Girls Camp 2014

Girls camp came and went in a blur! As the stake girls camp director I've been preparing and planning for months and months. The amount of hours/meetings/emails/phone calls and texts boggle my mind. Picking my assistant camp director was difficult for me. I don't know a ton of people in the stake so I called a few people in the stake and asked for suggestions. I prayerfully went over the stake directory. The more I prayed the more confused I got. I prayed about the suggested name from the stake YW presidency and I felt good. I took a leap of faith and decided Kathy Oliveros (a woman I had NEVER met) should be my assistant. Best decision I could have made! Kathy is such an amazing creative and incredibly patient woman. Exactly what I needed to have as my partner in crime.

 

We first chose the camp theme song "Right Where You Are" by Jessie Booth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHZrLNB68Oo

From that song we selected the phrase "Let it Spark" as our camp theme. 

We thought long and hard about what these girls needed in their own lives and chose to focus on recognizing that "spark" of the spirit. That the Holy Ghost can manifest itself to you in different ways. 

We used Elder Bednars "Patterns of Light" messages 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkOVbT2oxnI

for the evening programs to help set the tone. Probably the best part for me up at camp was feeling the spirit. It was so strong and beautiful you could almost reach out and touch it! When you are behind the scenes helping run the show it's hard to feel or hear the whole message. I did feel the spirit and have my own personal testimony strengthened. That being said I don't want to be in charge again. (EVER again)

TUESDAY, JUNE 3rd

I went up to camp a day early with the YCL2's (youth camp leaders) to set up and get ready for camp. Using "let it SPARK" we decorated in silver, gold, and anything the sparkled (or glittered). I think it turned out pretty good! Most of these YCL girls had been my 4th yr girls 2 yrs. prior so that was fun for me to work with them again. I felt like even though I spent hours and hours preparing for this week the actual REAL work didn't start until we arrived at camp. We unloaded the Uhaul, set up decorations and the sound system, and practiced a few evening programs. 

My journal notes from the first evening:

First day of camp 

Left for camp at 745am. 

Setup went pretty well. A little hot but lots of help from the YCL girls. I thought I lost my banner. But luckily it turned up later. 

We got the lodge and inside all decorated. I think it looks pretty great. There is so much that goes into planning this and then you get up here and the REAL work begins!! I miss Kathy! It's weird being up here and she's not by my side. Too many times today I wanted to ask her opinion. I can't make a decision with out her. 

WEDNESDAY, June 4th

This was probably the most stressful day at camp. You figure out all your kinks the first day your "plan" is put to the test. Nothing major went wrong, just a few tweaks and small issues surfaced. I was stressed about that evenings program (I had to speak and still wasn't exactly sure what I was going to say). I do remember that first day it was hard getting used to all the QUESTIONS. I couldn't take 2 steps with out someone approaching me asking me a question about the YCL's or about their camp site, toilet paper... Etc. I realize that is normal to ask someone in charge questions it just tested my patience and made it hard to get things done. I remember being sad and frustrated that the YCLs weren't really singing enthusiastically on stage, getting off the bus people didn't seem excited, little dumb things like complaints about sleeping arrangements... Etc. small issues I really shouldn't get hung up on. The first couple hours of camp was a blur opening ceremony, set up tents and getting started with rotations. We had 6 different rotations: MUSIC, CROSSROADS, CRAFT, IGNITE, PATH, and YUM!

Kathy and I planned the CROSSROADS rotation. We planned an obstacle course labeled with object lessons for each stunt. i.e. "Leap of Faith" over the moving noodle. "Overcoming trials" climbing a wall, "Life's a Maze" a maze with large cardboard boxes.. etc. After participating in the obstacle course a couple times we would gather the group and have a discussion about their own lives and experiences. I also used Elder Holland's talk "Wrong Roads" as a reference and spiritual message. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNQC-_srxH8

"Overcoming Your Trials"

My make-shift "Life's a MAZE":

My journal entry late WEDNESDAY night:

I survived the first official day of camp. So many cool moments at my rotation with Kathy we created an obstacle course and related it to real life obstacles and things u need to overcome. After the obstacle course we talked briefly with the YW about Elder Holland and his talk "wrong roads". I cried a lot quoting his talk and just felt the spirit talking to me so strongly. 

