Outdoor Especially For Youth - OEFY

During the beginning of 2000 my mom told me that I needed an adventure. I don't know why she decided that I needed one, but we started looking for something that I could do. In the BYI magazine we saw a paragraph describing something called Outdoor Especially For Youth (now a days it is called Outdoor Youth Adventures) held at Ricks college. We wrote to the address provided, received an information packet, signed me up, and paid the fees. Then we waited. OEFY started July 24th so I had a long time to wait. I was excited for OEFY, but I had no idea how much my week there would change my life. Here is what I wrote about the camp during camp and on the ride home. I've added things to clarify the meaning in [brackets.]

I've been at camp for 4 days now. I would have liked to write everyday because my opinions change about people and things so much from day to day, but since they keep us on such a tight schedule here there really isn't time to write. Everyone is so nice and themselves. We're right with the boys and its been very interesting to watch them approach things in relation to the girls. I've always wanted to go with the Boy Scouts and this week has been very fun. From bug spray in the fire to Sargent Commando making us drop and give him “20.”

It started Sunday after church when my whole family drove to Logan where we stopped to visit Johnny and Cheryl. Then we drove to Grandma Mary Ann's house and stayed over night. [The next day] me, Mom, and Dad left around 8:00 to go to Rexburg. We got there about 10:00. After showing my rain gear [each camper was required to have a quality rain poncho] I got a name tag that said I was in group B. After waiting for a while we had a little orientation then lunch. I immediately buddied with Stacy, April, and Meghan. They are from Chicago and have interesting experiences about being in a minority [as members of the church]. We had lunch and sat around. One girl was learning everybody's names. The buses came and we packed all our stuff. I am one of the lightest packers with a duffel bag and sleeping bag. On the bus I sat with Stacy and talked to a guy who was just like [my friend] Alan. Also a girl who later remembered my name – her name was Stephanie. But they weren't in my group.

[Camp was held at the Outdoor Recreation Center located at Badger Creek which is about an hour and a half from Ricks College.] At camp we got in our group. Our counselors were Heidi and Natalie. The girls in my group were Mandy, Krista, Brooke, Stacy, Meghan, April, and me. The boys were Tyler, David, Chad, Joe, McKell, Jason, Landon, and JP. We loaded everything into two handcarts- they were pretty big- and took them to our campsite. We found out we were sleeping in teepees [boys in one, girls in the other, counselors under the handcarts]. We set up and went to our first activity.
It was Ropes Course B. It was a 35 foot wall that we had to climb up and then lower [rappel] ourselves to the ground. I personally thought it was an experience in trusting because we were secured by harnesses fastened to ropes held by 4 belaying people I had only just met. [One person was the actual belayer, the next person was the "brake man", the other two people were rope tenders who made sure the rope didn't touch the ground. There were two people climbing at a time and 4 people helped belay each climber. This insured that 10 group members were occupied at all times, and not left with an opportunity to wander or goof off.] It was fun and I just concentrated on the wall and the blocks of wood. Then we rappelled down [the other side] and I was horizontal with the ground and I experienced flying.
After two hours of climbing we went to dinner at 6:00. We eat in an open air pavilion and the food is so good. I ate chicken. [I hated chicken.] After dinner we came back to camp and set some goals. Already we could tell that David and Tyler were going to be crazy and that Jason had something against trees. Brooke was showing as a leader. We decided to call ourselves the Funky Barn Weasels. [Probably because we all laughed when someone suggested the name.]

After that we climbed a very steep hill and the staff put on some very funny skits. My favorite was where a guy and a girl were sitting down and there were two people sitting behind them acting as their hands and putting on makeup.

