YW Camp Recap

Since blogging seems to be a bit beyond my skill level currently, I've decided to start publishing some of our letters to Cami, so that these days don't get forgotten.

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Hi, Sweetie! How's life this week? We've had a week of camps with Adam as senior patrol leader at scout camp and us girls at YW camp! Emma was a YCL and Ellie was a first level!

We had 30 girls from our ward attend! Alyvia was supposed to come, but ended up with knee surgery a few days before camp and she sadly couldn't attend. Amelia sprained her ankle at camp and had to leave early , but even still we had the largest group in the whole stake!

The theme of camp was BOOT camp (Build Our Own Testimonies), so we decided to dress in themes for the week! Tuesday was camo day where we talked about enlisting and engaging in the work!

Wednesday was Rosie the Riveter day where we talked about becoming the women God wants us to be.

 

 We shared Sister Nadauld's quote:

"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."

Thursday was patriotic day and the bishop talked about the role of women in the church.

Ellie had a great week overall, but had a "friend" who treated her poorly. This picture was taken after she told me about her "friend" who had yelled and screamed at her when Ellie didn't want to do the same activity as her. She called her selfish and mean...

Then instead of apologizing, sent her a mean note blaming her for everything and claiming that she had been the victim.

Um, yeah. We've got a bit of mama bear protectiveness going on here. ....  😥

I'm glad I was there with her to see this go down and to give her a hug and talk her through it! Other than that it was a great week with GORGEOUS weather and I was happy to be there!

And here's one last picture to make you laugh. This is what I looked like when we got our camp T-shirts on patriotic day. Pretty much I looked awesome!

Well, I love you and hope you've had a wonderful week! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Love you!!!!!
Love,
Mom ❤️

YW Camp 2015

Our stake held YW camp at a new location this year.  The location was a bit more urban than in previous years, a fact which had its pros and cons, but in general it was a great year.   We had about 150 girls attend, along with another 40+ leaders or so.    The first levels are wearing the light blue t-shirts, orange is second level, pink is third level, green is fourth level, and purple was for the YCLs.  

We had 27 girls from our ward attend. 

(7 YCLs, 3 fourth levels, 4 third levels, 3 second levels, and 10 first levels).   

With the 10 first level girls from our ward, we made up over 1/4 of the 39 total girls that age!   

Emma had a great group of girls her age...

and was lucky enough to get two of her best friends in her cabin! 

The girls in our cabin  (shown below) were energetic and didn't seem to need much sleep, but they were also amazingly in-tune with the spirit and it wasn't that infrequent that I heard in amongst the discussions about which boy was cutest, discussions about certain passages of scripture.   

It was a joy to watch them develop their talents...

strengthen their friendships with one another....

and push each other to do hard things.   

I was in charge of the hikes this year; a task I had thought would be fairly easy.    With the distance between the campsite and the hikes, though, even getting to the hikes turned out to be more of a logistical feat than I had originally expected.   That and the trails weren't super well-marked, so I felt like I needed well-written trail notes for people to follow.   In the end, I planned a five-miler and a three-miler.    There was no shortage of complaining before the hikes began, but I was surprised by the girls' stamina and positive attitude while they were actually on the hikes.   I enjoyed both hikes immensely--not only the beauty of the trail, but also my trail-mates!  

One of the afternoons, most of the campers were participating in archery activities.    The first-levels, however, were too young and as such they got to participate in a "Cupcake War" instead.  And who better to lead a cupcake activity than Cami?   

She hauled all of our baking supplies to camp for the day and led them in an engaging afternoon of creative baking and decorating.   

Cami and the girls seemed to really enjoy it and it was fun to see the beautiful culinary creations they came up with!  

It was my third year of attending camp and I'd probably have to say my most favorite yet.   

I was happy to be there with these girls...

and especially to be there with Emma.  

I looked tired, grungy, and old in this picture, but it was 100% all me.   

No make-up.   No shower.  Grungy clothes.  

Pretty much the face Glen wakes up to every morning.    Lucky him.   