"I have absolute certain knowledge, perfect knowledge, that God loves us. He is good, He is our Father, and He expects us to pray, and trust, and be believing, and not give up, and not panic, and not retreat, and not jump ship, when something doesn't seem to be going just right. We stay in, we keep working, we keep believing, keep trusting, following that same path and we will live to fall in His arms and feel His embrace and hear Him say, "I told you that it'd be okay, I told you it would be all right." --Jeffery R. Holland

I just felt strongly that I was supposed to let things go and stay positive at camp.

1st nights program! Before camp we made a "SPARK GIRLS" video introducing the theme. This was a lot of fun and really helped pump the girls up at camp about "Let it SPARK"!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-hWTt4R3y4

Camp program tonight stressed me out all day. I needed to get up and do closing remarks during the program. Blah!!! Public speaking is not my strong suit. But with Kathy by my side I did it. I felt the spirit of the program and I think it went great.

THURSDAY, June 5th

My THURSDAY journal notes:

Such a nice day. A lot more relaxing and less stressful. Kathy and I decided to not go on the hike this morning. We stayed at camp to get some things done (mostly map out and rope off the last nights reflection walk a lot more complicated than I thought it would be). Rotations again today. Angela Pace (autistic little girl in my ward) climbing over our homemade "obstacle" labeled "Overcoming your trials" she fell a with both legs straddling the wall, then winced in pain as she said "that was the worst trial EVER!" Lol. She is just so adorable!

The Night program was awesome. We had a couple short video presentations. 

The first Mormon message was about the power of the Holy Ghost influencing your testimony.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-01-004-increase-your-testimony?lang=eng 

Next we showed a slide show of some YCLs sharing a short message about promptings. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk68AwH2MNI&feature=youtu.be

After that we had the lip syncs from every team, YCLs and staff. Super funny! Followed by a dance party. I had a blast!

Every night I stayed up way too late, socializing and playing with my YCL girls. We even saw what might have been a bobcat late at night while chit chatting at the lodge a little creepy.

FRIDAY, June 6th

For the last nights program we planned a quite reflection walk. I wanted each ward to be dismissed about 2-3 mins apart and start walking a silent reflection walk. We had women positioned at different stopping points along the "path". Each of these women shared an experience they had where the Holy Ghost prompted or inspired them. Some shared experiences of a death in the family, others spoke on the guidance the spirit gave them with specific decisions in life. Between each shared experience each ward would more forward along the path and get to a crossroads section. A point in the path where the group needed to make a choice about which way they wanted to go. (Right or left). I had YCLs positioned at each of these crossroads on the path. If a ward chose the same path as the previous ward then they would meet a YCL with a "WRONG WAY" sign. They would then have to turn around and take the other path. My plan was to reiterate that in life sometimes we make poor choices and we have to turn around (repentance). The end of the walk concluded at a makeshift tunnel. Each person needed to walk into the dark 10ft long tunnel and read this quote while looking in the mirror "Be thou humble and The Lord thy god shall lead the by the hand and give thee answer to thy prayers" D & C 112:10 the posters were lit up with portable Christmas lights to help make the "tunnel" dark and quiet.

Each ward then went off to have their testimony meetings. I was able to participate in the walk with my ward. But because of some hick ups at the beginning my ward ended up going 1st (not according to plan). I had to run back and forth in the dark to make sure it went smooth. One of our girls was missing and one of the YCLs misunderstood the process so I needed to make my ward do a "planned WRONG WAY".
I didn't get to enjoy the walk as much as I would have liked but I happily sacrificed my experience for others to enjoy. I think others felt the spirit, I know my wards testimony meeting after was especially sweet.

My  FRIDAY journal notes:

Today was the last night program. I have mixed feelings on how it went. I think it was a success. I get stressed and have anxiety and then I don't get to just sit and enjoy the moment. I was overly anxious about our sweet 72 year old bishop possibly stumbling on the walk and getting hurt. Negative thoughts filled my mind. "What if this doesn't work... What if no one fills the spirit? What if it's a disaster?...etc" I was a wreck tonight. The reflection walk I had planned obviously didn't go exactly according to plan. But when I think about how it actually went, I'm pretty sure it worked out better than I had planned. Just more proof that Heavenly Father has my back.

It was especially sweet to have my husband share in this experience with me! I was never so happy to see him on Friday! (Thank you Lindsey for watching my kiddos over night!) Ron was so sweet and reassuring. He is well practiced in the art of telling me to "relax!" LOL He even told me later that he was really glad he went and would totally come to girls camp again!

