Girls Camp

Tessa came to Girl's Camp this year!!! That was my favorite part! 

We met early Monday morning to head up to Aspen Lakes.

Caitlyn gave the new girls their welcome gifts. Sadly Brylie ended up with strep throat and wasn't able to make it the first day.

It was Afton's birthday and her mom brought delicious brownies for everyone.

Stacie came up with such fun swag for us this year. The theme was "I am a disciple of Christ" (3 Nephi 5:13) and the logo was a hand holding a flame. She made shirts and hats, and everyone thought the flame glasses were so fun. Lindsay and I loved that while we were spending the week at camp together, our husbands and boys got together and had a game night. :)

Doing each other's hair is a must at Girl's Camp! Tessa loved the tinsel that Alina put in her hair and the string wrap that Addie put in for her.

Before all that fun happened, we got our campsite set up. I was unloading all the tent gear from the big trailer and came out to see girls and leaders pushing the food trailer up to where it needed to be. That made me laugh. :)

Once we had the campsite set up, we headed down to the stake lake party, which was super fun.

Stacie also brought this flame wig that we passed around all week. There was a secret word chosen every day, and if you said the word it was your turn with the wig until someone else said the word.

A huge windstorm blew in Monday afternoon/evening. It became real cold real fast! It got bad enough that we decided to send the girls to their tents for the night soon after dinner, and to have them sleep in the next morning to try to stay warmer in their tents. It was kinda hard for the leaders to cancel and rearrange the well-planned and intentional schedule, but it needed to be done. As we were getting everyone in their tents and securing everything we needed to, the sunset became absolutely gorgeous! We took a few minutes to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of God's earth before we were too freezing, and that was a really nice little break in the midst of trying to figure out how to best deal with the changes we needed to make.

The stake leaders had a drink bar for the leaders that was available all day every day. :) It was a small thing, but we sure appreciated it!! They had cute camping stickers on the cups and a ton of options for sodas and flavor add-ins. We definitely partook whenever we passed by the stake pavilion. :)

Tessa and Mila loved this spot in the sun right by the fire. I made a fire every morning and evening, and they loved to eat their meals, do their study time, and make their crafts right here in this spot. :)

We all had fun at archery.

And at the ropes course. Well, except Sophie. She got a tick while playing in all these bushes and trees and sadly had to go to the nurse to get it removed. :(

The rock wall was fun too. Tessa made it to the top and got to ring the bell. :) I got to climb once as well and spent the rest of the time belaying.

We had a great time at our ward lake time.

There were beautiful sunsets every night.

The last swag that Stacie got for everyone was friendship socks. They have eyes and arms. When you stand next to someone, the arms hold hands with the magnets that are inside them. They were a huge hit!!

We had fun at axe throwing.

Only 3 could go at a time, so the girls came up with other ways to have fun while waiting. :) Liv gave Tessa the nickname TT (Tiny Tessa), and they all thought it was funny to pick her up.

We tried a picture of our socks holding hands in a circle, while we were holding hands too. Haha. :)

Our campsite was up a huge hill. It was dreaded every time we had to go up the hill, which was many times a day. Elizabeth was very encouraging, so we all loved to be with her while we hiked up it.

This was Tessa's tent: Afton, Elena, Caitlyn, Tessa, and Mila. She loved her tent! 

A group of us went down to the team building course. They had a lot of fun accomplishing each challenge.

And Talia, Stacie and I enjoyed our cold drinks while we watched them. :)

I laughed so hard when I walked past the food trailer and saw Angela sitting in there. She said, "I'm just taking a minute to myself." Haha. We have the best group of leaders. Everyone was very good about checking on who needed a minute to themselves and trying to help us all not burn out.

Aspen Lakes is so pretty. I always enjoy the beauty from the amphitheater when we go for flag ceremony and the skits.

One time we were the first ward there. And that was definitely the only time, so we took a picture to celebrate. :)

Our skit was a hit. Our ward's theme was faith and Julia wrote an awesome one about an invisible bench. 

The stake taught a devotional about each of our individual talents and gifts being needed, and how each of us is like a puzzle piece that helps to complete the puzzle of God's plan. They made a puzzle out of a picture of each ward that we got to put together. I thought that was really cute.

It was fun to work with Maren, Angela, and Stacie planning camp. Such great ladies!

Tessa loved all the time with her friends at camp. They grow so close over these few days.

It's so much work to go to girl's camp, but both years I've been so happy with how it went. It's worth all the hard work!

It was very fun, and I had a great time! I loved being up there with all of the other girls! - Tessa

Oh and I fell in the lake canoeing but I had clothes on instead of a swim suit!