Relay For Life

This year our family participated in relay for life, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society consisting of a relay that started on Friday evening and lasted till noon on Saturday.

We were celebrating the lives of two very important people: Our Aunt Kathy who is battling cancer for the second time and now has terminal cancer and our Grandpa Woolley who is a survivor.

Our cousins did an amazing job at fundraising, and providing team T-Shirts, food, etc. A week before the race, my cousin sent out a sign up for slots on when we would be available to be on the track. Well, the schedule went pretty much out the window from the start. Our team was so anxious to be there that there were very few moments when there were less than 5 people from our team on the track. Brad and Mark, our cousins ran/walked 20 miles during the night and Jason walked at least 15 miles during the night. Our Uncle Rick, Aunt Doris, and cousin Jessica walked hours and hours. Jessica ran/walked a marathon during the relay. Our team was amazing. Doing this race really hit home….Cancer is real. Our Aunt Kathie has always been a favorite aunt and seeing her go through this again is heart breaking.

We are SO impressed by the strength her kids have shown. They are all our heroes. We think what made it so great was that it was with family. We’re so lucky to be so close to our siblings, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

Three Weddings and Some Family Pics

In the past two weekends we have had three wedding receptions to attend. The first was an old friend from College, Shannon. The second was my cousin Jean Jaque’s. The Third was my sister’s best friend and old roommate as well as my personal friend Stacie.

She had her reception just a few miles away from Michelle’s parent’s house in a beautiful Tuscan style home owned by the groom’s parents. It was great to see many of Rachael’s friends and roommates that she had while she and I were both at BYU.

Since the yard and house were so beautiful Michelle and I decided to get a few pictures of our little family. One of Stacie and Rachael’s friends from College, Dan, made a surprise visit from Arizona and since he works for Cannon and we have a Cannon camera I thought it only right for him to take the pictures.

I also got a few shots of Drew on my own. He has the most beautiful blue eyes. We had a wonderful time and know that all three couples will have a wonderful life together.

Pictures of Drew.....By Nettie

While I was away Michelle had Nettie take some pictures of Drew. He looked so darn cute. Here are a few of our favorites along with a video of him giving us a few smiles and giggles. It is hard to capture these moments because as soon as he sees the camera he becomes so focused and serious.

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream

On Memorial day, after I returned home from my trip, the rest of the Martin clan came over to the Woolley's and we had dinner. Not everyone was able to make it, but we enjoyed getting together one more time before Cameron, Rachel, and Candice headed back to California. Rachel's parents and sister were also in town from Idaho and stopped by to see them. As usual we had a good time. For dessert Michelle's Dad brought ice cream cones for everyone to enjoy. Nettie decided to take pictures of everyone eating their cone. Candice especially loved her ice cream cone and wasn't afraid to make a mess of it. It was a great way to finish the holiday weekend. Can't wait till the next one.

I know there is no ice cream in this photo, but don't father and son look so good!

Candice

Seth

Bryer

Dy

Grandma Woolley

Rachel

Audrey

Michelle

Ben

Drew (No real ice cream consumption)

Andrew

Bracken

Nettie

Tina

Cameron

Grandpa Woolley

Carmen

Grandma and Grandpa Woolley with Grandpa's Sister Lucy and her husband Carmen.

2nd Annual Guys Weekend in Brian Head, UT

Last year me and three of my guy friends from high school got together in Brian Head at one of their cabins and had a guys weekend. This year we decided to do the same thing, but Ben invited two of his friends and our friend Jordan wasn't able to make it because of other vacation plans. We all left on Friday to make our way up to the cabin. Four of us were coming from the Salt Lake area and one from Las Vegas. We brought 4 wheelers and lots of food and movies. The cabin is basically a second home that includes all of the amenities you would ever want, but with a log cabin facade.

Here is a view from the back deck.

Overall we got some good riding in, but unfortunately like last year there was more snow than we would have liked to see. Between rides we watched a lot of action and comedy movies mixed with rock band and eating lots of food that we didn't need. We even made a trip to Cedar City to see a movie and eat dinner. On Sunday we watched a little Music and the Spoken word and then attempted to visit some surrounding parks, but they were still closed for the Winter. We then made our Sunday dinner that consisted of Mexican food. If any of you are interested, Ben has a really good Mexican Rice recipe, it was so good.

Also, If any of you know the Dee brothers then you know that there is never a quiet moment, they love to raise their voices, and when you get the rest of us together it only gets louder. Needless to say there was never a dull moment. Our friend Tyler kept us the most entertained while we made him scream like a girl when we spooked him after he had fallen asleep during a movie (we wish we had gotten it on video) and also attempted to put shaving cream on his hand while he was sleeping. I don't know if any of us have grown up yet. Before leaving on Monday a few of us took one last ride. I believe it was the best one yet, because more snow had melted and we could travel a little further.

I know you can't see me very well with the helmet on, but it really is me. The video below is really short and dumb, but I figured I had it so I would use it.

At the end of it all we decided that we should move the date to a later time so we miss the snow. We might even try to get back together in a few months to try it again. Thanks Nathan and Ben for the fun weekend. Hope we can do it again next year.