And the donations keep on rolling in!

YAY! We have gotten some more donations to Oliver's Army!!

Thank you to: Charles and Betty Taylor, John & Lisa Ruggere, Karen Bald, and Jean & John Parr.

You rock!! That brings our total to...... $2,922!!!

AND then today (October 21).......Ginny Wheelock and The Rager Family!

I am overwhelmed....

....with joy! The Hopebuilders 5K was on Saturday and wow was it an amazing experience. It was an inspirational and fun morning walking with so many other people out supporting Levine Children's Hospital. The weather could not have been better, it was cool and crisp, perfect for walking the beautiful route along Kings Drive & Queens Road.

Owen carried Oliver in his backpack, which Oliver actually enjoys and that worked out much better than last year (Oliver was antsy half way through the walk in his stroller so the last half of the 5K, my friend Liz and I switched off carrying the kid - our arms were SORE the next morning....). We were joined by Grandma and Grandpa, Maggie, Elizabeth, Tati, Liz & Steve, and Emily & Matt and their 4 month old twins, Claire & Will! Thank y'all SO much for being a part of Oliver's Army!

Tati, Elizabeth, Maggie, Grandpa, Oliver, Owen and Grandma

Tati, Elizabeth, Maggie, Grandpa, Oliver, Owen and me

Cheering before the start of the race!

He learned how fun it was to say "YAY!"

Emily & baby Will, Elizabeth and Maggie crossing the finish line!

The team at the finish! (except Liz & Steve)

After the walk, we went for breakfast at the Original Pancake House and other than a brief barfing incident from Oliver, we had a very pleasant and relaxed breakfast - chowing down on well-deserved pancakes!

Waiting to sit down at breakfast (he actually wasn't as unhappy as he might look, I just took his attention away from "The Wonder Pets" in an attempt to get a photo).

And, back to watching "The Wonder Pets" on my phone....

I just want to say thank you ALL for your support and generosity. I get teary-eyed when I think about how many kids will benefit from your donations and I am grateful to be surrounded by so many people who care. As of the time of this posting we have raised $2,767!! That is over last year! Thank you to our donors: Julia Pridgen, Michele & Bob Lowe, Amanda Davee Lomax, Wade & Angie Pridgen, Jennifer & Ryan Nicholson, Melissa & Matt Frazier, Anna & John Townsend, Carol & George Gill, Emily & Stu Pratt, Alyson & Jarrett Davis, Cindy & Craig Katzman, Jennifer & Matt Lockhart, Amy Brandt, Patti & Ron Curtis, Maggie Curtis, K&L Gates, Stacey & Chris Henderson, Liz & Clark Crowther, Eddie & Jean Pridgen, Nea & Terry Hennessy, Sarah & Jimmy Gamble, Kevin & Rose Jackson, Jamie & Gene Pridgen, Natalie Hennessy, Bryan Taylor, Lisa Austin, Karen Dunlap, Jack, Ike & Ben Kadis, Chelsea Brack, Matthew Mahoney, Melissa Ryder, Michele Davies, Christine Dondero, Olivier Veille, Natalie, Rosie Molinary & Mike Kessler, The Gores, Ed & Jessica Arnold, Clay & Lynn Lewis, Jimmy & Heidi, Sam & Maggie, Tom & Susan Ingham, Emily Ingham, Mary Dolph, and The Bollenbacher Family.

Thank you for donating, for walking with us, for keeping Oliver in your prayers and for providing so much moral support. We are so grateful.

Tomorrow is the Big Day!

We are so excited! The Hopebuilders 5K is finally here! Tomorrow morning at 8am, Oliver and several other kids will help "kick off" the start of the race and then we'll all join in on the walk! We have an awesome team - me, Owen, Grandma & Grandpa, Tati Austin, Maggie Curtis, Elizabeth Gray, Matt & Emily Ingham, and Liz & Steve Franklin!

So far we have raised over $2,600 - that is above what we raised last year and we met the team goal of $2,500!! It is phenomenal and we are SO appreciative of everyone that has supported Oliver's Army - with donations, by walking and of course moral support! I'll post an update after the 5K tomorrow with pictures and final donation total......

But, in the meantime, there is still time to donate to support Levine Children's Hospital and Oliver's Army. Just click on this LINK and click on one of our team members to support them! THANK YOU!

Lazy 5 Ranch - Happy Belated Birthday Owen!

Due to crazy fall schedules, etc, we just celebrated Owen's birthday on Sunday, October 2nd....by going to the Lazy 5 Ranch! I have never been before but Sarah (sis-in-law) had and said it was so fun so we decided to do that for Owen's birthday festivities.....

We went late afternoon and Oliver, Dad and I went in my car while Owen, Mom, Sarah, Blake, Gavin & Drew rode in the wagon (there was no way that Oliver was going to be able to ride in the wagon, there were too many escape opportunities and he would be a hot mess running all over that wagon! Better to keep him confined in a carseat!).....it was so much fun! There were so many animals around and some of them would come right up to the car looking for food (which we had in a bucket). Oliver was a little wary of them at first but he relaxed after a bit and really enjoyed it. It was just about the perfect length, as soon as I was ready for the tour to be over, it was :) We followed that up by checking out some goats, sheep and camels in another part of the ranch where we could touch them and feed them.....Then we celebrated with lemon squares and presents! We love Owen!

Highland Cow and some other cow

EMU!

Vietnamese Pot-bellied pigs

Eland (I think)

Ostrich

This dude was a little aggressive.... or hungry.....I had to roll my window up so he would go away when we were done feeding him! :)

Oliver feeding sheep and goats

A big hungry camel!

We also saw a rhino, some zebra, texas longhorn cows, watusi, various goats, deer, ellipsis waterbuck, giraffes, llamas, ducks, pigeons, peacock, parrots and macaws, prairie dogs, porcupines & tortoises!