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Facts about 2015 YW Camp: 

Theme:   "Courage to Become"

Location:  Prince William Forest Park

Dates:  July 6-10

My cabin:  I stayed with a group of 3rd levels (including Emma)

My roommate:  Julie M from OM ward

My responsibilities (besides helping my ward girls):  Hikes, finding and hiring lifeguards, helping with third levels

Classes/Activities: Zumba, Yoga, Watercolor Painting, Sketching, Kayaking,  Archery, Hiking, Lake time, Cupcake Wars, Certification time, CCC {Civilian Conservation Corps} class, plus some others that I'm forgetting

Total girls:  about 150

Girls from my ward:  27

Best moment:  the satisfaction of the hikes being done with little complaining and zero mishaps (as far as I know).  I also loved hearing their happy chatter along the way!  

Most frustrating moment:  a big misunderstanding with someone about some equipment that was supposed to arrive on Thursday

Weather (in general):  It was hotter and more humid than the past two years I've attended camp, which meant I was covered with a layer of sweat from head to toe 24/7.  

Weather miracle:   Wednesday was scheduled to the hilt with outdoor activities, but since it was predicted to rain we shuffled things around to get it done early.    At home, a mere 30-miles away, it rained torrents and torrents and even closed many low-lying roads in the afternoon, but at camp it didn't rain a drop until nighttime when we were all in for the night.  

YW Camp 2014

I just spent this past week attending YW Camp with this beautiful group of about 140 Young Women and another 40 or so leaders.   

There were  21 girls there from our ward, including 2 nonmembers.   Another several girls could have come, but opted not to for a variety of reasons. 

Kim and I were the only leaders from our ward that stayed the entire week, but on Friday Cindy, Kelly, and Rochelle came up to help drive girls to the ropes course in Front Royal.  

Kim and I were not disappointed when one of them brought a bag of chocolate to share with us! 

Emma absolutely loves camp and the opportunity it gives her to participate in cool activities like rock climbing at the ropes course.



She also loves the opportunity it gives to spend lots of quality time with her friends! 

I, personally, didn't get to spend a lot of time with Emma during the week, since most of the activities were done by level and not by ward, but it was fun to steal a few hugs here and there.    

The girls love this "tweet" line along the dining hall wall where they can leave notes to one another!

Another favorite activity was karaoke singing.  I was pretty skeptical when I first heard what we were doing that night, but it actually ended up to be quite a fun activity that evolved into more of a group singalong than actual karaoke. 

Even the adults got into it too! 

After the karaoke singalong, we distributed 3 glow sticks per person and turned out the lights for some glow stick dancing!  I had fun trying to capture the movements of the girls without turning on my flash! 

I was in charge of 12 crafts over two afternoons.  I felt that all of the crafts were fun and mostly successful, but  making these magnet boards was probably the favorite of the craft stations   

The table of nail polish and emery boards also turned out to be a hit.   It was cute to see how excited some of the girls were to freshen up their camping visage with a bit of nail polish!   Katy and Ashley really missed having Cami there! 

We had Ward Time for two of the days where all the girls from our ward got to gather together with me for a devotional.   On Wednesday we had an object lesson about not speaking ill of others, then I had the girls wear signs and walk around and write compliments onto other people's signs.   All the girls seemed to enjoy the activity, but it was especially sweet to see how excited my first years were about it (and everything else at camp too)!

One of the most memorable and spiritual parts of camp was the "Tree of Life" activity.  Based on the account of Lehi's dream in the Book of Mormon, the girls walked through mists of darkness (the dark woods with leaders trying to tempt them to leave the path) and were eventually led to a rope railing for them to hold onto to bring them to this "tree of life".   It was powerful imagery about how easy it is to feel lost and afraid on our journey in life, but if we hold strong to the principles of the gospel and to God's word, we can be led to safety and joy!   We sang songs and  had a short devotional at the end to bring the experience even more meaning.  

I absolutely love the opportunity camp gives for me to spend time with these lovely young women.  They face so much on a day-to-day basis, but they are graceful, beautiful, and shining examples of goodness in this world! 

Katy is a veteran girls' camper, one of Cami's best friends,  and  a YCL extraordinaire, but she was still excited when her dad and mom came for Bishop's night.   The Harrison's are a wonderful family and I am grateful to  know them!

The 2 girls (on either end) were in Emma's home preschool group back in the day.  It's amazing to see them all grown up now! 

It was so cute to hear the girls pondering in the car on the way home from camp about what they thought that next year's camp would be like!  

