Fundraiser for Jake Yard Sale

             

Yesterday we had our "Fundraiser for Jake Yard Sale."  First of all, it was awesome!!!  We set up on Friday night because we had a ton of stuff to sell and several more loads came that night.  Most people said that it was the biggest yard sale that they had ever seen.  It was big, but not as big as the one we did for Lonnie.  It was funny though how people can sniff out a yard sale.  We sold $1,300 while we were setting up before it was even supposed to start the next day.  Overall, we ended up raising $6,300 for Jake.  We also donated two loads of stuff to an ACS Relay for Life team and the DI got several loads as well.  The Behunin girls brought over a snow cone maker and sold $115 worth.  That was great!  Thanks to those that made baked goods and brought pop and water to sell; we did good with that as well.  We really appreciate all of the support from Jake's friends and neighbors for helping us put it together.  We definitely needed the help and Tara pulled off a great event for Jake.  Not pictured below, but absolutely critical to this event event were: Dean and Jill Ludlow, Dave and Dana Smith, Jenny Bigler, Becky Doane, Becky Steffenson, Ginger Lewis, Celia Furukawa, Jinni Gillen, Erika Thurston, Jamie Williams, Kim Jones, Susie Harman, Leslie Lawson, Staci and Jesse Stout, Jim and Sally K., Shandell Pino, Sarah Roper, Sharlene Harsh, Danny and Jen O'Very, Precia Tatum, Tara's brother, sisters and mom, and tons of youth from our neighborhood.  Thanks for all of the donations.  And Jake, get well soon buddy!!!

Mandy was our expert pricer of goods

Kristin looking over books.  She ended up buying a breast feeding guide!

Angie liked the orange vest so much she took it home.

Karly (seen her without her orange vest) had one of the saddest, yet funniest stories happen involving her. We had a little boy from an adjacent neighborhood ride his bike over and stay at the yard sale for around two hours.  He bought his dad a tie, some toys, a backpack, and tons of trinkets.  He had two sacks of bags and a backpack when he came over to Dean Ludlow and I and asked if we had seen a red bike with the number 1 on it.  We looked and there were no bikes.  The little dude was in 2nd grade and looked pretty stressed.  Long story short, Karly said she sold a bike with that exact description.  Well, Brittany and Zane Gonder drove him home and gave his dad $50 for a new bike.  Sad, but kind of funny.  We also sold a teen girls shoes when she was trying on other ones (her and her mom were out of luck with that one.  Keep track of you stuff people or we will freaking SELL it!!!).

This was Megan's favorite purchase.  We called her Taylor Swift the whole day.

Part of the crew.  Thanks for the hard work.

The Bishop said he was going to wear this to church if he could find a matching tie.

Part of the crew (many, many more not pictured. Some pictured, but not included, ie. Billy Ludlow).

Brendun Lawson and I had to work security so we put on some really tight Junior HS football jerseys to make us look tough.  Many said it really didn't work out that way, so we changed strategies to scare people away (see picture below).  Obviously I was the man in that relationship.

Spring Break in Puerto Vallarta

We sure had fun this past week on spring break in Mexico. We went down with Dave's parents, Grandma Shirly and Aunt Carol, and his sister Dori and her family. Tara was nervous about the drug lords, Montezuma's revenge, and swine flu, but we all made it back safely. We golfed a lot (Dave) and we mostly swam a lot. The kids one day swam from 10am until 9:30pm breaking only to reapply sun screen and eat. Long days in the sun. Our condo was huge, around 1400 sq. feet and it was on the top floor of the building so we had some great views of Puerto Vallarta and the Bay of Banderas. The week went fast, as it always does.

The view of the pools from our deck in the penthouse.

The girls love getting their hair braided.

Dinner at Fajita Republic.

Britney can float on her back all day. She did great swimming.

Ashley, Megan, and Tara all went golfing with me for 9 holes.

Below is a picture of a large crocodile by hole 14 (kind of hard to see).

Tara and I, and our caddie Angel.

We also brought along an underwater camera. That was fun for the kids.

BFF: Broadway Family Favorites

Yes, we were in a play!!! Ashley and Megan have done a couple of plays before and this time Kaitlyn wanted to be in it. There was a little hitch though, Kaitlyn didn't want to audition by herself, she was a little nervous. So she asked me to audition with her. Being the incredible and caring dad that I am, I told her that I would do it. Needless to say, I ended up being in seven numbers and she was in two. It was actually really fun though, despite the hazings by my brothers questioning my manhood (I did have to wear tights for two numbers). We had a great time with some great people. I surprised myself too. I never thought I would be able to sing in front of several hundred people. I'm not sure I will do it again, unless Britney somehow needed a little extra support. That may have been my theatre debut and retirement performance in one!

Bigwave's Big Surprise Retirement Party

So my Dad, Dave Sr., aka Bigwave, retired officially this week. Congratulations Dad!!! I look forward to that day myself. We recently had a surprise retirement party for him. He worked as a radiation oncologist in Spokane, WA and Coeur D'Alene, ID, but he is from Salt Lake. Old friends were invited, some of his long lost relatives, and even some medical school buddies of his. We had nearly a hundred people at our house. Not too mention, it was also his birthday party that day, March 17th, hence all of the green attire. We're proud of you pops! Some words of advice, live frugal, that's our inheritance your spending!