This year Rick and I and a group of our close friends volunteered to work with the San Diego Brain Tumor Foundation on their annual golf tournament and auction charity event. We did this in honor of our dear friend Vivian Park who is battling a brain tumor. Vivian is a young mom of three beautiful babies 5,4 and 1. She is the most positive God loving person and she inspires us all daily and gives us perspective on life.
The SDBTF is an amazing organization that has helped so many families including my friend Vivian. They pay mortgages, medical bills, medications bills, help with transportation and many many other patient resources. Connie Reeves Campbell is the founder and she is a truly remarkable person. She lost her husband 8 years ago to a brain tumor. She works so hard for all her families and has even paid $ out of her own pocket to help people get the medications that they need. She cares so deeply about everyone and when you are talking to her you instantly feel that. She also is super fun and I cannot wait until our committee after party! Thank you Connie for touching my life and showing me how great it is to give.
Monday, April 20th was the tournament and it was a blast! I will definitely be a part of their event next year. It was such a rewarding experience to give of myself and help others. I am craving the opportunity to do more charity work!
For more information on the San Diego Brain Tumor Foundation please visit http://www.sdbtf.org/
First of all this was a very special Easter for me because I feel like I have been born again. I have found Christ and I am walking through this life with him. He is risen!
This year we decided to not have the big Easter party at our house. Instead we went to my families ranch. To give you a brief history, I grew up on that ranch. Most of my childhood memories include time we spent there. I cherish those memories. After all the kids grew up and moved away my parents built another cabin there. A very nice one I might add complete with solar power and everything. My dad was getting very sick after they completed the cabin. In 2003 the ranch burned in the San Diego Cedar Fire. My parents barely escaped. I was pregnant with Ryley at the time and this. After the fire my dad became even more ill and our family went through a very difficult time when he passed away. Due to al this emotion and initial smoke I could not go back to the ranch. I was sad that my girls had not experienced the ranch but I just could not go back and see it all burned. All my memories charred. Then it became about not having enough time to go there. So this year I felt ready and very excited to spend a great family day there. When I saw where my parents home had stood I really felt my dad was there with us. I got a little teary as I looked down at the glass remnants of their sliding door. The huge safe that my dad loved was literally picked up and thrown 30 yds away by the winds of the fire. That safe was soooooo heavy. It still sits where the fire left it. Amidst all this sad scape was the beautiful ranch I remember. Birds were singing and everything was so green and lush. It was full of life again. Born again just as I have been. Luca and Ryley seemed as though they had been there every weekend of their life. Happy to climb a tree or rock and get down and dirty. My sweet little ranch girls! Ryley looked like a spitting image of me when I was a little girl. Cockeyed ponytails and dirt on her face! We had a fabulous Easter lunch and played a great game of family football. Way to stop Brian Amber! We colored eggs, had an Easter egg hunt (with the real Easter bunny :), and had an egg roll down a hill. Growing up we spent many Easters doing all these things and I feel very grateful that we have restored an old tradition. I loved being up there with my dear husband and our children. Rick had spent many times playing paintball with my brothers and my dad at the ranch so it was really special to him as well to return. So I am blessed and so happy that we have this amazing place in our family.
For Luca and Ryley's birthday we went to American Girl Cafe in Los Angeles. It was the best birhtday yet! The girls looked so cute and they loved having their closest friends and family there with them (and their American Girl dolls). The dolls were right there with them the whole party. Eating lunch with them in special little chairs that hook onto the table. They played games and made their dolls little outfits. Luca was especially excited about this because she wants to be a fashion designer. The cafe was so darn cute it makes me want to redo one of their rooms in black, pink and white. Maybe we will do the playroom. It was super funny at the end of the party they gave us these giant bags to load all the gifts in. So we were walking around the mall with what looked like a pretty huge American Girl purchase. We had the parking concierge put it on a luggage rack and escort us to the car. So funny! I took about a ton of pics so enjoy!
