Camp Sunshine Dreams

Steve attended Camp Sunshine Dreams as a child. Camp Sunshine Dreams is for children who have cancer and their siblings. I think that it is a special/wonderful camp for two reasons:

1. It allows the kids to be kids, and not patients or siblings of patients. They get to be normal kids for a week and do normal kid things.
2. The camp also provides an opportunity for the kids to talk about how cancer has affected their lives. It is a place to talk about the emotions they experience and not have them be mocked or misunderstood.

I was almost 7 months pregnant, but I survived, and I had a great time. I am blessed for the service I gave. Thank you Camp Sunshine Dreams for letting me come! What an amazing time.

I was a co-counselor of 9-10 year old girls (7 of them) and Steve was a co-counselor in a cabin of 14-15 year old boys (6 of them).

Peanut and my group.

Steve and Bleach's group.

There was a dance on Thursday and some (okay, maybe all) of my girls got a little silly trying to find dates. By Thursday afternoon they decided they didn't need dates - except for the one girl who already had one! I already had a date. The theme of camp this year was their 25th celebration, so we had a costume party.

One of my girls and her date.

My date and I dancing!

There are so many more memories, but to keep this short, I won't include them all. However, I have to mention Spirit Stick. The campers carve on the Spirit Stick and talk about their experience with cancer and then on the last night the shavings are put into the campfire. The ashes are saved and then those ashes are used to start the next year's fire.
The ashes are symbolic of remembering and keeping our memories alive while also releasing them and letting ourselves move on.

Here is a link to the Camp Sunshine Dreams website. Check it out! http://www.campsunshinedreams.com

A really BIG cookie

When I was in the Primary (teaching the 8-11 year old girls), I decided to set a good example by passing off the memorized Articles of Faith that I learned as a youth. I needed prompts on which one was which, but I passed them all off in one Sunday. I got a small candy for each one and the promise of a really BIG cookie. Then in two weeks (when I was officially put into the Young Women Presidency) I got that cookie. It was, really, really good! (Don't worry, I had help eating it.)


And for reference, the pencil had hardly been sharpened; it was a standard size pencil.

Spa Day

The Friday after we came back from Monterrey, all four of us girls did an at-home spa treatment. Our treatment included:

• Face scrub and masks (my cucumbers kept falling off!)
  
• Feet massages (complete with fuzzy socks afterward)
• Hand massages
• Toenail painting and fingernail painting - if we wanted it
  
• Fake eyelashes
• Tie-dying t-shirts

I loved the face scrub the best and I ended up saving a copy of the recipe.

And what did we see? We saw the Sea!

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt-in-law and I all went to the coast for a few days after we got home from Girl's Camp. Besides getting a lot of catch-up sleep, we saw some lovely things.

In Pacific Grove

We saw multi-colored carrots at a farmers market and ate the most divine strawberries!

I modeled by a big stone whale.

In Carmel

I saw a lovely house

In Monterey
We went to the aquarium and saw many things:

A leafy sea dragon












Some hiding fish














Mating Penguins

And everywhere we went - WE SAW THE SEA

Girl's Camp 2011

My husband, mother and sister in law all attended Girl's Camp 2011 last week. We all had different jobs (my sister in law was a camper) but we were able to hang out some. My job was to help the girls have fun while cleaning. (I was co-in charge of the CAPERS.) I am proud of myself because I did a few things I didn't think I could do. Namely the following:

• Climbing a mountain after a break from exercise. It didn't feel bad at all.
• Repelling. We all did it - I am especially proud of my mother in law.
• Kept up with the pace of camp. I am glad I got time for naps.

I went to Church the next day and it was nice to have the girls recognize me. It made me a little sad that I don't work with them (I am in the Primary).

Our Washington D.C.Trip

Last week I returned from a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Washington D.C. Matt invited us out and we gladly accepted.

During the trip, I was amazed at how much I didn't know about our nation's history, yet at the same time, I was amazed at how much I knew. When we visited the Jefferson Memorial, I was struck by how much the men and women who founded and continue to mold our country, define themselves by and dedicate themselves to the cause of freedom and liberty. I wish I could go thank them all personally. God bless America!

Here are a few though not all of the things we saw.

To get to Matt's apartment, we traveled a lot via the "Mormon Temple Loop" as the natives call it. The Washington D.C. temple is front and center once you get on the loop and slowly recedes behind the trees. Majestic.

The lobby of a Masonic Lodge we visited.

The whole gang outside the Washington Memorial.

We saw the Navy Memorial. As a tribute to my dad who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, I include it here.

We saw the Hope Diamond on display in the Museum of Natural History. It had it's own personal guard.

It's a girl!

I am 20 weeks pregnant with a little girl. She is due October 31st, which is actually kind of cool. And here are some pics! Honestly, it still hasn't really sunk in that I am going to have a baby. Though I may try to deny it, Steve assures me that I haven't just over-eaten a ton.

We are both very ready for this step and I am again reminded how much God loves and cares for me and knows what is best for me in my life. I am grateful for the opportunity to raise a child, though simultaneously scared stiff!

On to the pics!

The classic standing pose

Looking down - Hi there little girl

Chilling on our new couch and chair (Steve found these amazing pieces)

Our little girl about a week ago. She is a thumb sucker and a little shy. I was afraid we weren't going to find out the gender!

And lastly, my mother and sister in law found a big bag of baby clothes and cloths for $5. They were girl clothes so it is lucky that we are having a girl. Though I like them all, the ones below are my most favorite.