It's been a little while since I updated. Things have been wild and crazy and fantastic all at the same time.

Last weekend we went to the Iowa vs. UNI game courtesy of Make-A-Wish and the UofI Alumini Assoc. We had awesome seats where the kids got to sit right on the field to watch the game. Afterwards we got to meet some of the players and cheerleaders. The boys got their footballs that were signed by Coach Ferentz signed by about 30 football players too. It was a great day for them.

Then we spent the week in preparation for the BIG day. Saturday was National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day and the big Iowa vs. Iowa State game. I can't even put into words how amazing this day was. We started the day with a tailgate for 150 family members of childhood cancer from Iowa, we were all wearing out Beat Cancer shirts and it was an awesome sight. But the more amazing thing was we weren't the only ones wearing them. You would walk around and see them everywhere! We had people coming to our tent wanting to buy shirts, the press came and did interviews. The Hawkeye cheerleaders stopped by to cheer "Go HAWKS! BEAT CANCER!"

We all later headed over to the game. It was a beautiful day! The Cyclones were 110% behind our children. They all had gold ribbons on their helmets to represent childhood cancer. Many of the teams staff were wearing Beat Cancer Shirts. Even their mascot had a Beat Cancer shirt. It was AMAZING! There was an announcement just before the game sharing why they were wearing the ribbons and a few statistics about childhood cancer.

Overall the day was one I will never forget. I couldn't stop smiling all day, it was just unbelievable. Our message was getting out and people were listening. Even the Big 12 Comissioner requested a Beat Cancer Shirt!

You can still order your beat cancer shirts online at www.beatcancertoday.org for a limited time. We have raised an AMAZING amount of money for Curesearch to help find a CURE for this monster.

Thank you to everyone who supported Beat Cancer Today and helped get the word out. I am so thankful for the amazing families (Horn's, Cunningham's, Hulsing's and Pospeshils) that we were able to work with to make this dream a reality! Saturday went beyond anything we imagined it would be just two months ago. We can't wait to do it again next year, on Iowa's turf!

Christie

Yesterday our family was invited to the Kirk Ferentz Luncheon which was put on by Children's Miracle Network and University of Iowa Childrens Hospitals. Brent was askd to share our story and Mikayla was asked to do the introduction for Kirk Ferentz who was the final speaker. WOW, was it an amazing day!

We got to meet so many great people. Miss Iowa was there. She stopped by our table and talked with the kids. Mikayla couldn't stop staring at all the sparkles and the crown! She got a signed picture from her, when she asked the boys if they wanted a picture both boys said "NO". LOL Guess they aren't into the pretty girls yet, and that is ok! HA! We did get a picture though.

Brent was given 5 minutes to speak. When we heard he only had 5 minutes I said to him "Are you sure they asked the right person, you can't talk for 5 minutes?" HA, he agreed with me, if you know Brent, talking in front of people is NOT a problem! He did GREAT though and I think he only went a little over 5 minutes.

When he got done speaking Mikayla went up and introduced Kirk Ferentz. This was so cute. She practiced and practiced and practiced saying "And now introducing the man of hour in his 11th year as head coach, Kirk Ferentz!" She even kept practicing as we were waiting for her turn. She was determined to get it perfect and she did a GREAT JOB! Coach Ferentz said it was the best introduction he'd ever had. She was quite proud!

During the event a couple of the speakers showered our family with gifts. First came the owner of Bagolita. They are introducing a new line of Hawkeye bags this weekend at Fry Fest and they brought a purse for Mikayla and myself, they are AWESOME! Mikayla wouldn't let go of hers yesterday, she even had it with her while introducing Kirk Ferentz!

Then another speaker came up to discuss Fry Fest and handed the kids each a pair of Aviator glasses just like Hayden Fry. The kids LOVED these and Tyler instantly put them on and had the crowd laughing! Tyler says he is going to Hayden Fry for Halloween this year. LOL

After the luncheon we were able to get a few minutes with Kirk Ferentz and have him sign some footballs and shirts for the kids. They are so proud of these footballs. The boys have been dreaming up a vision of a Hawkeye theme for their bedroom and these will be the perfect addition to it!

Kirk Ferentz is such a great person. He talked with each of the kids and even brought a little gift for each of them.

And of course some of our most favorite people were there, Dance Marathon. They did the Morale Dance for the crowd. Mikayla kept wanting to go sit with the DM people.

It was an amazing day, we can't thank Children's Miracle Network and Michelle Altmaier enough for inviting us to the event. Our family felt so special yesterday and I am sure it will be something we all remember forever!

It is now officially September and that means it is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month. What are you doing to let people know about childhood cancer? Tyler came home from school on Tuesday and said "Mom, I am going to wear a cancer shirt every day this month to support Childhood Cancer month" It brought tears to my eyes, he wants to help. This thing called cancer has affected every part of our family, some for the good and some not good. But through it all our family has grown together and I am so proud of our kids and the way they continue to want to give back. And they even come up with their own ways to do it.

We are looking forward to cheering on the Hawkeyes on Saturday! The kids will especially be looking for Coach Ferentz and rooting for those Hawks! Have a great long weekend!

Christie