Beginnings of Summer

Girls Camp~ This was again the second week of June, which makes it so busy to get everything prepared in time, and yet I love the possibility of having a camp-free summer! I had the idea to put together a Camp Year Book for all the girls. My presidency helped me figure out how to pull it all together and we ended with spiral-bound books with our "Rooted In Knowledge" theme (GREEN). I collected thoughts from all the RS and Primary women in the ward, as well as YW leaders. I simply asked them to send me something they'd like the girls to know. We got one from every mother and most of the women in the ward! They were thoughtful, funny, spiritual, random and all so great. We took a picture of every girl and leader and compiled this "year book". We presented it to the girls the first night at camp. My presidency and I visited each cabin while the girls were gathering for bed and told them that this book was thoughts from all the women who have taught them and love them most. Their goal for the week at camp is to get each girl/ leader to sign their yearbook next to their name. We'll also have them bring them to our Camp Wrap-Up to finish signing. We have EIGHT first years, so our hope is to get them a little more comfortable with everyone. Hopefully it is something they will cherish for years to come. I know I will!

The bags are for my FEAST Time. I gave them green treats, a lime to squeeze in their drink and an RX card for their lanyards with a prescription for self-worth. They were prescribed to do certain acts of service throughout the week for each other. I talked about how Self-Esteem is earned through Estimable Acts. Service is the antidote for self-worth.

A fun thing this year is that Jon got to haul up one of our trailers with his truck, which meant he got to spend Monday with us, helping us set up camp. It was really great to finally show him beautiful Camp Mia Shalom! This also meant that he would be up first thing Saturday morning to bring us home.

Camp this year was rough. There were the usual melt-downs from the young girls, one too sad and needing to go home, one with cutting issues that really worried me so I contacted her mother. Another too sick to stay and needed to leave late one night. My wonderful Beehive advisor, Sandra came up for two days with her husband. She is a quadriplegic and needs a lot of assistance which we planned on and were ready for. All my leaders are so wonderful, jumping in when needed- jumping in before they're needed! My amazing Camp Director, Leia, broke her ankle really bad on Tuesday! We didn't know it was broken, and she insisted on hobbling around all week on it. She was devastated because she lives and breathes Girls Camp. It was so hard to see her struggling to sit still because she is the GO-GO-GO type!
The real problem lied in the Stake Leaders. They were quick to point out girls not in dress code, or concerns with brethren from our ward that were spending too much time in our camp and should be with the stake. (They were eager to help us with Sandra, so kind and so needed- and just having a good time with us.) I felt like they were constantly calling me over to inform me of something new I was doing wrong. It really weighed on me, heavier than the other things I was trying to handle. I learned from this that in these situations, the best thing to do is give support. I could have really used that from them. I thought I handled it all really well until Jon drove up that Saturday morning. I walked over to give him a hug and just bawled on his shoulder for a few minutes. The whole ride home it was a little difficult to just speak of all the positive fun we had because I had four girls in the back seat. And I was tired in every way.

It was a sweet treat to arrive home to this. Paisley...

I'm so happy to be home!

And now it's back to life, with Girls Camp checked off!
Paisley filled me in on all the things~

I also noticed she made herself her usual fancy drink and snack~
...but then ran and put on a fancy skirt to drink it. She's raising her own bar.

 Hanging and chatting with sweet Zeke in the morning light as he plunks away on the piano~

That face!

 We headed up to the glorious canyon to celebrate our great Dad~ our #1 DAD!

I'm getting better, guys!

"to my bearded animal"

Welcome home, Eli! 

Eli left for a whole week of Scout Camp that Monday morning right after I got home.

 And we are back into regular Young Women's activities, full force- just like that!

 We did have our "Camp Wrap-Up" and our ward YCL's passed on the "torch" to the new YCL's. 

It's always a fun ceremony for the girls.

My Camp Director is famous for her donuts she whips up on Halloween night in her front yard.
So she made endless donuts at our Camp Wrap-Up. Broken foot and all!

We had a Laurel "Spa Night" because it is a tradition at Girls Camp, but half our girls were with the Stake so they felt left out. The Mia Maids kept bringing out homemade smoothies for us, so we really felt pampered.

The Relief Society President, Primary President and I go out once a month to lunch. We call it our WEC Meeting. It is actually very lovely and very helpful to chat about all the things. There is something a little lonely about being a President at times, and these ladies get it. I love them!

Gina (Primary), Dori (Relief Society), and ME!

Now really, I need a nap.