Brother and Sister

The SLO life...

Two weeks ago we packed up the car and headed down to San Luis Obispo to visit Greg and Carrie. Brad and his brother had a great time playing soccer while Carrie and I took the kids to a cute children's museum in town. They even had a little stage with a rack full of children's costumes. Jacob has been super into Peter Pan lately (we watched it 3 times on the drive to SLO!) He was thrilled we he saw that they had the costume for him to wear!

If only he really would stay young forever!

It was a great weekend of relaxing, a wonderful trip to the ocean where Carrie's parents had us over for fish and chips, and good times watching reruns of The Office on Greg's laptop.

The boys and their master-planned community.

Abby enjoying an apple at Gopher Glen

The kids love any chance they have to spend with their aunt and uncle and we're secretly (ok, not so secretly) praying that someday they'll move up here so we can have many more of these memorable times together.

Relay for Life

On September 6-7, our family and friends participated in our first ever Relay for Life event. RFL is the American Cancer Society's flagship fundraising event--a two day, overnight, walk-a-thon to raise money to beat this awful disease. The goal is to have a representative from your team on the track at all times. At Relay we don't sleep because cancer never sleeps.

Just a few weeks after Dad's death Mom and I put together an amazing team of friends and family to help us on our Relay journey. Together we garage-saled, sent out letters, and fundraised like crazy. Our team name was "Fishing for a Cure" and we made shirts with the Jesus fish and the verse from 1 Peter 5:7, "Casting our cares on Him." At the event we set up "Larry's Bait Shop" and sold gummy worms, swedish fish, and goldfish crackers. We also played the Nintendo Wii fishing game and raffled off a brand new Wii. All of our efforts combined brought in nearly $7,500!!! Our original goal was $2,000 and we blew that out of the water. Thank you to everyone who donated their money, time, and energy to make this event such a positive experience. I cannot thank you enough for your support and encouragement.

It was also a very significant week--Dad would have turned 65, it was the one year anniversary of his diagnosis, and it was my five year anniversary with Brad. I knew it would be an emotional event, but I also knew that God would get me through it. At the luminaria ceremony--a portion of Relay dedicated to remembering those lost to cancer--a bagpiper played Amazing Grace as we all took a lap of silence around the track together. I had no idea this was planned, and it caught me off guard since we had a bagpiper play that same song at the closing of Dad's memorial. It was a reminder of him, of what an amazing man we lost, but of the hope that we have in knowing that he is with our Lord as Savior, Jesus Christ.

Mom and I were also asked to speak at the closing ceremony and I felt so honored to be able to tell Dad's story and to encourage everyone to keep fighting for a cure. I am very passionate about this cause and am counting the days until next year's Relay. I have been asked to be on the committee this year and will be helping with Team Development. They are even sending me to Relay Summit to learn even more about getting the word out and getting the community involved.

Just this last weekend Brad and I had another reminder of how precious life is. We were on our way home from a lunch date when the motorcycle directly in front of us was struck head on by a van that came across the double yellow when rounding a turn. Brad immediately got out and held the man's hand and prayed for him as another woman performed CPR. Unfortunately, her efforts, as well as the fire department's, couldn't save him and he died fairly instantly. This experience brought up many of the images and emotions that we both experienced during Dad's passing. My heart aches for the family of the man. I know how immense their pain must be. It makes me realize how each day is a gift, how we need to make every second count and how we must live each moment to bring glory to God because it may be our last. I don't want to list the man's name out of respect for his family's privacy, but please pray for those who knew him and who will be impacted by this loss.

To infinity and beyond (and back home again)

I apologize for the delay in posts...we have been going full speed ahead ever since Relay for Life and then on to SLO and then down to Disneyland. We are finally home, catching up on our sleep, getting over our colds (I'm still in the clear--for now), and have tons of blog-worthy material. I'll make my best attempt to post soon with pictures, stories, and all the fun things that go along with traveling with toddlers!

To infinity and beyond!

I know it's a little early, but I had to post this. Today we went to the Disney Store and bought Jacob's Halloween costume. For the past three years I have decided what he was going to be for Trick-or-Treat night, but this year he decided on his own. At first it was a pilot, then a doctor, then Buzz Lightyear. When we were at the store I made the mistake of asking him if he wanted to be Lightening McQueen or Buzz and he of course changed his mind and wanted to be the race car. However, my mommy instincts told me to go with Buzz since we had been talking about him all week and I figured that as soon as we got in the car with the McQueen costume, he'd regret his decision.

So my intuition paid off and he was delighted with his new attire. As soon as we walked in the door he begged to put it on. How could I resist? He's the cutest little space-ranger I've ever seen!

A Fair-ly Great Evening.

Last Friday (the last day of our big heat wave) we decided that it would be fun to take the kids to the state fair. Brad and I love the fair--we look forward to it all year long. Mostly for the jumbo corn dogs, but also for the county exhibits and livestock. Luckily Brad's not a fan of the midway and all the carnies and scary, put-together-in-an-hour rides either, so we end up always having a pretty tame evening.

These sheep are actually called "Jacob Sheep"!

Last year was Jacob's first pony ride and he loved it. He couldn't wait to do it again, and we were all excited to find out that Abby could join him this year (can you believe you only have to be a year old to ride a pony?) They both loved it, despite the scorching heat.

We enjoyed the usual fair food and tried to stay in the air conditioned buildings as long as possible. Jacob had a great time playing the games in the Kids Park area this year. He even won a stuffed bear just for Abby. What a great big brother and what a fun time at our state fair!