Camp Hope

Last weekend Courtney attended Camp Hope, which is a bereavement camp for children ages 7-12 sponsored through Niagara Hospice, where Grandpa Les bug spent his last couple of days with us. I know every time I talk of them I say how great they are, but they really are! They are solely run on donations, as is this camp. There was NO fee what so ever and that do amazing grief counseling with the children and get them to open up. I tell Mike all the time that someday I'd love to be able to give a sizable donation to them, not just for camp hope, but for the great care they gave to Les, and emotional support they gave to us, his family, and still do to my mom to this day. What a wonderful facility! (makes me want to live in Niagara County!) Anyhow. Courntey spent from last friday to Sunday at Camp hope, which is homed at YMCA's Camp Kenan in Barker, NY (about 1.5 hours from us) It's right on Lake Ontario as you'll see from the pictures. On sunday morning the families are invited to a family breakfast and following that they do a closing memorial ceremony for the children. Each child is given a butterfly (the hospice sign) and anytime they want to talk or send love to those who have passed, they speak to the butterfly and the make the wings fly. By making the butterfly "fly" it carries your message up to your loved one. Very emotional and heartwarming. The kids also have a reunion in the fall so where they get a DVD and a yearbook of their camp experience. There were only 24 children at camp, which is perfect when dealing with this type of situation. Each child gets the attention they need. The children were also able to write letters to the loved ones who passed, and then it they got to throw it in the fireplace, the smoke also then carries the words of the children up to heaven. Grandpa Les was sure busy last weekend recieving all those messages! .

I had quite a scare with Colin a few nights ago as well. He was in the bath tub with Caden and slipped under the water...I wont' get into detail too much( I am still shook up) He couldn't get up and once I got him (Thank GOD i was of course in the room with him)his little wet body slipped out of my arms and back under water. I did get him out, struggling for breath. It was the single most scariest time of my life. Mike wasn't home, he was at the Y with Courntey. I thought to call 911- but just wanted to hurry and get him breathing again. He ended up gagging and taking a breath, then burping, thank god. I still have a hard time dealing with this, since it happened in my care, but am coming to terms with it. He is fine now and I can't help but wonder if Les was watching out for us that evening. Needless to say I've now signed both Mike and I up for an infant/Child CPR class at my Lactaction center next month.



Sending Grandpa Les bug Love
The memorial closing
Caden now does and Army Crawl!?
Courtney and her new friend TJ who lost her Papa
Aunt Karen & Mom
Courtney with Colin
Just seeing us.
Daddy Skipping rocks
We Left Colin up at the tops of the stairs.
meema teaching Caden to skip the rocks

Hi Caden!
Lake Ontario
The Pool

The campgrounds