Lake Powell

Well, I can say that this vacation was unexpected- but so graciously accepted!  Carly asked if I'd go to Lake Powell with her since her wonderful husband, Jerry, would be out of town.  How could I say no to that?  A week with my amazing cousin and in such a fantastic location!  I'm grateful I was able to get work off and even more so for the time I had with family!

Each day Carly and I would ask what we wanted to do that day.  Usually our response was... "Swim to that rock, lay out, read a book, tred water, lay out, swim, enjoy a Diet Coke with a fresh lime, swim, lay out, go down the slide, read a book..."

Each day we had a new spot to swim too.  It was really funny.  I can say that this is the one vacation I went on and actually lost weight!  So much swimming and treading water.  Loved it!  When Monday morning rolled around and time to go back to work... it was horrible to have to wear clothes again, not see Carly, and I missed our glorious routine we established while at Powell!

 The wonderful boyfriend has an awesome underwater camera.. we took advantage of it and used it while tubing, on the wave runners, going down the slide... you name it!

 Shower time!

 I love her!

 We all had matching shorts!

 First jump off the house boat!  Scaaaaary!

 I forgot my peanut butter... luckily the hotel we stayed at before getting on the houseboat the next day knew I was coming.. I stocked up on PB!

 Our awesome floaty matching kicks!

 Our view every day!

 Cooling off in the beer cooler... it was perfect.

 Dish Duty meant one thing.... Taylor Swift time!

MDA Camp

In June I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a week long camp with the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  This summer camp is once a year at the Salt Lake Airport Hilton.  MDA camp is a place where kids can forget their disabilities and be known for who they are inside.  Many of these kids count down the days until they can return to this wonderful place again.  Its great to see the interaction each child has with a friend they only see this one week at camp.

I've never participated in such an activity before and I am so grateful I had the experience.   At the start of the week we had to turn in our car keys, cell phone, and lap tops if you brought them.  A week with no communication to anyone outside of the camp and nothing worldly interfering with you and the kids.  The first day of camp you get to meet your camper and the bonding begins.  I was paired up with Katie, she is 17 years old.  She was pretty quiet but when you'd get her going- she had quite the stories to tell!

My favorite part of camp was the dances.  It was so fun to see everyone out on the dance floor- wheelchair and non-wheelchair.  It didn't matter who you are, what you look like, how tall, thin, wheelchair.. whatever- no one was shy and just loved to be dancing.  I met so many wonderful kids and it was such a joy to watch their faces as we swayed back and forth to the music.  One night we dressed as our favorite movie character and I was Belle.  I had the sweetest girl tap me on the shoulder (her volunteer was holding her) and she asked if she could dance with Belle.  She was adorable.

I still can't get over how respectful and patient these kids are.  Some of them can't even do daily little tasks without the aid of someone and never did I hear them complain.  They are so concerned with others and making sure their friend is OK or someone else is getting helped before them.  It was truly a humbling experience.  How often do we gripe that we can't do something, when physically we can... but in the moment we may not be able to.  These kids are limited in what they can do-- but they make the best of what they have and it enjoy to their fullest potential.

 My amazing cousin who introduced me to such a great camp!

 Destiny.. she was apart of my group. AKA- Tickle Monster

 Katie, me and Allison

 Movie character dance.  We were all princess!

 This is the Place Monument.

 We spent the day at Hollywood Connections

 Zack is a ladies man... he was out with every girl!

Fireman Day

Wheelchair races!

Sheesh...

I didn't think I was so behind in blogging... I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since I just got caught up in my journal since March... hahaha!

Don't worry, I'm getting the courage to sit down and blog.  Some pretty fun posts should be coming out soon.

There's MDA, Lake Powell, family campout, and more!