Relay for Life 2019

Another year, another relay! We've had so much going on recently & honestly, once they start school there are so many fundraisers & charities that it gets hard to do them all. In fact, they asked me to come back & help this year but my heart just wasn't in it. But then it hit me about a month ago - we have 2 families in our life group at church who have been battling cancer. I don't know why it took me so long to realize that we should come together as a group & do it for them. Unfortunately, the weather did not want to cooperate because it rained & a cool front blew in. I know rain is predictable these days but it really was pretty cool for mid May! Thankfully they moved the event indoors & we had just as much fun:

They kicked off opening ceremonies by introducing all of the cancer survivors:

Followed by the first lap walked by the survivors:

Then the caregivers got to join on the second lap. I walked most of the lap with him & then we invited the girls to come walk with us. Sadie was excited to run out there while Sophie was too busy playing on the side with her friends to join us:

Finally the track was open for anyone the rest of the evening. Our friends took turns walking together & the kids would run a lap here & there:

It was a great night of fellowship celebrating with the other families. We ate, we visited and the kids got their faces painted, got balloon art & so much more:

I don't know who had more fun - the kids or the adults?!

 

Eventually it was time to start quieting down for the luminaria ceremony:

 

 The girls were so excited to make luminarias for their Dad & Doc:

and our friend Steve from church, who is a coach for one of the FISD high schools got to speak at the ceremony:

As always, it was an amazing evening! I am so honored that we were able to celebrate these 3 survivors who we worship with every week:

along with their families:

Besides our family, none of them had ever participated in Relay before & I am so glad we introduced them!  As much fun as we had with them, I am glad our family decided to do it as well. The girls still don't quite understand that their dad is a cancer survivor or what exactly that means, but I am so glad we choose to celebrate it with them every year: