Girls Camp 07-13-11

Wednesday was hike day. As leaders, we went with the 1st years since our Stake Girls were taking the 1 st years and our only other girls going were our 1st years.
First we hiked to the top of the mountain. It was such a pretty view.
The girls were taught more things for their camp certification.
Then back down the mountain we went and hiked about 3 miles.
Aubrey with her group of 1st years.
Lori and I stayed in the rear. We encouraged these two sweet girls to keep going up and down the hills.
Lori and me
It was a really pretty hike.
We hiked to Legacy Lake and saw this mommy duck and her cute ducklings swimming.
Our 4th years, Sara and Savanah, returned from their over night hike!
We had quite the down pour, but Sara had fun playing in the rain with her rain boots. After the storm we had a great double rainbow.


SKIT NIGHT!!!!
Who doesn't love skit night!
The Stake Girls
They did Dorothy going back to Oz and following the yellow brick road to make right choices and get home.
Aubrey the ScarecrowSamauree as Dorothy

We did our skit last. I posted it on Facebook. It was hilarious! From right to left:
Sara-farmer, Savanah-mother, Nicole-nurse, Marinn-hippie, Syree-boy scout, Lori-football player, Mindy-rapper
Our skit was so well loved we ended up doing it another 3 times!

After Skit Night they had the girls go back to their cabins and read 1 Nephi 8.
Then someone from the stake would come and get the girls from the cabin and took them on a faith walk. It was a really neat experience. The girls were blindfolded and had to hold to the rod. Along they way there were some of the stake girls that would try to tempt them to let go. They would tell them things like, just hold onto me and I'll help you get over this log that is coming up, or get through this puddle. They were so convincing that I was even looking around for the log or the puddle. Me and Mindy encouraged the girls to hold fast to the rod. After they got to the end and took off their blindfolds, there was a tree that was covered in white lights that represented the Tree of Life. It was so beautiful. A really wonderful way to end the evening.

Girls Camp 07-13-11

With rain storms come puddles and Sara had to get her boots in the puddles. She was having so much fun other girls ventured out to play.Mindy took the greatest pictures of Sara having fun in the rain.

Girls Camp 07-12-11

I got to celebrate my 28th birthday at Girls Camp! The girls made it a pretty special day for me. I went to brush my teeth that morning and came back and didn't see anyone in the cabin. I was just thinking, "Where did they all go, all I did was go to the bathroom" when they jumped out and yelled "Happy Birthday".

The big activity for this day was the Challenge Course. There is the high level course and the low level courses. I was in charge of one of the low level courses, Mohawk Trail. The story was that the tribe's princess was sick and they had to get to the other side to get her the medicine. The ground was hot lava so they could only balance on the wire to get across. It was fun to watch the girls try to figure it all out. All the activities would finish up and we would take 5 minutes to look at the spiritual side of the activity. There were 6 low level courses that the girls rotated through.
The highlight was the high level course. We had to climb a rope ladder, walk across planks, and go down the zip line. We were 25 feet up in the air. The course is designed to help us over come our fears and build confidence. As the girls jumped from the platform and went down the zip line the Sister missionary told them either "Your Heavenly Father loves you" or "Take a leap of faith". I was able to watch a couple of our girls go and I was able to go also, but since I was in charge of a low level course I had to hand my camera over and let someone else take the pictures. Sorry if some of them are blurry.Getting harnessed up and waiting for their turn. SaraSavanahMe! I am afraid of heights, but I did it! It took me two counts of three to jump off the platform to do the zip line but I went. I was shaking pretty good once I got down. The Sister missionary told me to "Take a leap of faith".Mindy

