Hogwarts Camp of Strength and Courage! Jacksonville East Stake Girls Camp!

One of my best memories from this summer will definitely be Girls Camp!! I had the chance to be the Ward Camp Director for our ward and a 2nd year camp mom!! Growing up in Young Women's back home I LOVED girls camp!! I looked forward to going every single summer, and when I graduated from high school I was so sad I didn't get to go to camp anymore! When the stake leaders asked if I would interested in going to camp this summer I jumped at the offer!!

Girls camp in Florida is completely different than girls camp in Star Valley, Wyoming! These girls spend a week in air conditioned cabins, sleeping on bunk beds, showering and using a real bathroom, and had almost all of their meals cooked and served to them. Compare that to going to the mountains, setting up a tent, sleeping on rocks, using a port-o-potty, and cooking every single one of our meals! I definitely prefer this version of camp!!

The theme for the Jacksonville East Stake was: Hogwarts Camp of Strength and Courage, and it was simply amazing! I can't even begin to explain how much hard work and planning the stake camp directors put into this camp! It blew me away. I seriously felt like I was spending a week at Hogwarts, that's how awesome it was!

Instead of being split up as wards at camp, we were split up into year groups. I was one of two camp moms for the 2nd year girls, aka:Ravenclaw! Here are some of the pics from the week!

Our sweet cabin, all decorated and ready for the girls to come

We won the house points for best cabin decorations

The inside: We tried to decorate it like the Ravenclaw common room

The first night there we had a great feast and could dress up as a character from Harry Potter. Being from Ravenclaw I chose Moaning Myrtle!

Me and my co-camp mom Britani dressed as professor Flitwick! (she's really like 5'10")
My 3 cute beehives from my ward all dressed up!
Mandarin 2nd Ward!
The great hall. Check out those floating candles!Ravenclaws!

The second day at camp we all went horse back riding!And every afternoon we had Quidditch matches, complete with our very own Madame Hooch! (did you know it is a college sport now?)When we weren't canoeing, doing crafts, or just hanging out we played on the huge water slide!Hanging out waiting for our tinfoil dinners to cook!Our 2nd year group in front of the Quidditch hoopsA classic picture for our group. The girls were obsessed with the "My name is chubby story"Jacksonville East Stake Young WomenThe girls also got owl mail at camp! The stake leaders made every single girl one of these cute fluffy owls and attached a letter from home to them and had them hanging from the tree one morning.We even had our own Whomping WillowThe camp service project! These pavers were all hand painted by the girls! It was amazing!Our second year girls minus Erykah at the camp awards night! They are adorable!Showing their true essence. We seriously laughed all week long! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect group of girls to hang out with all week!We were also the House Cup Champions! These girls were few in numbers but they kicked butt at everything they did!Showing off our Golden Snitch awards for being the Quidditch Champions!
Seriously we rocked!The four amazing women who planned the entire camp!Me and my 2 beehives Christen and Hannah. I love them!Probably the 2 coolest camp moms ever!Just a shot of some of us and our matching flip flops we made for them!

This was honestly my most favorite girl's camps I have ever gone too! I am so thankful to Greg for being such a good dad and staying home with Brooklyn all week so that I could go! Not only were the theme and details amazing, but the spirit that was at the camp was so strong. I learned so much not only from our daily devotionals but from every girl that was there! The young women in Florida are small in numbers, but they are some of the most spiritual, loving girls I have ever met, and I will always remember this experience!