Kami Houck July 6th- July 20th

These last two weeks have been very rewarding! We have worked on many projects as well as I've been able to work with a couple people with disabilities. The first week we had a down syndrome girl named Katie. She was awesome! I was able to spend a lot of time with her when he group was doing activities that she didn't want to do or wasn't able to do. We tried to get her on zip line. There is a 15 foot ladder that you climb up to get onto the platform to ride down the zip line. She was about 10 feet up the ladder when we had a break down and didn't want to go up any further. We told her that she needed to take 2 more steps forward to come back down. It took about fifteen minutes, but it happened and she went a lot further than she thought she was going to be able too. That is what it is all about! This week we have an autistic girl named Maya. She is so beautiful I love it! She is pretty high functioning so it is fun to see her creativity. At the first of the summer I truly hoped that I would be able to work with some kids with disabilities, and I have been able too, I have been very blessed!

We have also been able to finish many projects. We've been working a while on this amphitheater, and we finished the majority of it right before it was needed for a devotional! We sanded like crazy! Cut logs to fit and made isles where there had never been any before. It looks 100% better! We just have a finish to put on the logs. It's a grand feeling! There has been some more fallen trees and trees we had to fall. We are having a 90th year birthday celebration for the Brighton Camp the last weekend in July, so we are doing our best to make the place look amazing. I've been spray painting a railing black, and organizing tool rooms and equipment.

I love every second of camp! I've learned tons about myself :)

Kami Houck! June 22-July 6

This first couple weeks have been an adventure of getting settled into our camp. We have been shoveling a TON!! We are down to 2-3 feet of snow in most parts of camp, but it was only yesterday that our main road became drivable.There has been many things that we have been able to learn and get done so far. We have learned ropes courses, perch, zip line, lifeline, A legend that we share with the girls, CPR, first aid, and a few other activities. These are accomplishments because they are things that I wanted to know and learn for future summer camps that I’ll be running. The experiences have been so great so far! I am now CPR and First Aid certified for 2 years, that is exciting for me
We have cleared roads and pathways from the snow that is up there. We have also cleaned up some damage that the snow has done to camp. We have cut up some trees, ripped down some railings, and I’ve been able to spend some quality time with some of the campers and counselors. It is so awesome to see what the outdoors does to people and the influence that I can be in their lives even by giving a smile or talking to them.

The thing that I have found most difficult is finding my exact place. The counselors and cooks and crafts have schedules and things that they need to be doing all the time, but for me and Doug, we make our own schedule, we help when people need it and find projects for ourselves or work on the ones that are needed. I have done better this last week with balance and taking time each day to help each group as well as my own needs and it has been a lot better. It’s just been a trial and error type thing. Another thing has been some of the people I work with. Some are very emotional and like things their way, and I’ve had to step back and figure out how to treat them. It’s still a work and progress for sure. But I know that I have gotten better and balancing my time, knowing how to help the counselors and the campers, and working with Doug and the other maintenance couple.

Goals and Objectives!

I am my Practicum up at Brighton, Utah at an Lds Girls Camp. My husband, Doug and I are the maintenance couple. We live up there and have one day a week off. As the maintenance couple we have projects as well as being able to choose our own projects. A few things that I really want to learn and take away from this experience are learning to work with and enjoy that work with all sorts of people. There are always going to be co-workers or those in life that don't agree the same way, I have begun to see this, and I feel that I have already learned a lot by watching. Another thing I hope to learn is the logistics and what happens behind doors in programs like these. I want to be part or start another program that is very similar to this one. We have ropes courses, lifelines, zip lines, repelling, and more fun activities that really teach kids important life lessons. I also wish to accomplish a lot of work while I am there. We have already cut down and taken off branches on a few trees. We will be working on an amphitheater, a railing, and other manual activities that will show up. Each day I write in my journal each day all of the projects that we have finished and started. I am going to be making a chart of the different things that we accomplish and spend our time doing. The biggest thing that we will be working on is our two amphitheaters. We have had tons of snow, and the theaters are just getting to the point where we can work on them, Woot Woot! Some steps to accomplishing these tasks are making sure we have the correct equipment (chain saws, sanders, hatchets), the right instruction, and a desire to do it! We want to do whatever is needed and leave a good name for ourselves!