Girls Camp!!!!!

I spent the last week being the camp nurse at girls camp. We had camp at Camp Wooten in the Tuccanon area between Pomeroy and Dayton, Washington. This was the theme of girls camp. We focused on home and family this week.

The girls have arrived at camp! Let the FUN begin!

Each of the wards stayed in cabins and had to come up with a name for their cabin. We had names such as: Beautymus Bungalow, Fit Fort and Fort Fidelity, Talented or Terrific Townhouse, Delightful Duplex, Playful or Peaceful Palace, Christmas or Comfy Cottage and Harmony Hut. The stake was the Lively Lighthouse. The girls had to decorate in a value color, make it look like home, and also have a chore chart.

Each ward also had to decorate a mailbox to put along their "street." The priesthood brethren dressed up like mailmen and walked around delivering mail everyday.

This is where I stayed. Not to shabby, huh?! There was one side where I "lived" and then the other side of the cabin is where I took care of campers. The sides were divided by a bathroom and shower. Yes, I got my own private bathroom and shower. I mainly had to deal with girls getting dehydrated, heat exhaustion, allergies, itchy bug bites, cuts and scrapes. The usually camping injuries and problems. The girls probably got tired of me telling them to drink water all the time, but it was HOT!

The first night we had skit night. The stake did a skit called "Chief Yaputchatime." We all danced around the chief and everyone had a turn asking if "it was yaputchatime yet" and when the chief finally said "yes," we stood in line and started the hokey Pokey..."you putcha right foot in, you putcha right foot out..." The girls just groaned at us when we were done. It was great!

Some of them were so funny! I think everyone had a good time.

The next night we had a visit from our Stake President's wife. Our Stake President served his mission in Peru and one of his companions went back and started the Southern Cross Humanitarian Aide. The Stake President's family recently went to Peru to work in some orphanages down there. His wife and daughters (who were at camp) did a presentation about their experiences in Peru and made a movie of their trip. It was a really moving video and I don't think there was a dry eye in the room when it was over and they said those children and their families are our brothers and sisters. The Southern Cross Humanitarian Aide have bought bunk beds for some of the huts in a village where 8 people sleep in a very small one room hut. That evening we tied quilts to send to the village to put on the bunk beds. We also knitted hats for the newborn kits to send there as well. That night I stayed busy-the girls kept cutting themselves or poking themselves with a needle. It got to the point where I just sat in one spot and handed out Band-Aids all night. It made me laugh to see all these girls with Band-Aids on three and four fingers.

On Thursday we had a "Family Reunion." We did a "Parade of homes," where everyone cleaned their cabin and made it look extra special. Everyone then went around and "toured" the different cabins and voted on different categories. We then made homemade ice cream in a Ziploc bag. I have never made it that way and it was so good! We then played games and generally had a good time.

After the "Family Reunion" we had free time so I decided to play in the creek that ran by our camp and tube down it. It was not very deep and we had to dodge lots of rocks, but it was a lot of fun!

That night we had a testimony meeting in the amphitheater. There were a lot of girls who shared their testimony and the spirit was so strong there. It was an amazing evening for everyone!

On Friday, it was time for the girls to pack up and clean up the camp. We then handed out the awards from the "Parade of homes" and also the certificates and beads for the certification the girls were working on all week and the level they completed. What a great week we all had! I love girls camp!