SATURDAY MORNING!

Pack up and Testimony meeting. Testimony meeting was amazing! So nice to hear the different experiences these YW had and their little testimonies blossoming!

I definitely learned a lot about myself this week at camp. It's an incredible feeling to be part of something bigger than yourself.

Callie's Dental Procedure

Before:
(I didn't get a very good before shot! so mad I forgot! I thought of it right as they were taking her back.)

After:

I'm pretty happy with it's appearance. I don't like that it created more of a gap between her teeth but I think it needed to be placed like that for more stability.

The morning of her actual appointment I was very nervous! Thoughts of her not waking up from anesthesia popped in my mind. As we drove to her appointment I still hadn't told Callie where we were going. I've learned with my daughter that she handles things much better if I tell her last min. That way she doesn't have to time to stress over it or process it. She really likes running errands and shopping with me so she was happy to come along. When we pulled into the parking lot she looked at the building and asked "Do we have an appointment? Is this a Doctor's office?" She wasn't very happy when I reluctantly admitted it. But she was cooperative.

We arrived and almost immediately they came to get her. I went back and watched as they put the mask on her, she only protested a little. I got a little teary eyed as they were putting her under. They wouldn't let me stay and walked me back up front. I was surprised at how emotional I was. Tears flowing and wishing I wouldn't have told Ron he didn't need to be there. The Dentist told me they would do everything they could to save the tooth. He came out a little while later showed me the broken part of her tooth (practically the entire lingual wall of her tooth was fractured off). The nerve was exposed so they did a pulpotomy (baby root canal) and placed a zirconium crown.

When she woke from anesthesia she was a little upset but let me hold her. I was a little unprepared because she had an accident during the procedure (something I should have thought of). So I was trying to carrying my groggy 3 year old and get checked out. The Dr. office was up stairs so I was paranoid she would tip back and out of my arms as I walked down a flight of stairs carrying her in one arm and my bag and paperwork in the other.
We made it home safely but Callie was still upset. She kept screaming "there's something in my mouth! I want the crown off! I want the crown off! Take it out!!! I don't want the crown in! I don't want the crown in!" I think she was feeling the numbness from the local anesthesia in that area and didn't like it. She would yell "I want it out! I want it out!" while simultaneously try to remove it herself with her fingers. She even declared "I'm not going to the doctor EVER again!" It really would have been funny if it wasn't so sad at the time. This crying and screaming occurred for about an hour, until she finally fell asleep in my arms.

Mason's 1st Eye Surgery

4 days after his accident when the swelling went down enough for him to open his eye we scheduled an appointment with the Retinal specialist. At this appointment it was determined that surgery was needed ASAP. Dr. Kwong found what looked like it MIGHT be Retinal tear. The sooner you operate the better. On Tuesday April 8th we went into surgery not knowing much of the outcome and praying extremely hard. Mason wasn't nervous at all. I think he was even a little excited about this new adventure.

BEFORE:

The nice administrator explaining everything to Mason:

Our good friends the Sare's gave Mason these cool headphones which he LOVES and wants to wear all the time. Up until this point I had worried that at any point Mason might start acting his age and get a little anxious, nervous or scared. I should have known better. This kid is invincible. As they wheeled him off he turned and waved to me as confident as ever. I won't ever forget that mental image.

Dr. Kwong informed us this particular surgery could last anywhere from 30 mins. to 3 hours. The longer it went on the more anxious I became. I ignored the feeling that everything was going to be ok and worried that because it was taking a while that wasn't good. Joyce and Larry came to visit and distract us at the hospital. Which was a nice change from starring painfully at the large hospital screen with random surgical updates hoping to see Mason's assigned surgery number say "Out of surgery".When we finally got the call saying surgery was over it had been about 2 hours. I was bracing myself for the worst. If he did in fact have retinal detachment we were going to have to restrict his movements, head positioning is crucial after this type of repair surgery. I was brainstorming taping him to a massage table face down with his face in the hole so he could see an iPad on the ground or something. :) Head positioning is critical after that type of surgery (we are talking hours at a time keeping his head horizontal! BLAH!!!)

