Thursday, February 28, 2013

Bowling for a Cure!

We only have 7 weeks left of our fundraising campaign!

Looking for a fun date night/family night/ girls & guys night out!?
My mom Kathy and our team Kathy's CUREsaders are throwing an event this Monday!
EVERYONE is welcome :) Come have fun with us!

 
MONDAY MARCH 4, 2013
 
FAT CATS
3739 So 900 East Salt Lake City, UT
6:00-9:00 pm
 
Adults $10
Kids $8
 
These prices are for two games w/shoes & one raffle ticket.
All proceeds go to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society! (LLS)
Please bring neighbors, friends and family to join in the fun!
 
Additional raffle tickets will be available: $1 each of 6 for $5
 
Great Prizes, Fun, and a Bake Sale!
 
Thank you for your support!
Team Kathys CUREsaders
 
** A big thank you to those of you who read my blog and have contacted me and have donated to help my mom and her cause! It means a lot to me, her, and of course the people that your money is going towards that are directly affected with this awful disease! Every dollar counts and I appreciate so much which has already been donated!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Results are in....

Today was such an awesome day.
We got to go to the Dr and have an ultra sound and see our little baby!
I was certain it was a girl from the beginning. But this last weekend I went to Dallas, Texas to see Pink in concert with a friend that lives there. She has a little baby boy and I kind of grew fond of him and wondered if it was a sign that I would have a boy. Then last night I had a dream that when I was getting the ultra sound the baby sat straight up and smiled and it was a boy. So this morning I was certain I was having a boy.
Russ had a feeling from the beginning it was a boy and said every time we talked about "it" he pictured a boy.
We got into to the Dr appointment and they started right up and we could immediately see a baby instead of a little bean :)
The lady doing the ultra sound said, "It looks like you guys are going to have a little princess!"
Russ's reaction, "He's gay?" haha Got to love him.
Its a GIRL!
We were both crying our eyes out and couldn't get enough of looking at HER.
 
 
We were both excited beyond words. It was one of the greatest moments ever in my life.
She had her little arm up behind her head resting at one point and yawned! It was amazing to see!
 
Russ and I both had our wrist read years ago where you hang a ring over your wrist with a string and it will tell you how many kids and what you are having depending on how it swings.
Mine said 3 boys. Russ's said 15 kids. So either something isn't quite right, or that doesn't work at all :)

 
Do you think she will like us? I hope so, because we already really like her.
 

Thursday, February 21, 2013

I learned a lesson...


 
We had a fun Valentines Day this year. We usually try and hit up a nice restaurant and spoil ourselves on fine dining, but this year, I just wasnt wanting to face the crowds. Also, with a baby on the way and hopefully moving in the next couple of months, I didnt want to spend a lot of money on food.
Russ had found this cool Japaense restaurant where you get your own little room area and you eat on the floor. We decided to celebrate the day before so we could miss the Love rush. We still werent able to go our own little space at the Japanese restaurant so we opted for Italian instead.
I started off my day with a nice good morning text from my Dad. It made my day...I think he is excited to be a Grandpa again..

 
 
I wasnt being a love scrooge but I didnt really think gifts were neccisary this year. I had been gone all the week before in Georgia for work ( and trying to track down Honey Boo-Boo! I found her house but she was on vacation in Florida..darn).
While I was gone Russ had been working really hard on a homemade gift for me. It probably my favorite gift he has ever given me. It melted my heart and made me laugh out loud all in one. Thats my kind of gift.
When I flew in from Georgia, it was the day before Valentines, which was the day we were celebrating. I walked in to a beautiful bouquet of red roses and Russ's gift... a homemade pop-up book!
This is only 2 of the awesome 4 pages.

 
Nothing says I love you more than a 3D picture of my husbands face.
 
 
I still cant figure out how he did it. He just said, "You just fold it backwards!" ...I still dont get it.
That same weekend was my nice McKinleys birthday party.
She is an AMAZING girl! She heard what my mom was doing and all her efforts in raising money for the Leukemia Lymphoma society and heard we were selling bracelets here in Utah.
She told her mom she had an idea...She told her Mom, all on her own, that she could ask the kids to buy a bracelet, instead of buying her a gift.
I dont know many girls turning 9 that would think to do that.
Although its not surprising because she has the sweetest, most tender heart. She heard about Jerons story (the little boy we are campainging for and families like him) and she wanted to help!
So she sent out a birthday invitaion.
I thought it was the sweetest thing in the whole world, but because I had been gone so many weekends in a row for work, I thought we should pass.
Then, I got this amazing letting in the mail from her, along with cute little kitten Valentines cards.

