Monday, May 21, 2012

Saturday, May 5th, 2012








As I posted earlier, Peyton and I were asked to host two tables at the Faces of Hope dinner auction for Hope Kids.  Mid-day while Peyton was getting a nap in, I went to Rice Eccles Stadium to set up the tables.  The first had a medical theme and the other had a Dr Seuss theme.  Then I ran home to get ready, get Peyton ready and head right back.  When we stepped off the elevator the first thing we saw was a photo of Peyton blown up.  She was thrilled and felt like quite the star.  We then walked down a narrow hall way with photos and posters of different Hope Kids before we made it to the area where all the tables were now completely set for dinner.  It was amazing to see the place transform in just a few hours.  There were hundreds of auction items laid out and waiting to be bid on.  Peyton and I wound our way through the tables to see the creative ways other families had decorated.  We met up with Elliott and his handler early on and Peyton was in love.  She wanted to follow him around the whole night but I had to convince her to stay at our tables so we could meet the people who were seated with us.  While we waited for dinner to be served, Peyton was fascinated with a beautiful teenage girl who was playing the harp. Over dinner we introduced ourselves to the people at the tables and answered some questions.  Peyton actually did really well for having to sit that long.  In fact, she took a liking to the gentleman sitting next to her and wanted to monopolize his time!

After a few hours of sitting at the table while there were some presentations and speeches Peyton began to get a little antsy and wanted to dance around.  Luckily, I was able to keep her relatively quiet until it was time for the real entertainment to begin.  We headed to the back of the room so she could dance without distracting anyone.  A sweet woman had bid on an item and it came with a stuffed monkey.  When she saw Peyton dancing around, she brought the monkey over so Peyton had a dance partner.  So much for not being a distraction - every one who would walk by would smile and say hi.  We had several people ask to take photos of her because she was just so cute and happy.  As the harpist was packing up, we stopped by to say hello and thank her for the beautiful music.  She was a sweet girl and answered Peyton's questions.  As we walked away she came by and gave me one of her cards.  She wanted me to know that if we ever needed help finding a harp teacher for Peyton or if Peyton just wanted to come by one day and play her harp she would love to help! 

It was a wonderful night and we were so thrilled to be a part of it.  Hope Kids has been a wonderful part of our lives since moving back to Utah and it was great to be able to give back in some small way. A big thank you to Tracel and Angelique of Etsy who donated the thank you cards and the Hope Kids soaps.  I hadn't intended to ask for donations but when they found out why I was ordering them they were happy to donate their time and supplies to brighten up the tables.  Thanks so much!  I also want to make sure that everyone knows that most of these photos were taken by a photographer who donated his time as well.

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