Girls Camp 2016

     This year was my second year in the Brighton Stake as girls camp director for our ward. I still don't feel like I know what I am doing half or even three fourths of the time, but some how we manage to make it through and still have a good experience at camp. Our stake does stake girls camp every year. There are definitely pros and cons to that, I feel like. But it certainly is nice to not have to come up with the theme for camp. The theme we were given this year was oh the places you'll go, (Dr. Seuss Themed if you couldn't tell). Each ward was assigned a specific Dr. Seuss book that had a value from the YW theme, along with a topic from the FTSOY to try and emphasize during camp. Our ward got assigned the book "The Sneetches," with the value of individual worth and a topic of work and self reliance from the For the Strength of Youth book. Not super challenging, but not super easy either.
       Planning girls camp is always a miracle to me. You start out with a few women, a couple of ideas, and somehow it blossoms into this amazing week long experience for the girls. Somehow we always manage to have activities planned that are perfectly needed by someone else. Honestly, for me, it doesn't feel like divine inspiration at the time of planning. It just feels like, "hey, that would be really fun to do." But that really fun to do thing happens to be something that some girl really needs. Its amazing how it all works out it the end.
     This year, our biggest focus of activities was on team building, working together, and making friends. We had two super fun activities planned for this. Our first activity was building boats out of cardboard and duct tape. We randomly split the girls into groups of 4-5 girls. We gave them 2 rolls of duct tape, a box cutter, and cardboard. They had 1 hour to build a boat that would float them across "Leech Lake" thats our little pond we have at camp, and back again. The girls were SUPER creative with this. We had 3 completely different styles of boats built. And we only had one accident. One girl managed to cut her finger pretty good with the box cutter. Thankfully dad was coming up to be priesthood that day, and just picked her up, took her to instacare, and was able to come back with her a few hours later. Of our three different designs, one of them actually managed to make it all the way across the lake and back. But this particular boat wasn't really a boat. The girls thought to make a surf board that they laid on and paddled themselves across the lake. It worked for our purposes, and we thought it was very very creative. Somehow the stake also planned this particular boat activity. We did ours the day before they did theirs, so we were able to take what we learned from our activity and use it to build an awesome boat that actually won first place!

Group 1's prototype. We were certainly intrigued to see how this boat was going to turn out. 

Group 2: They had a very different approach than group 1. 

Group 3: These are the surfboard girls. They Had some pretty great tactics for making the boat have more buoyancy. 

Group 2's completed boat. Ready for Launch.

Group 1's completed boat

Group 3's boat/surfboard thing

Group 2 sending their little floater off into the water. 

Group 1 floating away from the dock

My husband Paul, was our rescue boat. He took a few girls out in a canoe to catch the ones that needed some saving from sinking to the bottom of the lake.

Our little surfer girl out there paddling away.

Paul had to rescue group 1's floater. She made it a decent way across the lake, but her boat sunk and she needed some saving. 

      The second activity we planned as a "Chopped Challenge" activity. We again split the girls into random groups and had them cook us an appetizer and a dessert using mystery basket ingredients and what few things we provided for them in the "pantry." It was so fun to see how creative the groups where, and what they decided to do with what little resources they had. Somehow the camp directors got roped into being the judges, and let me tell you, eating vienna sausage concoctions while 30 weeks pregnant wasn't exactly awesome. ;) The girls did work very well together though, and I think they might have had fun in the process.

 Of course we had to let the YW presidency do the challenge as well. They were pretty creative... Just kidding they did a great job!

      Somehow we managed to fit all 6 of the leaders into one tent. Normally this isn't hard to do, but when you are setting up 5 cots, and 2 of them are basically the size of a twin sized mattress, it gets a little squishy. I don't know how they did it, but somehow two of our amazing leaders found a way to tetris all of our cots into the tent, and still have a way for everyone to get in and out of the tent without having to climb over everyone and everything.