After that we came down and [did an activity where] half of us had to shut our eyes while [one person from] the other half lead [each of ] us around [the dark campsite]. [This was to teach us trust, and about listening to the spirit.] After that we did some things with our senses [like shutting our eyes and listening to what we could hear]. David, who up until then had been pretty crazy, made a really good comment about how the Devil might pull us harshly into trouble. It was probably too much profoundness for one day because Heidi later had to feed him Fruit loops to make him be quiet. We all went to bed and I was cold.
We woke up at 6:15 and got ready for breakfast. Then we went. After breakfast we went to leather-work, and I made a key chain that says VAL. That is what everyone calls me up here. It's funny to hear almost strangers [call me] Val because usually only my family and friends call me Val. [People have to know me for at least a few weeks before they start calling me Val. I never ask anyone to call me Val, it just starts happening over time.] That took about an hour and then we made candles. Mine is so pretty with sage brush and one blue flower dipped in pink [wax]. We went horse back riding and I didn't enjoy it. Everyone else had gone before and I had a really slow horse. I'm glad I did it though. My horse was named Melody Mike. It was a boy and I didn't like trying to put a saddle on [him] because I was afraid of [his] stamping.
After horses we went to lunch and then we did initiatives. [Initiatives are team building, problem solving activities based on some made up situation.] The first was that we were in prison trying to escape over a wall. We only had ten minutes. We pushed Chad up to the top because he was the tallest. Then we pushed everyone up and he pulled. Only three people could be on the top platform at a time so we would climb down [using a ladder that was on the back of the wall].
The second [initiative] was a fire escape. We were crawling on our bellies under string [that was stung in a web pattern] about a foot off the ground. If you touched [the string with any part of your body] you passed out and you had to be pulled out. It was so dirty, but people went back to save each other. [We had huge chains of people trying to pull one person out.] After that we did a thing where were were all blind folded and we were led in a big group and then had to follow a noise and then a rope that represented the Iron Rod. It was neat.
Then we did a map and compass [activity]. McKell got bitten by a snake/rope and went “blind.” We had to get everybody over an “electric fence” [it was really climbing webbing] including “blind boy.” We also had to swing him across the “pit of eternal stench” so that he could get his medicine/jolly rancher. By this time we were done with mental stimulation. [If I remember right we didn't work very well together on the last activity. Our brains were done thinking.]
We went down to diner and then to a fireside up the big hill. Then we planned our skits. Jason ran around with a log that looked like a gun and we nicknamed him "Sarge." He snuck up on our counselors. I got really hyper and talkative. We were in a group and we went over names and Landon called me "Van." He was so embarrassed, but I just cracked up. We went to bed. I was cold again and my sleeping bag broke.

I got up Wednesday and didn't change because I slept in the clothes I wanted to wear. We were going to take showers, but we would have had to get up at 3:30 [that's AM] to pack our handcart. We decided to wash in the river when we went canoeing. So we packed up at 6:30 and took the handcart to the upper pavilion. We had breakfast and went to the Ropes Course A. We had to walk up an inclined log and then across a log 20 feet in the air. I was scarred the last few steps up the log, but I made it and leaned upside down coming down. Brooke did cartwheels on the log. Then we did a thing where we went across Badger Creek on two cables. One for the feet and one for hands.
We went down to diner and then to a fireside up the big hill. Then we planned our skits. Jason ran around with a log that looked like a gun and we nicknamed him “Sarge.” He snuck up on our counselors. I got really hyper and talkative. We were in a group and we went over names and Landon called me “Van.” He was so embarrassed, but I just cracked up. We went to bed. I was cold again and my sleeping bag broke.

