Jennifer Ireland

Summer is winding down...

Like most of you, it looks as if our summer is winding down. Emma is excited for "school" to start the day after Labor Day. She is enrolled for her second year in the Little Angels program at First Baptist here in Blue Springs. Peighton talks about going, but she still has another year to wait. Both of them are doing very well. Emma is 4 1/2 years old going on 13 it seems. She continues to be a great big sister to Peighton and amazes me everyday with her intelligence. Peighton always seems so care-free. Her vocabulary is unbelievable along with a great sense of humor. I am blessed to have such great girls.

We actually bought a boat about three weeks ago and have spent several afternoons each week out on the small lake in our hometown. The girls love it. Both of them have a great time in the water. Of course Emma is hesitant to go to fast on the boat, while Peighton is always yelling "faster, faster." I'm actually kicked back in my recliner tonight nursing what I think is an abdominal strain from wakeboarding. I guess I went a little far when showing off for the girls. Hopefully it will only be a matter of time before I get them up on some skiis or a tube.

Work is going fairly well for me. My travel schedule has been light this year but is picking up here in the next month. It's not that I'm not comfortable with all the help that I have here at home. I think it's the fact that Em and P have such a need to cling to me as the only parent that it is difficult for me to go through the separation - even if it is for only two or three days. I can't thank Stephanie, Jan, or my dad enough for taking such good care of the girls when I'm away.

On the Jennifer Ireland Foundation front, we are drawing nearer to golf tournament day. Right now the tournament is only about 1/3 full. Our fingers are crossed that people are just procrastinating on getting their entries in. There are plenty of sponsorship opportunities still available along with lots of room for golfers. If you haven't visited the foundation website, please take a look: www.jenniferirelandfoundation.com. Brian Cole did a wonderful job of redesigning the site. There is still a lot of content to be added, but I think it looks great. Later in the week I will also post details about signing up for the Kansas City Crawl for Cancer in October. We will once again put together as many teams as possible in Jen's behalf. Last October was the one and only event that Jen participated in and we had a great time. I'm looking forward to a mild afternoon of hanging out with hundreds of friends and supporters.

Thanks again for continuing to check in on us. I took a short break from blogging recently, yet the blog traffic still continued to be unbelievable. In the next week or so, we'll surpass 600,000 hits and I am very pleased to see that Jen's name and story is still spreading. She deserves it.

You are probably wondering...

We are still here and doing well. I am very sorry to the faithful blog readers for not updating you recently! Enjoy your weekend and I'll bring you up to speed on what we are up to in the Ireland household and news regarding the foundation by the start of next week.

Golf tournament update...

Hey everyone...I just wanted to post more info on the Jennifer Ireland Foundation golf tournament. This is a tri-fold brochure that can be found around Kansas City in the coming weeks. We are still in need of sponsors so spread the word. Each sponsorship package can be amended to include whatever it is your company may desire. We have made great progress in the past several weeks on donated prize items, several sponsors, and verbal commitments for golfing foursomes. Thanks to Rachael Althaus for continuing to plug away diligently in order to make this event a success. If you have any questions, thoughts, advice, or potential opportunities regarding this event please let us know!

St. Louis was a great time...

Sorry it took me until Wednesday night to report back on how much fun the St. Louis Crawl for Cancer was, but it took most of us this long to recover from the long day Saturday. It really was a blast. As I have mentioned, this was the first year for the event in St. Louis and the turnout was very impressive. With just under 1000 participants, it made for a lower-key event than we were used to here in Kansas City, but it made for a more intimate time. We met a lot of great people and hopefully helped spread the news about our young foundation. The word spread quickly around the area what all the crazy people in colorful t-shirts were participating in and there is no doubt the St. Louis Crawl is going to grow very rapidly.

Below are a couple of pictures of some of our team members. There were actually three teams representing Jen and some of the members included Jan (Jen's mom), Dennis (Jen's dad), Tina (Jen's stepmother), Jason (Jen's brother), Dave and Jane (Jen's uncle and aunt), several cousins, and many friends.

On another note, Saturday was also the six month anniversary of Jen's passing. To each of us, the time and healing occurs at various paces. Following the 4-5 month hurdle, I have made some strides. The memories are certainly not gone, but the terrible experience of watching her suffer falls a little further into the back of my mind each month. In the forefront are the great memories and the strong motivation to spread the word about this great woman. The continued growth of body and character of our two girls builds my confidence that we are making progress. As hard as it is to accept at times, life is going on.