I was ecstatic when I got a call from Brother Worthen who is in the High Council asking me if I would help out with the food for Stake Girl's Camp. I have been wanting to go to camp with Camille since she turned 12, but never had a good enough excuse :). I was elated that I would be able to experience first hand what it was like for Camille and have some mother/daughter time together. It was actually the perfect year to go where Camille had one girl her age attend and she was with the stake more than with the ward (since she was a "SYCL"- Stake youth camp leader). Camille was a "WCYL" (ward camp youth leader) where she helped with the ward.
Preparing food for 350 girl's/leaders/priesthood is no small task. Sharon Sabin was over all of the food and April Lund and I were her helpers. I was excited to serve with Sharon as her daughter, Cara and Camille are best friends. We started meeting together a couple of months before to put together our menus and what we would need. We were in charge of 3 breakfasts and 1 dinner.
The Monday before Girl's Camp, we went shopping to get all of the food we needed. I underestimated how much food we would need. It was crazy! We went to Costco to purchase the food and then also picked up an order from Kohlers. I thought it felt weird shopping for a family of 8 - shopping for 350 is a totally different story. Then Tuesday morning we met at the Stake Center to fill up the trailer with all of the food and cooking things we would need. We almost filled to the brim a huge trailer.
We went to some LDS property in Heber that has an amazing facility for camping called "Aspen Lakes." It has a massive pavilion area, 2 lakes with canoeing, bathrooms with flushing toilets, beautiful grass areas, and much more. I definitely didn't feel like it was ruffing it too much. All of the Stake leaders and food committee were able to sleep in a large room right off of the kitchen. It was wonderful to have electricity, cover from elements, and bathrooms right next to us. We were spoiled! It was awesome getting to know the Stake leaders better also. There were quite a few from my ward which made my experience so much more enjoyable. Jennifer Atwood was the camp director, Mindy Hinckley in the Stake YW Presidency, and Jeni Adamson over camp certification. It was also so much fun having Trudy Hauver (Stake YW Presidency) and Sharon Sabin so I could get to know them better - Camille's 2 best friends moms.
We truly lucked out at the amazing facility we were able to cook in - it was a deluxe gourmet kitchen with almost everything you could dream of - 3 huge commercial fridges, 2 commercial freezers, 2 large stoves, 4 ovens, and tons of counter space. The food didn't require too much prep time as most of the hard part was done before coming up. Sharon and April were amazing to work with. All of our meals turned out great and we got quite a bit of compliments from the girls and leaders at how great the food was.
I loved spending my free time with Camille or hanging out with my ward. DeeDee Evans was up at camp as the Assistant Ward Camp leader and did a tremendous job. I loved spending time with her along with all of the other leaders and Camille. I loved having Camille just pop in to say "Hi" or be able to go find her and feel like she actually wanted me around. She slept in a tent with Emily Wilcox and Madi Parkinson. My ward's camp site was directly below the pavilion area so it was a quick trip over to see Camille.
Two of the days during free-time, I went with Camille to the lake and had fun going down a zip line that stopped over the lake. I was terrified at first, but knew that there was no way I wasn't going to do it. Camille was more daring than me as she went first from our ward. She jumped in and terrified most of us at her reaction to the cold water. I went after her and loved it. My hand got caught in the chair as I jumped out so I make a 360 as I was coming down and landing in the water. I didn't really realize it had happened until I saw the picture later and also had a massive bruise on my upper arm. I ended up going again and loved it more the second time. My boys would have been so impressed with me :).
We had an amazing devotional where Sister Kris Belcher spoke. She is legally blind and tells of her experiences in her life that have brought her to where she is today through humor and stories. We couldn't quit laughing. She was fabulous! She talked about "The Light of Christ" and how even if you are blind, you can see the light.
The last night all of the Bishopric came up to spend the evening with the wards. Our amazing YW leaders put together a Faith Walk for the girls which was very touching and memorable. Afterwards, we had a testimony meeting around the camp fire. What a spiritual experience! So many memories of Girl's Camp for me were brought to the surface from attending. I was strengthened so much by the testimonies born. I loved especially hearing Camille share her testimony. It was very touching hearing her say things that I had never known before. She is such an amazing girl!
Thanks to Emily Beck and Becki Wilcox who helped with my children - I was able to attend without feeling stress. Byron was able to take off a couple of days, but wasn't able to the whole week. I am so lucky to have amazing people in my life who are willing to help at any given time.
Friday morning we pretty much packed up and headed out right after breakfast. It was so nice to be back and feel loved from my children all running towards me.
Our ward went on a hike a couple of weeks before Girl's Camp to Stewart Falls. Camille is on the left next to Madi Parkinson, Brea Lambert and Emily Wilcox.
Camille doing the rock climbing wall.
The girl's had an obstacle course to go through. They had to get across this rope part any way that they could so many girls needed help from other girl's to get across. Here Camille and Jordan Peck are helping Emily Wilcox across. Below Camille gets help from Shandlee Spencer and Jordan.
The last night right before the devotional Camille was sitting with Brea Lambert and Jaedee Slaugh. They both came up that evening with Bishopric members. Camille was excited to have some of her friends come up.
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