...But it was for a GOOD cause!!
Last night we participated in the Relay for life in honor of my Mom!! For those of you who don't know what that is.... It's a fund raising event for the American Cancer Society~ in hopes of finding a cure! There were around 100 teams and about 3,000 people, it went from 6 pm Friday night until 6 am Saturday morning (that's right- ALL NIGHT!), and the point of the your team is to have someone from your team walking around the track at ALL times!
They start out the night by announcing all of the cancer survivors and they do the first lap.
Then on the second lap they have everyone do the lap together, from there our team just kept passing our baton (walk a few laps, then pass... All night long!).
Each team had a base area around the track.... We set up tents, chairs, had snacks, and this is where we all hung out when we weren't walking.
We had a my whole family there minus one of my brothers and his family (who were out of town!). So it was good size group... plenty of walkers and tons of fun!!
Jayce loved running around the track and kept Toby and I taking turns with the baton... I wish I had his energy, he could have kept going all night!!
Around 10 pm they had the Luminary Ceremony~ They lit all of the candles in these bags that had names of loved ones affected by cancer on them, turned out the lights, and had everyone get up and walk a lap in silence thinking about those we love who we have lost... it was really touching seeing how everyone there had/has been affected by this disease!
Up on the bleachers the luminaries spelled out words and they would change them during our lap in silence. H-O-P-E
Then C-U-R-E!
Then the real fun began...
My niece Hayley's boyfriend Keagan taught us a game called... "POO-Head!", which has nothing to do with Poo, but if you lose you have to wear an ugly bag on your head for the next game... so maybe we should call it
"Could I look like a bigger loser?!"
Needless to say, I lost a couple of games and Jayce just wanted to be like his Mommy!! I loved it when Paige (my niece from Utah) had to wear it!! She's 14 and probably scarred for life! haha (don't you love that Jayce new what to do when Paige and I said to make a funny face!!)
As the night wore on people started dropping like flies....
First~ the grown men, They probably were out by 2 am.
Second~ The kids... Toby took Jayce to bed at about 2:30 am, at around 3:30 am I had to force Zoey to go lay down... When we got to the car to tuck her in Jayce and Toby were still awake!!
Last~ Lisa, Bobbi, Paige, & Hayley all layed down around 4 am!
NOT ME!!
I had to finish!
For My Mom!!
Thank goodness Ally, Hunter, and Hayden all stayed awake with me... we were able to trade off walking!
And at about 5:30 am they announced the end.( I guess they were exhausted too... they ended 30 minutes early! I'm NOT complaining!)
We loaded up our stuff Around our sleeping kids... and headed for home!
We were home and (back) in bed by 7:30 am... I was exhausted, but exhilarated to have done something to help in finding a cure for Cancer and in honoring my Mama with my whole family!!
We had such a good time that we're already planning
next year!!
11 comments:
That was really cool, a neat way to honor and remember your mom. I had heard of walk for life, but didn't know what it was. Thanks for sharing the experience.
What a wonderful evening/night with your family. I wish I could have met your mom.
I'm glad you guys got to do that. I can't believe that your not still exhausted, though.
Good job on sticking with it till the end.
That sounded like such a neat thing to do for your mom and others, but even for you and your family. I am sure your kids will always remember doing that for their Grandma. So cool--
that is really cool, Becky. I bet your mom would be proud and thankful for that. You are cool
What a touching post, I love that all of your family was together to participate in something so special in honor of your Mom. I'm sure she was walking there with all of you!
How cool is that?! Sounds like a very special event and how fun to be with family.
That is such a neat way to honor and remember your Mom! You are so AWESOME that you stuck with it until the end! Good Work!
Becky,
You have no idea how this post touched me! You gave me hope that in the future the Relay won't be so bitter for me. I went last year which was only 3 months after loosing my mom! It was the worst thing ever for me! This year I decided not to go....I do hope next year I will be able to honor my mother and hold my head high and fight for a cure! YOU ARE AMAZING! Love ya!
what a neat thing. i'm so happy that it was an exhilarating thing to have done for all the family. it was such a neat thing to do for such a neat lady.
(i'm proud of you for not hitting the pillow. good job stickin with it.)
dude, wish i was invited cuz you know i totally would have stayed up all night with you!!
what a great thing to do as a WHOLE family!
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