Jennifer Ireland

TGIF...

Hey everyone. Life is good here at the Ireland household. The girls are well and continuing to have a great summer. We've squeezed a lot in the past week or two, so I have to admit I'm a little tired. So...thank God it's Friday.

As many of you already do, please stop by Shawndra Turner's blog and send her a little love. Even with what our family has been through, it is still unimaginable to me how difficult it must be to battle this disease and hold yourself together as well as Shawndra and Doug Turner do.

On a different note, the organizers of the St. Louis Crawl for Cancer asked if I could post a request on our blog. They need a T-shirt design! I don't know how many of you are graphically gifted, but this would be a great opportunity to share your talents. The event is August 4th, so there isn't a lot of time to brainstorm. Send me your ideas and I can post them for all to see and forward them on to the proper people. To get the creative juices flowing, take a look at the design from this year's KC Crawl.

As usual, I'll leave you with a couple of pictures. These happen to both be of Emma...one on the 4th of July and the other at the lake last weekend. She has gone from being a wienie in the water to a fish!


Have a great weekend.

Sign up for JI Foundation Golf Tournament...

Click here to go to the tournament website.

A good time on the 4th...

I don't have any pictures to post because I forgot my camera! But, we did have a good 4th of July. The girls are at a great age where fireworks are actually kind of cool. We had the pleasure of spending a good part of the afternoon with Doug and Shawndra Turner, their family, and friends. Their daughter Ella is adorable. I was also impressed that both Emma and Peighton swam in the lake. We headed to a second party nearby hosted by the family of Scott and Allie Briley who I met through the Crawl for Cancer. Scott is the man that made the special t-shirts for the Jennifer Ireland teams a reality. We enjoyed a few drinks, some snacks, and watched the storms roll in. Following a little relaxation time while it rained and some pizza at home, we headed to the Brown family household to blow some stuff up. It was a great display and all the girls and I had to do was sit back and watch. Sooo...thanks to everyone for making us feel welcome and making our 4th of July special.

This weekend we'll head to the lake with my family. More summertime fun on boats and Sea Doos. I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine!

Another event for cancer...

This time last year Jen and I were counting down the days before our great trip to Hawaii. Thinking back, the prospect of the trip to Maui for Nathan and Melanie's wedding really provided a lot of energy for Jen during an exhausting stretch in her battle. Any sort of glimmer on the horizon for cancer patients in an indefinite, grueling routine of chemo has to be priceless.

I want to let you all know about a 5K run/walk coming up in early September. The race is called "Head for the Cure" and is held at Corporate Woods in Overland Park, KS. The race benefits the Head for the Cure Foundation which supports programs that research the cause and a cure for brain cancer. This Foundation also supports programs that help brain cancer patients and their families. I should mention that my father lost his mother, my grandmother, in 2005 to a very short battle with brain cancer. I plan on participating along with a friend that has recently suffered loss to this disease. If any of you are interested in participating as a team, let me know. Information on this foundation and the run can be found at www.headforthecure.org.

I'll leave you on this Monday with a picture of our girls. They are getting so big, but I don't feel any older!

First Annual Golf Tournament...

Today we met with Adams Pointe Golf Club in Blue Springs and we are set for our first annual golf tournament to be held on September 22nd. Luckily we slid into a great Saturday at a great course in a great golfing month.

Have a great weekend everyone!

We're still here!...

I hate to neglect the "blog faithful"! We have kept so busy lately that I have failed to post. Thankfully we have so many great stories available in our little blog network that you all can sit down with a cup of coffee and be inspired by so many others. I check them all faithfully and often see familiar names continuing to spread love and support to the many deserving cancer patients out there.

As for the Ireland family, we are just plugging away at life. The girls are looking like little beach bums with their tans. With Jan off for the summer, they get to spend quite a bit of time with Nana. Stephanie continues to do a great job and maintains a week full of activities for them. Due to my flexible schedule, I have the pleasure of spending quite a bit of time around the house. A morning with the girls beats any morning in the office!

I want to mention a couple of things regarding the Jennifer Ireland Foundation. First off, we are working diligently on a golf tournament to be held in late September. We'll have the date solidified by early next week, so get your clubs polished and your foresomes together. If you haven't had a chance to look, the Jennifer Ireland Foundation magnets are available on the foundation site. Just click on the link on the right side of this page to jump on over. The magnets turned out great and hopefully will be a great tool in visually spreading the news about our foundation. Those that ordered Crawl for Cancer t-shirts can expect them to be in the mail by the end of the week. Obviously your location plays a role in their ETA, but they'll be there soon!

Last night, the J.I.F. board of directors had a great meeting. We are really excited about our future and the incredible number of lives we can touch. It is almost as if the blog readership serves as a member of our board. Your presence and support is always felt and I want to sincerely thank you for that.

Have a great weekend...

I'm home sweet home. There's not much news to report, so I just wanted to say "Have a good weekend." We live for the weekends around here! There's more swimming in store for the girls today. They're turning into fish, which makes me - a former swimmer - proud.

Some pictures from the weekend...

This week I'm taking care of some business in the Carolinas. Summer is definitely creeping up on the "South." The humidity and afternoon thunderstorms are very much a part of their summers here. The girls are back in Missouri enjoying summer activities with Jan, Stephanie, and various friends. It is so nice to have peace of mind when I'm on the road because I know they are in good hands.

I went to lunch with a clent today who ironically lost his wife to cancer just a few short months prior to Jen's passing. He has four children that range from 14 to 22 years old. My heart goes out to him as he holds his life, career, and family together following their loss. There was a strange comfort in sitting with him today at lunch and knowing that he and I have shared such a similar experience. I guess I should have been nervous because I was actually visiting in an effort to save some of our accounts!

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a good week. I'm missing the girls tonight, so I'll share some pictures from Father's Day...

Happy Father's Day...

It was five years ago this Father's Day that Jen found out she was pregnant with Emma. At the time it was an ironic day -- given it was Father's Day -- and a scary day -- given I had no idea how to be a father. Now I can look back on it as one of the best days of my life. Little did I know that Emma would be one of two gifts Jen would leave me before she left this world behind. I spent a great day with my two beautiful girls today, this Father's Day Eve. It was as if they knew what was on my mind and did everything in their power to make me laugh, talk about mommy, and just have a good time. As I've said before, I am a lucky man to have had Jen for what little time I did and I am a lucky father to have Emma and Peighton for the rest of my life.

Enjoy your Father's Day dads.

Just a couple of quick thoughts...

I write a lot about what we've done, what we are doing, and what's coming up, but I don't often give you an emotional update. I'm watching an old Goo Goo Dolls concert on TV and maybe it was the song Iris that sparked a tear and compelled me to talk about it. Anyway, all in all I'm doing well. Somebody told me a little while back that the fourth and fifth months following the loss of a loved one are the hardest. I'm starting to agree with that theory. I really do gain a lot of comfort knowing Jen is with our Lord, so I think the difficulties recently are a result of a some fatigue and the occasional feeling of being a "lost soul." I think keeping busy can help get you through the days and weeks, but it can also wear you down. I'm not sure that I can explain the "lost soul" feeling real well with words. I guess it's a loss of direction or moments of desperation because you have no clue what the future holds. Sometimes I catch myself hoping things will be back to normal soon, but then I remind myself that this is our new normal. I'm sure all these feelings are common and I have no doubt that time will bring healing. Our lives will proceed and the foundation will become so successful that thoughts of Jen will bring a smile more often than a tear.