The Slaughtered Sheep

Piper went through a bout of the stomach flu a few weeks ago, and my cute, gold, couch pillows suffered the consequences. I decided to ignore the "hand wash only" labels, and put them in the washer anyway, forgetting in the tumultuous hubbub to check the settings on the washer. An hour or so later, after I'd realized that I'd washed the pillows on a really heavy setting, I opened it up with much deserved trepidation...and this is what I found! Oops. I hastily took a picture before I began cleaning it up, realizing that sometime I would find this funny. The moment is now! Hope you enjoy it too...I know you've had days like this!

Picking Monte Up!

The hug that lasted 10 minutes!
Monte dancing to the Camp Band music, his favorite girls, and chatting with "Papa Teas" and his new dog.

More Camp Pictures

A Few Camp Pics

This is how the campers are greeted as they arrive, with a LOUD roaring crowd.

Monte and his counseler, Brandon, and his mom, the "cabin mom."

Ok, I'm finally posting a few pics from camp, I'm still waiting for the rest of them to be uploaded onto my computer. He really did have a wonderful time, and they filled my camera with about 50 pictures, then bought him two disposable cameras to take more, honoring my request that they capture "Everything!" so that I knew what he did so that I could talk to him about it.

Follow-up: It's been almost 4 weeks since camp, but he still breaks out into a huge smile and laughs everytime we ask him about camp, or if he even hears the words, "Camp Barnabas." At physical therapy on Tuesday, he kept walking in his walker over towards another young man in a wheelchair having occupational therapy. In turn, the other kid kept trying to turn toward Monte instead of doing his game. I finally realized what was happening and asked, "Did you go to Camp Barnabas with Monte?" They both said yes, and got quite excited to have that acknowledged and to see each other again. Wow.

Camp Barnabas!!!

Wow, Wow, wow, wow, wow.
I have rarely been this impressed, and this touched by an organization. We were thrilled to finally pick Monte up on Wednesday morning at Camp Barnabas. (We dropped him off Thursday at 4, so it was 6ish days). We hopped in the car to drive up there...and had a dead battery. Several attempts later, we hurridly parked, then raced to his cabin to be the first parent to get to hold him. We stopped abruptly in front of his cabin...I didn't see him! Then I noticed the gaggle of girl counselers gathered around a bright orange wheelchair-Monte! He seems to have quite a way with the ladies, I can't wait to see him in the next life! They were all gathered around singing, stroking his arms/face/legs, flirting with him. So cute! His counseler was still amazing, so excited for Monte, telling us all about his week, continually being attentive to his needs even though we were there...wow. Ok, the highlights:
Monte was so happy! He was thrilled to see us, but kept looking around for Brandon (counseler) also. It was obvious that they'd really developed a bond. He did wrap his arm around me and give me a dozen kisses as soon as I picked him up, that was special. Brandon's mom (cabin Mom) said that the first 2 nights he got a little sad and cried, so she and Brandon cuddled him, telling him loudly in his good ear, "mommy and daddy love you, they're coming back to pick you up soon, they want you to have a fun and special experience here at camp for a little while," ect. It was exactly what I would've wanted them to say, and meant a lot that they did that. After those nights, he did great, and really soaked it all it.
Monte went swimming in the awesomely huge pool everyday, went down the water slides, went horseback riding (liked it, hated the helmet), potted a flower, gardened, did arts and crafts, cooking, swinging, fishing, canoeing, dancing, ect. They had a party with a theme everynight, and we were able to come up with some really cute costumes before we left, so he fit right in. He was able to walk in his walker throughout the camp (it's almost all paved). They kept commenting on his appetite, he loved the food. One morning even had 4 huge pancakes! I did warn them not to let go of the plate-but they figured it out the first day when he tossed it acrossed the room. He did great with using a spoon, and they even worked on using a fork! (he did great, and that's not something I've spent any time on, oops).
At the closing day ceremony, the musicians played the camp songs, and Monte laughed and danced harder then I'd ever seen him. I cried and cried, but it was a good thing. It was all so overwhelmingly touching.
He was so happy the entire time we were there! Everyone knew him, not just his name, but all about him. They talked to him like a person, and had lots of fun experiences to share with us about him.
Final thoughts: Brandon asked that we bring him back every year, he plans to be his counseler year after year...I told him that I wouldn't have left Monte with just anyone, and I was thrilled that they were paired together. He very honestly and seriously told me, "Everyone here is amazing. The first couple days were really hard, and I wasn't sure I could do it all. But my other cabin counselers and the other staffers really helped me with everything and made it so fun and easy, it was great. I was scared at first, (this about doing his g-tube night feeding pump) but now it's not a big deal at all. I want to come back every year, please keep doing this!" (sob). Then his mom pulled me aside and also thanked me for sending Monte. She said, "I see the change in my son, and I am awed. I know that he was really nervous when he first learned about Monte and all of his needs, and saw all the other "special kids" and pretty overwhelmed. But after this week, I know he no longer sees a "different" kid, but a really awesome, cool, fun kid...who just happens to be sitting in a chair." (sob)
I asked them both if I should send Monte back, if this camp was a good place for him, and if he did well with it, and got a resounding YES!
I am so thrilled, so overwhelmed, so grateful, so touched, and so pleased. He's a more confident, more loving, different kid today. I came home determined to send him back every year, to do all I can to funraise for the camp so more kids can come, to tell all my friends about it so they can send their kids, and to talk all of the teenagers/college kids I know into volunteering.
If you made it through this post and want to do any of that, let me know!