Benefit Dinner...for the Newest Special K!

In my last post I mentioned that we were going to see a documentary called I-Heart Revolution. It dealt with highlighting social injustice in this world and definitely stirred emotions to move a person to action. I think one thing I walked away with was a more heightened realization how young girls, particularly in India are trafficked for prostitution, it just broke my heart. Then the very next day I was reading a blog I love to follow of a family who are in the process of adopting several children internationally when it came to their attention that it is very possible these children's biological parents do not know what is happening, they do not realize they are being adopted out. So the adoption is at a stand still obviously....and now a new fight is on their hands to protect these children, but how? And how does one do anything to help when the social issues are all so much bigger than ourselves?
As a family we decided that we would all do "something"...even if in the scheme of things it is a small something, it is still "something" and for that we feel good to be apart of a tiny sliver of hope. For each of us it looks a little different but after having Reid... and learning about Reece's Rainbow and the many, many children with Down syndrome cast aside with a grim future... that has became our passion. A person cannot help but be pained when perusing the site, knowing these little ones are without a family....all because they have an extra chromosome.
A while back I mentioned on my blog about a benefit dinner we were trying to help organize for Reece's Rainbow, but was postponed. Well, it was rescheduled to last Saturday and it went so beautifully!!! I am so grateful for the heart and generosity of our friends who a year ago began hosting benefit dinners every other month where the proceeds would go toward a different cause. We had mentioned Reece's Rainbow once as a possible charity and they were on board from the start... They left it up to us how we wanted the funds to be used and we decided more than anything we just want these little ones home with their "Forever Families" as soon as possible and so we decided we wanted to help a very special family, The Garcia's, get closer to their fundraising goal. We are so excited to say that we were able to raise $2,o51 for their family and their newest Special K. Many of you who follow this blog are also very familiar with Renee and Life with my Special K's....if not you can click here to find your way over to their adoption blog and follow the beautiful unfolding story for yourself as they are right smack dab in the middle of the process of getting their little girl.
Our hosts Mike and Nancy were so generous to open their beautiful home and Steve who is our favorite IT guy by day and favorite "chef" by night created the meal from scratch.....and as you can see from the pictures it was not just a meal...it was truly art, the most delicious art ever! :) It was simply... elegantly delicious! Can you see from the pictures the pumpkins he used for serving dishes?! So creative and fun! (BTW, Steve and his beautiful wife Meghan are expecting their first baby....and they found out just today they are having a little boy!)
As part of the benefit dinner it is suggested that each person donate $35 toward the cause at hand. However, to raise additional funds for the Garcia's, Nancy mentioned having a raffle of items....and it was so fun!! Below you can see several people adorn with oodles of tickets! Nancy provided beautiful gift baskets, a tower of toys (see pictured below that the children were all putting their raffle tickets toward), wine, ....and we even had a beautiful blanket donated by Heather, Zoey's mom, that was a hit amongst the girls in the group! (Thank you Heather!) You can click here to read about the incredible heart behind these blankets. But wait that's not all.....it was also casino night, so lots of chips were being traded....and guess who raked in the most chips at the roulette table??? Luke! :)
I am sorry this post is long...but so much to share! I wanted to point out that in the pictures below Nancy and her two daughters are wearing Reece's Rainbow shirts! Adoption is something very dear to their hearts, as both of their daughters were adopted from Russia....and can you see that the youngest's shirt is written in Russian?! How cool is that?!!
To open the evening Toby and I shared a bit of our hearts and shared the newest Reece's Rainbow ministry video with the group. Afterwards we had many people, including men, share with us that seeing these orphaned children brought tears to their eyes. I love that we also had an opportunity to share this cause with those unfamiliar with it! Mike, Nancy, Steve, and Meghan...............THANK YOU, from the bottom of our hearts for making this beautiful evening possible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Toby and I had the opportunity to share about Reece's Rainbow and our precious ones with Down syndrome....and share via the TV the newest Reece's Rainbow video

Our amazing chef for the evening

..and his beautiful wife Meghan

...and we can't forget Mason! :)

What a little flirt Reid is!!!!!!

We've created a new gambler I am afraid! :)

Gifts baskets, blanket, and "Tower of Toys" for the raffle

A few of our ticket purchasers :)

and Vanna....oops I mean Danielle!

I was so excited that this sweet young lady won Zoey's blanket!

Little Reid at the end of the evening...absolutely konked out!

...and poor Steve was absolutely WIPED out by the end of the evening, and understandably so!

How My Boys Got Their Names.....

I have been tagged by Adrienne from Our Unexpected Journey to write how I came up with my boys names...this has been really fun reading everyone's stories as it has made its way around "blogland".


