Light the Night

Last Saturday Stefan, me, and the girls participated in the Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We met up with some people from Stefan's office. Lexi was very upset by this stop because we had told her we were going to Atlanta. She didn't make the association that Daddy's office is in Atlanta. Once that was explained she was still a bit confused because there were no tall buildings (skyscrapers) around. We were able to show her some in the distance but that was not satisfactory to her. She wanted to be among the buildings.

Once everyone arrived at the office we all caravaned over to Centennial Olympic Park. We were there a couple of hours before the actual walk started so we looked around at the many tents for the various companies with walking teams. There were also memorial walk tents set up for families with affected members to post their posters and pictures memorializing their loved ones. That was pretty sad, but I think it was good for Lexi to see. It helped her to understand that some diseases can take peoples' lives and it helped to make the point that we were raising money for people like them and their families. She has such a good heart and this point was very easy for her to comprehend and just got her even more pumped up for the walk ahead. What else got her pumped? The balloon that she got to carry. It had a blinking light in it and she thought that was the coolest. Everyone that walked was given one. There were three colors--red for supporters, gold for memorials to loved ones, and white for survivors. Lexi, of course, got red which was exactly what she wanted because it is the closest to pink--her favorite color.

Unlit...



Lit



At dark, the event coordinators had everyone gather at the start finish line and held us there for about 20 minutes before finally opening the floodgates and allowing all 5,000 walkers to swarm the streets of downtown. It was funny. You could look around you and you didn't feel crowded--everyone was pretty spaced out. But once you started the climb of the initial hill of the walk you could look in front of you and see a sea of people and balloons which was cool, but when you looked behind the view was the same and that was even better. Spread out, 5,000 people didn't seem like much, but crammed into the narrow streets of downtown surrounded by the much anticipated (on Lexi's part) skyscrapers, 5,000 seemed like the entire town came out in full force. Very cool.

I bet you're wondering how we were able to manage two kids in this crowd. We brought the double stroller. What a God send! Abby sat and chilled out in the front while Lexi rode on the back admiring the buildings and chatting away.



Sorry it has taken me so long to post this. Stefan's been working overtime and I have had my hands full with school and the kids and have not been able to take the time to upload the pictures or the video. Thank you to all of our supporters...events like this are a better lesson for the girls in giving and charity than any teacher could provide in the classroom.

Oh, this video was taken right before the event started.