Luau

One thing that has been absolutely wonderful through out Odette's cancer experience are all the opportunities available for the family to participate in.  Children with Cancer Christmas Foundation is one group we have been involved in. Each year they help provide Christmas for families with cancer kids and they have a summer luau. Last night was the luau and it was great fun!!It was held in Provo at the Tahition Noni building. They have a beautiful "park" behind the building complete with waterfalls, a pavilion and absolutely gorgeous flowerbeds. It was like we were on a tropical island. When we first arrived, we were given lays of flowers and orange t-shirts. We all thought it was cool that the shirts were orange, of course. There was a photographer there to take our pictures. To bad we weren't all dressed cute for the occasion, but we got them taken anyway.

There were lots of games for the kids to play. Here they are digging through the saw dust to see what treasures they could find. The kids enjoyed playing basketball, throwing bean bags to hit Shrek, flipping pennies onto Alice in Wonderlands tea party table and shooting a nerf gun at some bad guys. Josselyn was great at this one and hit the target with all 8 rounds she had!

There was a fun craft to do, which was of course where Kathleen wanted to spend most of her time! They "colored" fish with skewers. When they did, "magically" other colors appeared.

There was some very yummy food. Rice, Pork and tropical fruit. The kids favorite food part was the dessert--brownies, sugar cookies, lemon bread and some lemon covered mini cupcakes. I think I ate my share as well.
Cosmo the cougar was also in attendance. Brandt and Kathleen thought he was cool. When he held his hands out to Odette, I thought that she would cry or cling to me, but she almost jumped out of my hands to get to him! When he was holding her, she just kept patting the head part and looking at him weird. Josselyn, was completely terrified of him. She wouldn't go anywhere near him. She would see him coming and RUN! She kept calling him Todo (we had just watched Wizard of Oz) and would yell for him to come to him and then hide. By the end of the night, she would sneak up behind him, touch him and take off in the opposite direction. It was way too funny!

Josselyn and her friendly personality made a few friends. She was pushing our friend from Primary's around in his wheelchair. She also made a friend with a lady, who held her hand and walked all over with her looking for treats and prizes. Thank heavens she was willing to play with her because Odette wanted to try and walk around and she doesn't move as fast as Josselyn!  (I don't think many people do!)

The end of the evening we had some hula dancers perform and some fire dancers. It was great! The kids thought that it was so cool when the fire dancer put the fire on his feet for seven seconds--I guess they were counting! Hope you enjoy the short clip we managed to capture. 

When we were leaving, we were given a fresh pineapple and some Hawaiian chocolates. Yummy! Such a great time to be among people who completely understand one another and the crazy life cancer brings.