Cancer Camp!

I'm going into pediatric cancer therapy and last year through my major I learned about a camp for kids with cancer and their siblings. I went last year but was only 19 so I couldn't be a regular counselor so this year was my first year with my very own kids. I loved it! I was with the 6-7 year old girls which was so fun! I'm not a journaler so when each night I journaled about the day I was so impressed and so glad I did. There were little moments that I remembered that night but not through the rest of the week. so I thought it would be perfect to put my recordings on here! So there is a reflection of each day, some happy and some..not as happy but all from the heart.
DAY 1 Sunday
Today was a little stressful. It was raining so hard all day and freezing cold and we had our training outside. It was covered but still so so cold! It finally stopped raining by the end of the day and the sun even came out for a little bit. The training was good and now that the sun came out I'm getting really excited for camp to start! The campers get here tomorrow! I have 8 girls, 5 of them have have cancer. It's going to be a tough week but I know in the end I'm going to love the girls!
DAY 2
We made it through our first day of camp! One of our girls got sick over the weekend so she couldn't come but the others are here and so excited! They got here this morning and most of them this is their first time. You are allowed to come to camp during treatment and up to three years after your last treatment. I'm pretty sure all the girls I have that had cancer have been in remission for a while. There is one girl who is 7 and this is her third year at camp and she is so tiny. A lot of the medicine they take stunts their growth so she is pretty small. There was one girl I knew from last year who her dad is in a wheelchair is one of my campers this year. As I was talking to her mom I found out that she was adopted and 3 weeks ago they adopted a 2 day old baby. What an incredible family and woman they are!
It's only been one day and I've already lost track of the days. It's going to be an awesome week but by the end of it I am surely going to be worn out!
DAY 3
Today was day two witht he campers. The smallest girl today I found out she had liver cancer just after she turned 1. She has a scar across her belly that is about 15 inches long and various scars. When we were changing today for the pool she was really insecure about it. I told her that I had scars on my belly too and showed them to her. Today I was grateful for my scars and today my imperfection made her perfect, today our scars were beautiful. She is so wise, she has the wisdomof a 50 year old but the tiny life of a 7 year old.
Another girl was sick today. As I sat with her while the doctor checked her out. I felt the fear that she had of her caner coming back. She just finished treatment less than a year ago and it could easily come back at any time. When the doctor did everything she knew what to do like a pro. She is one, with so many doctor and check-ups. My heart went out to her and when she was even more sick tonight I could see how sad she was that she had to be sick especially at camp. She is doing better now and hopefully we will be better tomorrow.
Tonight was VIP night. This is where people who help make camp possible come for dinner and campfire. The ones that came were some of the highest donors. It really made me think that someday I wan to help make something like this happen. Maybe not exactly a camp but do something to help change people's lives. I'm not even a camper, this ccamp wasn't designed for me, but because some people made this camp possible my life and countless other will and are changed forever.
DAY 4
Not that I haven't felt like a mother all week but especially today that role is becoming more apparent. I have the youngest girls which mean everyone loves them because they are the cutest campers. Don't get me wrong they surely are but they don't see the whole side of them. We do everything for them from putting toothpaste on their toothbrushes to hold their plates and making sure they eat enough. We help them pick out and change their clothes. Don't get me wrong I do love this and I love them, I've just turned into a mom of seventuplets! My heart goes out to anyone who is! Everyone love the hugs and smile but we are the only ones around when they get to being grouchy and tired. Today is Wednesday and they are all starting to get tired and a little homesick but for the most part they are still having fun.
I becoming a pro at putting in hearing aids. Two of my girls have them and need help putting them in and taking them out. We have a lot of water activities so I've got a lot of practice!
Today was also Hobe' Forever. That is the remembering program where if the kids want to go they can go and plant a flower and remember the people who have been in our lives in some way or another and are no longer there. This year. like many, are extra emotional. One of the counselors that was here last year that two weeks before camp found out his cancer had relapsed, died this last year. Last year at Hobe' Forever he was remembering his brother who had died in December. That is two kids dying from cancer the same year, those parents must be so strong to overcome that. There were some siblings that died this past year too so some had an extra difficult time. It was sad to see brothers there crying and just hours before had been laughing and playing. Camp is such a great thing when everyone around you understand what you are going through. Tomorrow is the last full day of camp and is the carnival so hopefully that will keep spirits high.
DAY 5
Carnival day! Day four for camper starts to get a little long so they distract them with the carnival. I was at the "everyone's a winner at the duck pond"! It was actually pretty fun. I also LOVE cotton candy and since I'm not a kid I got to have a s much as I wanted until they ran out, which was not until I had three! Which was of course one of every color! The girls loved that and afterwords we threw them all in the shower since we hadn't showered them since Monday. Most of them swam between then but a good wash down hadn't happened so in honor of parents coming tomorrow we got them clean. It was a crazy wet party with 7 screaming girls but was fun and most importantly they are clean.
Tonight was the dance they have and that was where things started to fall apart. Four of the girls had break downs and got homesick and were crying. Then to top their night off we came in to go to bed and our mattresses were in the middle of the floor! They were sad and then stressing about who pranked our cabin, and they all started the day tired so it was a bit of a rough night. We didn't even read a story and at least 3 of them are snoring now. I'm sad to see tomorrow come because I love these girls! I've learned what the picky ones like, what makes the shy ones hiine, and the strength each one has inside that makes them who they are. However, I am in desperate need of a clean shower so I'm looking forward to tomorrow night!
DAY 6
The last day of camp is really only a half a day because after lunch is clean up and the parents come at 3pm. They all were pretty happy because they knew they were going home that night. Everyone is always happy to see the end but when it finally gets here no one wants to go, even me. I have loved these girls this week and they have been my everything. It's hard to care so much for someone like that and then maybe never see them again. As the girls met their parents one by one I really started tearing up and as our final staff meeting was over and I was driving home I was so sad to leave something so wonderful and happy.
I love going to cancer camp, it truly puts my life into perspective and when these little kids enjoy every single moment it make me remember how precious life really is and how quickly or sudden it can be over. So love those you love a make sure they know it. Enjoy the simplest pleasures of life even down the tiny moments and simple happiness, for each moment is a gift from God and of the many great gifts he has given us the gift to feel happiness is one that I treasure most.

