Last reminder! Please join us tomorrow as we hold our first annual Alex's Lemonade Stand in honor of Brinley. We will be selling lemonade and hot chocolate to help raise funds for childhood cancer research. ALL of the proceeds will go to Alex's Lemonade Stand, who in turn put the money into grants to fund important research to FIND A CURE! So let's do our part to cure childhood cancer, "one cup at a time". Hope to see you there!


For details, time & location go to Brinley's page. You can also donate online there if you can't make it. Hope to see you there!

I just have to slip in a picture of my angel baby, Mylee giving Daddy a kiss (well, kind of). She is so cuddly!! I seriously could eat her up, I can't get enough. Seven months already! Boooo hooooo!


Carving pumpkins, we are all making our best "eeeeeew" faces cleaning out "pumpkin brains".





I'm laughing because everyone is making fun of ME! My "eeeeeeww" face was a little on the dorky side, good thing David didn't snap the picture in time to catch it.












I just thought I'd give an update while things are going so great! We are packing in the good times before chemo hits again, so that's why we've been so quiet! I found out tonight that one of our young followers is quite worried about Brinley, but in this case, no news is good news. We got to finish up Brinley's wish with a lovely coming home party last Wednesday night. We got to invite family and friends to share in Brinley's star raising ceremony to hang her star from the ceiling at the Make A Wish building. It was wonderfully done, Brinley had so much fun, especially seeing all her friends and family there. We started off with an intro from her awesome wish granters....


Then a surprise! Five princesses arrived unexpectedly! They were quite the hit with the kids and Brinley was just in heaven!

The first hug of many, they stayed the entire party and she got plenty of love from them. They were all from beauty pageants (I believe Utah's Miss America pageant) and they were loving caring people. I could tell they wanted to be there and adored Brinley and the rest of the kids that were there. I will never forget how special they made Brinley feel.



They showered her with gifts

quite literally (they brought gifts from Sleeping Beauty who couldn't be there but sent some princess gifts)

Then the princesses gave her one last gift - a real crown from the Little Miss Pageant. It is beautiful and we are waiting for a little more hair so it will stay on a bit longer!

I must say I was a little worried about my sweet Jade and how she was taking all this attention on Brinley, but I spent a little quiet moment with her at the party and she was all excitement. She loved the princesses too, and much to my surprise Brinley shared ALL of her toys with her big sister. I was so happy.

Here is Brinley's star. She got to write her name (w/ a little help from mom), then I got to write a few things on her star. On one point, I wrote superstar, because Brinley takes things like a superstar. On another I wrote the Hulk, because that is one of the things she says when she is getting her port accessed, or anything else she doesn't like. She says she is tough like the hulk. She may even have the temper to match...on one I wrote princess, how could I not include that! On another point I wrote We love you. We all love her so much. I could not imagine life without her in it. It would feel so empty.

She got to raise her own star and she absolutely loved it. It was an awesome experience, they played "When You Wish Upon a Star" and I had to fight back the tears. She deserves that star.

Here are all the other stars of previous wish children, all surrounding my Brinley's star. I like to think of them as surrounding her, supporting her, understanding her, even loving her. Welcoming her to their world.





Sharing her hugs with cousin and friend Boston. They are 4 days apart and have a special little bond. I'm so thankful to everyone who took the time out of a busy Wednesday to be there with us. It meant so much.

Last Sunday afternoon, we headed up to temple square. It is hard to feel like a family sometimes on Sundays because we keep Brinley home from church so much. Now with the swine flu running rampant, she will probably be home from church most of the winter. So this was such a nice family day for us to really think about what is important. We need to keep our hearts and minds focused on eternity and what better way than at the temple. It was a beautiful day and the kids loved it.








I love this picture. It depicts how I envision our family right now, surround by the love of the Savior who is always there for us. It is never far from my mind when I start to think I can't handle things. I just have to remember what He went through for silly old me.
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We have also just returned from a trip to Las Vegas for a soccer tournament. The whole family actually got to go. It was a fun filled time with lots of soccer and trying to see all the family in between. Taylor's team played so well, they made it to the semi-finals then lost to a team from California. Those darn California teams!! But really, it was so much fun to see her play and see our family. A double treat!

We are preparing for our lemonade stand and I can hardly wait! I have had a wonderful amount of help and we are just about ready! Thanks to everyone doing all the behind the scenes preparation. I didn't even have to ask for any help, everyone just offered it up. Just a reminder of the when, what and where.

What: A lemonade stand! We are hosting an Alex's Lemonade Stand to help raise money for childhood cancer research. It will be held in honor of Brinley and we are calling it Sweet Brinley's Stand.

Why: By-golly, we want stinky old cancer out of children's lives forever! The best way to do that is to support people who are working day after day to find a cure. We have watched Brinley's pain and suffering and have felt absolutely helpless. This is something we CAN do.

Where: Smith's Marketplace, 455 S 500 E, Salt Lake City

When: October 31, 11am-3pm

For many of our friends and neighbors it is a bit of a drive. Or you may live out of state. I think we even have a few out of the country followers!! You can also donate online at http://www.alexslemonade.org/stands/19728. We hope to see you there and thanks for checking in!