I got up Wednesday and didn't change because I slept in the clothes I wanted to wear. We were going to take showers, but we would have had to get up at 3:30 [that's AM] to pack our handcart. We decided to wash in the river when we went canoeing. So we packed up at 6:30 and took the handcart to the upper pavilion. We had breakfast and went to the Ropes Course A. We had to walk up an inclined log and then across a log 20 feet in the air. I was scarred the last few steps up the log, but I made it and leaned upside down coming down. Brooke did cartwheels on the log. Then we did a thing where we went across Badger Creek on two cables. One for the feet and one for hands.
At three we got our handcart and pulled it to the Logistics Center [which was at the entrance to Badger Creek]. We officially started at 3:30. It was a long hot hike with a very steep hill. Finally 4 miles and 2 hours later we were at our destination in Wyoming. [I'm not sure how we knew we were there, there was nothing special about the spot.] It rained during dinner and we were miserable. Natalie talked to me about one person making a difference in her life. I thanked her about it.
We set up our lean to with girls on one side, boys on the other, and counselors down the middle. [My mom was shocked to hear about this. She'd imagined the boys in completely different groups and only socializing with the girls during meals.] We had skits [with the other groups]. One group had this guy say, “Yeah, I'm the bear.” First it was really funny, then it was funny how they kept doing it, Then they got booed off the stage. Ours went okay [I have no memory of what we did]. After skits we went to play games with another group. Spencer, this guy who reminds me of Alan, and his friends kept talking to me. But I was thinking about the game we were playing. It involved holding hands and I was sitting by Landon. We held hands and even when others didn't have to hold hands we did. I guess I really like him. [I wrote a little bit more about how I felt about Landon, but since it didn't pan out I'm not going to type it here.]

Since we were [sleeping] within 2 feet of each other nobody changed [their clothes for the night] so I was in my clothes for another night. I t was very warm because of the cloud cover from the rain. It didn't rain the rest of the time up there.

We woke up Thursday and still didn't change. After breakfast we took the handcart home, or back to the lodge.
Then we went to the lower pavilion [for more survival skills]. Heidi and Natalie said that we were on a plane and Sarge was flying it and all of a sudden he yelled that we were taking on enemy fighters. Our plane went down and we had to empty our pockets and see what we had. Then we divided into groups to build shelters. I was with Sarge, JP, and April. We found a fallen log and leaned logs up against it. Then we stuffed it with grass. Landon took a picture of us by it.
We went to lunch and then to initiative course A. We all had to swing across a log to a board 3 feet by 3 feet [wide]. [We had to stand together on this board.] We held each other on. In the middle it smelled bad because most of us had been in the same clothes for almost 2 days. [And most of us hadn't showered since at least Monday morning.] I had Landon's arms around my waist. Then we did a thing where we lined up according to our birth month and stood on a log. We had to reverse the order without falling off or talking. [After some initial problems we figured out how to solve this initiative.] We would crouch down and people would step over us. These two activities really made us work together. I was holding boys' hands and thinking nothing about it (except Landon). We really became a team.

Then we did a spiders web thing [a web of bungee cords was stung between two trees and we had to get everyone through the web without touching the web. We couldn’t use the same opening twice.] but we couldn't communicate very well and and we ran out of time.

We went to Ropes Course C. [This ropes course event was a long line of different types of high events all strung together. On the other ropes courses only one or two people at a time climbed. This event took almost an hour to complete so we all climbed it together while spread out over the various events. Another difference about this event was the type of harness system. The other events used the typical belayer system where the climber was supported by a rope held by someone on the ground. This event used lobster claws. Each climber was supported by two ropes. One was about 2 feet long and the other about 4 feet long. The ropes were clipped onto cables that hung above each event. After each event the climber would unhook one claw from the cable and hook it into the cable for the next event. Then they would do the same with the other claw. There were a few counselors located at strategic points though out the course to help with tricky transitions. Mostly we were on our own as we navigated the 10 or so different events high in the trees.] On the Tarzan swing I grabbed too high [and ended up with a rope burn. And I also] went without a helmet. [They handed one up to me and I kept going through the course.] The cat walk was okay. [The cat walk was two parallel cables running about two feet apart. I had to cross them by holding them and crawling on my hands and my knees on the two cables.] So was the mini zip line. I got stuck in the spiders web and was scared of hanging myself. [Of all the adventurous things I did this week the Spiders web was the only time I was really scared. It was a bunch of ropes that were strung randomly. I was supposed to crawl over them. Instead I fell through them and had to pull myself out. It was hard because I didn't have enough upper body strength to make it easy. Every time I grabbed the ropes to pull myself back up it would close the gap that I needed to get through. Eventually I made it back on top, but I did not enjoy that event.] The two cable bridge [where you had to put your feet on one cable and you hands on the other to walk across] and the Monkey Bridge [a triangular shaped bridge made out of ropes] were okay. But the moonwalk was scary. [The moonwalk was two cables that sort of made an X shape. These cables were for your hands. There was another cable for your feet. You would walk across the lower cable while holding the diagonal cable. It gradually got lower and lower. When it was just about gone the second hand cable started slanting up. The whole event shook like crazy.] The zip line at the end made it all worth it. Landon, who is scared of heights, only did the Tarzan Swing. I don't blame him for not doing the rest.

