Vancouver, the one in Washington

Last weekend two of my roommates and I took a much needed break and went to Vancouver Washington. Ashley's family was nice enough to put us up and entertain us. It was a PERFECT weekend! We took a detour after being picked up at the airport to check out the Portland Temple My cute roommates. Yes they are fun size. Our first full day Ash's family took us boating on Lake Merwin. It was SOOO beautiful surrounded by all the pine trees. And it was almost 100 degrees that day so the cold water was very refreshing. Getting ready to get pounded on the tube Friday we drove to Cannon Beach Haystack Rock What can I say, we like to jumpSaturday we made the trek up to Seattle Feeding the seagulls at Ivar's Pike's Market Space Needle We scalped some tickets and were able to see the Mariners vs. Yankees game The Mariners were losing 1-0 for most of the game until a grand slam was hit in the 8th inning! Some people were too tired to walk back to the car after all the excitement

Il Divo - Hallelujah

한국

My brother Tim is studying in Seoul, Korea so my other brothers and sister-in-law and I decided to go visit him.

Donate a Day for Danger

On both of my trips to Haiti, we had one of the sweetest interpreters working with us. His name is Lesly Danger and is a complete angel. He is so humble and is a hard worker. He helps support his family (parents and younger siblings) and was trying to get a degree at the university when the earthquake hit. School was canceled and Lesly's hopes for the future were put on hold. Brooke Frost, one of our team members this year, came home and couldn't stop thinking about Lesly's situation. She and her husband have decided to take Lesly into their home for the next few years and put him through school here in Provo. They need to get all of his paperwork taken care of and then the goal is for him to take one or two semesters at Nomen Global Language Center so he can pass the TOEFL and then do 4 semesters at LDS Business College to receive an associates degree in business. This is going to be somewhat of a financial strain on the Frost family. It will cost about $25 a day for Lesly to be able to attend school. So they have started a foundation to raise money to help pay for Lesly's education, one day at a time. Click HERE to see the website and read more about Lesly. Just think of the impact we could have in the life of this young man if we all just contribute 1 day to his education.

Loved It

At least 15 years of friendship + Balboa Island + Newport Beach + Waves + Good food + Movie night + Motherhood + Hot tub + Amazing friends + Santa Monica Pier + Lots of laughing + Sunshine + The Getty + LA Farmer's Market + More good food + Memories + Shopping + More laughing + Ferris wheel + Sweetest car ever + Strengthened friendships = A perfect weekend!

Pictures

I went through and added pictures to the posts I did while in Haiti so you can check those out. And here are a few more pics.

Too cute! Some boys after church. This was an all too common scene. It just made you so sad everytime it rained at night to think of the people living in tents.Don't you just want to take him home?! They colored for hours. Working hard. The royal palace. So cute. Bubbles. Michael's pants kept falling down. One of the thousands of tent cities. Time to eat. The babies I fed all day at Miami. All three in one incubator. The ER at Miami Hospital. Dusk at Miami Hospital. Third floor roommies. The men on the trip.

Wings of Hope

3/22
I went up to the orphanage Wings of Hope this morning. All of the kids there have disabilities. They were adorable. There was the cutest little girl who sang songs in English for us. Tonight we are going to have a big end of the trip party with all the employees here at Healing Hands. They have been so good to us. We have been very blessed to have a house to stay in that has running cold water, electricity most of the time, and internet. And the kitchen ladies feed us so well at breakfast and dinner. Compared to what we see when we go out, we are living in luxury. The night before last we felt a tiny earthquake. We think it may have been in Cuba. The poor people here though, they are already terrified to go back in their homes if they are still standing, and every time the earth shakes just a little, they relive the terror of the first earthquake. Me with some of our interpreters. This is how much water came out of our shower.

Wonderful Sunday

3/21
Today was such a great day! We got up early to leave for the Miami Hospital at 6:30, only our driver was late so we left at 7:30 instead. I spent the day (about 10 hours) feeding 3 premie babies in the NICU who share an incubator. The first was Julienne. She was the only one of triplets to survive. She is 13 days old and now weighs about 2.5 pounds (she came in at 1.5 pounds). These babies were so tiny. One was able to drink her bottle, very slowly, but she could do it. The other 2 were fed through feeding tubes. Vivian was the nurse in charge of the NICU and she was great. She really welcomed Sue Ann and I and made us feel useful, wanted, and a part of the team. We were running out of diapers and the shipment of more wasn't going to come until tomorrow. Then miracle of miracles, a girl walks in with some friends and bags full of premie size diapers and clothes! They had told Target that premie babies in Haiti at this hospital had nothing to wear so they cleared their shelves and sent down anything premie that they had. They came just in time. A little boy that had come in the other night with pneumonia was being worked on a lot today. Being Sunday, a few church groups were there. They stood over this baby boy and sang and prayed for him. I'm not sure what they were saying, but I think they were trying to cast out whatever it was that was making him sick. At the same time, some guys walked in with shirts on that said, "Scientology Volunteer Ministers." Kind of ironic that they were at a hospital, but go figure. A little girl came in today who was a recent amputee. She was told they were going to have to amputate her other leg as well. She was hysterical. It was so sad to watch. Also, the lady from the other night that they were going to take off life support was finally taken off today. I'm not sure why they waited so long, but they did.

Indigo Beach

3/20
We spent the day at Indigo beach. It was a beautiful, hot, sunny day. It was a great break from the work we've been doing. And we got to boost the economy a little bit. We drove by the outside of City Del Sol. The tent cities out there were pretty sad looking. Just sheets and plastic strung around sticks. I'm scheduled to go back out to the Miami University Hospital Tents tomorrow for a 12 hour day shift if they need us. We'll see how that goes.

Miami Hospital

3/19
I survived the 12 hour night shift at Miami hospital last night. Think MASH unit, only with white tents instead of green. It was an interesting experience. I had a hard time feeling useful, but I tried to stay busy helping in the pharmacy, holding and feeding babies, and playing with kids until they fell asleep. I played with the cutest little girl. She was probably 8 or so. It was a long, humid night. It poured all night long, then started again in the morning. It definitely was not this humid last year. A 14 year old boy was there last night with his mom. She had surgery, but didn't come through okay. They had her on life support, but no brain activity so they were going to pull the plug. They decided to wait until today so that their church group could come to say goodbye and help figure out what to do with the boy. The only family he had was a "cousin." Sad. When we first got their last night, a local church was there singing with the adult tent. Everyone was singing alone with smiles on their faces. It amazes me every time to see people smile and wave at you even when they are lying in a hospital bed, many of them knowing they will never walk again. They are such a strong people.
We are going to the beach tomorrow. I think we all need a good break and it will be good for the first-timers to see the beauty of Haiti, not just the suffering. Hopefully we have good weather.