youngest attendees (maybe the youngest) and did not know anyone in her age group. I am confident that by the end of the week, she will have many friends in her age group. When I went to hug and kiss her good-bye, she was clearly ready to move on to her adventure.

After the good-byes, I got back in the car and drove home. It is a beautiful drive from coast to coast. Ron and I will pick them up early Saturday morning and if I were a gambling woman, I would place money on the fact that the EFY attendees will pass out as soon as they get in the car and stay asleep until we pull into our driveway at home.
Here's praying for a wonderful experience for my children and all of those at EFY.