Ovarian Cancer Awareness Fun Run

On Saturday, Michael hosted an Ovarian Cancer Awareness 1 Mile Fun Run at our church.  As a sophomore at Lamar High School involved in the IB Program, he has to do a personal project.  Ovarian Cancer Awareness is something that is very important to us as one of our dear friends Candy Hanis, the mother of Michael's friend Tyler, passed away last summer after a strong battle with Ovarian Cancer. Michael decided to hold an Ovarian Cancer Fun Run, to raise awareness of the signs of Ovarian Cancer and to raise funds for Ovarian Cancer Research, in memory of Candy. 

About 100 people came out to support this great cause on an early chilly Saturday morning.  It was a beautiful day and everyone seemed to have a great time. 

Michael signing people up for the race

Michael welcoming people to the Race

Runners, Take Your Mark!



And they are off!



Arrows marking the Way



The winners!

Fast Kids!

Go Hayley!

In addition to the mile fun run, Michael had several activities going on in the parking lot.  A friend from MD Anderson Cancer Center was there with information to distribute as well as a table of materials from the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. 

There was a cake walk, face painting and a coloring table for the kids, and a silent auction and bake sale where all proceeds raised are being donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

Coloring Table

Cake Walk

Luke snagging a cupcake from the Cake Walk

Checking out the Silent Auction Items

Face Painting

Due to the AMAZING generosity of the silent auction donors, as well as the participants in the fun run and auction, Michael was able to raise just over $1000 for Ovarian Cancer Research (double his original goal!).  This money is being donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund in Candy's memory.
A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone involved!!

To learn more about Ovarian Cancer click here or here.  On  Saturday, May 05, 2012, MD Anderson will be hosting their yearly Sprint For Life 5K Run/Walk.. Sprint for Life benefits MD Anderson's Blanton-Davis Ovarian Cancer Research Program. Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among gynecologic cancers. In 75% of cases, it is not detected until it has already progressed to an advanced stage. See www.sprintforlife.com for more details on how you can get involved! 

New Year's Day 2012

We started the New Year off right, at church at 9 am.  By the end of the block of meetings, everyone was feeling the effects of the late night I think.  It was nice to have all afternoon together.  Everyone had fun playing and building tall skyscrapers, among other things.

We had a nice New Year's Day dinner with our black-eyed peas, brought to us by our sweet neighbor for a little luck. During dinner we talked about New Year Resolutions for our family and came up with a couple of great ones. I think everyone's favorite is to have more fun! And that includes playing more games together. One new game we got from Don's brother for Christmas is "Ticket to Ride" and everyone has had so much fun playing.

 

Happy New Year! 

New Year's Eve

We rang in 2012 at home this year.  Don and Diane came over for a couple of hours and played and talked with us.  It was great to have time to visit and eat lots of treats together. 

Toys and Books with Grandaddy

A little hockey action

Lots of Snacking



Luke and Grammy painting



Hayley painting



A few trips to the moon and Mars with Luke



Pokemon Tournaments

When Grammy & Grandaddy left about 9:30 pm, we did a few sparklers outside to light up the night.  Jake wasn't a big fan, but Luke sure was.  We ended up only doing one box because he loved it too much! The tears were from not being allowed to hold it by himself.

Afterwards we put on a movie and just about everyone made it to midnight.  Luke had crashed about 10:30 pm in the middle of the floor, and Hayley fell asleep during the movie but woke up just before midnight to count down with us.

We toasted the New Year with our traditional Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice, otherwise known at midnight at our house as the "fuzzy grape juice".  Then we headed outside to hear the fireworks (it was a really foggy night and we couldn't see anything).  Jake yelled "Happy New Year" to the neighborhood and then it was off to bed!

BYU Bowl Game

We had a fantastic time at the BYU football game on the 30th.  We were able to sit with Don's cousin down near the team's bench with all the coach's familes.  It was so fun to be that close to the action.  It was a couple of the younger kids first live BYU football game, and I was bummed Don wasn't able to be there to enjoy it with them.    So we took some pictures on my phone and texted him live from the game, so he could enjoy it with us.



Jake and Uncle Ben



Ashley and Luke



Hayley and Grandpa

 The SMU stadium is a fun stadium to watch a game,  One of the endzones is a big grass hill instead of seats, where lots of people just watch the game.  In the 3rd quarter the younger kids and I met Bob's family on the hill and the kids had a blast together.  We were able to get right next to the band and the cheerleaders, which Hayley LOVED!

Abby and Hayley


Because it was the Armed Forces Bowl, all the branches of the military were represented and honored.  I love that we live in such a great country and so appreciate all the sacrifices that are made for us by the men and women who serve our country.  It was great to be part of honoring them in a small way that day.  Near the hill,  there were 3 real military helicopters that Luke was especially fasinated with. 

With about 7 minutes left in the game, I took Jake and Luke back with me to our seats where Michael was in the zone.  It was the perfect ending, as we cheered BYU on to victory.  The drive and touchdown to go ahead and win with 11 seconds left was amazing.  Luke and Jake had fun in the middle of all the loud yelling and cheering.  It was a great game!!  Thanks again Tracy and Ben for treating us to the game!