 
 
"I wish you could come to my birthday party so you could help donate money"
 
 
I thought that was the sweetest thing Ive ever seen. She was trying so hard to raise a lot of money and so selflessly.
We couldnt pass that up and decided to go up and surprise her!
By the time we got there, she was already asleep so the next morning they woke up to find us asleep in their living room. It was so cute how surprised they were.
Before we left for a full day of birthday activities, and since Kinley asked for donations instead of presents, we opened her presents from Russ and I and my parents.
This birthday girl LOVES socks.

 
Kinley had a basketball game before her big party so it was so fun to be able to support her.
Before we left for the game, we got a belly shot. My sister in law is due just a few weeks before me!
Im so excited to have babies at the same time!
 
 
 
Kinley was superstar! She is such an athletic little gal.


I think Huddy was ready to go to the birthday party!

 
We got to the birthday party early before all the kids showed up. We set out pictures of Jeron who is still struggling with Leukemia, as well as our friend Zach who had a really tough couple years with Leukemia. We also set out our bracelets for the kid to chose their colors.


 
All the parents that dropped their kids off were touched with Kinleys gesture and put in a couple extra dollars to the donation jar.
 
 
I was at the front desk when a couple brought their daughter from Kinleys class in. They handed over a $10 bill and said they didnt have a lot of money and it was all they could do but they wanted to donate. It really touched my heart, $10 is a GREAT donation, and I know it came from their heart.
 
The gym where the birthday party was held was SO.MUCH.FUN!!
Im pretty sure Russ had more fun than the kids.
 

















We all had fun going off the tramp into the foam pit!






 
 
I got to jump for a second before Russ reminded me I was pregnant and couldnt play.
 
The birthday girl!
 
 
Oaks loved the rings too!
 


 
Sometimes you are just having too much fun to pull your pants up.
 


My job was to stand at the end of the tramp and make sure kids didnt land on each other in the foam pit!

The big medal slide was probably the funnest and fastest slide Ive ever been on. Even more fun than the big yellow slide at the fair. You sit on a little sack and it makes you cruise down and land in the pit!
We begged my dad to go down and finally he did it for the birthday girl!


 
And then he disappeared.
 


 
We see a foot!
 


He's alive!
 



We then went upstairs and sang to the birthday girl and had brownies and ice cream!






Then we went back to playing. My dad must have felt Huddy's pain when he got stuck in the foam pit.


The incredible birthday girl!
I could NOT be more proud of her. It takes a really special girl to give up birthday presents to help others at her age. And she was so excited about it and passionate about making money to help others. She has such a special heart and she really touched a lot of hearts this day.

 
Fun time over..



 
When we got home, she was so excited to count the money she earned at her party. All the kids went and played when we got home and she sat at the table with the adults to count the money. She had 22 kids come to her birthday party and she didnt receive one gift, but she is smiling so big in this picture because she earned $397.50 to donate to LLS!!!
 
 
After this trip, I had a whole new perspective on this fundraiser. We are all SO proud of my mom and for the opportunity she was nominated, and that we can come together as a family to help raise money for a good cause, and get my mom some recognition. I want her to win so bad, but after the weekend, and see McKinley sacrafice her own gifts for strangers in need, it gave a whole new meaning to what we were doing. And I learned that form a 9 year old. I am so proud of her and thankful for the lesson she taught not only me, but all those kids and adults that came to her birthday party. And it was all because of this wonderful lady for setting an example to her family.


 
The next day before we had to drive back to Utah, my brother Cody made us a delicious breakfast of Swedish Thins!

The kids watched a few movies and snuggled up. 
 
Thanks to Miss McKinley for her example to us this weekend and for all the generous people that opened their hearts and wallets.

Go Kathy's CUREsaders!!


 

 


Thursday, February 7, 2013

Woman of the Year!! Please Help :)

I had an awesome night last night.
My family (Minus my brothers family in Idaho..we missed you guys) all got to go to an event at Flemmings at the Gateway.
We were all there to support my mom as she starts a crazy adventure!
We are all SO proud to announce that our Mom has been nominated for Woman of the Year through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
She was nominated by one of their committee members and was recognized for ALL her work over the years in various Cancer fundraisers. She helped for years in the Race For the Cure for breast cancer, she helped our own family fundraiser in the Kel Kemp Memorial for Huntsman Cancer Institute along with spending many hours and her own money to help with the homeless shelter, Christmas in July, and many many more.
She is an amazing example to our family, and we were VERY fortunate to grow up watching, and working along side our mother as she served. She would take me along to The Road Home when I was really young so I could play with the kids and do fun little activities, we watched her organize a big drive and put in a library in the shelter for homeless children. As we got older, I brought along a few friend as my Mom threw a big May Day activity for homeless kids, and as an adult, we got to work along side of her as she worked so hard in the survivor tent at the Race For the Cure.
I couldn't even begin to count how many hours of my moms life she has spent serving and she totally deserves this nomination and I know we all couldn't be more proud.
If anyone ask her to help them in supporting any cause they may have, she is the first to step up and help, or donate money.

