Walking For A Cure

On June 25th and 26th from 6pm-noon the next day our family proudly participated in our first Relay For Life. We had been fund raising and looking forward to this event for months but I had no idea the incredible experience we would have there together.
It was amazing being at Relay with our mom, celebrating her journey with cancer and remembering our many other friends and family members who have lost their fight with cancer. It was a very powerful experience sharing the walk with so many people in our community that are going through the very same challenges, fears and triumphs that our family has. Cancer does touch everyone differently, yet it touches us all THE SAME in the fact that it changes our lives forever and puts the same HOPE in our hearts that we will one day have a CURE!
Our team-Bubbles, was recognized for having the most survivors and was given the honor of carrying the American Cancer Society Relay Banner for the first survivor lap. All the survivors were recognized by wearing purple T-Shirts (the color purple representing all different types of cancers). My mom carried that banner with pride, a purple bandana on her head and a smile from ear to ear. I must have taken a million pictures, but even without the pictures I will never forget that moment!

It was important for us to recognize at Relay the grandparents that we have lost in our family to cancer. My mom's mother Joan Leonard to colon cancer, my mom's father George Leonard to lung cancer and my Dad's father Robert Smith to lymphoma. It is amazing the advancements the medical world has made in cancer treatments since our loved ones lost their battle. And because of the American Cancer Society, new options for treatments are being discovered everyday.

Relay day was just a small way our family could begin to show how thankful we are for the AMAZING, INCREDIBLE and OUTSTANDING research the American Cancer Society has done to perfect new treatments for fighting cancer. Our Mom is living and breathing PROOF that we are getting so much closer to beating cancer forever. The clinical trial that she is underoing is trying to prove the effectiveness of a well researched drug called Avastin, in successfully fighting Glioblastoma brain tumors. She is currently the only patient in Whatcom County qualifying to participate in this study and has had amazing results so far.
Lighting the luminaria bags right when it got dark was my favorite part of the event. It was such an overwhelming experience walking around the track and seeing just some of the many lives have been touched by cancer in our community. And whether the bag represented an individual currently battling, in remission, or in memory of, each had been made by the loving hands of someone in support of that person and each bag had contributed a $5 donation towards cancer research.
My Aunt Barb was our team captain this year and was a HUGE part of our team's success in getting organized for our first year. She was my all night walking partner and combined we walked around 30 miles. Here we are at 5am dressed up for the Patriotic Theme laps, representing Skye and our troops with pride! Our first Relay For Life was a HUGE SUCCESS and we can't wait to participate again next year. THANK YOU to everyone who made donations in support of our team, we greatly appreciate it! We would love to add some more enthusiastic team members for next year and are already brainstorming new fundraising ideas. Every lap we walk together and every penny we raise is getting us one step closer towards finding A CURE!

Heart's in Afghanistan

For those of you that have been following our family lately, you know that my fiance Skye deployed on June 18th with the 170th Military Police Company for a year to Afghanistan. I've been overwhelmed by the wonderful support we've felt leading up to his leaving and even more so now while he is serving overseas. I wanted to fill everyone in on how he is doing and what things are like over there for him and his soldiers.

It has been 23 days since he left and so far we have been very lucky to talk on the phone almost everyday. We were told that he would for sure have internet at the small base he is at in Kandahar, but found out when he got there that unfortunately that wasn't the case. Luckily he had planned ahead and purchased a local cell phone over there that he can use to call home. He is almost 12 hours ahead of our time, so I'm permanently attached to my cell phone waiting for him to call. We have skype set up on both our computers and I am praying the government grants them internet access soon!

I've had a lot of questions from people about what it is like over there?? Well right now it is the middle of summer which means temperatures from 120-140 degrees with dust storms that blow sand everywhere, gets in their eyes and their mouths. Skye is running 3-4 missions a day throughout the city of Kandahar which has a population of 800,000 (Seattle has just over 600,000 people just to give you an idea). He is head of security for the commander on their base and leading a group of 12 MP soldiers that travel to and from various locations in the city. His mornings start at 4am and he finally hangs up his boots off around 12pm. He calls his daily activities "playing Hide-And-Go Seek" with the Taliban. We try to make light of the situation when we can, but the truth is that he is working in a very dangerous, highly active terrorist area.

My future mother in law Michelle has been a huge support to me because she has been through a deployment before. We have been staying in close touch over the phone from Washington to California. Every weekend Skye has been able to talk to his 3 year old daughter Kayleigh who lives in Georgia. I know that hearing her sweet little voice perks him up and gives him strength to start the next day.

Skye remains strong and focused on doing his job over there and ensuring that all his soldiers make it home safe to their families. A huge part of me went with him when he left and won't be whole until he is safely back in my arms. As much as my world has turned upside down for the next 12 months, I can't imagine what he is facing on the other side of things. I had no idea until he came into my life, the amount of courage, devotion and self sacrifice it takes to defend our country's freedom.

The best thing we can do for our loved ones serving over seas is send our love and support. One great way to do that is to send very much appreciated care packages. I've been at the post office several times a week and have quickly become an expert at flat rate boxes, customs forms, etc... Skye says he's lucky because he gets a lot of packages from home but a lot of his soldiers don't get anything. So if anyone would like to send a care package to Skye or anyone from his MP company, please email me at Tanisita16@aol.com for their addresses. I also have gotten to know several of his female soldiers and know that they are in desperate need of female supplies and girly comforts from home! This website is also wonderful for giving ideas for what to send: http://www.give2thetroops.org/items.htm. Thank you and God Bless our troops!!