Happy Campers

June 26-29 was our YW Wilderness Camp. We seriously had the best camp and the most fun time ever! The theme for this year was "Daughter of The King" and our ward scripture was Esther 4:14 "who knowest if thou art come to the Kindgom for such a time as this". We had so many great lessons and thoughts on this this theme. Some of my favorite things about YW camp are seeing the YW have so much fun, but also seeing their testimonies grow. We had amazing experiences with all of our girls, but two touched me deeply. One YW is a non-member (Marie) and this was her first YW Wilderness camp - she was obviously a bit skeptical - but the day before we left to come home, she said that she wished she could stay for 3 weeks. Another girl responded by saying "with no showers?" Marie replied "well none of us would shower, so it wouldn't matter". Another YW (a brand new beehive - Nana) felt the spirit so strong, that when it came time for her to finish her testimony... she just couldn't sit down - she wanted so bad for the feeling to stay with her. It was one of my favorite camp moments EVER!

Another favorite moment is the leader group hug, and seeing all the girls and leaders in their "Daugther of the King" t-shirts.. with our special logo and font! Can you say "best camp director ever"? The four leaders that attended camp and stayed in the "Taj maTent" were Me.. the "Princess of Cantelope".. ewww! RaNae - "Princess BIg Bangs", Kim... "Princess Happy Camper", and Julie "Princess Above All"... Way too many inside jokes to explain in one blog. BTW - I should actually have RaNae pay me to NOT publish the reason we call her "Princess Big Bangs". That's a very interesting thought!

A few other favorite, but perhaps less spiritual moments were:

1- Jungle Girl (I've named Lauren Jungle girl in this photo, because she looks like some jungle orphan that has never seen people, or a bar of soap). Each year at camp - we have a tradition called the "creek walk". It's one of the favorite cooling off moments at camp. Well, this year, the girls (ok Laurels) got into a bit of a mud fight. Anyone that knows Lauren, knows without a doubt that she started it - but this time... she also got the worst of it! Another interesting fact... the mud also smelled like... poo! So, she is AKA "poo girl" but I think that nickname was giving her a complex... so we changed it!
2- Surprise Attack- Last year, the leaders whipped out the Squirt guns - this year, it was a surprise Water Balloon Attack.. Smile for the camera girls... Splish Splash..

3- Our Super Funny - best ever (should have been award winning) Skit with Melisa playing an immodest princess, and Liz in the role of "Fairy Godmother".. "Moo, I'm with you!"

4- And finally- pinchy winchy! Always a great time... and a great photo opp! Way to be good sports B-Bug, Heather and Kimba!