Our 2025 Camp de Vida has begun! As we approached this week I felt far less prepared than I was last year, and almost postponed (which more than likely would have meant it just didn’t happen), but I am so glad I pushed forward.
Day 1 was filled with some beautiful memories, laughter, and some strong spiritual experiences that I really needed right now.
Read HERE if you want a recap of what Camp de Vida is and why we decided to do it.
Overview and Introducing the Theme
This year it wasn’t the surprise of last time – BUT the kids were really excited for it, so we must have done something right last year! The color this year was orange (which was a surprise that the kids were so excited about – it’s the little things) and so we got orange shirts and handkerchiefs and we definitely weren’t getting lost in those things! Everyone got changed and we settled down for our introduction.
Our family theme for this last year has been, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).” We’ve been saying these words nearly every day for the last year and as I look back on this year, there were so many times I needed to hear them. It’s funny how that always seems to be the case with our family themes. I’m always excited about them in the beginning but don’t realize how timely they are until the year gets underway. This was the theme our family needed this year.
So this week is all about TRUST.
Morning Devotional
I decided to do our morning devotional a little different this year. Since we have a variety of comfort levels with reading, I decided that I would print off a General Conference message each day about trust and then we would watch it together and then discuss our thoughts. Day one was incredible. And it was just what I needed to hear personally and what we needed to discuss as a family.
In the scriptures we learn that TRUST means: to rely upon or place confidence in someone or something; in spiritual matters, trust includes relying on God and His Spirit.
Day 1 was Trust Again by Elder Gerrit W. Gong from the October 2021 General Conference. If you want to deep dive into trust with us (you really should read the whole talk), here were some of our favorite quotes from Elder Gong’s message:
“We know that joy on the Lord’s covenant path and callings to serve in His Church are an invitation to feel God’s trust and love for us and each other.
Trust becomes real when we do hard things with faith. Service and sacrifice increase capacity and refine hearts. Trust in God and each other brings heaven’s blessings.”
Purifying Water
Mark taught us about why we need to purify our water and different ways to do it.
Signally for Help
Then I taught everyone how to respond when someone needs help (no panicking, folks!), how to get help, and how to explain the help that you need.
Act of Service
Next up was an act of service. This year we wanted to write thank you cards to our Bishopric that was recently released. With all of the changes that have come we are so grateful for all that they did for us and for our ward family. We loved doing this.
Clay Kits
For a fun arts and crafts activity, we got some air dry clay and made the cutest little animals. This was a huge hit for everyone!
Family History Guess Who
It will be no surprise that one of my favorite activities was our family history one. We played Guess Who with our family ancestors! Last year during Camp de Vida, we focused on just the first four generations for the kids. This year, I added the fifth. I want these individuals to be familiar to the kids. I want them to know and recognize their names. I was thrilled at how much they have remembered.
I had sixteen cards for each of the kids second-great grandparents. I had researched four different “clues” for each one. Each card had their name and picture and I spread them in the center of the table. I would give the four clues and each person made a guess who they thought it was. It was fun to even stump Mark with a few of them!
Manners
Last year for Camp de Vida I got 52 Modern Manners for Kids. We have really loved going through it and try to do one a weekish. Today, we had a mini lesson about compromise. We talked about how being a good friend and family member is caring about others enough to compromise. And that this is important “because when you compromise you let others know you care about their preferences. When people know you care, you will have a more peaceful relationship with less fighting and more fun!”
Cloud Formations
Next up was a lesson on cloud formations. And this is when homeschooling came in for a win! Luckily, I was able to grab one of my books about clouds that I already had and we were able to read up on cloud formations. This ended up being especially fun for the day because we had some weather shifts which meant different kinds of clouds!
Knife Care
Lastly, Mark taught everyone about some knife care. How to sharpen a knife, the uses of different kinds of blades, and how to care for your knife.
Tin Foil Dinners and Backyard Camping
We were going to do this later in the camp, but with activities and meetings in the evenings, this was the only night it would work. But it was a great success! There is something so yummy about tin foil dinners and we hope one day to have our own fire to cook them in. PLUS, I made some homemade apple pie with apples from our very own apple trees! Delicious!
Mark and the three bigs slept in the backyard that night. It ended up being really windy and rainy but they had a good time and managed to get some sleep!
