Race For the Cure

This morning Shaun, Kori and I walked and ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Portland is one of the top 3 events in the country in terms of attendance and they were expecting 45,000 people today. Not bad for a town of 600K people!!!

Shaun ran the timed 5K race in a little over 26 minutes (she thinks). She will have her unofficial time by 5pm tonight. She really is a stud and I'm very proud of her. She worked hard preparing. After she ran her 5K, she met Kori and I and we walked the 5K with our friends and neighbors from the Pink Pearls. The Pink Pearls, sponsored by Hoyt Realty Group, is a social and philanthropic group of neighbors and friends. Hoyt Realty hosted several fund raising social events and raffled off a pink bicycle (which I didn't win in spite of buying 75 tickets!) this morning at a delicious brunch after the race. Thanks to Marilyn Anderson and her team at Hoyt Realty for creating this opportunity for us to come together for good causes and to meet our neighbors.

It's always gratifying to participate in this event. It's heart warming to watch the breast cancer survivors walk through their special lane at the finish line. The costumes are always interesting. Shaun and Kori customized our standard-issue t-shirts with fancy trim, belts, hoods, yokes, darts, and whatever else they could think of! Participants wear signs and ribbons honoring those they know who have had or do have breast cancer. One lady carried a big sign that said "Boobs for Obama"!

As we walked, we were mindful of our friends who have battled breast cancer. Ella, Rebecca, Linda, Leslie, Diana, Nancy, Dotty, Isabel and others.....your spirits and determination encourage us daily.

It's also a day to remember what a difference just one person can make. Susan G. Komen's sister, Nancy Brinker, started this event to honor "Suzy's" memory, educate women, and to work for a cure. Look what the "power of one" has become!

St. George, UT Labor Day Weekend

August 29-September 1, we gathered in St. George, UT with Kori, Shane & Janese and their 8 kids, and Amie & Dean and their 4 kids. It was an incredible weekend. The kids are so much fun to be with. They are all their own people and personalities now and it's amazing to see how much they have all grown up. Tyler and Hailey, the oldest of the pack, are both 14 this year, with Hayden and Ireland the youngest at 5.

We had great fun playing Laser Tag, hiking in the red rocks near St. George, swimming, playing kickball, playing Mexican Train, and just hanging around Amie & Dean's beautiful home in St. George having fun and getting caught up on each others lives.

Hannah and Megan hid under our bed one night and jumped out to scare Shaun and me. We enjoyed the next couple of hours with them telling stories and giggling while we all tried on each other's clothes. They both promised to come visit us sometime and hang out in Portland.

There were a few glitches-- Shane and Janese blew a tire on their van both coming from and going to Denver. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in either incident, though both were a significant investment in time and money. I cut my finger grabbing a knife while doing the dishes and had 6 stitches in my right middle finger. For a couple of days, I had a large lime green bandage on my middle finger. Otherwise, it was smooth sailing. The kids all enjoyed each other's company and played well together.

The pictures were taken on a hike we all (19 of us!) did near St. George in the red rocks. It was beautiful and a fun way to spend a day. The kids caught frogs and polywogs, climbed trees, climbed rocks using a rope (which required lots of courage for some of them) along the trail.

Shaun and I flew in to Las Vegas and spent a day there before St. George and after. We didn't win, but had fun playing "Hot Shot" penny slots and eating strawberry shortcake at the Grand Luxe Cafe.

Jason & Santi's wedding

On August 23, Shaun and I were honored to attend the wedding of Shaun's nephew Jason and his partner, Santi in Berkeley, CA. Jason and Santi have been a committed couple for almost 11 years, and are wonderful young men. It was important to us personally both to honor them as a couple, and to support the progress that is being made to allow gay couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. California will be deciding in the November election whether or not to overturn the right for gays to legally marry. Hopefully California will be victorious, as was Oregon, in maintaining equal rights for all residents. The issue is about granting the same rights to ALL humans and not denying basic rights to gay people that other Americans have. As Shaun and I get older, it's important for us to have the right to make medical decisions for each other, have fair inheritance and tax rules apply and to be eligible for each other's social security benefits. Our hope is that in November, candidates who support equal rights for all Americans will be elected and we can start focusing on the economy, ending the war, ending poverty and homelessness and other things that really matter. In the meantime, CONGRATULATIONS Jason and Santi!