As we sat down to talk to Dr. Kwong I held my breath as he proceeded to tell us how well the surgery actually went. Dr. Kwong was pleasantly surprised that Mason did NOT in fact have a retinal tear. I remember saying a silent prayer of gratitude as my heart filled with joy. I was so relieved. During surgery they removed his lens (due to having a traumatic cataract), cleaned up blood that had accumulated in the back of his eye and used a laser to repair some of the damage.

Post surgery:

Mason handled surgery like a champ! He was a little upset first coming out of anesthesia so they gave him some more meds in his IV and of course a popsickle makes everything better!

 

When we got home Mason was put on more eye drops and needed to wear this eye patch for the first 24 hours. After his first Dr. appt the next day he only needed to wear it at night for about 1-2 weeks. He NEVER once asked for pain meds or complained of discomfort. The only complaints from Mason were about not being to do very much. Poor little guy we are trying to bottle up the ocean over here!

Noah Noah Noah

Noah's latest phrase when he's mad and thinks I'm ignoring him "You're just annoying me!" LOL He confuses the words annoying and ignoring a lot. Very cute!
Cute Noah catch phrases:
"B-sketti" - Spaghetti
"Toose Paste" - Tooth Paste

This little man can be moody at times but in my opinion is perfect! He is obviously adorable but very gentle-natured. I've watched a few different babies on different occasions for friends and Noah LOVES having a baby around. He will tend to the baby constantly getting them toys or blankets and talking to them. It REALLY makes me proud.

"PLEEEEASE???"How can I say No to this face?!?

Noah's personality is very cautious but he's very wise. I've said this before, but I really do think Noah is very similar to Ron in personality. He thinks about and analyzes situations. He won't do something if he doesn't want to. (STUBBORN!) If it wasn't his idea it's NOT a good idea. He is my best eater, and will try just about anything.

I was having a rough day this week. Overwhelmed with Callie's cracked tooth, Mason's eye issues and insurance claims/issues running out the wazoo. I was crying thinking about Callie's tooth and just sad. Noah ran up to me and gave me a big hug and told me "I love you mom. Why are you crying?" I explained to him briefly how I was sad about Callie's tooth and he ran off and secretly disappeared to his room. A few minutes later he emerged with a paper colored on and a note written to me.
His Note reads: "Love Noah. Here is a message. I love you."

He is such a sweetheart and very perceptive to those around him.

Callie's tooth

Well, when it rains it pours!! We just can't seem to get a break around here in the Huber household. Callie fell at the playground Thursday night and bumped her tooth on the monkey bars. I took her to the Pediatric Dentist today for an x-ray and evaluation. Her tooth #E (center right tooth) is chipped and cracked. There is a vertical crack that runs up to or very close to the nerve of her tooth. She will more than likely need a pulpotomy (baby root canal) and crown on the tooth, IF it's even savable at all. If the crack is more severe than it appears on the x-ray she may need to have the tooth pulled all together.

My heart has been very heavy over the past few days thinking about the possibility of her not having a tooth there for the next 5 years. Ron and I were discussing our "woes" and feeling very down. Considering Maosn's eye, Callie's tooth... etc. Then we started to talk about the trials of close friends around us and in our ward. And how in comparison what we were experiencing was actually not as bad as we thought. We have each other, we have relatively healthy and happy children. Life really is good, it just throws you curve balls and punches once in a while.

Callie doesn't like ANY doctor office. So why would the dentist be any different? She did ok for the appointment, but didn't like it. After the treatment plan was determined the doctor gave us a Prescription for antibiotics and pain (to prevent an infection). He also recommended a soft food diet until we could get her back in to fix the tooth.

This little climber of mine is stressing me out big time. I went into nursery today to help because I'm paranoid she is going to bump that tooth again before we have a chance to fix it. 

This picture doesn't do justice to how bad the crack and chip is. The whole Lingual wall of her tooth is practically gone. She hasn't complained at all of pain so far (that's good. I'm really hoping her nerve isn't involved) We were still able to have a Girls night out with Maryann while the boys were at fathers and sons!

Shopping with Maryann "Mom, Can I ride the Alligator?"