We had a water fight and somebody pushed Tyler in the dirt so he was muddy. We went to dinner and halfway through dinner he took off running toward camp. Heidi ran after him and tied a leash around his waist. We had a fireside speaker and I'm sorry to say, I slept through it. Then we had solo time and I wrote in my journal and with the whole hour I only got to Tuesday night. Oh after the fireside we were able to change. I had been wearing the same clothes Tuesday night, Wednesday, Wednesday night, and Thursday. It felt so great to change. We had a testimony meeting and everyone was talking about how cool it would be to live near a temple. I decided I'd better go to the activity on Saturday [I guess there was a trip to the temple planned for my ward]. We got commitment bracelets [bracelets made out of thin nylon cord]. My commitment is to not judge by first appearances [I also promised myself that I would try to come back for another year of OEFY.] We stayed up playing with the fire and then I went to bed after Landon did.
We packed up our site and left. I probably will never see it again. We had breakfast and then did Ropes Course D, the Power Pole. [You climb up a 25 foot pole, stand on the top, and then jump off and try to grab a tennis ball that is hanging about 4 feet in front of you.] I had a hard time getting to the top and when I did I hesitated jumping so my jump was messed up. [I was supposed to yell 1, 2, 3 and then jump. On 3 the belayers braced for the jump. I ended up saying “1, 2, 3, wait” and got pulled off when the belayers braced.] I'm glad I [did as much as I did].
We had a very good testimony meeting. I told about how I wanted to go to the temple tomorrow. [I don't remember going, I probably slept.] We had lunch and took our handcarts to the Logistics center. We had pictures and then the buses came. It was so sad. We all sat together and Sarge fell asleep with his head on April's shoulder. When the buses got to Rick's college we got off. Landon and me said goodbye. I will write him, I hope he writes me. [He didn't] Mom, Dad, Emily and Billy were there. We drove home. This is the saddest day of my life. I'm glad I went to OEFY I want to go back. Its sad to think that my group will never be altogether again. I'm very glad I met Landon. He's the first boy I've liked that I haven't been afraid to tell people I like him. On the bus home I gave him my address and he was surprised to find out my name was Valerie. He'd thought for the whole week that my name was Valentine, but I like him anyways.
Can you see why I loved that week? I loved the thrill of accomplishing something big. Something hard. I went back two years later and brought my sister Lindsey with. Three years after that I worked on the Badger Mountain ropes course in Ephraim, Utah. I loved talking teenagers through the tough activities, and showing them that they could do hard things. My boss that summer was the girl who introduced me to Brandon. So OEFY in away lead me to finding my husband. But more importantly it lead me to finding myself.

Inspiration: This year's quote

Last Mother's Day I shared the three quotes that helped me through the three years when I didn't have kids. Today I will share the quote that I have had up on my mirror this year. It took me until July to find it. I came across it while reading the book "Fish" about the fish market in Seattle where they throw fish and have fun while working. The quote is attributed to John Gardner and I have no idea who he is. But the quote made me cry so it went up on the mirror.

There is something I know about you that you may not even know about yourself. You have within you more resources of energy than have ever been tapped, more talent than has ever been exploited, more strength than has ever been tested, and more to give than you have ever given.

