Gratitude

Thank you SO MUCH to all who were able to join us at Friday's dinner and auction or contributed in any way to the success of the event. I know there has been a lot of wonder about how the event went, so I wanted to post a quick note.

First off, over 200 people joined for dinner and some great shopping on Friday night. That alone made the evening a success for both of us. We tried to talk to as many people as possible and hope you will understand if we couldn't get to you in person.

We do owe a special debt to Cynthia Loland, who fielded the many questions, calls, and e-mails from people who wanted to donate or attend the auction. I don't think she was actually able to work or enjoy her vacations over the last month, but she did an amazing job coordinating the event!

Thank you to Brad Barquist for acting as the evening's auctioneer and entertaining everyone with his great humor and spirit. Thank you to Hans Loland for spending all night printing the auction catalogs, as well as all of the other numerous tasks he had to keep up with. Thank you to Luke & Nicole Curry, Andy & Kim Simonsen, Erin Aten, Jeannine Jensen, Mike & Heather Morelli, Chris and Suzy Hansch, Mike and Cynthia Boggs, Mark & Vicki Frasher, Andy & Amy Myers, Eric & LeAnn Miller (and any others that joined in) for coming up with this idea and bringing it to fruition.

Thank you to Marv Miller for providing the tasty food and organizing the kitchen crew. Thank you to my sisters, Bonnie and Julie, for keeping the check in and check out lines moving so quickly. Thank you to Darren Rozendaal and Sears Young for running the bar. Thank you to our families for helping set up, collect auction items, and fill in wherever needed at the auction.

A great many other family and friends spent hours working on this event and making it flow as smoothly as possible, but I don't even know the full extent of what help was provided by whom. We just know that we are in your debt.

Tyler and I have frequently spoken about how blessed we are to have the families we do and friends that we do. We would not be able to get through this difficult time without all of you in our lives. Thank you for bringing us so much joy and easing so many burdens in our lives!

Finally... the piece of information that everybody has been asking about... The most recent tally on the night for the dinner and auctions is...

Are you sure you want to know?

The grand total is over $46k for all that was taken in for ticket sales before the event and at the door, bar, and sale table on the night of the dinner. Thank you from the very bottom of our hearts for your willingness to come out and support us emotionally and financially.

We saw at least one friend taking pictures, so we hope to share some pictures with you soon. I didn't even bring my camera inside, so I will have to rely on others for their views of the evening.