Here is the idea behind Woman of the Year:

She was nominated along with a few other woman in our community. It is a friendly competition to see who can raise the most amount of money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society from February 6- April 19th.
EVERY dollar that we (my moms team) can raise towards my moms cause, will count as a vote for her and ALL goes to LLS.
Last night was the kick off party to the start of the fundraising efforts.


My Dad, Mom, and Zach
 
Zach is a leukemia survivor and actually the person who nominated my mom. Our family fundraiser actually helped raise money for Zach and his family when he was really sick.

Last night was my sisters birthday as well! It was fun to have dinner with she and my brother in law "B" as we got to honor our mom.

 
 
Before hearing from our mom and the other candidates, we got to hear from a cute little boy named Jeron that is currently fighting Leukemia.
Jerons story really touched me, and made me want to work that much harder in trying to help find a cure for this disease.
He was so courageous and made me take a step back and think how lucky I am for my health and for the opportunity I had to go through middle school without worrying about my bald head, not being able to play with other kids because they could get me sick, and spending half of my school years being home schooled because of my health.
He spoke so well and we are honored to have him at all of our upcoming events, and our "face" to help us get the word out and raise more money for people like Jeron.
His speech last night, and talking about his hair coming back.
Jeron's motto in life is: "Every Day is a Gift!"
 
After Jeron spoke, we got to hear from my mom. Im pretty sure there wasnt a dry eye in the room after she spoke of the reason she decided to except this nomination and work her tail off until April. She said it was because of all the people she has lost to cancer, her mom, her father in law, her aunt, and brother in law, and all the many friends and neighbors she has also lost to cancer. She also said she is doing it to help others like Jeron and Zach who are hopefully free of cancer, because of the medicines that saved their lives from research done from LLS and other fundraiser like this to help fund them.
She did a fantastic job.

 

Want to know how you can help?
There are a couple different ways:

We will be having TWO fundraising events here in the Salt Lake Valley.

1- We will be having a family and friends night at Fat Cats to bowl and eat pizza- all of the money we make, will go straight to the LLS. We will also be holding a raffle that night with lots of great prizes! If you cant come bowl, come see what you can win at the raffle! Held the first week of March.

2-We will be having our second event which is an adults only BINGO night. I am so excited about Bingo and think it will be a great time! You will have the opportunity to win AWESOME prizes while playing Bingo, with the option to buy dinner and dessert through the catering company that will be there. There will be live music, and an auction at the end of the game. Held the last week of March.

Buy a Bracelet!!

$2.00 each!!!
 

**I am heading up sales of bracelets that have Jerons motto on them "EVERY DAY IS A GIFT". If you live in the Salt Lake Valley and would like to purchase one or a  few bracelets, please email me and I would be happy to let you know where we will be selling them, or even meet up to give you the bracelets.
If you do not live in SLC, You can still buy one!! You can still purchase a bracelet by paying through my PalPal account. My user name is:  chubkemp@gmail.com
If you use PayPal to purchase your bracelets please be sure to:
* Under the "Personal Tab" please mark either Gift or Other
* PLEASE include an extra dollar for shipping for the first 2, and an additional 50 cents for every 2 more that you buy. I tried so hard to find the very cheapest way to ship these without costing you a lot, and us losing money that could go toward the fundraiser. Example: if you want 4 bracelets, please include an addition $1.50 for shipping. We would really appreciate that!
*When you go through the payment process through PayPal, please leave me a note with your address so I know where to ship them and what colors you would like!

If I know you, don't know you, or you just happened across this blog, please know EVERYONE is welcome (and encouraged)  to purchase a bracelet, and know that ALL of the money goes towards LLS.
And everyone could use a reminder that Everyday is a Gift...don't you think?

GOAL:
My personal goal is to sell 50 of these on my blog alone! So I would LOVE the help from anyone that stops by- don't be shy!!

Donations through our website: And the last way to help:

www.mwoy.org/pages/ut/slc13/kkemp

Cant go to our events, and not interested In a bracelet? Go directly to the website above and you can make a donation there. Every dollar counts!
If you want to donate something to one of our raffle events or auction, let me know and I would be happy to pick it up. Every donation is 100% tax deductible.

Again, we are so proud of our mom and cant wait to get this going! This has been a long time coming, but we haven't been able to accept donations until last night so..
READY, SET GO!!!!!!!!!