Writings of John Gardner as quoted in Fish page 51

I'll admit there have been many days where I've read this quote and thought, "really, how can I have more to give?" And yet there has been more. I've grown in so many ways this past year.

So now I'm searching for a new quote.

Family Vacation – American Fork Canyon

Here is an interesting riddle for you. I have more pictures of my family's camping trip to American Fork Canyon than I do of any other family vacation. Yet I have fewer memories. I'm open to theories as to why that is.

I think I don't remember much because we didn't do much during the camping trip. We drove there, we set up camp, then we stayed there for a few days, took down camp, and went home. My sister's friend, Khan, came and stayed one night with us. And it rained a lot. The end. Okay there are a few other things that I remember, but I'm not kidding when I say that I don't remember much. I don't even remember what month we went camping. Process of elimination says the end of June, but I'm not sure about that.


I do remember that it rained. Ever since my first year of girls camp I haven't enjoyed camping in the rain. Nothing is more depressing than a soggy tent. At one point during the camping trip my siblings and I turned the inside of the van into an RV type atmosphere. The van was a 15 passenger van that was over 20 years old. The first of the three rows of seats had long ago been removed. We used that space to set up a little eating area in our “RV” We even put up curtains somehow. We liked hanging out in there better than our tents or under the trees.

I was pretty moody during the trip. Being 15 will do that to a girl. I remember hanging out by myself at a spot that overlooked the American Fork River. I didn't enjoy being suck with my family for such a long period of time.

I did hang out with them enough to have some memories of having fun. We all enjoyed playing Lincoln Logs together. I was 15, Lindsey was 13, Emily was 11, Billy was 9 and Hillary was 7. We would spend about an hour assembling a Lincoln log fortress. Then we would say, “there is Fort Courage off in the distance.” Then we would pummel our structures by catapulting small Lincoln logs at them.
Like the year before we had two tents. The big spring-bar tent – which was possibly older than the van – was for us kids. Mom and dad had the smaller tent that we still hadn't quite figured out how to put together. I remember laying in there reading a book with my dad. While he read the book to me I looked at the saggy tent and tried to figure out how it really went up.

On the last night my dad, Emily, and I stayed up late and burned a huge log. We talked and laughed and had a good time.

Here's one more memory that maybe I shouldn't share, but hey those of you who are still reading deserve some reward. Emily and Billy decided that they should have a contest to see who could become the smelliest. The contest escalated to the point where Emily was wearing a table cloth and Billy was wearing his t-shirt upside down. They both had the rest of their clothes hanging from sticks over the fire. Pictures are available upon request :)

I think that my parents learned that we were getting to old to just sit around a campground for a week. Hanging out had worked well when we were in elementary school but we needed entertainment now that we were older. Our next three family vacations were ones where we went somewhere with something to do. I guess between the rain, the moody oldest daughters, and the wanna be nudists my parents weren't going to take chances with just sitting around.

Inspiration: Preparedness

A year ago (and a life time ago) Brandon and I put together an emergency preparedness fair for our stake. It was held exactly a year ago today. Here is the link to my blog about that fair.

We had this phrase hanging on a banner on the wall: "Preparedness . . . is a way of life." It was an excerpt from this quote from Spencer W Kimball. It guides how Brandon and I go about building our food storage, learning to garden, and becoming self sufficient in many ways. Read the lesson on the same topic by clicking here.

Preparedness, when properly pursued, is a way of life, not a sudden, spectacular program. ²⁷

We could refer to all the components of personal and family preparedness, not in relation to holocaust or disaster, but in cultivating a life-style that is on a day-to-day basis its own reward.

Let’s do these things because they are right, because they are satisfying, and because we are obedient to the counsels of the Lord. In this spirit we will be prepared for most eventualities, and the Lord will prosper and comfort us. It is true that difficult times will come—for the Lord has foretold them—and, yes, stakes of Zion are “for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm.” (D&C 115:6.) But if we live wisely and providently, we will be as safe as in the palm of His hand.

