The summer before I got married, I got to be an assistant camp director. But living in student wards and then having babies kept me away from the girls' camping scene for years.
Until the start of this year when I was called to be a stake assistant camp director. (Oh, and my mom was the stake camp director. It was a blast working with her. :-))
I'm going to go ahead and admit this (although anyone who has ever been a camp director knows it already) ... being a camp director in any capacity it a lot of work. I had meetings to attend, a slide show to create, booklets to make, T-shirts to design and order, and a week of absence from the home to prepare for. Seth, being the awesome husband and father he is, said he'd happily take off a whole week of work to stay at home with the girls while I went to Darby, so at least I didn't have to stress over that while I was away.
Last week during the first of many rainstorms we experienced, we had the Youth Camp Leaders haul their stuff over to our shop so they could throw it in the back of several pickups and get it covered with tarps before we drove up to Driggs for lunch and then to Darby. We got a whole day with the YCLs before the ward camp directors and the younger girls joined us. It was fun to learn their names and a little about their personalities.
Talking to the YCLs about Christlike attributes.
Then, for four more days, we got to spend time with many girls and leaders from our eight wards.
Overall (in my mind, at least), girls' camp was a success. Was the weather perfect? No. Did everyone stay dry the entire time? No. Did everyone make it out of camp without any homesickness or physical ailment? No.
But despite the continual rain and other minor hiccups, I feel like we experienced a week of little miracles:
As the wards arrived with their girls, it stopped raining long enough for everyone to unload and set up tents.
A ward rolls in with their decorated trailer.
Tuesday evening as I ate dinner with one of the wards, a small explosion in their camp startled me. The lighter they kept tied to the propane stove (so they wouldn't lose it) got too close and blew up. Everyone was seated at the picnic tables at the time, so the small fireball and lighter shrapnel didn't cause anyone harm.
Even though the rain kept us from having our special stake night in the amphitheater, the lodge proved to be a wonderful venue as well. For our stake night, we asked seven men to prepare themselves to be Book of Mormon prophets. They all had assignments; they had to come in costume and speak as though they were Ammon, Mormon, etc. The stage, curtains, spotlight and seating turned out to be perfect. In fact, if we had tried having it in the amphitheater, I don't know if we would have had enough seating.
The umbrella-ed and poncho-ed group inside the lodge during our flagless flag ceremony (you're not supposed to fly the flag when it's raining) preceding stake night.
Despite some of the later-leaving hikes got rained on, everyone made it back safely to camp. We had seven groups go on four different hikes (due to group size restrictions, we had to split the groups up), and even though those going to Tablerock got back around dinner time, they made it in time for skit night.
A group of girls' campers on the Pole Canyon hike.
Thursday we experienced beautiful weather, for the most part. The girls and leaders were able to play volleyball, do archery and negotiate the low ropes course.
While the girls enjoyed the meadow, I stayed in the lodge and crocheted mats for homeless people to sleep on. We made them from cut up grocery sacks. I had to learn to crochet to participate.
Thursday evening as I joined my home ward for dinner, the heavens opened and rain poured down. We were gathered together for prayer when the loudest boom of thunder I've EVER heard echoed through the canyon. The ward camp director quickly instructed a girl to pray for the food and our safety. The next crash of thunder was a little quieter and more distant, and it even quit raining in time for us to gather around the campfire for our testimony meeting.
Friday morning, we once again had clear skies while everyone took down their tents, loaded their trailers and pulled out of camp.
Flag ceremony Friday morning before everyone ate breakfast and took down their camps.
I had the back of the pickup all loaded, tarped and tied down, and then a girl said I had her sleeping bag's stuff sack in the back. She was right. I found it after untying a tie-down and pulling up the tarp.
In the words of Alma, "... all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it. ..." I know I felt that at camp, and I hope the other leaders and girls felt that as well. If so, we did something right. Here's to many more years of girls' camp.
One of the many cute bunnies we saw while at camp.