I came home on Saturday and completely crashed.  I had a lesson to prepare for Sunday, but other than that was totally useless.  In fact, I came home from church yesterday and crashed again---both emotionally and physically.   I was almost as big of a mess as my house was, but after lots of sleep and some home cooking, I am feeling much more chipper and normal today!  

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A few more tidbits about YW camp 2014:

Theme:  Journeys

Location:  Lions Camp

Weather:  AWESOME!    A good old fashioned 'polar vortex' swept into the area on Tuesday and made the temperatures and humidity levels well below normal.  It was a tender mercy as far as I am concerned, since normal July weather in Virginia is highly unpleasant and even more-so when you don't have access to air conditioning!

Accommodations:  I was in a tent with Kim, behind the third level cabins, Emma was in a second level cabin with Elena and the rest of her group

Emma's YCL's:   Haley, Whitney, Mad

Emma's group:  Southern Belles

Favorites:  Ropes course, Tree of Life, crafts, the weather, karaoke singalong, the opportunity to "get away" from real life, being with the girls

Least favorites:  bugs, lack of sleep, the shower situation, being far away from the bathrooms, being totally out of touch with my family

Shirt colors:  leaders--red, first years--blue, second years--orange,  third years--pink, fourth years--green, YCL's--yellow

Sleeping:  Three of the nights I actually got a little cold during the night.   It was much chillier than I expected it to be and I had to stay curled up in my sleeping bag, with sweatshirt and socks on to stay warm.  The last night we were there, the temperature was absolutely perfect for sleeping.  Too bad the girls were up so late!   One night we were woke up by a strange howling sound right outside our tent.  It was a little disconcerting, but when I did some research when I got home I realized that it was only a barred owl call.  

Girls from our ward:  
first years:   McKenzie, Maeve, Aubrey, Moema, Lola, Laura
second years:  Emma, Elena, Ana, Maria
third years:   Anna W., Mikayla
fourth years:  Miko, Rachel, Courtney (just for Friday)
YCL's:  Ashley, Katy, Kelly R., Maddie M., Annika, Anna B.
leaders:  Lara (me), Kim, Debbie (for Tuesday night), Rochelle (for Friday night), Kelly (for Friday), Cindy (for Friday)

Girls' Camp in Pictures

After all the nightmare stories I had heard about last year's YW camp, I was a bit nervous about going  to camp this year.   With 100+ degree weather all week, black widow ridden cabins, and the final night that ended with a derecho, I understand that it ended up being a somewhat miserable week.

Happily though,  this year proved to be much more enjoyable.  Minus out the buckets of rain on Thursday night and the vomiting fest on Friday night, this year turned out to be a smashing success!  The girls were awesome, the weather was not stifling hot, the food was excellent, the activities well-planned,  and all in all it was a great week getting to know the girls and other adults from around the stake.

Some highlights of the week included the "Tweet Line," Spa Day, the tasty food, the devotionals, craft time, the water slide, the "pond," and of course THE video from the young men.  And I certainly won't complain that the hot and sticky weather stayed away  until this week, when I can stay in the AC all day and night!

Here's a glimpse of the week in pictures.  Let me know if you want me to email you any specific photos.   Enjoy!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love these girls?



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Beautiful!

I've just returned from 5 days at YW Camp and despite the fact that my body wants nothing more than to collapse into bed right now, I couldn't resist taking a few minutes to blog about a few of the highlights of the week.

It was my first time attending camp since I was a young woman myself  and I was surprised to see from a leader's perspective at the stunning amount of work and effort that goes into making these happen.  However additionally I was also surprised at how meaningful of an experience it was for me as well as for the young women.  

The highlight of the week for the girls was the showing of this video that the young men of our stake had made for them.  It turned out beautifully and it meant the world to the girls.  

The YM kept the whole project surprisingly underwraps and I only found out about the video shortly before it aired....just long enough to pull out my phone and videotape their reaction.  You can't see their faces, but you can certainly hear their reaction when the singing starts!  

Despite my 4 nights sleeping on a cot in a tiny tent, the seemingly nonstop rain, and the long lines for the bug filled showers, I completely adored spending the week with  these amazing young women and I sincerely look forward to attending again next year!  



And now don't mind me while I check out for a long awaited date with my pillow.