Relay for Life

Wow, am I tired! LOL! Relay for Life was last night and was so amazing! It started off with a Survivor Lap. Any cancer survivors got to take a lap around the track. After that the caregivers got to joint them and take a lap. After that the teams were announced and took their first lap together and from that point on each team had to have at least one person walking the track until 7am (12 hours!). They lit the luminary's and had a ceremony for that when it got dark too. And they had a lot of fun games and contests throughout the night to get involved in as well. It was a LOT of fun and it is for such an amazing cause. I will definitely be a part of it next year (although my feet might have a different idea! :) ) I am so proud of our team. We decided to make a team and be a part of this only TWO WEEKS ago! We set a low goal of $500 because we only had the 2 weeks to fundraise, but we actually KICKED BUTT and hit the bronze level of raising over $1,500! Isn't that AWESOME? The Topeka Relay For Life altogether raised more than $128,000! Amazing. And I hit my personal goal of $100 too! Thanks so much to everyone that donated!

Here are some great pictures from the night! Erica, Kala and I wanted to take a picture at the top of every hour but we missed a few hours and a few of the later (early in the am) pics didn't get on my camera, just on Erica's so I'll have to upload those later when I get them from her. We definitely got a little goofy as the night went on!

The track was completely lined with luminaries to honor or support a cancer fighter or survivor or to remember someone that passed from cancer.

A luminary I purchased for Grandpa Boos.

A luminary I purchased to honor Jim's Grandpa.

Our first picture of the night. I think this one was from the beginning of the race.

Jim came out for the luminary ceremony and helped us out on 80's Trivia (the race had an 80's theme).

10:00pm ish and starting to get silly

Our luminaries, all lit up. The names of all the people who had luminaries were listed on a big screen during the ceremony.

And this is where I lose track of time...I don't remember when this was. I want to see it was the 1:00am pic, but not sure!

2:00am (I think)

JD & I entered the pudding eating contest for our team!

Really silly. LOL! I think this was before my "official" walking time (3:00-4:00am).

All in all, a great night. Next year Jim and I need to purchase more luminaries. I feel bad that we didn't get more of them for more people in our family that have had cancer, have beat cancer or are currently fighting cancer. What an ugly disease. I can't wait for a cure! :)

On another note, our rose bushes have really started blooming! Yes, I know, they really need some trimming, but I'm not kidding when I say this is probably not even HALF of the buds that are on the rose bushes! There are so many more roses to bloom. Holy cow!

Our birds all flew the coop! Last weekend we noticed 2 were gone. And then the next day the other 4 were gone! I wanted to tie a string around their legs so we could know if they were our babies if we saw them around. Jim said it was a dumb idea. Whatever. So now all we have left is a nest and a whole bunch of bird poop in the flowers. LOL!!

One last thing...Tonight is game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. LET'S GO RED WINGS! We need a win and I feel one coming on! Now I just hope I am awake to see the win. LOL I should still be sleeping right now. 4 hours of sleep is probably not enough. :)

Take care everyone! Love you all!