Girls Camp at Ensign Ranch

I was so so so happy to be called as a leader for Girls Camp this summer. I was called to be the 4th Year leader, which is great because everyone knows the 4th years are the best and have the most fun. Old enough to be mature and have all the fun adventures, and young enough to still think my dance moves are funny. My partner in crime was Lisa Nelson, my new favorite pal, she is hilarious and we have a ton in common and had so much fun together.

 For the 4th year overnighter we took the girls camping at Clear Lake. We went boating, tubing, skiing, kayaking, played games, made tin foil dinners and dutch oven cobbler. It was basically raining and cold the entire time, but the girls had such a great attitude and the water was warmer than the outside temperature so we had a good time jumping off the boat and swimming. The rain let up just enough to give us time to set up camp and eat with dry clothes on. I wish that I had some pictures, but since it was raining I never felt the need to get it out of my bag. The girls had a great time though and by the time we got to Girls camp, they were all a very close knit group.

Camp was at Ensign Ranch this year. This is a church owned recreational area that stakes can only come to every 4 years or so. It is located at the base of the Cascades outside of Cle Elum in a beautiful spot in a river canyon right next to the Yakima River. There were 3 other stakes there also having girls camp, and a trek was also taking place, but the ranch is so big we never really saw or heard the other camps. The camp theme was "Anchor in Safe Harbors", and our group's symbol of safety was a Whistle. ER was an incredible place. The whole camp was so forested and shaded that it was always nice and cool. The girls camped in rustic A-frames, there was a giant slip-n-slide, rifle shooting, horseback riding, a climbing wall, canoes, a rope swing, and hiking trails. They got a daily shower! We even convinced the stake leaders to allow the 4th years to float the river, it was way too much fun. My camp experience as a youth was NOTHING like this. Once again, I did not take hardly any pictures, I was just too lazy to get the camera out of my bag, but here are a few.

I feel so fortunate to have been invited to camp. I had such a great time and the spirit was so strong there the whole time. I feel so at home in our new ward and stake. One thing I noticed was how united and loving this group was as a stake. When I was a youth there were just too many girls in our stake to bother getting to know anyone. Also, we used to camp as wards so you never got to know anyone. This group loved each other, you could feel the friendship there.