A Chinese Auction

There is nothing like being humbled by people you don't even know. We had the opportunity to attend a fund raiser for Make-A-Wish last week. I walked away feeling more than grateful for amazing people that give their money for children they don't even know and most likely never will.

We showed up as a silent auction was just ending and just happened to notice that a picture Jake drew was being auctioned off. Make-a-wish had asked him to draw a picture of his wish after we had gotten home from our Disney Cruise. To say he was more than excited to see people buying his picture would be an understatement. He thought he was just about the coolest thing alive. This cute man was the one who ended up winning it and asked Jake to sign it so he could take it home with him and put it in his office.




We then had dinner and they had Jeff, Jake and I speak about our experience with Make-a-wish. I have to admit, I did not think Jake would say anything, considering he got stage fright on the radio last summer, but he did so great! There were probably close to 150 people there and he stood on that stage like he had been there a hundred times and introduced himself and told everyone about his wish and how much he loved it. I wish I could have gotten it on camera, but did not think that far ahead unfortunately! After dinner, a Chinese auction was held. We each got a sign with numbers and a pocket full of coins. The auctioneer would call out numbers and when Jake gonged the bell, that last number that was called out won. There were about 40 items that were given and then a few live auctions in between. Jake even cheated a couple of times and we won some tickets to a show and a night at the Grand America! hehe.



The most touching part though, was in the middle of the auction, everything was stopped and we were shown a video about a little boy's wish to meet a U of U soccer team. It was very touching not even counting the fact that at the end of the video, his birth date and death date were shown. Everyone was then given the opportunity to give cash donations. It was one of the most amazing moments to watch and still makes me teary to think about. One wish costs about $5,000. People kept raising their hands to donate more and more money until over $5,000 was raised. That is one more child able to get his or her wish granted. A child that may or may not make it through the hell that they are going through. So thank you. Thank you to those of you out there who are so willing to give to these children. We know through first hand experience the difference that one child's wish makes in their life. It is something that will always be remembered during a time which somedays, we would like to forget. You never know how many live's you are touching when you give. So again, thank you.

St George

Jeff's job covers all of Utah and Las Vegas... he had some meetings in Vegas this last weekend, so we took the chance to head down to St. George. Since we have gotten home, Cole has told many people that we are moving there. FYI: this is just a rumor started by our child. We are not moving to St George at this time.

We had much fun swimming and hunting for bunnies and lizards and especially finding a dead rat and 2 lizards floating in the pool. The rat was the best... the house we stayed in backs up into the mountains and for some reason there is no cover on the pool. Jeff and the boys were out swimming and a few of the toys were stuck in the filter. He pulls them out and then starts yelling to me to come open the cover and see what he found. Yeah right. I will never listen to him again. I pulled up the lid and a huge old rat has been going round and round in the filter, so all of its hair had been pulled off and it was really smelly. It was so sick! It still makes me gag to think about it. Cole would not get back in the pool after that and Crew came home and has been telling everybody about the 'yucky fishie' his dad found in the pool.




This picture explains most of how our weekend went: one of us trying to stop Crew from jumping in the pool. Jeff was gone all of friday, so we ended up swimming most of the day. Crew thinks he can swim. Seriously. I think he almost drowned four or five times. Every time I would turn my head he had jumped in the water and was just splashing away on the other side of the pool and not one of us could keep up with him. Even the two older boys. The second he would wake up in the morning he would run for his swimsuit and ask if we can 'smim', and is still doing it even now that we are home.




Boys will be boys. The dirt must call their name or something because they just wanted to dig and throw rocks and poke at the bugs they found. Seriously. Three boys. Who would have thought?

Two years and counting...

It has been a ridiculously long and difficult journey, but as of today we have made it to our two year mark! Congratulations Jakers! We are getting to the end of the road... slowly but surely. Only one more year and two months to go. I cannot believe it has come so quickly. (I can't believe I am saying that!) There have been lots of bumps and road blocks along the way, but we wouldn't take back any of it. We have learned so much more than we have lost. We are grateful for the chance to be better people because of this struggle we have had to deal with. So, thank you Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia for teaching us all that we needed to know. (And also for leaving our child alone now. You have done your job and can now stay away and not come back. Ever.)

Remembering the last couple of fun years with Jake:









And my sweet baby boy now... isn't he so cute with no teeth?!??

%$#@

Jeff and I have never really been much into the whole cussing thing. I think that every once in awhile something will slip, but nothing ever too inappropriate. If this is the case, why is it that my child says the f-word for every other word that comes out of his mouth? Every single word that has a c-k sound at the end sounds like a naughty word. Truck, fork, work, rock... literally all of them. He cannot talk to save his life. The worst part is, Jake and Cole will copy him and I don't know whether to correct them and point out that it is a bad word or to just leave it alone. As awful as it is, it is kind of funny. I just pray that we won't end up somewhere like church and all three of my kids start yelling naughty words out as loud as they can during the sacrament. Now, that would be fun and make church entertaining!

Happy Easter To you (yesterday)