Relay for Life

Well, the Relay has come and gone for this year. We had a blast and it was such a worthy cause, I think we will be participating every year from here on out. We got there Friday afternoon after everyone had set up all the tents and everything. Our camp was extra awesome, I must say. Jennifer and I with Eva and Sadie. We were super energized at this point. I wish we could say that we were that full of energy all night, but we sure weren't!Our brother Mike, his roommate Schwab, and Hallie. All I can say is good thing they were on our team since they did far more than the majority of the walking. If you don't know how the Relay works, it is held at a track and someone on your team is on the track all night long. Cancer never sleeps, so neither did we (for one night!). Mike and Schwab (I don't even know his real name, thats just what they call him) walked 80 laps, which is 20 miles! Whoooo!!! I walked maybe 20 laps. ha ha!Check out our awesome shirts. Classic picture of Chris. He used to say "Thanks for Noticing Me"- the quote on the bottom in an Eyore voice.Guess who else showed up!?!? If you went to high school with me, you will most definitely recognize SUPER FAN!! He is famous in IF for going to ALL the games, dressed up and decked out in Tiger gear. I am so glad to know that he is also a Braves fan and supports cancer research. My opinion of him just went up a few notches!Here we are getting ready to start our team walk around the track. YAY TEAM!!
View from the top of the bleachers of all the camp sites and fun stuff going on.Each team was able to sell things. All our proceeds went to the American Cancer Society as well. We raised over $500 in things that we sold. Look how awesome all that stuff is. I wish I could say that I made some if it, but I made NONE of it. Devin and I decided that we better contribute something next year! Doesn't Devin look pretty behind the booth? :)At one point, there is a Luminaria Ceremony to honor those who have lost their lives to cancer. These bags are dedicated to those people and each is decorated in honor of a family member or friend who lost their lives to cancer. We had a bag for Chris of course and Jack, my step-brother, made a bag for his mom Gina who passed away from cancer last August. The lit bags line the track and there is a small speech and bags are lit in the bleachers that spell HOPE. It is awesome and I am glad we were there, particularly that part. It was very touching.Ok, it's getting later now and we are getting a little more hyper and a little more crazy. Chris' sisters Becky, Stephanie, and me. Chris' sisters are just amazing. They do fun things all the time and invite me along. Jennifer is lucky to have such awesome in-laws!We also busted out Ticket to Ride of course. Middle of the night games are the best, especially when Steph and Cheilah are on a team and it takes them 20 minutes per move! Seriously, they were sooooooooo slooooooooooooooooooooow. Just kidding ladies! Good thing we had Mike and Schwab to man the track so we could just play. Early morning walking. By this time, we were all beat and it was FREEZING!! It is amazing how fast the weather went from blasted hot to pretty much below zero (ok, thats what it felt like at least!).

And, most of you will probably not enjoy this video, but at least my family will. We sang kareoke in the middle of the night- never a good idea! Please, please refrain from suggesting that we try out for American Idol. I know we are good, but perhaps we aren't quite ready for that yet.

I am so glad Jennifer arranged for us to do this. It was an awesome way to remember Chris and to help the fight against cancer. THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who donated. I appreciate it more than you will know. We, as a team, raised almost $4000 and our goal was $2000. How is that for awesome? We raised the 2nd most out of 60 teams in Idaho Falls. Next year we will go for the gold!

For more pictures, you can click on this link to see my sister's blog!