Girls Camp!

I am the young women's 2nd counselor and as summer was approaching we realized that no one from the presidency would be able to go to girls camp.  So with Steve's support I sort of stepped up so that at least one of us could be at girls camp for the whole time.  The camp director was my friend Jeanine Wood and since she couldn't find an assistant camp director who could be there the whole time, I sort of became the assistant camp director.  I was glad that I could be there to help Jeanine through all of the planning stages and meetings.  It was stake girls camp which meant most of the planning was done by the stake but there was still a lot to plan on the ward level (meals, banner, secret sisters, camping gear, free time, etc.).  Seriously I was very nervous about going to girls camp as a leader.  I haven't gone to girls camp since I was 15 and really didn't know what to expect.

Each ward had to pick a decade and we went with the 50's.  I got to make/get all of the decorations which was a lot of fun.  I also made cute fabric pockets for their secret sister stuff.  I also was in charge of one of our free time crafts which were sharpie tie-dye socks and I brought lots of coloring pages to fill time too.  When it came closer I was so nervous and really just ready to have it be over and be home again.  Thankfully my mom was able to come and visit so that she could watch the kids in the day so that Steve didn't have to miss any work.  I was also really nervous about leaving the kids, especially the babies, and worried about how it would go for my mom.

I left on the morning of Tuesday, August 1st and got home Friday, August 4th at about 10:30am.  I just have to say that I LOVED girls camp, like really loved it.  I knew that it would go well because we have a really good group of 16 girls but I didn't expect it to be as fun, spiritually uplifting, and just an amazing experience for me personally.  I was so focused on all that we had to do for the girls that it hit me so hard that this was exactly what I needed for ME!  I laughed so hard that I cried, bonded with the girls, really had my testimony strengthened, and was actually able to relax.  I never expected to be one of those leaders to love it so much but I did!  I'm guessing that between that and the fact that I have 4 daughters that I have a lot of years of girls camp ahead of me!

Some highlights:

The secret sister pockets!  Jeanine made the record labels with their names.

On the left, Alexa Finlayson the YW president. She was able to come up for a bit on two of the days.  Perks of being on 45 minutes away!  She's a very stress filled person but I was glad that Jeanine and I made a good time and got everything done without involving Alexa more than we needed to.  Jeanine Wood is in the middle.  Jenni Mickelson is on the right.  She's not in YW at all and actually has 4 boys but we really needed another adult to help out and she volunteered.  She was the perfect person because she is loud and funny and a bit kooky.  

I found these real (used) records on Amazon.  They were so cool!  I made a few banners out of them and then used the same records to make awards for each of the girls after camp. 

On Wednesday I volunteered to go on the first year hike thinking it would just be easy and fun.  We had to wake up at 6am and started hiking by 6:45.  Boy was I wrong, it was a hard hike!  Uphill most of the way and I think I heard it was 3 or 4 miles long.  I was so worn out afterwards but it was gorgeous and I had a fun group of girls, half of which didn't even have to go on this hike but wanted to anyway.

Our ward's theme.

Another ward was the 90's and they had this frame to be like Friends.  So cute!  This is all of our girls minus one, Ally who was on of the stake youth leaders so she was busy with that a lot.

Love this!  I kind of became our ward photographer but had to have someone take my picture as proof that I was there too!

Instead of doing skits, this year we did a lip sync instead.  We had to pick a song from our decade, and our ward did "Jailhouse Rock."  Two of the girls totally ran with it and did all of the planning and choreography.  The girls all did a fantastic job and it was so fun to watch them all and of course the music was so fun.

Jeanine and I!  We did it!  We survived girls camp!

 This is a random picture but it was one of the only ones of Hannah Hale (on the right!).  This is a bit of a tangent but I have to take a minute to talk about Hannah.  So Hannah was born with some heart problems so she has had some major surgeries and health concerns in her 16  years of life.  She is the sweetest, happiest girl you could ever meet. Maybe six months ago (maybe a bit longer than that? not sure) she had gallbladder surgery after a couple of months of stomach issues.  No biggie of a surgery, but the next day she didn't feel right and they discovered she had internal bleeding.  With all of her health issues, it got complicated quickly and she had to go into surgery for them to try to stop the bleeding.  She had a stroke on the operating table and even had to be resuscitated TWICE!  It was beyond scary and word spread fast for everyone to pray for Hannah.  They honestly thought she wouldn't make it through the night.  Even the days that followed were touch and go.  We were all so worried there would be a sad ending to this story which would've rocked our ward.  She was in the ICU for some time and they didn't know the extent of brain damage and even then her parents were she might not talk again and would wouldn't walk again.  Her story was miracle after miracle of recovery and re-learning the basics.  More than that her mom and then finally Hannah herself shared how their faith and testimonies were strengthened.  I think Hannah was in the hospital in Salt Lake for about 3 months and then came home to continue lots of therapies and rehab.  She still has some work to do to improve her hand writing and coordination and stuff and is a bit more soft spoken but to see her come to most of camp is truly a miracle.   

On the last night the girls did these glowstick people!  It was so fun to watch.  They were running around in the dark and going from ward to ward doing a little dance.  

 A couple other highlights... after the lip sync performances the stake put on an after party dance.  Our girls let Jeanine, Jenny and I dance right there with them.  I seriously had so much fun dancing and singing my heart out.  It's been forever since I had been to a dance and it was fun to pretend I was 15 again!

-I knew I wouldn't get very much sleep but man!  5 hours the first night, 3 hours the second, and 3 hours on the last night.  The last night of girls camp is known to be a night to stay up as late as you want.  I wanted to hang with the girls and spend that time with them and I made it to 3:45am before I called it a night.  Five of the girls pulled all nighters and boy did they look rough in the morning!  But they are so sweet that they used that time to start cleaning up and breaking down camp.  I was so exhausted when I got home. It seriously took me like 4 days to fully recover from camp.

-One of the spiritual activities that was put on by the stake was a hike that had stopping points along with way with actors portraying segments of Joseph's Smith's life.  It finished with everyone going down into a beautiful, peaceful grove where 3 women were singing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" to the music of "Come Thou Fount."  Then we had a devotional from one of my favorite high council members.  It touched my heart and was an answer to some of my worries and prayers.

-The last night of course we had a testimony with our own ward.  The spirit was so strong and to hear the testimonies of these girls was incredible.  The tears were flowing!!  I though since I was an adult I would be able to keep my emotions in check but I was bawling my eyes out like the rest of them!  And to go back to Hannah Hale, to hear her testimony is absolutely astounding and I was just in awe of her.