Well Luke's name was a "back up" just in case we had a boy, lol. I was so convinced we were having a girl and her name was going to be Ellie Rey (the Ellie was short for both of our maternal grandmothers who were named Eleanor(a) and the Rey was because we were living on the central coast at the time we were pregnant in one of our favorite places of all time, Monterey) But...........obviously we had a boy, so good thing we had a back up plan! I never knew how much I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a mom to boys! Honestly I think it was God's sense of humor because I can never be surprised, somehow I always figure things out...but Luke Ryan was the best surprise of my life! I have always loved the name Luke and when Toby and I were dating I threw the name out there just to see if our relationship should go any further... ;) and thankfully he loved the name too. The middle name was tough for us at first...Toby and I both share the same middle name which is Lee (mine is after my dad's first name and Toby's is after a family friend) so you would think Lee would be the obvious choice but Luke Lee sounded like he would karate chop you in half....so we went the baseball route instead. Toby played baseball for the Seattle Mariners for a few seasons as a left handed pitcher, so we decided to give Luke a name from a pitcher Toby admired, Nolan Ryan. The Ryan is also after a very good friend of Toby's who was his catcher in college...they were both drafted after college, Ryan to the Tigers. We discussed whether we should actually give Luke the name Lucas wondering if maybe that went better with Ryan...but in the end decided that Luke is the name we really liked and to stick with it rather then to call him a nickname version of Lucas. However, Luke has goofy parents and we actually find ourselves calling him Lucas, even though we decided against the name, about 50% of the time. In fact, most people think his name really is Lucas because we say it so much.
Then came Reid Maddux five and half years later....I do not know where I first heard the name Reid but loved it and brought it up to Toby on a plane ride coming back from Seattle. We had a really hard time getting pregnant after Luke and even had a miscarriage in between these two. So our discussion on the plane ride was very "hypothetical" ...." if we ever had another baby..." but we decided then and there that we loved Reid and if another baby boy was in our future he was going to be our little Reid. Again the middle name stumped us at first, but decided that if one had a baseball name the other needed one too, so Reid's middle name is Maddux after Greg Maddux, another baseball pitcher. Reid's name couldn't be more perfect for him....he loves to "read" just about as much as he loves to play baseball...he will pick up anything including a carrot and make it into a baseball bat and throw anything he thinks is a ball as evidenced in this previous post. Again, goofy parents this little one has and we find ourselves calling him, "Reider Peter Punkin Eater" all day....and I have often wondered if people think that Peter is his middle name. I am sure we confuse the heck out of people...I know I am ;).
So, that is the story behind my boys' names... you even got a little bonus with Ellie's story though she never made her way into this world of boys over here ;)...at least not yet (Oh did I really just write that?!?)
I am now going to tag;
Down with Oz
Three's a Charm
Life with Bubba, Chicky, and Nika

10 Years Ago...

This week Toby and I will be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary! It is hard to believe in many ways. Such a sweet time in ones life when you embark on marriage and begin a journey...and begin a new family, not knowing what is ahead of you on the road but so glad to be walking it together. I clearly remember an older gentleman whom we met one day on our honeymoon ask us how long we've been married. When I replied with , "2 days", he shouted out to his wife who was a few feet from us..."Sylvia! Sylvia!... they've only been married 2 days!"...and she came over and hugged both of us. I crack up thinking about it...they must have been married at least 40 plus years so to hear 2 days must have made her impulsively reach out and grab us as if to say..."hold on dearies, it's a wild ride!!". It has been a wild ride...sometimes, but so worth it.

Toby and I were married in the church in the pictures, on July 10th, 1999. We took the boys there a few months ago to show them where our story, their story, started. The summer before we were married I had spent some time in England, Paris, and Ireland. The church we were married in reminded me of the many beautiful churches I saw on that trip... so once I saw it I knew that was where I wanted to be married.
So much has happened in the last 10 years and when I look to the next 10, so much life will be experienced for our boys. Luke will be graduating high school and Reid will be starting junior high. I can't imagine that, yet at the same time know that if the next 10 years go as quickly as the first I want to hold on tight and enjoy every season, every peak, every valley, and every moment with my little family that I love so dearly! Happy Anniversary Toby!

Happy Fathers Day......."Mr. Incredible"

Happy Fathers Day Toby! July 26, 2001 you became a dad for the first time... a new role that you were absolutely made for...and might I say made me fall in love with you all over again just by watching you love and care for our new little baby and then again when Reid was born 5 years later....a day we will never forget, yet you handled with such absolute love and acceptance! Our boys could not ask for a more loving, patient, involved, fun, and dedicated dad! Luke got it right when he called you "Mr. Incredible"! We love you!!

** Just before school got out Luke was to pick a special person to write about for "Special Persons Day" at school and invite them to class to hear him read his essay...Luke picked his dad, who with all his might feels his dad is nothing short of incredible, I'd have to agree.

Mr. Incredible

   Hi, do you want to know who my special person is? You do? That's great! Well, this person has blue eyes and brown hair. He makes me smile when I'm down in the dumps. This person is always there when I need him. He is my incredible dad, Toby Foreman.

   Bam! The ball goes in the hole. "Nice shot dad. You are an incredible golfer." My dad can do all kinds of things. He is especially good at roasting coffee. Every time my dad comes back from a trip he spoils me with a gift. For example, today he came back from Hawaii and he brought me a shark tooth necklace and a hat. My dad is a smart and caring person. He teaches me stuff like what coagulate means and what the centrifugal force is. He makes me laugh everyday.

   Dad, I am glad that I am your son. I am also glad that you are a part of my family. I love you!

Love,

Luke Foreman

I need to comment on this last picture...it was taken during Luke's "Scooby Doo" Birthday party. We created a real mystery for the kids to solve...the Birthday Bandit was on the loose and had stolen all the birthday presents. The kids followed clues to find the culprit...who was Toby. In this picture he is reciting a script I had given to him the night before...and yes I am not beyond writing out scripts for parties...at least this one, the theme just screamed for one (LOL)! :)