We're Off To See The Wizard!

For girls camp this year we are going to take the girls to my cabin above Park City.
I'm excited because we are going with the Wizard of Oz theme which ties in great with the thirteenth article of faith which is the mutual theme this year. We are seeking to find a way to our Heavenly Home.

The first day of camp we are going focus on how Dorothy was seeking to find her way home while following the yellow brick road and each of the young women are seeking to find their way to their eternal home while following the path that our Savior laid for them to follow. We are going to Salt Lake to visit one of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint's General Young Women's board and they can hopefully tie in how each young women is a daughter of God. Then we will tour temple square and have a picnic at the park near the church office building. Because we live three hours away from Salt Lake, a lot of the young women in our group haven't ever been able to see temple square, so I am very excited! Then we are going to possibly tour Welfare Square and do some kind of service project.

The next day, our focus will be on the tin man and we will talk about how we need to be able to have a bullet proof testimony to stand against the adversary. The way to gain that is to develop love and charity towards others. We will spend most of the day doing camp certifications and pass off the hikes and cooking requirements. I'm excited to do the hike because I think we will do some kind of a Wizard of Oz obstacle course on the way back to the cabin. The girls will encounter situations that will require help from each of the young women values to make it home.
We are also going to decorate flip flops that day with silk and organza flowers like the ones I found on this fun blog: www.craftysisters-nc.blogspot.com.

The girls did a spaghetti dinner fund raiser and silent auction a few weeks ago and earned enough money so on Wednesday we can spend all day at the Park City ski resort playing on the alpine slide, alpine coaster and the zip line. They will need to have courage like the lion to try hard things that day. That night will be the skits, bishopric's night to cook us dinner and have testimonies.

The last day, we will go to Brigham Young University and visit with President Cecil Samuelson. Then tour the BYU campus. This will tie in with the scarecrow and represent the knowledge and wisdom the girls will gain as they work through life. Like the scarecrow, they are filling their brain one straw at a time with things that they want to excel at. I know three young people, (and I am sure there are more) who are getting married right after they graduate in June because they think that is their only option in small town life. I want my girls to know they should try to do good in school so they can get the best education they can and experience life before they get married.

We will end the girls camp by celebrating at the Brick Oven Pizza place in Provo for lunch. (That right there is worth the trek to the big city!)

Tomorrow night we are going to have a meeting with the Youth Camp Leaders to finalize our plans and I am going to make them some suckers because they will be the "Lollipop guild" and be responsible for making camp fun. This is the best sucker recipe because it is so easy! A few years ago I got some sucker molds at Orson Gygi's in Salt Lake so they will be perfectly round.

Lollipops

Over medium heat, combine 2C. sugar, 2/3C. light corn syrup and 3/4C. water in a sauce pan. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook until the temperature reaches 260* (with a candy thermometer,) then add a few drops of food coloring. Keep cooking until it reaches 300* then remove from the heat and add a few drops of the desired flavor. Pour quickly into greased sucker molds on a greased cookie sheet and add sticks. Do not remove the molds until the candy has completely set up.