June 28, 2011: Back in California...

Heaveno!

Well, we made it home today without too much worry.  What a week.  So many great memories.  Good news!  My camera decided to connect to my computer once it got back home to CA.  LOL.  So, I'm gonna give you LOTS of pictures tonight.  Also, after I give you the big scroll o' pics, please comment and tell me if you prefer the slide show, or a bunch of pics down the page.

Let's pick up from where we left off...

Monday:  Ronald McDonald Charity Golf Tournament.

I used to play a lot more golf than I do these days.  Typically, if I get out once a year, it's a good thing.  The funny thing is, my game actually gets better the less often I play.  Can't explain it.  Sure, my chipping stinks, but my putting is still solid, my driving is long and consistent, and my irons are pretty solid, too.  Crazy.  I think it's because I don't think about what I am doing as much when I only play once in a blue moon.  I only have one thought in my head:  "head still."  When I keep my head still, my swing works well, when I don't, it doesn't.  I also frankly expect less of myself so I relax, and being relaxed is so important to golf.  I don't know if you really wanted all that gruesome detail into my game, but there you have it!  LOL.

The day was BEAUTIFUL.  We played at the Tournament Players Club (TPC) in Blaine, MN.  What a pretty course.  My cohorts were a comedy routine in themselves, to which I was only too happy to lend my own comedic antics.  My buddy Spence that we met at Minnehaha Falls last summer helped me put together our foursome.  Spence LOVES to play golf, and we always said last summer that we'd figure out a way to tee it up some time.  Well, here it was!  We had so much fun, it should have been illegal.

I really want to tell you about the generosity at this event.  The fundraising goal for the event was to raise $25,000.00 that day on the spot in additional donations during the program at lunch.  People were standing up at $1,000/$500/$250 a pop and just lining up to donate.  A gentlemen who will remain nameless at his request walked up to the organizers and quietly said that after the lunch program, if they didn't hit $25k, just let him know how much they were short, and he'd cover the difference.  It was his first time at a RMH event.  Ever.

That is cool.  It is people like that that made it possible for my family and extended visiting family to live in a fully furnished apartment - walking distance from Bella - for over 5 months.  I had a chance every night after dinner to thank the volunteers who gave up their evening and who knows how much of their own money to bring in and prepare my family dinner, but on Monday, I got to thank guys for flipping the bill for the room itself; a thank you I didn't get to make directly beforehand, and a thank they didn't get to receive from a parent.  That's powerful on both ends.  I don't know about you, but on several occasions during Bella's journey, the amount of gifts blessed upon us by so many was confronting to deal with.  Sure it's easy to give, but how easy is it to receive, without having the ability or request to reciprocate?  Getting to at least say THANK YOU on Monday to the other golfers, and the CEO of the RMH house, allowed me to return just a SPECK of the gratitude I hold in my heart for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Thank you again to all of you that contributed in any way toward either the Time to Fly run or the Golf tournament.  I really appreciate your continued support along this journey.  After dinner with Diana and Norm Hageboeck on Friday night, I'm clear that we've only just begun this journey, and it is beautiful.

Enjoy the pics!

God night.

The old path from RMH to the old Children's Hospital...

Ali and Mark's girls twistin' to the Holy Rocka Rollaz!

Cruise night in North Saint Paul...

Check out my Fabulous guitar socks in honor of Bella!

YAY TEAM PUCK!  Thanks to everyone who ran!

Those are my fabulous butterfly socks... Figured my pants were ridin' a little high, so might as well make 'em knickers and rock the fabulous socks!