Monday, September 15, 2008

The Walk is Over (plus events from the past month!)

My regular readers have most likely noticed I have been lacking for posts lately. The reason being is I wanted to leave Sydney's "Walk for the Cure" information up until after the walk, which we finished on Saturday. The generosity of others has been a humbling experience for me. It is overwhelming to have such a great support team. I wanted to give a big "thanks" to all those who donated monetarily. It means so much to all of us, especially Sydney. I also realize not everyone is in a financial situation to donate right now but helped us with happy thoughts and prayers and those mean so much as well. I am in the process of writing thank you cards and they will go out in the mail soon. Sydney and I were interviewed at the walk by the local news station and Sydney was able to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony with the mayor. Click here to see the news clip. I talk a couple of times but the best part is at the end when they ask Sydney her goal. She is such a sweetheart. So be sure to check out the link above. (If the link doesn't work, let me know). My goal for our team was to raise $500.00. In total we, as a team, raised about $3,000. It was such a neat experience. I can't say thank you enough. In addition to the walk, lots has been going on. Here is a brief recap of our past month.

-I have been a busy bee harvesting my garden and canning 25 pints of green beans, 21 pints of carrots, 24 pints of peaches, 24 quarts of pears, 7 pints of salsa, and doing 18 pints of strawberry freezer jam. I also have to give a big shout-out and thank-you to my mother-in-law Linda who always gives so generously with her time. She came down several times to help me with my canning. Thanks so much Linda. I had a great time canning with you!

-We went to the fair and Sydney got to eat a much coveted Tiger Ear...she has been wanting one since last year at the fair!

-Sydney started pre-school and is loving it!

-My sister Malory had her baby shower.


-My husband made fun of women walking in heels and, as a punishment, had to wear red high heels. (see pic below ;)

-We went to Utah for Sydney's pediatric endocrinologist appointment (a pediatric doctor that specializes in diabetes for children). Syd is doing great. Her A1C was 7.4. An A1C test measures the average blood sugar level throughout the past 3-4 months. A non-diabetic should ideally be below 6.5 (I think). A diabetic should try to keep their A1C below 8.0. Syd's was great! Plus we are getting a pump for her! We have to take a class and do some pre-req stuff but hopefully she will have it by Christmas.

All in all, it has been a great month but so busy! Things are not going to slow down within the next month either but we are doing great! Now onto a million pictures for your viewing pleasure!

~Sydney with our "Team Sydney" sign.


~Sydney with Brad and Jeremy, 2 local radio personalities.


~Sydney with the mayor and being interviewed by Channel 6 news.


~Cutting the ribbon.


~Pre-Walk family photo.


~The walkers for "Team Sydney!"


~1st day of pre-school.


~The girls filling jars with green beans.


~Beautiful, delicious strawberry freezer jam.




~Yummy peaches!



~My cute sister Malory at her shower.





~My totally goofy husband, sporting red-high-heels. By the way, he no longer thinks it is easy to walk in them. :D Sydney was very unhappy when he put them on. She was even more mad when I dared him to go outside.

13 comments:

ashycam said...

sounds like things went well with walk. That was pretty cool to watch the news clip. Syd you are such a cutie. I hope that next year you won't have diabetes. We miss you guys, and it is great to hear from you again. Sorry we couldn't help more with the walk for a cure. I am just glad it went well.

Becki said...

Oh, that is so sweet. Sydney is quite the little girl. I think she is going to go far in life. Thanks for the pics and the updates!

Cheryl and Scott said...

Shamae, that news clip was amazing. I am sitting hear crying after hearing Syd say what her goal is. She is such a special girl and is so lucky to have you and Loren as her parents. You guys are awesome!!!

Erin said...

K, My eyes swelled with tears when I saw this post. Maybe it was because I am jealous of your garden. :) I feel so bad. I didn't know about the walk. I try to look at your blog when I can and must have missed your post. She is so cute. You are one tuff chicky Shamae, (And Sydney). It was fun to see you at the fair. We still need to get together for a dinner. I will email you soon. Love ya Erin

Michelle said...

I too am in tears reading this post, and watching the news clip. What a precious family you have. LOVE the heels on Loren! LOL!

Springer Family said...

That is so great it raised so much money and that she is doing so well. You have had a real busy past month. I did a few things of peach freezer jam. I just need to do some strawberry now. That is so great you were able to can so much stuff. I wish we had a garden, but my mother in law has been so wonderful to share with us. Hope all is well.

Stringham Family said...

Shamae, I'm so glad things went so well for you. Sorry we were unable to donate this year, things got kind of tight. Syd is so beautiful and such a sweet heart, I'm still crying after watching that clip. I hope a cure is found soon. You guys are so awesome dealing with all of this with such a positive attitude. It looks like everything else is going well. Talk to you later.

Take care!

Drea said...

Congrats on the success of your campaign and walk. I need to check with NAMI to see if they are set for their 2009 Walk for Mental Health Awareness so my mom and I can get a team together. I'm not sure how many people will join us since mental health is still such a touchy subject with so many people - but 3 of my loved ones are affected by it (Jamie, Summer, and my sister Kayla) so I want to do my small part in breaking those stereotypes.

Great job on the canning! My mom and I are going to go in together and get a pressure cooker so we can can next year! We'll have 2 gardens going next year - woohoo!!!

Congrats again!!! (Oh and btw - glad you found me on here as well, I miss the group but it was time to leave.)

Holly Jo said...

Shamae I admire how your family is playing such an active role in your community to help with Sydney's diebetes. Sydney is one brave, strong little girl. I hope her dreams of not having diebetes anymore comes true.

Heather said...

So now I know what you sound like, hahaha! And Syd is such a little cutie!!!!!!! I LOVE the pic of Loren in the heels, that is hilarious or should I say heelarious!!!!!

Jill said...

Wow, it sounds like Sydney has become quite the star! What a brave little girl! Love that you got a pic of Loren in high heels and posted it, I got a picture of Shannon in an apron once and he told me I'd be dead if I posted it on the blog....

Tara said...

Hey Shamae,
This is Tara Simpson (Nelson) we had a couple of seminary classes together! Anyway, I was blog hopping and came across yours! Cute Cute family, Im so sorry about Sydney's diabetes! She is a doll and the your walk post was amazing! Anyway, our blogspot is:

www.simpsonclan04.blogspot.com

If you would like to check it out! Keep in touch! Take Care also!

Tara

Josie and Wayne said...

Wow, congrats on raising so much money! I'm so glad you exceeded your goal by so much. And I am so jelous of your garden! I can't wait to have one someday. And Loren is a good man to sport those heels :)