Girls Camp

Girls Camp has always had a special place in my heart.  I loved it as a youth and was excited to be called this year as the camp historian.  My job was to capture camp through pictures and put together a slide show for the last night.  I was also in charge of decorations for the main lodge and the bathrooms.  Super fun!

Most of June was consumed with getting ready for camp.  The theme was Burn Bright With His Light.  We used card board to make light houses to put in front of each cabin.  We painted them white so each cabin would have a blank canvas to decorate their light house and make it their own.  I found little solar lights to put in the "window" to light the way each night.  I don't think I have a picture of the finished product.

Each year was assigned a name and a color.  We made life preservers and paper flags to hang over their tables in the main lodge.

We made little flags to put outside the first year cabins that said "Maiden Voyage", a Welcome Aboard sign on a captions wheel, big banners for each day's theme, fish nets and anchors and fish for decoration around camp, and lots of quotes for the bathroom stalls. 

 

The quotes actually took a ton of time but, were pretty fun to do.  This stake has a tradition of putting different quotes or stories in the bathroom stalls.  We thought it would be fun to assign each stall a theme, like "Name That Movie" and on the inside were different movie quotes. Another stall was "Inspire Me" and it had quotes from General Conference or the scriptures, etc.  A few others were, "That's Awkward", "LOL!", "Motivate Me", and "Things That Make You Go Hmmm".  I think we had two more but I can't remember what they were now! 

 

Anyway, June was super busy, but I was excited to go to camp and spend the week with Jessica. 

The first day we set up.  This is the main banner that we made before camp.

And below is one of the daily banners.  I think they came out really cute!  Jason set up his projector so we could trace the banners onto the HUGE paper we taped to the wall in my living room.

 

I spent most of my week sitting right here

I took hundreds of pictures and sorted through hundred of pictures that other people took to make a slide show for the end of the week.  Looking through pictures to use for this post was a little overwhelming.  There are just so many that I love but not enough room in a single post,  so I decided to just post a few pictures of Jessica and a few pictures of my favorite memories and people.

 

Here is Jessica on her first day. (Still clean!)  I just love this girl!  I get to know more about her each time I go on one of these trips where I get to be a fly on the wall in her world.   I love her independence and the compassion she has for those around her.  

  I haven't ever been away from Jason for more than a couple of days and I was so surprised at how homesick I was for him!  It took me a few days to find good cell coverage. It was sort of torture only being able to get the occasional text message to go through.  It made me realize how much we talk and how grateful I am for him.  It was so comforting having Jessica at camp with me.  She would always come find me to say good night or give me a quick hug as she walked by. 

 

Jess and some of her closest friends in her cabin

Jessica's cabin picture

                                Taking a break on her hike with friends

on the zipline...

 

Camp Director Kirsten, with counselors Jen and Julie.  Truly amazing women, each with their own unique talents and strengths that complimented each other perfectly to make camp what it was for the girls.

The stake Young Women's Presidency (minus Allison who was sick), Shelley, Becky and Karen

Paula was in charge of decorations and pictures with me and I absolutely love her!  It was so much fun getting to know her.

Jessica was one of the seniors assigned to our committee.  She has a special place in my heart.  I've known her sister, Talia, since high school and met Jessica when she was just a few years old.  I was so glad she came to camp and that I was able to work with her.

Molly was the other senior assigned to our committee.  I don't think I ever saw her without a smile!

Kristie, one of my favorite people, and her daughter Kailey.  Always made me happy to see them around camp.

Another mom and daughter duo that made me smile were Rose and Shamara.  Rose designated herself as my personal babysitter and loved to give me a hard time and show me around camp. Shamara really went out of her way to get to know me and be a friend.  I really enjoyed getting to know both of them. 

A few of my favorite images from camp...
Maggie Jensen on the zipline.   The zipline location was so pretty!  I spent a lot of time here taking pictures of the girls as they challenged themselves and overcame some of their fears. 

One of the cabins having a devotional in the woods.

Nicole Bjork reading her scriptures on a rock.  This speaks to me.  I always feel a quiet reverence in my heart when I am out in nature and am reminded of God's great love for us. 

I love this image of the 4th year girls coming back from their over night hike.  I love that they are united and you can see the sense of accomplishment on their faces.

I started looking through my pictures again and there are just too many that I love, so I'm going to end with this one.  It is simply three girls standing and smiling for the camera, but the picture has a lot of emotion for me.  The girls were the youth leaders who helped run camp.  I was impressed with the adult leadership and how they really let these girls be out front and lead.  These three girls were so amazing!  Their testimonies and strength were an example to everyone and they did a fabulous job.