**Sorry there are no pictures. Due to campers privacy we can't publish any pictures of them. **

Grand Canyon HAVASUPI!

I have never been on a serious hike...until now! The first of May I went with the service council down to Arizona and hike the Grand Canyon and stayed at Havasupi, an Indian reservation at the bottom of the canyon and one of the most beautiful places on Earth! The night before we got to the Grand Canyon we stayed in Radiator Springs and if anyone has seen the Disney movie Cars, you will know what I'm talking about! Yes the whole crew was there! I'm not sure you could have got another group of college kids so excited about being in a tiny town where a Disney movie was based!

The next morning we got up early and headed to the Canyon. I can't explain the feeling when you are driving forever in a flat desert and then suddenly your view opens up and you see the Grand Canyon. It is a beautiful sight to see!

After getting all ready we were excited to hike the 15 miles in carrying everything we were going to use for the next few days. Everyone packed as much as they could and we were off! The first two miles were switch backs going down the canyon wall. It was very exciting but no one thought about it being the last two miles we were going to hike out! We took our time getting in, stopping for pictures, lunch, and to enjoy the beautiful view. We made it to the village and still had 3 miles to go. We were getting tired but still very excited to get there! Two mile past the village was the first waterfall! It was beautiful and we couldn't contain out excitement to get there!

We finally made it to our camp ground, set up our tents and were ready for the water. We went to the Havasupi falls and enjoyed playing in the beautiful turquoise water.

The picture can't even do it justice but it was so beautiful and warm! The water was so clear that you could see the bottom perfectly! The next day we hike down the river again for 14 miles and had a great time being in such a special and tranquil place. Being in a place like that you have to know the love the Lord has for us to make something so beautiful. We could have been just fine without it but He wants us to be happy and such a beautiful thing can't help but make you happy!
Even to the details of the little desert flowers made the whole trip amazing!

The hike out we were definitely on a destination trip and were ready to be clean again. We got up at 4am to pack up and hike out. We kept a steady pace the whole time and made it out 2 hours faster than hiking in. It was a little more difficult. Some had blisters on their feet making it hard to walk but together we helped out and overcame a great challenge together!
That night we stayed in Las Vegas and went to see the water show in front of the Billagio. It was fun and so wonderful to be together and clean!

Women's Conference

Every year thousands of women come to BYU for Women's Conference. This year I had the opportunity to be involved with one of the service projects, fleece blankets. There is a need for over 14,000 fleece blankets all over Utah and Salt Lake county so we made 650 fleece blankets. My roommates and I were in charge of overseeing the ladies and helping them out if they had any questions. It was a great success and everyone enjoyed their time of service.

After they had all the pieces cut out for the blankets they had extra strips and didn't want them to go to waste. So they asked the women who were helping if they could help make scarves with them. I took all the leftovers and because I didn't have anything planned for the week made 86 fleece scarves. It was a lot of work but in the end it was a lot of fun!

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to be involved with this service project. It anyone has the chance the end of April take the time to come to Women's Conference to learn and grow!

Cruising to MEXICO!

I went of my very first cruise this year! It was just a weekend trip out of San Diego to Ensenada Mexico. I went with my roommate and her aunt and her son. I loved it! The first night I wasn't so sure about it the first night. It was kind of difficult to get used to all the rocking but after being "rocked" to sleep I woke up the next morning and had the best night of sleep I had ever had I loved every second. It was nice to get out of Provo and even though it wasn't super hot it was nice to see the sun and play in the water. We went to the shows at night which was fun. Of course it was the family friendly version.

I learned that a weekend cruise on Carnival can be a little more eventful than you expect. On our ship two people died, one person went missing, and the FBI seized control of our ship when we came into port. Come to find out one man died of a heart attack and then another one died of alcohol poisoning. I am actually surprised that there was only one person that died. People bought so many drinks it was crazy! The person that went mission was on parole and if you are on parole you are not supposed to leave the country and taking a cruise to Mexico is not okay. I'm not sure what happened to him but the FBI coming on to the ship and being delayed over 3 hours and almost missing our flight distracted us from him.

This was everyone waiting in the hall while the FBI investigated the deaths. I guess all deaths that happen on international waters have to be investigated.
One of my favorite parts was DINNER! It's all you can eat until you can't eat anymore! It's not like the line buffet, it's like lobster tail and amazing things! My roommate and I were talking over dinner one night and decided to add up how much our food would have cost us if we were actually paying for it. Our bill combined would have been over $200! Good thing we weren't on dates!

Mexico was fun too! We just walked around and spent a few hours on the beach. I actually found real sand dollars which I thought was super cool too!