Today we picked up Tanner from a week-long summer camp called Camp Ukandu. It is put on by the Children's Cancer Association and is for children with cancer and their siblings. Since you are require to be 8 yrs or older Grace is waiting until next year.
Tanner had a blast, but even before we saw him camp counselors and staff came up to tell us what a great boy Tanner is and what he did for one brave 8 year old girl. As we found Tanner we hugged him and met his friends, looked at his awesome bunk in a cabin on stilts overlooking the forest, went and saw the horses he rode, the pool he swam in, and the river beach where they had campfires and played games. He then told us of the amazing time he had and the many special tributes they had for children who have lost their lives to Cancer. As we were walking through the enormous camp, we would hear constant yelling "see you Justin Bieber!" "Justin Bieber, I am going to miss you!", "I love you Justin Bieber!" as Tanner would smile and waive to them. Another counsellor stopped us and said that this was the first time he had seen Tanner without a group of girls following him since the beginning of camp.
As we walked Tanner related how he met a young 8yr old girl at the camp who was blind due to cancer. As he described her his eyes welled up, but he proceeded to tell us how this little girl loved Justin Bieber, and once came up to him, feeling his face, to ask if he really was Justin Bieber. Tanner's answer was, "I kinda look like him, but that is just my nickname." Feeling an enormous amount of love for a little girl his sister's age who was not quite as fortunate in the face of Cancer, Tanner planned a performance where in the middle of lunch in front of the 200 or so campers, Tanner grabbed a microphone and sang this girls favorite Justin Bieber song to her with the music which he borrowed from a counsellor at camp. He would relate to us that he never saw her do anything but smile the entire camp although she was battling for her sight and that when he was singing she touched his face to see who was singing. Here is the newspaper article in the camp paper showing pictures of the incident. We are still trying to hunt down the video and will post it if we get it.
He was deeply touched and inspired by this camp, made tons of friends and had a great time. We are so grateful for opportunities like this from organizations like the CCA.
The girls have been loving summer by having friends over and enjoying the warm weather and sun.
We are so excited for Grace's baptism and are looking forward to spending some more time in Utah with all our family and friends on that special day.
Max was recognized as an all-region firstbaseman at the SLC Bees game. We had a great time eating hot dogs, cotton candy and spending time with our family.
We had so much fun getting together for everyone, especially on such short notice. The cousins had so much fun playing at the park.
We are so proud of Max and Gate for graduating. Both of them worked extremely hard and we grateful that we were able to make it.
Sam, Grace, and Eva made Max and Gate leis that had their favorite things, including McDonald's cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, and many other sweets.
