A Final Plea for HopeKids

 The HopeKids Walk is this upcoming Saturday, October 13th, at 10:30 a.m. with registration starting at 9 a.m. Our little Kickin It With Brynlee team will be there, and we hope that anyone who can will join us that morning. There is a 5k race or a family friendly 1-mile walk. It will be a fun morning, and hopefully we will get some sunshine. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/kickinitwithbrynlee/hopekids-wasatch-adventure-2012

 

I just wanted to restate why HopeKids is so important to us. This last week alone we participated in three HopeKids activities. Monday night was a craft and game night at Paradise Bakery. We played a couple of games and the girls did some crafts, and we enjoyed the cookies and drinks provided to us. Friday we went Pumpkin Picking at a farm in Syracuse, and each of the girls picked out a pumpkin, and we also enjoyed a wagon ride around the patch. Saturday we were able to go see the movie Hotel Transylvania.

 

I know that some of you might be thinking why should I be paying for someone else's fun activities. Well, let me take you back a year ago. I don't think I have to state the obvious, but when Brynlee was diagnosed with cancer and subsequently diagnosed with a spinal cord injury, our lives were essentially devastated. Our plans, our hopes, our goals were suddenly gone. It's as if you are suddenly living in this nightmare that you just cannot wake up from.

 

Our social worker gave us information regarding HopeKids and told us about the opportunities that they provide for family activities. I immediately applied for Brynlee to be a HopeKid, and shortly after we were approved, our family started attending HopeKids activities. HopeKids provided our family these activities that we didn't have to plan and we didn't have to pay for, and it gave our family something to look forward to in the middle of a time when there wasn't a whole lot to look forward to. It created almost a distraction from the overwhelming world that we suddenly found ourselves in. People have often asked us how our other two girls were doing while Brynlee was in treatment or how they are doing now, and I think that HopeKids has definitely helped them through this time where we have experienced so much uncertainty and where we have had to spend so much time with Brynlee.

 

Even though we are off treatment right now for cancer, we still face the burden of helping Brynlee rehabilitate and we still have many doctor appointments and therapy appointments that still require our time and efforts to be focused much of the time on Brynlee. HopeKids still provides our family with things to look forward to in the midst of all that we find overwhelming.

 

Bottom line, we love HopeKids!

 

Here is our wagon ride this week.

And for fun, the other day Brynlee was playing and decided she wanted to get some toys out from under the bed. She got stuck and couldn't figure out how to get out from under the bed with her toys, although she almost had it.