Girls Camp

“Hey mom, why haven’t you cooked dinner in like a week?”   Girls Camp

“Mom, whhyyyy do you keep on singing those songs all day long?”   Girls Camp

“Hey mom, why is the dining room stacked with boxes & boxes of stuff everywhere?”   Girls Camp

(Seriously, I have made dinner!! I really do feed my family!! And yes, I do sing silly girls camp songs – especially the one we Stake Leaders will be singing together up at camp! And yes, the dining room is filled with boxes, crafts, secret girls camp things!)

This past December I was asked to be the *Stake Girls Camp Director. To say that I was overwhelmed is an understatement.  After a few minutes of my mind racing (How in the world am I ever going to pull this one off? I am NOT the girl for the job, I promise. I’m pretty sure you want to reconsider what you just asked me and ask someone else….along with all of the other thoughts of how underqualified I am for the task….) I said yes. It was the week before Christmas. I came home and literally “put it on the shelf”. I didn’t think about it for about ten days. I had Christmas, family and traditions to carry out. (*In the Church of Jesus Christ – we meet together on Sundays as a “ward” family. Each ward is a certain geographic area, your neighborhood. All of the wards together make up a Stake. In our Stake we have 8 wards. Which means 200 Young Women ages 12-17, and Young Women Leaders – along with everyone who is helping me carry out camp – 260 of us will be up at camp (Cedar Mountain)  July 23 – July 28th)In January I dove in to the task. I literally came to my first meeting with the Stake Young Womens Presidency with an empty notebook. Two months later that notebook was filled, each and every page with middle-of-the-night thoughts, talks and quotes from Sister Dalton (look on lds.org) She is my hero. Possible themes for girls camp. Ideas for crafts, songs, skit night, spiritual night, hikes, etc. My mind was in full speed race mode and the ideas were flowing. In April we had our BIG huge give-all-the-information about Girls Camp to the 8 Ward Camp Directors. We had planned, worked, copied, organized, decorated, baked, prayed, and the meeting was a huge success. Man do we ever have some amazing Ward Camp Directors. These Young Women are sooooo lucky to have such wonderful women. This has become my full time job – service of course and although it takes a lot out of me, the blessings of service are numerous and too much to mention.Meet Nicole Robinson – my Girls Camp Assistant. Organized, funny, happy, creative, willing to do anything, spiritual, beautiful, and she puts up with me. I couldn’t do this without her! We are having so much fun together and are like sisters. Man do I ever love her.Don’t forget Alexa. She’s my right hand girl. She is the talent behind what ideas come into my brain…just wait until you see the t-shirts, posters, invites, craft, and everything else she designed and created. She is one talented woman and we would be LOST without her and her amazing talents. I can’t even begin to express the love and admiration I have for this kid! (who is actually a grown, married woman…..who is going to make me a grandma just six weeks after camp! I can’t wait!!!) *I know you’re dying to see all of the amazing Girls Camp stuff….but you’re gonna have to wait. I just can’t post any of it until after it’s over!! You’ll see pictures then of my most fabulous mom helping me one late night working on one of the crafts. My kids helping organize and put together  darling things for camp. My husband cutting wood, hauling boxes and listening late into the night - he might have been asleep a few of those times ;). It truly is an entire family effort!!While I won’t be having one of these (above) for four days….yikes….I do intend on having the most amazing time up at camp. I am so excited to carry out all that we have planned, organized, worked on and spearheaded! It is going to be amazing to see all of the leaders and the girls

SHINE!!!

ps I am ever soooo grateful that Lex and Brian got married last year! The process of planning, searching out great deals, making a monthly to-do list, being patient, spending wisely, doing a little every day for the wedding is the EXACT same process for girls camp. How thankful I am for the preparation I had last year to be able to fulfill this calling. Heavenly Father is ever so mindful of us and knows we can do great and amazing things, even though we are certain we’re not the girl for the job!

pps all girls camp ideas, crafts, handouts, tshirts, etc will be posted by the end July (if I’m lucky) or after August. The week following Girls Camp I dive right into the Call Family Reunion….which I happen to be in charge of this year with my sister-in-law. Busy summer? I think Y E S !!! But that’s ok, because the busier I am the quicker it goes by. And the quicker it goes by means the quicker I get to meet my darling new baby grand-daughter. Ahhhh, and that I can’t wait for!!