Mason's "Bad Eye" Part 2

For a few weeks following the accident my life drastically changed. Mason had an eye appointment almost daily, He was put on 3 different eye drop medications that need to be administered 2-4 times a day. Do the math. He needed eye drops placed 6-8 times a day. This was no easy feat either. Because his left eye was swollen shut for a few days, this made the eye drops were a 2 person job. One person needed to pry his eye open, and the other quickly drop the medication in. Mason was extremely tolerant of this process and only whined occasionally. Per Doctors orders he was put on extreme movement restrictions. No running, jumping, bouncing... etc. At this point we weren't sure how much damage had actually been done. If he had a retinal tear or detachment jumping and bouncing could potentially make it worse. Those first 2 weeks were exhausting. I stressed over any movement at all from Mason! You try telling a 7 year old NOT to be 7. BLAH!

The very first morning (post accident) Mason refused to open even his good eye. I have learned a lot about eyes lately and apparently your eyes are "wired" to work together. If 1 of your eyes open the other closed eye will still contract it's pupil. So, for Mason this caused pain in his injured eye. He chose to just kept both eyes shut to avoid this pain. I tried everything I could to entice him to open his right eye, finally resorting to movie suggestions (even though he is injured I HATE the TV just being on. To me it's just NOISE and I don't like it.) He seemed excited at this prospect so he immediately chose a Scooby Doo. I remember thinking "oh cute. he still likes the little cartoon movies." WRONG! As I watched him "watch" the movie I noticed he STILL wasn't opening that eye but commenting and laughing at the movie. When I brought this to his attention he simply stated "I don't need to watch it. I have this movie memorized." LOL Funny kid.

Mason had lots of concerned visitors that first day. Including his primary teachers bringing him a card and a conference packet to enjoy watching conference the following Sunday. This is the FIRST time I noticed Mason get a little emotional after they left because he couldn't see the papers they brought him. He was so excited as I sat and explained what the papers said and how he could use the conference packet. He didn't cry, just got choked up a little and said "but I can't see them!" That's a really hard thing to watch your child experience "helplessness".

Later that evening quite a few family members came to check up on Mason including my Dad. We thought at this point Mason was asleep on the bean bag so we were quietly talking and Grandpa Faler said "He looks worse today then he did yesterday." to which Mason promptly responded "I can hear you!" LOL It was really funny.

Wednesday, (day 4) was the worst day for me. I think reality set in. He had been home from school all week and we were running a few errands. (This was the first day we didn't have any appointments) I remember where we were. Walking out of Wal Mart and Mason declared "Mom! I can open my eye!" I ran to him and was so excited the swelling had gone down enough that he could barely open his eye. I excitedly asked him "Can you see out of it?!?!" When he replied "No" my heart sank. The rest of the day is a blur. I don't know what I expected. I think I thought that miraculously he would see again and all would be as it was before. Lots of tears shed that day, guilty feelings crept back in. I wondered how different his life would be. "Would he be able to drive? Could he even play sports again?..." Ridiculous questions but valid concerns. Mason however was fine, completely unfazed by it. He was bouncing off walls and acting his usual upbeat self. Which only stressed me out MORE!!!

Mason has had several doctor appointments over the past few weeks. As always he is very well behaved for the Dr. and asks lots of questions. I REALLY like the Retinal specialist, Dr. Kwong. He is very informative and nice. He gave us his personal cell phone number at one point, I could tell he genuinely cared about Mason.

This particular appointment Dr. Kwong printed off the ultrasound pictures of Mason's eye and while explaining them to Ron and I, Mason speaks up from behind "Can I see?" Of course Dr. Kwong proceeded to show and explain to Mason what was going on in his eye.

I can't get over how high this kids pain tolerance is. Ron and I have more than once commented on how little Mason gets sick. The more we thought about it the more we realized he was probably sick more than we realized, he just never ACTED sick. This kid is go go go! For the most part the first couple days after the accident were fairly easy to keep Mason still. He was tired and I'm sure in pain, even though he NEVER asked for pain relief meds and would ALWAYS respond "Good" when you asked him how he was feeling. Almost everyone would ask "Does it hurt?" and Mason would ALWAYS reply with a smile "No." The only complaint he ever makes is his sensitivity to light. His eyes are extremely sensitive to light (mostly because of the dilating drops medicine) and especially first thing in the morning. We bought him some cool shades to help with this problem. He wears them EVERYWHERE! (Even to his choir concert at school and his Piano recital!)

The iris in his injured eye was torn during the accident. This is a drawing Dr.Underdaul (the Pediatric Eye Specialist) drew for us in the hospital. This can be fixed with surgery.

You can see his miss-shaped pupil and iris in this picture.