I have to thank my sister and mom before anyone. They are
the ones that headed every thing. I truly know what my daughter means to them.
They were willing to do anything and go to any effort to help. THANK YOU! We
love and appreciate you so much!
When friends found out that we were going to be heading to
Boston, immediately offers came in to help. One friend suggested shirts. A week
earlier I had made a design for an Amazing Grace team shirt for a 5K we were
participating in. We ended up using the same design. My friend Tara Roberts
took over the sales of the shirts and did a great job! It was a huge task!
Especially since Grace decided that she wanted all of her “friends” in pink
shirts after she was given her pink shirt (everyone else was in grey). Thank
you Tara! We love our shirts!
The first event was our Golden Corral dinner. My sister
found out about this opportunity and it was so much more than we could have
expected. It was a blast! Jeff and I were a little late showing up because we
had back to school night for the little man. When we arrived then place was
full of family, friends and neighbors in the Amazing Grace shirts. We were
without words. Our Amazing Grace team waited on the tables. They would get
drinks and clear the tables when customers were done. They were given all the
tips to go toward Gracelyn’s fund. There were so many generous people that gave
large “tips” for a little girl they’d never met. Customers kept asking for her and within 20
minutes of arriving we had to go back home and get her. My parent’s 17 year old
neighbor came to help for a “little bit.” He ended up asking his parents if he could
stay the whole time. :) I really was that much fun!
The Yard Sale-WOW! This event was incredible My mom came up with the idea. No one in my
family had never had a yard sale before, so we didn’t know what we were doing
or what to expect. My mom started taking
donations and her house. Quickly her three car garage was full. We then moved
onto a huge trailer until it was full and then filled my three car garage and
trailer. My mom and her friend Tami Myers, along with Tami’s mother separated
and priced EVERYTHING. It was a HUGE task! HUGE! So many hours were put into
organizing it. Originally it was set as a one day event and turned into two
full days. We had so many things, there was no way one day would have been
enough.
On Friday morning we headed for the Jackson’s yard. They
were SO kind as to let us have it in their yard. It was the perfect location. We
knew we would have my parents help and two of our best friends Brandon Barnes
and Celeste Rice. We didn’t expect anyone else, but people just started showing
up. All the garages were quickly emptied, tables set up and it began. We weren't
scheduled to start selling until 2pm, but by 9am we had a large crowd and it
didn’t stop until 6pm Saturday when we started loading up what was left. There
were a lot of friends that showed up and just began organizing.
Saturday morning was wonderful! When we showed up we had
friends, family and neighbors with aprons on cooking pancakes at our Pancake
Sale. It was a great idea my mom had for
those who weren’t interested in buying things at the yard Sale. Jim Knight
brought all of the equipment over, my Uncle Jim, Kim, Glen and Justin Porter
and Scott Wade made all the pancakes. Thank you!
Katie Ellis offered to head up the Bake Sale. She did a
great job! Again, things just kept coming and coming. So many donated to this I
don’t even know who to thank. I don’t know where half of it came from. What I
had was delicious! I do know there was
some awesome chocolate cake from my sister-in-law Amber, some cinnamon rolls to
die for from Teresa Lake and some very fitting and perfect HEART cookies from
Annette Wade. Thank you everyone who donated to the Bake sale!
My sweet cousin Adam sat at a table both days taking orders
and making paracord bracelets. This was such a fun idea. I had no idea he was
coming, but all the kids loved it! Thank you Adam!!
Thank you to all that came.
We were joined that day by people from every part and time of our lives.
We truly felt your love that day. Jeff
and I didn’t get to see each other much
since we were running like crazy both days, but when we did we would just look
at each other smile. No words could express what we felt.
On Friday we had a little rain and wind. We were able to keep things from being ruined. Uncle Mike brought over HUGE tarps and we covered it all over night. Saturday was beautiful! 6:00pm came and it began to get dark. We knew the storm was coming. A text went out to all of our Elders Quorum and Young mens group. Within minutes the whole thing was down and our DI pod was filled with what didn't sell. Thanks to Jared's "tetris skills" (as he called them :) ), everything managed to fit into one pod. As we were finishing loading the rain came down! It poured! My phone was filled with texts telling me that it was a miracle and gift from God. I know Heavenly Father answered our prayers.
Mom, dad, Camee, Tami, Diane and The Jackson family- Thank
you! We could not have made it to Boston without this event. This event didn’t
just give us the means to get there, but it provided us with the knowledge that
we have a lot of people standing behind us.
Thank you to Jodi Brown for setting up a fundraising page.
We appreciate the effort you put into it! It was so thoughtful of you!
Last, our Chick-fil-a dinner.
It was an amazing feeling to
arrive and see that ¾ of the restaurant was full for our daughter. My sweet cousin CJ surprised us behind the counter. He works at Chick-fil-a in Logan. When he found out about this event he arranged with the owners to work his shift in Riverdale. I can't express what this meant to me!! We love you CJ! THANK YOU!!
It was a fun
way to be able to see friends and family one last time before we left. Thank you to all who came! Thank you Chick-fil-a Riverdale! We had an exciting night (those there at the
end know what I mean) ;)
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