LoriMarinn
SyreeMcKenleyAubreySamauree
They had an amazing speaker, Laurel Christenson, come and do an afternoon fireside. She did a really cool thing, standing ovations. She told us about how she was having a really bad day and told her friends about it. When they got together they gave her a standing ovation and it made her feel better. How can you not feel better with everyone cheering for you. Then she picked a few girls and had us give them a standing ovation. One of the girls felt so special she started to cry and that just got us leaders going. Sister Christenson brought such a wonderful spirit. She told us about how she ran her first half marathon. In the middle of her race she got a horrible cramp in her leg and didn't think she could go on, but she did. When she was almost to the finish line she wanted to give up. She could see the huge balloon arch and felt, I see the finish line, that is good enough. But then her friends and family were there cheering her on and she finished. How can we not continue and finish with everyone cheering us on. She spoke about "If you believe these three things you will seek after them: 1- You are a LITERAL Daughter of God. 2- Your Father in Heaven know YOU by name. 3-Heavenly Father has a plan for ME." Going back and reading the things I wrote about her talk still brings that wonderful spiritual feeling back to me.
This camp was so wonderful that it allowed me to feel the spirit so easily. I don't remember having these spiritual moments when I went to Girls Camp as a youth. Our girls are so lucky to go to this camp that has the luxuries it had to allow them to better feel the spirit.
Lori's daughter, Jacqi, came up to camp just to bring me cupcakes for my birthday! Sadly, the container fell open and all the cupcakes landed in the gravel. We just scrapped off the gravel and ate them anyways, they were too good to waste:) The gravel looked a lot like toffee and Syree thought it was and she tried to eat it! We had a good laugh.The fourths year, Savanah and Sara, leaving for their over night hike.Aubrey and Samauree were reminiscing about a previous year at camp and climbing from bunk to bunk, so they decided to reenact the memory.The jeans I was wearing and the folding chairs did not agree. Whenever I stood up the chair would get caught in my pants. That night I was so tired and so fed up with it happening I just walked around with the chair in my pants.

Girls Camp 07-11-11

I have been putting this off long enough...it is finally time to do the Girls Camp pictures. I haven't been putting off blogging about my week because I didn't like it, I've been putting it off because I took around 300 pictures!!!! Yes you read that number right. I've just been dreading having to decide what pictures to use, will I put them in a collage, turning them the right way, etc. But I shall finally suck it up and get to blogging.

I had so much fun going and I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to go. We went to Heber Valley Girls Camp. It is a camp built just for Girls Camp. It is Gorgeous! You drive in and there are the flags of the YW values.
This is definitely luxury camping. We had an ice maker and water station to fill up at. There was a walk in freezer and refrigerator. There is a purpose behind the luxuries though. They are there so that the YW can focus on building their testimonies and feeling the spirit.
Deer wandered around and in the camp all week.
These little guys were all over getting food that had been dropped.
We were in cabin 3D. Since we are a small ward we each got our own top and bottom bunk.
Momma bear and her two cubs...just statues.
The theme this year was "Quest for the Best" and it was a medieval theme. We were the Jesters and our value was Divine Nature. Here is our shield.
After unloading all our stuff, Sara found her rain boots and had to try them out in a puddle.
First activity for our girls was certification. Here is Samauree teaching them water purification.
Then came craft time. They stained the wood, etched the temple on glass and glued on a saying.
The stake girls at roll call. Our stake girls were Samauree, Aubrey, and McKenley. They were the Wizards.
This was such a cool devotional. The girls all read scriptures while the leaders were painting. The middle was the last part they painted so when they step away you can finally tell what they were painting. It was really neat.
We won the coveted Spirit Stick the first night!
Marinn enjoying the Spirit Stick.
We tied a piece of blue ribbon on it to leave our mark on it.
From left to right: Lori, Sara, Savanah, Syree, Nicole, Marinn, Mindy
All group pictures included a regular smile, mad face, and of course a silly face.
The night was finished off with the girls taking our two first years, Syree and Marinn, snipe hunting. They got them to put toothpaste on their faces, because the snipes like the smell. They had them bring pillowcases to catch them in. It was pretty funny and they were good sports about it.