Ward Camp ~ Day 1

 Nick & I got up at 6:00 this morning so we could go over to Mom & Dad's and put some finishing touches on things. All of the YW started to show up to be dropped off at 8:00 am. We had originally planned on camping at Aunt Sandy  & Uncle Robert's property, but the thought of getting everyone's stuff out there and having to keep enough food cold for 20 people for 3 days was enough to push me over the edge. So, we changed our plans and decided to camp in Mom & Dad's backyard. That way we had access to a kitchen, fridge, showers, toilets, and a pool.

 

 Once all the girls were dropped off, we had them get busy setting up tents in the backyard before it got too hot. It was great to watch them work together as a team to figure it out.

 

 Sis. S helped the younger girls get their tent set up.

 

 Sis. H helped the Mia Maids get their tent set up. We didn't assign the girls to tents this year, and let them pick where they wanted to sleep. For the most part they slept in the same tent as the girls their own ages.

 

 We had 4 tents total (younger girls, middle girls, older girls, and leaders). We had a total of 11 young women and 4 leaders. This flat part of the backyard worked out perfectly for the tents.

 

 At 9:00 Sis. P from our ward came and shared w/ us some her amazing artwork. Before we started the art project she brought for us to do, she had us do some "word work." She talked about how her art is her therapy and a spiritual experience for her. I was surprised at how spiritual & emotional the "word work" was for me. She even gave each of us a sticky note and said that was our "permission slip" to give us permission for whatever we needed to be successful in this process. I gave myself permission to not always have to be strong. I seriously had to fight back the tears, b/c I was so overcome w/ the Spirit.

 

Once we had finished our "word work" it was time to start creating our artwork. We each got a white canvas and she showed us how to use a gel medium to "glue" random pieces of ripped scrapbook paper onto the canvas. Once that dried, we added the paint and texturing layers to make it look how we wanted. Then, we added the words we had each chosen.

 

I'm so thankful to Sis. P for coming and sharing her incredible talents w/ us. I heard a lot of good feedback from the Young Women about how much they enjoyed it. My words on my canvas were "embrace the journey."

 

 Here's some of the artwork that we made.

 

 So unique & so perfectly her!

 

 Each one was so completely different, but each one was so neat and so perfectly suited to the person who created it.

 

 So beautiful.

 

 So artistic.

 

 For lunch, we had chips, a veggie platter, and Subway sandwiches.

 

 After lunch, we had a couple hours of free time. When we asked the YW earlier in the year what they wanted at camp, the feedback from all of them was more down/free time to just hang out and be together. So, that's what we gave them and they loved it. Most of them chose to swim and cool off. They were so excited when we busted out the Otter Pops for a treat.

 

 After a few hours of swimming, they were ready for something else so I had them play this silly game w/ me. We each got a shower cap (you can get 8 for $1 at the $1 store). They also got a cup full of 10 cheese puff balls.

 Then we put a big squirt of shaving cream on the top of each of the shower caps. The idea is that you have to throw your cheese balls up in the air one at a time and catch all 10 of them in the shaving cream on top of your head. Whoever gets all 10 on first is the winner.

 

This is what it looks like as the game progresses. It looks soooooooo funny!

 

 After we had a winner and most of the girls had gotten their cheese puffs on their shower caps, I went around after we took a picture and started a shaving cream fight. This picture cracks me up b/c you can see the shaving cream flying off of my shower cap.

 

At the end, you can see we were super messy and had a lot of fun. Then we had to hose everyone off before they went back and got into the pool. The water from the hose was SUPER COLD!!! After that, we had another hour or so of free time. I kept thinking we should be doing something, but the YW assured me they wanted to just hang out and be together b/c they don't get to do that during the school year.

 

At 4:00, Sis. S came back and taught the YW how to make a lavender/Epsom salt/coconut oil scrub. Last year the girls LOVED having spa time, so we decided to do that again this year. She even had little glass jars for each of the girls to fill up w/ the scrub to take home w/ them.

 

The YW loved being pampered and having their feet & hands scrubbed. 

 

For dinner, we had Dickey's BBQ. By this time, everyone was super hungry so it tasted extra tasty.

 

Sis. Lee came & did an evening devotional w/ us. Of course it was amazing & was so spiritual. She is a spiritual giant and the YW just love her. I'm thankful for her taking the time away from her family to come and share her thoughts & insights w/ us. 

 

After that, we all came in the house to cool off and relax. We watched the movie, "Once I Was A Beehive."
 

Then, we handed out our camp t-shirts since Lauren was leaving to go home. You can't really tell in this picture, but on the t-shirts there is a plant, a light bulb, and 2 hands covering a heart. Our theme for camp is faith, hope, and charity. It ties in w/ the youth them for the year, "press forward w/ a steadfastness in Christ (faith is like a little seed ... if planted, it will grow), having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men (charity).

The girls were all pretty tired tonight and everyone was quiet and asleep in their tents by 11:30 pm.