Washington VisionWalk

We wanted to extend a HUGE thank you to everyone who supported us (both financially and in thoughts & prayers) in our participation in the Inaugural Washington VisionWalk. Our family was able to reach & exceed our fundraising goal. And our team, Believing is Seeing far surpassed our original goal of $5000, nearly doubling it at just shy of $10,000. Simply Incredible. We were completely overwhelmed by the support we received. We are excited and hopeful that a Cure is truly within Sight!!

The walk itself was wonderful- full of family & friends & no rain! Here is our team-
The list Mike is holding are the names of all our donors. Mike carried them with us as we walked. We couldn't have reached our goals without each of you!

The Allstar Hoags- sporting their medals for outstanding fundraising-

During the walk-


Lunch afterwards-




Just our family-

Big Catch!

At school, Corbin is working on his first writing project of the year. The topic- a personal narrative about a favorite memory. Corbin had a list of favorite memories including our trip to Six Flags this summer & flying by himself to Sacramento, but he chose to write about catching his first (& only) fish last summer.

Then by chance, Mark made plans to take the boys fishing this weekend. And Corbin caught his second fish. He was so thrilled. I wonder if his second catch will end up part of his story.

Mini-Trent

Trent's first Kindergarten homework was to create a mini-me. I spread out all sorts of supplies for him to use and let him create. Once everyone turned it in, they played a guessing game trying to figure out who's mini-me was who. Trent was so proud of his. He is loving kindergarten!!

Our Big Birthday BOY!

Look who is 9! one year away from double digits.

Corbin had a week full of celebrations. On his birthday, we brought treats to his class, had his requested birthday dinner & opened presents. He had school & soccer, so it was a whirl wind day. We didn't even sing Happy Birthday and eat cake. Thankfully, his soccer team stepped up and sang to him at practiced.




Friday night, we went to Chuck-E-Cheese with the grandparents as Corbin's special birthday outing.


Saturday morning, we took Corbin to Toys R Us to spend his birthday money. He got a plethora of Legos.

Saturday night, our good friend James & Alicia took all three kids out for a birthday treat which included laser tag, roller skating, pizza, ice cream and a movie! It sounded like everyone had a blast.

Sunday night, we finally lit candles on the giant cookie Grandma made Corbin and sang to him. It was a busy few days of celebrating our favorite 9 year old.

Time to Party!

Last weekend we hosted a big birthday party for all three kids. We were blessed to have so many family & friends who came to help us celebrate. The kids had a blast. Here are a few shots from the party. (The full album is on my facebook account.)






Thank You to everyone who came! Our kids felt very special & loved.

Becca starts preschool!

Today was a BIG day for Becca- her first day of preschool all by herself. Last year, Becca and I took a 2 & You class together. So this year, Becca was most excited about going to school without me. (Way to make a mom feel needed).

Last week, we had a class room visit where Becca got to go meet her teachers. She had such a great time, that she cried when we left. Since her visit, Becca has been counting the days until she got to go back. This morning, Becca woke up bright and early. She had her bag packed and ready to go by 7a (school doesn't start until 9a- needless to say it was a long 2 hour wait for all of us).

We took the first day pictures outside our house, and when we arrived at preschool, I asked Becca if I could take some more pictures in front of her school. Becca responded, "Nope, I'm good."

When the classroom doors open, Becca barely said goodbye before running inside, and she never looked back. When I picked her up. She exclaimed, "We had snack and we sang songs!" She can't wait to go back.




What a BIG girl!

VisionWalk 2011

Once again, our family has decided to walk to raise money for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. This year, we are travelling to Seattle to participate in the Inaugural Washington VisionWalk on October 9. Last year, we walked in the Oregon VisionWalk:

This cause is very important to us. My sister's husband, Matt & his brother James both have retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease. Just this summer, Matt eye sight was tested and for the first time, his results came back as legally blind. This diagnosis is greatly impacting Matt & Cara. Matt has already given up his car keys and license, and the two of them are evaluating what other accommodations need to be made as he adjust to his narrowing eye sight.

This journey is scary for Matt & Cara, and everyone who loves them. However, we cling to HOPE that a cure is out there. The Foundation Fighting Blindness believes a cure is within sight. In order to get to the cure- money is needed to fund research.

