Finger painting and Lefty taking it to the house!

Hold on for a second. Something special happened today and I have to acknowledge it. So many people have contributed and we really appreciate every dime that is donated to this cause on our behalf. I know not everybody can or will donate and that's okay. But let me tell you how much it means to us when people do contribute. It's like you all are acknowledging to me and Lisa that our girls are miracles. There were times during the pregnancy and the first several months after they were born when we were still getting our feet underneath us that...we didn't really know how lucky we were. Things were tough...and scary sure...but it took time for us to finally realize how fortunate we were. So everytime we see that dollar amount go up...well, you just can't imagine the feeling it gives us. It's as if, no matter how well we know the person who donated, you are acknowledging to us that you care. You care about us. You care about our girls.

As always, I've said more than I intended but I want to take the time to acknowledge a special donation today. Chris, a student hire from last year who has returned to college to finish is graduate degree, donated today. Take that in for a second. Someone who I met and worked with sparingly for 2 months and is now a poor graduate student thought our cause and our family was important enough to contribute. That means a lot. Thank you Chris. It speaks volumes about your character.

Not to be forgotten, Jeff and Becky Perry also donated today. Thank you all for your donations today.

So some pictures...Lisa's birthday was full of fun. We started the morning with some finger paints that the girls received as a gift at their ballerina party. They were so excited to give it a try. We never know who is going to balk and who is going to jump right in. With this, Alyssa was much more willing to give it a try while Katy hesitated a little.




Next door neighbor girls came over to join in the fun. Lisa's mom also called so we decided to get on the webcam so she could watch the mess.

Also, notice the colors of choice. Katy's favorite color is blue and Alyssa's is red. Everything is blue and red!




From a photography standpoint, I'm pretty happy with this one. It was tough with the bright background but thought the soft flash did a good job.


Neither one of them would get their whole hands in the paint so Lisa had to show them how to do it.


After finger painting, I realized the final round of the Masters was on so I turned it on...thinking the girls wouldn't have any of it. I was wrong. They were amazed by the guys trying to put the tiny white ball in the tiny hole. They thought it was great. So I had a good time watching the girls enjoying a game that my dad taught me to love 30 years ago.



Let me interject here to say something about sports. So many athletes in every sport think it's all about them. They do everything they can to draw attention to themselves, from the way they celebrate to the clothes and jewelry they wear. Everything is about them. Ironically these athletes play for teams, yet they find themselves drawing as much attention to themselves as possible. I love golf because it is such an individual sport. It takes an amazing amount of will power and control to be able to do what they do. Now, if you missed it...you need to look up Phil's win this weekend and what happened as he came off of the 18th green. That moment he shared with his wife was VERY special. People talked and talked about how Tiger would react and all of the distractions...but what about what was happening in Phil's life? Look it up if you haven't seen it. That was truly one of my favorite moments in sports. That shot on 13 was pretty incredible too.

A few great shots of the girls celebrating.



Great day. We have some amazing momentum and are well on our way of reaching our goal...and maybe exceeding it. Thank you all who have contributed...keep it coming!