Team 50

There was no better way to celebrate Lester's 50th Birthday
to celebrate her strength, courage, and hope than at the Relay for Life.

There was so much excitement in the 3 weeks of preparation for this party.
And with the help of many of her closest family and friends it was a HUGE success.
There were times that we were certain she knew that something was going on...

But as she rounded the corner and saw over 100 black t-shirts waiting to wish her a happy birthday it was clear that it was indeed a surprise.

Grandpa met Leslie with open arms and together they finished the Survivor lap.

at 11:45 PM Team 50 got on our party hats and walked the Birthday Lap.

I had never participated in Relay for Life and it exceeded all expectations.
It was one of the best experiences I have ever had.
It was happy, peaceful, exciting, you could feel the strength from all the people there showing love and support for their loved ones in the battle. It was devastating to see how many lives in one small community are effected by this ugly thing. It was great to see everyone come together.

Leslie deserved to have a great day and I think that is what she got.
She needed to see just how many people are fighting with her, who love her and believe in her.
No one is more loved or more deserving.

Friends, the Fourth and Fireworks

I had a great time in LA, celebrating birthdays and Independence, playing like children and eating great food, laughing and reminiscing, watching the sunset and fireworks, sailing and pirate names, sun burn and sunscreen, eating frozen yogurt and funnel cake, ski ball and face painting.

The first night was the big surprise. We had planned to keep my visit there a secret since I was coming the day of Amy's birthday. We thought it would be fun to have me show up to dinner without her knowing I was coming. That morning she decided she would just meet Tiffany for frozen yogurt early before heading to have dinner and spend the evening with her family. We called to let her dad in our plan and it all went down hill from there. After too much confusion and frustration we opted to drive to her dad's house to surprise her and it ended up working out alright. Amy was surprised.

We started her "27th" birthday celebration with dinner at Buca di Beppo in Santa Monica.
After dinner we headed down to the pier for a little ski ball and funnel cake.

The next day we headed to Hermosa Beach for a day in the sun.
We didn't let the lack of sunshine stop us from having a good time.
We swam, did crosswords, flew kites and made sand"castles".
We were glad we had taken a picture of our sand castle because not 5 minutes after stepping away we watched in horror as a little 5 year old stomped it to the ground.
Sad Day!

These are the sweet shells Amy received in her Bag O' Fun.

We woke up bright and early to head to the 4th of July parade in Huntington Beach.
It was a beautiful day. The parade consisted of a billion boy scouts, brave men and women that fight for our country and lots of marching bands.

After the parade ended we headed down to find some good eats and then took a nap on the beach before heading up to Marina Del Rey to go sailing.

Sailing was everything we hoped it to be and more. It was the perfect way to end a beautiful day. James took 10 girls out on the water all by himself. He was more nervous than we were. We BBQ'd steak and watched the sunset on the water and then tried to keep warm as we waited for the fireworks to start.

It was worth the wait. I have never seen a more beautiful fireworks show.

Cheers to a perfect 4th of July!