Girls' Camp

This past week I got to go to girls camp up in Pine at camp LoMia. I helped out a little with the two crafts, but mostly I took pictures and put together the slide show that was shown on the last night. I had a great time and loved being able to be kind of all over camp seeing every part. I felt a little spoiled being able to be on the stake staff and sleep in the stake cabin. I guess it was good being pregnant and all so I could get some rest at night. Let me see if I can recap some highlights...

Tuesday--
I left early Tuesday morning and rode up with Brooke and Cherice. We had fun visiting on the way up and got there quickly. The other stake wasn't done cleaning yet, so we just kind of waited around (loitered) until we could get in and put our stuff in our cabins. The theme for camp was One Life: Decisions Determine Destiny. The concept was to teach the girls that we have one life and the decisions we make will determine our destiny. If the girls can realize that now (and we can remember it as adults) we'll make better decisions. Anyway...on Monday the girls had certification, craft and another activity. The craft was to make an oil lamp (like the 10 virgins' lamps) out of clay. Some of the girls really did amazing lamps! The evening activity was skits--each cabin had to make up a skit and do a modern day parable. They were pretty cute. The last part of the night was singing trees.

Wednesday--
I slept pretty well considering the loud, plastic coated mattress. Wednesday was hike day, so I stayed behind and helped out around camp with whatever needed to be done. In the afternoon, they had a "Carnival of Life." On Tuesday the girls could earn tickets for doing nice things and service and they could redeem them for activities at the carnival. There were also a couple activities at the carnival where they could earn more tickets--but not all the girls even saw one of the extra things they could do, but that was part of the teaching/learning. Some of the fun activities the girls could do were bubble gum blowing, a couple water games, face painting, a scream contest or they could get popcorn, cotton candy and snow cones. YUM! The caper lady (chores) had those three machines and brought them to camp. The cotton candy was SO good--some of the best I've had. Good thing I don't have one of those machines. The snow cone machine would be fun, too! Perfect for a summer day.

That night the stake YW was in charge of the program and they had a speaker who talked about staying on the path and how our decisions can lead us to the temple or lead us away from the temple. As part of her talk, she showed this video that someone made for the song "What Heaven Sees in You." I decided it wasn't fair to show that video to moms who missed their kids. It is such a touching video. As a mom to girls, it makes me really feel the importance of my calling as their mom and how important it is to teach them and raise them up to be righteous women. Not a small task.

Thursday started early because it was the day for the obstacle course. We had to be down there at 6:30 so we could know what was going on. I didn't sleep great that night because I think I kept anticipating my alarm going off. Oh well. The obstacle course was such an amazing experience. The girls started together, then they were taken one by one and blindfolded. From there they were led to a rope which symbolized the iron rod. Along the rod, there were people there who talked to them. Some were positive and gave them some encouragement and others were "temptations" who were trying to get them to let go of the rod. The part that was most touching to me there was when one of the leaders tried to get them to let go of the rod. Many of the girls held on to that rope for dear life and would not let go. It just made me think of the temptations and filth that they are exposed to and to see how strong they are and how much they want to choose the right and stay on the right path. I took a lot of pictures of that because it really showed their determination and faith. After the rod the blindfolds came off and they went through activities that were symbolic of the three kingdoms and like a journey through life. They went on a little rough hike up part of a mountain, then came back down. Then they had to walk a tight rope bridge. Then someone talked to them individually about milestones in their life they would reach if they would make certain choices. The last part was the girls taking a little zip line to the end where they were welcomed into what was symbolic of the celestial kingdom. They were able to go into a white tent that had the scriptures open and picture of the Savior. Then they came out and waited for the rest of their "family" (cabin) to finish up. By the end most of the girls and all the leaders who went through it were teary eyed and clearly touched. It was such an amazing activity and one that really had a positive effect on the girls. They talked about it during the rest of the day and during the testimony meetings that night.






In the afternoon, Becky came up for the craft. It's a really cute "All About Me" journal/personal history. The girls got to choose papers for a cover to put in a "half pint" three-ring notebook, then they spent the rest of the time answering questions on the inside.

They also used the photo I had taken of each girl on the cover. Becky posted a link to the PDF download to the inside pages on her blog if you want to do one for yourself! It's such a great jump start to a personal history--your life written in your own words. So important.

During dinner that night, Kayla (one of my former YW who helped me take pictures) and I went to the stake cabin and finished up the slide show. I was thrilled that it worked and we got it done in time. I went back for the very end of our testimony meeting, then we all met back in the Ramada for the slide show. I think they girls really enjoyed it. They screamed for every picture that came up. Kayla and I decided we didn't need to worry about music next time because you couldn't hear it! After that was over, I was relieved.

On Friday we just had to get up, clean up and leave. They did awards for the girls' certification, too. Brooke, Cherice and I left by 9 and I was home by 11. I had a great time and I thought camp was a success. The food was wonderful and it was even better that I didn't have to prepare it or clean up. Spoiled! I was grateful for the chance to go and that some friends helped by watching my girls while Brian was at work. On Thursday afternoon, he took the girls up to his parents' cabin and they stayed all day Friday--they didn't get home until 9:30 that night. So I got to come home, unpack, get all cleaned up, SLEEP! and take it easy. It was so nice. I must have been tired--I slept for over 3.5 hours.

On Saturday we took it easy--stayed at home, did some errands and such. Brian's car acted up AGAIN. It's at the shop waiting to be looked at. He thinks it's just a hose, but it's still a pain. That night we went to Jared and Chrystalyn's for game night.

Yesterday was church, I taught my lesson, we had a great lesson on charity in RS. I need to have more charity. In the evening we went to my parents' for dinner. For dessert we made shakes. They turned out so good! Yum.