Back in December I was called into meet with one of the members of our bishopric. I was pretty sure it was to receive a new calling – but I had no idea what that calling would be since I had just been called to teach primary 8 months earlier. You can imagine my surprise when I found out that in addition to being a primary teacher I was also being called as our new CAMP DIRECTOR!!! I seriously wanted to do cartwheels as I left the counselors office I was so excited. I have always loved camp, and being with the young women (since I think I’m pretty much stuck at that age in my head) and having fun. So I knew this would be the perfect calling for me.
I started holding meetings in January with my YCL’s (Youth Camp Leaders) and our Young Womens President Jana and together we were able to come up with some really fun ideas for camp. We decided on the theme “Seeking Treasures of Worth” and to base our camp around pirates. We had pirate sweatshirts made, called our hikes “treasure hunts” instead of hikes, and made up a bunch of fun games and activities to do up at camp.
My wonderful in-laws and brother in law were kind enough to let us use their cabin for our week away and boy did we have a wonderful time. The YCL’s and I along with Elyssa Marzan (one of my wonderful camp assistants) went up a few hours early to decorate the cabin and then the rest of the girls came up around lunch time.
The first day mainly consisted of bringing in gear, organizing, and giving tours and then that afternoon we did a pirate Olympics, had a great lesson on gaining and keeping our testimonies by Elyssa and then we made lanterns to help remind us to let our lights so shine. Then that evening we had mock Cafe rio for dinner and then my father-in-law Smurf gave us a wonderful star presentation and talked about how we are daughters of God and his most precious creation. The rest of the night was spent playing games!
Starting Pirate Olympics! Here a girl from each team (there were 3 teams) had to eat a Snow ball the fastest.
Next these three lovely ladies had to find a piece of gum at the bottom of a pie tin filled with whipped cream and then blow the first bubble!
Our lovely spectators!
This game consisted of a member of each team dropping chocolate covered marshmallows into the mouths of their teammates. The team with the most “marshmallows eaten” won!
What great sports these three were!
Later we also had a water balloon toss contest which promptly turned into a big water FIGHT!
Balloon Sandwich where the girls had to hold a balloon back to back and run from one end of the road back. We also did a 3 legged race.
Over/under sponge game! A big hit!
Mummy wrap!
On Tuesday we had a beautiful day and did lots of fun activities and crafts. Each day we focused on “treasures worth seeking” and that day’s treasures were the Holy Ghost and Scriptures. Tuesday we did a pirate pinjata, made button bracelets and then also made button rings which were super cute. I also introduced the girls to the Me Ball, In the manner of the adverb, and what if – which we stayed up until about 12:30 playing. We had wonderful meals of breakfast burritos, homemade Quizno’s, and then tin foil dinners and cobbler that evening. SO yummy! The girls also did a service project in the cabin and were able to roll up all the carpet padding from when the cabin flooded over a month ago, put the carpeting back down, tape off any mold that was growing in walls, cleaned tables and chairs that had been drying out carpet, and then put the couches, ping pong and foose ball tables back together. They also picked up sticks outside and made two huge piles of firewood. They did SUCH a great job and my mother in law was so grateful! Thank you Mountain View 9th Ward Young Women!
head.
Making tinfoil dinners out by the fire
A fire full of food! Yum!
Wednesday we got up at 8:00, had a quick breakfast of waffles, fruit, and eggs with ham, gave the girls some time to get ready and pack up some snacks and then were off for our hikes! I stayed back in the cabin with the YCL’s and we were in charge of cleaning up the cabin, making lunch, and getting cheesy potatoes ready and made for that evenings meal with the bishopric. I was really impressed with how hard everyone worked and all that we were able to accomplish. We had homemade sloppy joes for lunch along with chips fruit and a veggie tray and then spent the rest of the afternoon reading in our scriptures together, learning about the treasure of service, playing games, practicing skits, and napping during free time! Ahhhh, so nice.
Then later that evening the bishopric and their wives all came up and we had a wonderful dinner of grilled steaks and BBQ chicken, cheesy potatoes, green salad, fruit salad, and rolls. Then we all went outside and sang campfire songs, did our skits, and had brownies with ice cream for dessert. It was sure fun. We had planned to do our testimony meeting out by the fire that night as well but when temperatures bordered near freezing we decided to take the party inside to our “electric fire” for the meeting. I was so impressed as EVERY SINGLE girl at camp bore their testimonies along with every leader. It really was a magical and wonderful night and I was just so grateful to be up there with these amazing girls. I don’t think anyone had a better time than I did. 🙂
Skit time! I brought up a whole slew of dress up clothes that the girls used during their skits. It was fun to see what they came up with using the stuff I brought. They really were so creative!
The leaders also got into the skits. This is one my Mom taught me years ago called “I’ve gotta go wee!”
Our second skit was called contagious and ended with me walking out pretending to be 9 months pregnant! (not too far of a stretch) ha ha.
A picture of the awesome button rings our wonderful leader Elyssa taught us to make! She did an amazing job on the crafts!
Sure was a wonderful week! And although I came home more tired than I ever remember feeling (staying up until 1:30 every night pregnant will do that to you) the girls and I had an AMAZING time together and we all can’t wait for next year! 🙂