Our fun little tent. My cot is the one off to the left of the picture. Then we have Nichole's cute little bed on the floor (no cot), then four cots in a row making one big bead the rest of the way down the tent. We are still pretty baffled that we got all of that to fit in the tent as comfortably as we did,

      I do have to say that I am pretty impressed with myself about one thing. I am not a super fan of swimming in dirty lakes. I will swim in lakes, but I like them to at least appear a little more on the cleaner side. But leech lake is not one of my top 5 lakes to swim in, thats for sure. I didn't swim in it last year, and didn't really have intentions to swim this year. But those plans changed when one of our cute little beehives wanted to climb into my canoe. I told her that she could, IF she didn't tip it over and dump me in. She said she wouldn't dump me and and attempted to climb in. Clearly she has never climbed into a canoe before. Even leaning the other direction as much as I could to balance out the canoe, I was flipped over and in the water within 30 seconds or less. She felt terrible. But it was actually quite refreshing. I was out on the lake in a canoe with my phone taking pictures of the girls, (thankfully I had my phone in a waterproof bag, or I would be in SO much trouble). Being 30 weeks pregnant and trying to de-swamp the canoe with a cute, tiny 12 year old girl is not an easy feat. Together we managed to drag the canoe to the side of the lake, then dump out all of the water. By then, the canoe is parked, and I am standing right next to the zip line, so I figured, I might as well ride the zipline while I am wet. The girls couldn't believe that their pregger leader was crazy enough to take the zipline across the lake. It was fun! Didn't fall off or anything.
      Of all the fun times we have a camp, testimony has got to be, by far, my favorite. There is not other time, when I feel as connected with the youth, as I do during testimony meeting. They literally pour out their hearts and souls to us. It is so touching, and very spiritual. I don't know what next year will bring. I might be camp director, I might not, but one thing is for sure, I LOVE spending time with these amazing girls.

Payson Lakes Camping Trip

       I was a little bit bummed out that we didn't get to go on the Blatter family back packing trip this year because Paul had a business trip, and my in-laws had a vacation planned the 3 days I needed someone to watch Jace. But thats okay. We made up for it by going on a small 3 day camping trip just as a little family of 3 (and a half). We wanted to go down to southern Utah, but the friends we had hoped to visit were busy and couldn't do anything. So we decided to stay a little closer to home and go to the campsite of Paul's childhood, Payson Lakes.