More foster yard care

I knew the tree we chopped down was huge, but I had no idea how huge until I tried to fit it in my jeep. My mom piled all the branches from the tree on the side yard which meant they were covering up my flowers.

So I loaded all the branches in and on my jeep and drove to the dump. My mom and I had fun throwing them on the ground and watching a huge tractor push them into a pile.
Now you can see my flowers.
Then I spent some time and planted some sweet peas and allysum. Those are my two favorite full sun flowers. I can't plant them at home because we have a shady north facing balcony.
Here is something else going on at my parents house. It is getting painted. I'm not involved in that project. The house recently got new shingles. That's what Brandon spent the day doing at his parents house. I guess it is the time of year for home improvements.

So much for that preconceived idea

Big news this week! I quit nursing! When I first decided to quit I was really depressed. I felt like a failure as a mother. But then I realised that I was doing it to become a better mother. There are so many things that I need to be doing now. Things like feeding the girls solid food, giving them baths when the solid food gets everywhere, going on walks, and just plain interacting with the girls. I don't have time anymore to be spend sitting on the couch half undressed. Now I can just give them both bottles and be done. It is so nice.

Now that I have stopped nursing I have now done the 4 things I swore (before I was pregnant) I would never do. 1. Have a C-Section, 2. Give my kids binkies, 3. Use disposable diapers, 4. Stop nursing before 1 year. I'm glad I didn't make any other promises to myself about what I would do as a mother.

Here is what it is like to feed rice cereal to two not quite 6 month old babies.

These overalls were worn by Brandon and his twin Bryan. His mom saved them all these years and gave them to me. I girlie-fied them by adding flowers.

I made this Easter basket for Brandon and the girls - but mostly Brandon. I've been secretly buying one type of candy each time I went grocery shopping. We've enjoyed the candy. And I can't wait to play with the kites.
I also made this berry coffee cake. It was so good.
And here I am with the girls on Easter. They still (don't) fit their blessing dresses so they were their Easter dresses. I think Lydia will be able to walk before she can fill out the dress.
The girls were weighted today at WIC. Lydia is 12 lbs and 12 oz and Charlotte is 13 lbs and 12 oz.

And here is a video of Charlotte's latest talent. Actually her latest talent is stealing Lydia's bottle, but I don't have a video of that.

Fourth Year of Girls Camp – Pine View Reservoir

Normally camp started on Tuesday morning. Everyone would meet at the church and then carpool up to camp. This year was different for me because I was a fourth year. Part of certification for fourth years was to go on an overnight hike. The overnight part was held on Monday night. So sometime on Monday one of my ward leaders, the other fourth years from the ward, and I drove up to camp. We spent a few hours setting up our ward campsite. Somehow in the last two years a tradition had evolved where camp was already set up when the rest of the girls arrived. Tents and canopies were already set up, gear was piled nicely, and food was already unloaded. I think this was started to prevent any emotional flare ups in the first few hours of camp. Some boy scouts from the ward would come up and set up everything. Then on the first day of camp all the girls had to do was organise their stuff. The first years would have to put up one tent because that was one of their certification requirements. I helped set up the tents and move gear.

After my ward area was set up I joined the rest of the fourth year girls from the stake for the “overnight hike.” It wasn't really a hike. We were camping on the shores of Pine View Reservoir. There really wasn't any where we could hike to. All the stake leaders were already at camp setting up their camp area. There was one stake leader in particular who was in charge of our certification. She didn't seem to know what she was doing. For instance, we had tin foil dinners for dinner. She didn't tell us how to make them or anything. She just said here is the stuff. I knew how to make them so I kind of took charge and made sure the potatoes got washed and cut. Later we had to make a lean-to as the place we would sleep. She didn't know how to do that either. I don't know if she was just playing dumb so we could learn to do it ourselves or if she really was ignorant of how to camp. I didn't like it.

