Jennifer Ireland

1st Annual Golf Tournament was great!...

One warm, sunny day early this summer Rachael Althaus announced to me that she'd like to create a golf tournament this year as a benefit for the Jennifer Ireland Foundation. I was a little hesitant based on the busy spring we had and given the short amount of time to prepare before the golf season would be winding down. Today I am proud to say that she did it and the tournament was a huge success. Eight golfers short of a full field of 144 golfers, we teed off at 8:00 AM on what ended up being a beautiful Saturday. I am pretty sure that I speak for everyone when I say that it was one of the best tournaments I have attended. Thanks to Rachael, Adam's Pointe Golf Club, all of our sponsors and donors, the many volunteers, and the participating golfers for making our first annual event memorable. I was honored to meet Christy Harrell and her family on Saturday. You can link to her blog on our Cancer Blog Network on the side of this page. Some of the participants and volunteers included relatives - quite a few out of town members of Jen's family, cancer survivors, cancer patients, J.I. Foundation board members, friends, friends of friends, and even complete strangers. We will definitely see you next year.

On the foundation front, we have finalized the grant program details. You can now find a fairly simple grant application available on the front page of the Jennifer Ireland Foundation website. Please spread the word that we are here to help and very excited to disperse the generous funds of our supporters.

My last post - from several weeks ago...sorry - was regarding the Crawl for Cancer. We ended up entering nine teams that represent Jen and the foundation. Of those nine teams, three of them are basically wide open. I got a late jump on registration and didn't give anyone much time to sign up. Please e-mail Melanie Reece at [email protected] if you would still like to participate and just didn't get the information in time. Again, the cost is $50 per person and includes a t-shirt and beer ALL day on the 13th of October.

Finally, on the home front things are going well. The girls are growing like weeds - as someone put it to me today. Emma is loving school, her new teacher, and her new gymnastics class. Peighton seems to be several years older than she really is and wants to do everything Emma does. I'll be working on getting her involved in some activities in the coming weeks. I'm doing fine too. Late August and September were very busy for me and I found myself on the road for about four weeks straight. I did, however, sneak in a short getaway. All in all, it has been a good summer.

Thanks for the continued interest in our family, your support for the foundation, and for turning this blog into a network of support for the many deserving people fighting this disease.

Crawl for Cancer XI...

Hey everyone...Emma started her second year of pre-school at Little Angels on Tuesday. I thought I'd show you a picture of her as she was heading out the door. She was all smiles that morning, excited to get back to school. Her new teacher is Mrs. Sams and Emma loves her. Of course Mrs. Cornick is still there taking care of the younger class. Emma told me she wants to make sure she sees Mrs. Cornick everyday after school. Peighton was hoping it was time for her to go to school too, but unfortunately she has another year. Nana got her a back pack and Tuesday morning she wanted to pose for some school pictures with big sis. I'm not quite sure why she had a can of Pringles in her hand!

I need to let everyone know that we are putting together teams for the October 13th Crawl for Cancer. I'd love to enter a handful of teams (or more) in memory of Jen. We're getting a late start on the sign-ups but we have until the September 14th to get them in. Our good friend and foundation board member Melanie Reece will be coordinating the registrations for our Jennifer Ireland teams. Please e-mail her at [email protected] with your information, including names and t-shirt sizes, so we can begin putting teams together. The entry fee is $50 per person or $500 per team of 10. If you choose to enter a team of 12, the cost is $540. Let her know if you plan on paying by check (made out to the Jennifer Ireland Foundation) or by Paypal. If you choose to pay via Paypal, visit www.jenniferirelandfoundation.com and click on "Make a Donation." Please note in the comments portion of the Paypal transaction that you are paying for Crawl for Cancer entries and list your team members' names and t-shirt sizes.

Checks can be mailed to:
790 W. 40 HWY #225
Blue Springs, MO 64015

Melanie will confirm receipt of your entry fee once we have received it. Prior to September 14th we'll post a final entry list so everyone can take a look. In late September we'll begin coordinating transportation and hotel arrangements. Once we get past all these logistics, October 13th will be a great time!