Three-year-old Jeni has two favorite places: her family’s home in Snowflake, which she calls her “Porch House,” and Ronald McDonald House in Phoenix, which she calls “Donald House.”
At Donald House, you’ll usually find her outside on the playground, or inside racing to press the elevator buttons or serving pretend meals from the playhouse.
For Jeni, they’re simply the two places she feels most comfortable. For her mom, Aubreauna, the two houses tell the story of the hardest year of their family’s life.
That story began in September 2025, when Jeni’s two-year molars seemed to be coming in. She was fussier than usual, running a low-grade fever with slight swelling around her jaw. But when her abdomen began to swell and her skin took on a yellowish tint, Aubreauna and her husband, Garett, knew something was seriously wrong.
They rushed Jeni to the local hospital in Show Low, where doctors diagnosed her with leukemia. Within hours, she and her mother were on an emergency flight to Phoenix Children’s.
A hospital social worker quickly introduced the family to Ronald McDonald House. It was a place where they could stay together within walking distance of the hospital while Jeni received treatment at Phoenix Children’s.
“It was a huge weight lifted off our shoulders,” Aubreauna said. “We had heard of Ronald McDonald House before, but we had never been up close and personal with what they do. Our lives had been turned upside down, and suddenly there was this amazing place where our family could stay together.”
After Jeni was discharged following weeks of chemotherapy, she needed to remain close to Phoenix Children’s until her immune system recovered. Aubreauna and Jeni stayed at Cambridge House, while Garett and their two older children made the three-hour drive from Snowflake to join them whenever they could. Instead of spending weeks apart, the family could still share weekends and meals together.
“When life feels like the rug has been pulled out from under you, being able to stay together as a family means the world,” Aubreauna said.
Over the months that followed, trips to Ronald McDonald House became part of the family’s routine. Sometimes they stayed just one night before a 7 a.m. appointment at Phoenix Children’s, avoiding a three-hour drive before sunrise. Other visits lasted an entire month while Jeni received intensive chemotherapy and needed to remain close to the hospital.
After staying for more than 100 nights, Ronald McDonald House is much more than a place to rest and recharge.
Staff members know Jeni by name, and she knows them, too. She thinks of them as aunts, uncles and grandparents. For Aubreauna, it’s the people – the staff, volunteers and other families – who have made Ronald McDonald House feel so special.
“We are blown away by everyone’s generosity,” she said.
Now entering the final months of the most intensive part of her treatment, Jeni is expected to begin maintenance therapy this fall, with monthly trips to Phoenix through all of 2027.
Despite everything she’s experienced throughout the past year, Jeni remains the same strong-willed, sassy little girl who loves to sing, dance, play with animals and dress up.
And she still has two favorite places.
There’s her Porch House in Snowflake.
And Donald House, where the playground, elevator buttons, toys and familiar faces are always waiting.
“During one of the hardest times of our lives, we never had to worry about where we were going to stay or how we were going to afford it,” Aubreauna said. “There are real people behind every donation, and because of them, families like ours are incredibly blessed. I don’t know that there are words to say how thankful we are.”