This is how you can help. If you are in the Seattle area, join us in walking in the Seattle VisionWalk. We will be walking with Matt, James & their family & friends. Our team is "Believing is Seeing" and we would love to have you as a team member. If you can't join us, please consider donating to support us on our VisionWalk journey to raise money for a cure for RP. Every dollar donated gets us one step closer to a cure! Any amount, BIG or small, helps in the fight and we greatly appreciate your support. And if you are unable to donate at this time, please keep Matt & James and all who are affected by blindness in your thoughts.

Our family's goal is to raise $500. As of today, exactly one month from the walk, we are almost half way to our goal. If you have already donated- THANK YOU Greatly. Words cannot express how much your support and donation mean to us.

If you are able to donate at this time, please click here.

Here are a few pictures the kids and their Uncle Matt!




Matt we love you!

First day of school

Wednesday was the first day of school for both boys. And it was a BIG day!


For Corbin it was his first day of 3rd grade at a new school. He was both excited and a little nervous leading up to Wednesday. Wednesday went very smoothly for Corbin. He likes his teacher, has meet a few classmates, & played tetherball at recess. He is happy camper.

Trent had his first day of Kindergarten.
Leading up to the first day, Trent was beyond excited. He woke up at 4a (trumping his 6a wake up for his birthday) on Wednesday. He has actually woken up around 4a every morning since school started ready to go, thankfully, he has been falling back to sleep til 7, when he actually needs to get up. When it was time to drop Trent off, he was very independent, walked away and never looked back. I had to track him down for a goodbye hug. When I picked Trent up, he couldn't stop smiling. He was down right giddy about his first day, giggling all afternoon. Here is the book he made on his first day:



It is going to be a great school year. I can't wait to see both boys grow, learn new things and make new friends.

Next week, it is Becca's first day of preschool!! Stay tuned for her first day pics.

Another Birthday!!

Yesterday, we celebrated Trent's 6th birthday! He radiated joy all day.


It started with a very early wake up call. At 6:30a, Trent woke me up and asked me why I hadn't wished him a Happy Birthday yet? Then kids headed to Grandma & Papa Ron's house while I went to work. Trent was served his favorite breakfast and Grandma made him a giant cookie for his family party.

In the evening, we had some family over to celebrate Trent. Trent picked out his special birthday dinner. In typical 6 year old fashion, he asked for chicken nuggets and mac & cheese. He specifically requested "not home-made mac & cheese, the frozen kind in a black container". So that is what Trent got and the rest of us ate the homemade variety. After dinner, we completed the birthday rituals of singing & present opening.

His birthday dinner:

Opening presents:



Singing Happy Birthday:


Trent had a wonderful day. It was a joy to celebrate with him. Trent is such a kind, funny, smart little boy. We love him very much. Happy Birthday Trent!

*We are in the process of decorating Trent's room for his birthday. He picked out new bedding and lamp. The paint in his room just needs some touching up and then things hung on the walls and we will be done.*

Guess who's 3?!

Yep- It is BECCA, our BIG 3 year old! It is hard for me to believe that our little girl is already three!

For her birthday, we decided to decorate her new room. She got new bedding for her new/old bed (new to her, old that it was my mom's, then mine, and now Becca's). Painted her dresser pink & white, and her walls a fresh guacamole green. (In the pictures, it looks like a very dull green, but in person it is actually much more vibrate and avocado like.) Next, we added bright pink curtains and lamp. And finally finished off the room with her name (a project that took me all week to complete!)

She seems to like it:


On Becca's birthday, our normally outgoing, attention loving daughter suddenly became shy & bashful about her big day. When anyone wished her Happy Birthday, or sang to her, she would cover her ears and hide. When I told her she was 3, she argued with me that no, she was still "just 2 1/2, almost three". She also refuse to pose for any pictures.
Here is Becca hiding under the hat during present opening:

Trent was excited even if Becca wasn't:

Being bashful during the birthday song:


In the morning of her birthday, we went to the zoo for Becca's birthday outing before her family party in the evening. The highlight of our zoo trip was the lions: This female lion was nice and calm laying by the glass when we first arrived and took this picture. Then the lioness decided it wanted to eat Becca and started pouncing, biting, licking and pawing at the glass. I won't lie, I was slightly nervous even though the glass is suppose to be completely safe. But it was pretty cool to see the lion up close and in action.

It was a nice day celebrating Miss Becca Rose!