Our hike was a night walk along the beach. I'm not even sure the leaders knew we were down there. Certainly there weren't any leaders with us. We found some beer bottles that someone had left on the beach. I think we buried them or through them in the water or something like that. Myra W was out fishing and I think she noticed that we didn't have any supervision. She came over and made sure we got back up to camp at a decent time. That night we all slept under a tarp that had been hung over a rope suspended between to posts on the pavilion. Most of the girls stayed up talking about nonsense and it was a long night for me.

I hope we had breakfast the next morning, but I don't remember what it was. At some point the rest of my ward showed up and camp really got going. Everything was already set up so everyone could start playing right away. And play we did.

During my years as a member of the 5^th ward my ward gained a reputation as the ward that didn't sleep, didn't stop talking, didn't stop playing, and didn't stop singing. This is the year the singing started. The large group of 1^st year girls from the year before had all grown up into 2^nd year girls which meant they were old enough to go to Oakcrest. At Oakcrest they learned all the crazy songs, and they brought those songs with them to girls camp. The singing may not have caught on if it hadn't been for the new group of 1^st year girls. Faith A, Lindsey P, Stephanie D, Rebbecca A, and the twins Emily and Elizabeth W. These girls were so excited for camp, and they wanted to join in with everything the older girls were doing – which meant singing.

One song in particular was sung almost way too much. It was called Ride That Pony. Everyone stood in a circle surrounding two girls. The two girls would prance around the circle while everyone else clapped their hands and sang:

Ride Ride Ride that Pony

Get up and ride that big fat pony

Ride Ride Ride that Pony

This is what they told me

Then the girls would each pick another girl in the circle and stand next to them while everyone sang:

Front to Front to Front my baby

Back to Back to Back my baby

Side to Side to Side my baby

This is what they told me.

Then the two new girls would go prance in the circle while everyone clapped and sang the song again. This would go on through multiple rounds. Of course being the 5^th ward we sand the song loudly and got on all the other wards' nerves. Bugging everyone only added to the fun. We played that game for hours every day of camp.

There were several other long standing traditions that started during my 4^th year of camp. One of my favorites was the Job Chart. The year before I had been asked to help with everything all the time. This year Tonya D, one of our leaders, made a chart with who was going to help with what in regards to preparing meals. It made all the difference in the feeling of our camp. Everyone knew when they were expected to work so they didn't try to avoid working. I liked the idea so much that I made sure we had a job chart every subsequent year of camp.

Another tradition was a song that was written by one of our leaders. The camp theme was “Stand as a Witness.” The day that Christine D heard the theme she went home and wrote a song with the same title. We sang the song for years. (Eventually I will add a video of us singing the song)

Stand as a Witness was the official camp theme. But since we were at the beach there was also a luau theme. The stake area was decked out like a tropical paradise. The leaders wore grass skirts over their jeans, they had leis, there was a paper mache pig roasting on a spit, and there were even (I'm not kidding) 2 or 3 fake palm trees. On top of that theme we did “Christmas in July” one day. On that day there were several Christmas trees set up in the pavilion. The name of each girl was writ en on a paper ornament. We each chose a name and had to do something nice for the person. I'm not sure why there were so many themes. In my opinion it was a bit too much.

The stake camp director was Deane G again. I didn't think it was possible but Deane was even more laid back than she had been the year before. I liked the casual attitude. It fit the beach atmosphere.

I don't know if I recommend having girls camp on the shores of a reservoir. On the one hand it was great to go cool off by playing in the water. On the other hand it was a HUGE distraction. Girls were always asking if they could go swimming. Once a leader consented that they could go they had to take time to change. Then they would start heading down to the water and some other leader would notice. “Where are you going? We have to do such and such.” Once it was straightened out and the girls were allowed to go to the water they were there for hours. No one knew exactly who was at the water or when they would be back. That kind of made it hard when it was time to prepare meals. Thank goodness for the Job Chart or I would have been stuck doing everything again.

