Relay for Life

On April 23rd we had the opportunity to be a part of the Queen Creek Relay for Life Cancer Walk and it was a blast. A good friend of mine in our ward was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma about 2 years ago, and I am happy to say that today she is cancer free and has been for a while. So Team RBug was formed in her honor while she was going through treatment, but this year she was walking in person as a survivor! Rashelle is such a sweet gal, such an inspiration to me, and I am so happy to be her friend!

The QC walk is only about 5 years old and so it is only a 12 hour walk rather then a 24 hour one. The walk began at 6pm and after opening ceremonies our little family took to the track and walked our hour from 7:00-8:00. Bailey rode like a champ in her stroller lap after lap, while Clint & I kept trying to decided which delicious treat we were going to buy on the next go around. After our hour of walking we hung out with the team, danced to the live music, and ate some good food. Bailey and Clint stayed til about 10:00pm...but then it was time for the little Holloway to get to bed.

After they left we were entertained by a hypnotist, more dancing, raffle drawing, and some karaoke!!! I stayed til about 1:30am and then decided to call it a night...light weight I know! Next year I have decided my goal is to make it the whole night, because why wouldn't a 30 year old with two kids want to stay up ALL night!!! Really it was a blast hanging out with all the girls and being a part of such a great cause. On top of fundraising with the team I got to help Rashelle with some of the decorations for the Survivor Dinner they have at the walk. So about 4 days before the walk I was on Puff Ball duty! I made over 100 tissue paper balls (had some help with fluffing them) and made them into chandeliers that hung over the dinner tables. It was a TON of work, but they looked great and really that is all that matters right...at least I did my part!

Our Team Captain Rashelle (and my puff balls) &

Rashelle & I with two of our Young Women

One of my favorite moments from the walk was the hour when they turned off all the lights in the stadium and lit all of the luminaries. It was so beautiful! On one side of the stadium the bags spelled out CURE and on the other side it said HOPE, and then they had individual bags lined around the track that people dedicated to friends and family members they have lost from cancer. It was a great reminder that life is so precious and we really need to enjoy every moment we have been blessed with! So here's to my friend Rashelle & my mother-in-law Sandi...two cancer survivors I am blessed to still have in my life!

Precious in His Sight

Tonight we went over to Blake & Liz's house for dinner, and while we were eating Bailey was chatting away as usual. Then out of nowhere I hear Liz say, "Yes, that's Jesus." I look over and see Bailey pointing at this picture on the wall saying, "Jeejus...jeejus."

My heart melted immediately! We have a couple of books for Bailey about Jesus, and I always tell her who Jesus is when we read them and she will say his name back to me...but she has never recognized & said his name on her own. Tonight reminded me just how close to the veil her little spirit is, and of the scripture in Matthew that says,

"And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them...And said, verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven...Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

I feel so blessed to be a mother and I pray that I can learn to become like the little spirits we have and will be blessed to have in our home. I love my Heavenly Father, I know that Jesus is my Savior and that he lives, and I hope Bailey will continue to recognize their love for her throughout her life on this earth so that she can return to live with them someday.

Easter & a Visit from Grandma & Grandpa Millward

So I have given up on back tracking, from this point on I will hopefully be better at updating & recording our lives...so here is a little of what we've been up to lately. We headed out to California a couple weeks ago for Easter and to meet our new twin nieces, Saylor & Ruby. The weekend went by way too fast, but we had a lot of fun relaxing and spending time with family. On Saturday, the grandkids colored Easter eggs with Nana and had an Easter egg hunt in the neighbors yard across the street. Bailey loved coloring the eggs, but slept through the Easter egg hunt...so unfortunately we don't have a any pictures to document her big Easter experience this year.

We continued the weekend with a few fun Holloway traditions...none of which I got pictures of, lame I know! Saturday night the boys went to Priesthood, and we met up with them after at Paul's Place for dinner. This tradition started long before I was around, but ever since Clint and I started dating I remember going to Paul's Place after every Priesthood session. We love that place & wish we could find a place like it out here in AZ to continue the tradition. Sunday was Easter & we just hung out all day watching conference and eating great food! We ended the night watching Ten Commandments which is another tradition of the Holloway household.

Our other reason for heading out was to see Saylor & Ruby, our nieces that were born back in Febuary. We wanted to see them before they got too big, but they have already practically doubled in size. They are the sweetest little girls, and we couldn't be happier for Kevin, Melissa, and Reese. I seriously don't know how they are doing it with two babies...I could barely handle one! Bailey wasn't too sure of them at first, she would point & say baby but keep her distance. She quickly warmed up to them & would run over to them everytime they were in the room wanting to touch & kiss them. We are so happy we got to meet them, but are so sad that they live so far away!

Bailey kissing Baby Ruby

Baby Saylor

After too short of a visit to Cali we headed home to get ready for my parents to come the next day! We had a great time with Grandma & Papa, and are so happy they came to visit & to celebrate my birthday. We shopped, ate great food, went to the zoo, played at the park, and much more! On Friday we met up with my cousin-in-law, Kristi, and her two boys, Ethan & Blake at the zoo. It was so fun to see Bailey start to recognize the animals and make their sounds, it makes the trip so much more fun. The zoo has a kid area with a playground & petting zoo for the little ones, and Bailey LOVED it. We took the kids to the petting zoo to pet some goats, and I wasn't too sure how Bailey would react. I'm mean our dog is bigger then most of them so she shouldn't be scared, and she wasn't. She walked right in, started petting them, and calling all of them doggies. We had a great time with the Kasper's & can't wait to go again!

One of the days we headed down the street to this great park with a duck pond, playground, and splash pad. We tried to feed some ducks, but they didn't really want to come over...maybe because Bronco was there. Bailey is loving the playground right now, she will go down the slide all by herself and loves it. Once she gets to the bottom she turns around, says "agen", and starts climbing up the slide! It was super windy that day at the park, but one little boy was at the splash pad and so I told Bailey to go get the water...really just to see if she would do it or not. Sure enough she did! She loves the water and I can't wait to go to the pool this summer.

I turned 29 on April 11th, and did not take one picture from any of the celebrating we did. But to be honest we really didn't do to much, I'm holding out for the BIG one next year! My good friend Heidi made me this AMAZING shirt for my b-day, and I L-O-V-E it! The saying is a little inside joke with my other Young Women Leaders...love those gals.

We had a great couple of weeks and I can't say it enough, but I love our families and feel so blessed to have so many great people in our lives! I miss everyone already and can't wait to see them again!