      We were able to borrow a canoe from Paul's aunt, but the tricky thing was that this said canoe is stored at his cousins house, who was currently on a 4 week vacation with their family. We were able to get into the garage with a garage code, but the canoe was on a pulley system up against the wall, as well as smushed in between their suburban, (to which we did not have any keys for). No worries though! We managed to get it out with no injuries. Getting it back in is a whole other story though! After we managed to get the canoe out and strapped to our car we were on our way.
       An hour or so later we made it to the camp site. Jace had fallen asleep on the way up, but was wide awake at this point. We started unloading and got the tent all pulled out. Jace was so excited to help dad us a hammer to get the stakes in. He is still learning how to use the hammer the right way, but he is getting better. With the tent set up and everything mostly unloaded we took a trip down to the lake. Jace had a ball throwing rocks into the water and looking for fish in the lake. He also loved to search out the Pot Guts and watch them crawl around and search for scraps of food left out, or dropped.
      The first night up there I realized that I left my pillow at home. I am learning that doing that is a big no no if I want to get any sleep at all. I don't sleep well without a pillow in general, let alone my specific pillow that is so perfectly shaped and fluffed just the right amount. Needless to say, I didn't sleep super well that night. Paul and I tried to steal Jace's pillow from him, but he wouldn't have any of it! He did not want to share one little bit. So we tried to make do with our beach towels from our bag. The next night we stole a few of Jaces 15 blankets to make ourselves somewhat of a pillow. We slept a little better the second night. Lest be honest though, being pregnant and sleeping on an air mattress isn't the best nights sleep anyway.
      On the morning of day 2 we took our canoe out on the lake. It was still pretty chilly outside so we didn't get to play in the water. But thats okay. Jace was really unsure about the boat at first. When he got in and then Paul tried to get in, the boat was really wobbly and Jace didn't like that a whole lot. He cried for the first 3 or so minutes of the ride until he realized that everything was going to be okay. Jace's favorite part was going fast. He would ask us to go fast, fast, fast. He loved it! But coming back onto shore was also not a favorite. We spent a good hour or so out on the lake watching people fish, and watching fish jump. Then we headed back to camp. We needed to run into town and get ice because we didn't think we had enough to keep our cooler cold the rest of the trip.
     Jace slept most of the drive down and even slept after we got back up from picking up ice. Paul and I were tired and tried to take a nap, well let me clarify. I tried to nap. Paul was, of course, out like a log. I got maybe 10 minutes of sleep before Jace woke up. So I tried to get him to play in the tent and cuddle so we could sleep a little bit longer. After 15 minutes of that, he was ready to be out and playing. So I took him out of the tent to eat and play while Paul finished his nap. I think I tried to nap after Paul got up, but it wasn't happening. So we went on a walk down by the lake again.
    Funnily enough, we ran into one of Paul's co workers twice while we were out walking around the lake. He had brought his boys up fishing, (just for the day), but we managed to be taking a walk both days while he was there. Crazy. We didn't really get into our suits and play on the water, (which i am bummed about now, but thats okay. The day we left it was just about ready to rain so we didn't play in the water that day either.
       The last day we mostly just packed up, had an awesome breakfast, and headed home. After sleeping on the ground for a few nights we were ready for our own bed (and pillows!!) While Trying to put the canoe away, Paul accidentally dropped the nose of the canoe onto my neck/collarbone. He was trying to figure out the pulley system and didn't realize that if he pulled one end it would release the other. It scared me half to death. I was worried he had broken my collar bone, but he didn't. Just a nice little road rash, bruise, and some bleeding. The next day at church everyone thought that I had a hickey. It was pretty great.
   

Paul trying to get the canoe safely tied down to the car.

All strapped and ready to go

Jace is totally passed out in the back, but we are excited about our family get away

Jace has his hammer and is ready to help dad out

The boys using their muscles to get the stakes hammered into the ground

Jace figuring out the ropes of the campsite

Jace was so excited every time he would see a pot gut, he of course had to point them all out to us. 

Jus chillin in our chairs waiting for our dinners to cook.

Jace's all time favorite thing to do was throw rocks into the lake. We would walk around the whole lake picking up rocks just to throw into the water.

He ran out of ammo and was headed to go find some more. 

Jace and dad just chillin

Jace was almost actually smiling in this picture. It was kind of cute. 

Jace with mom. I hardly hold him these days because my belly is so in the way, but he sure loves it when I do hold him. 

The lake view from the dock.

We were trying to get Jace to smile, but he was looking directly into the sun

There goes his rock! 

We thought there might be a forest fire in the area because of the clouds/smoke around the sun. What ever it was, it made for a gorgeous sunset. 

Jace has started to develop a love of frisbee, (which I am really excited about). He is starting to get the hang of throwing it. He probably throws it in front of him 50% of the time. The other 50% it ends up swinging back behind him. Slowly though he will figure it out! He already has his dives down pat though! ;)

Jace and Dad are cookin us some breakfast

I had to document Paul doing his thing. 

I tried really hard to get a picture of Jace with me, but the sun was coming from all sorts of weird angles

I asked Jace to show me his chompers so I could hopefully get a picture of him smiling. This is the result! I have to say though that I love this picture and the next two. I pretty much laugh every time i see them because his face is so darn cute!

Chomper picture number 2

Chomper picture number 3 

The next two pictures are attempted smiles and I love them also. His face is so silly but so cute. I can't believe I managed to catch them on camera! 

Seriously just makes me giggle and love him even more every time I see these pictures!