Camping at the reservoir was also hard because there were other campers next to us. And most of them had to walk on the path next to our camp to get to the water. Anytime teenage boys would get near our group campsite the leaders would stat yelling, “Oh no boys,” and hurry them on their way. We were all given whistles which I think we were were supposed to use in case we got lost or abducted or something like that. Instead the second and third year girls blew on them incessantly and annoyed the living daylights out of everyone. With all the whistling and riding the pony I'm surprised we made it through 4 days of camp without an uprising from the neighbors.

I'm going to bring up something I didn't like. This is more of an observation than a judgement of any ones character so please don't think that I hated any of my leaders. We didn't have a ward camp director. We had a “camp committee” consisting of several of our young women leaders and some other women from the ward. I jokingly referred to it as the “First Camp Triumvirate.” I'm sure the committee worked great during the planning stages of camp, but it was a disaster during camp itself. You know the scripture that says no man can serve two masters? Well in this case is should have said, No teenage girl can possibly be expected to take orders from two or three or more leaders in a given hour. One leader would decide it was a perfect time to go swimming with the girls. Then another leader would decide it was time to start making dinner. She would get mad at the girls for getting in their swimming suits. A third leader would decide it was time for everyone to be working on certification. You can see why this was a problem. In later years we always had one “camp director” who was the official leader.

Most of the days were spent cooking, cleaning, swimming, and singing. One day we all went on a hike. This was an actual hike. The adults drove us to some trail in the nearby mountains. We all hiked along the trail until it was time to eat. Then we ate our sack lunches, turned around, and hiked back down. This sounds fairly easy, but the hike was long and hard enough to wear me out. As we drove back to camp I though about how nice it would be to sit around the camp area. Alas it was not to be.

As soon as we drove into camp one of the Stake leaders, Sharron N (who, by the way, was off the disavowed list and allowed back at camp) came running up to the cars and screaming. She said there had been a disaster and we all had to come help immediately. I knew it was all a set up because I'd seen Sharron in emergency situations. She is the most calm and serious person you will ever see in a crisis. She's very good at focusing on getting the job done by retaining a level head. So when she came running over waving her arms above her head I knew an emergency was the last thing that had happened.

It was really all a first aid certification activity. The Junior Counselors (JCs) were each set up in various states of peril. We were supposed to go help them. It was a good idea, and in later years I would set up something similar, but at the moment I didn't feel like playing along. I think I helped one person and then snuck off to fill up my water bottle and sit down. At the end we were all given big campaign style buttons that said, “I survived the Camp Disaster.”

Speaking of handouts I think there were more hand outs this year than any other. We had the Stand as a Witness Stuff, the Christmas in July Stuff, the Luau stuff, the whistles, the random handouts at devotionals, secret sister stuff, and on and on and on. I had packed light with only a bucket and (possibly) a small bag. I quickly ran out of room and just started piling stuff in my spot in my tent. That was okay since I stopped sleeping in my tent. The first night I'd slept in that lean to. The next night I slept in a tent. The next night I had a horrible sunburn from playing in the sand and so I couldn't sleep on my back. I had a bad night's sleep trying to get comfortable on my stomach on the hard ground. (This is probably why I was so tired from the hike.) The last night of camp the leaders let me sleep in the tent trailer that Tanya D, who was pregnant, was sleeping in. Tanya slept in the bed on one side of the trailer and I got the other bed. Best nights sleep ever.

Before going to bed that night we went out pranking. Sharron took a couple of us out on a mission to steal the paper mache pig. We had to walk next to the stake leaders to do it. Deane was still awake and we all said “Hi Deane” really loudly. We somehow got the pig and put it into Deane's bed.

The next morning we woke up and someone had tied string all over our campsite. We had to take that down and also take down our tents. Plus there was some sort of “camp store” we were supposed to go to. All in all the morning was pretty disorganized and everyone was kind of upset. It would be several years before we solved this particular camp dilemma.

This year was a transition year for me. I often say that my first four years of camp gave me all the ideas on how to make my second four years really good. After this year each year was amazing.