Happy Sweet 16 Brianna!

Time for a little catch up posting now that life WILL be settling down some soon :)

Not long ago we had Brianna's Sweet 16 Parties, and I just realized as I was editing photos tonight that I never posted pictures of this special time for her.... can't have that, so here we go! This is mostly going to be a picture journey through her special day :)

Yummy yummies!

Faline's second calling... a cake decorator!

And no party is complete without yummy food too!

Brianna and her Mr Matt, who just came back for a visit to Colorado, so it was super special that he could come to the party!

The birthday girl herself!

Brianna has a knack for posing goofy for pictures, so this is a rare gem for us... a natural looking Brianna in a picture! She is just getting so beautiful inside and out!

Mr. Nathaniel just wanted to go to the Surf Camp fund raiser... so he looks a little put out here!

Cousins.... in a round about way!

Cuddles with Aunta

Josie entertaining us....

Helpful Josie :)

Wishing Wishing Wishing

A fun present complete with lessons for her "new" truck...

A special present from Mommy

The crazy folks

The girls and their Mr Matt

Totally Brianna look.....

Audrey and Sissy dancing...

A happy Josie :) Amazing!

Before her night party for her friends :)

Happy Sweet 16 Brianna Darling!

Rock For Surf Recap

So we went to the Rock For Surf Camp fundraiser last weekend and had a BLAST!!! We saw lots of those cool shirts everywhere...

There was GREAT live music!

Free Face Painting

Funny people things...

Great games for the kids...

And TONS of prizes to be won!!

We ALL got to go, which was a special thing in it'self. That is one of the things I LOVE about Project Surf Camp, it enbraces the WHOLE family!

Nat did AMAZING there, and played well with the other kids ;)

This is one of the WONDERFUL volunteers who makes wonderful things happen at PSC!

Not to mention he is a really nice guy nad lots of fun to talk to!

Audrey started out a KILLER winning streak from raffel tickets for our family :)

She was THRILLED to win that HUGE basket of Princess Goodies!

And I mean HUGE!

Did I mention that Nat did GREAT??

Nathanieel usually has a REALLY hard time with crowds and lots of people and stuff. But he was so GREAT here. They even had him up there calling off raffel numbers all day. He would read the numbers on the mocrophone like a champ! It made me so happy in so many ways.

1~The wonderful organizers of PSC invited him to participate
2~The had the utmost patients with him and were so sweet to him (as always!)
3~He got to feel super special!!
4~It was a totlly normal kid thing for him to be doing and he dosen't get that often!
5~He was proud of what he was doing and felt like he was helping this roup that he LOVES!

So often Nat sits on my lap and melts, but not Sunday. Sunday he was a super star!

Bri's face painting.. sweet and simple, like her :)

Josie's face painting... dramatic and beautiful, like her!

Two of my FAAVORITE people, Traci and Katy!

Robbie got in on some great winning too... ours was the table to be at!

One of our favorite cutie pies... Ian :)

Having a blast as you can see!

Audrey all painted up :)

One of the BEAUTIFUL custom made surfboards that was raffled off.

And the other custom made surfboard that was raffled off.

For about two weeks Nathaniel had been telling EVERYONE that he was going to this event to win the surfboard prize. His mind was DEAD SET on winning. When we came in and he scoped out the prizes he walked right over to the two boards. He looked at them both, then promptly turned around and told me:

"This (pointing at the board in the picture above) is going to be MINE. I am winning it today, and it is coming home with us."

He then shook his head like "yup, that's right" and went off to play.

I was not quiet sure how we were going to handle the someone else winning it and it not going home with Nathaniel thing... I was seriously dreading the melt down that would surely ensue.

Then Glenn (bless his heart!) let Nathaniel and Audrey come up to do the drawing and read off the number... then Nathaniel wold have give the surfboard to the winner. Oh man did my heart stop!

So much so did my heart stop that I almost didn't notice the number called out...

And then I cried!

My little man must have had the ear of God... because HE WON that board he had his heart set on!!!

Does he look a little happy or what???

Nat and his NEW SURF BOARD!

William (AWSOME MAN!), Nat and John Taylor (another AWSOME MAN!)

John is the Executive Director of project Surf Camp and William is on the board and just a wonderful man.

WIlliam and Nat!

John so excited with Nathaniel!

I am so blessed and so happy for my little guy! He sleeps with his surf board every night now :)



We rocked out for a few more hours, loved hanging with such wonderful people...



then headed home :)

What a blessed after noon all in support of an amazing organization!

Giveaway for Project Surf Camp!!!

We are on a HUGE campaign to get the news out that a non profit that we LOVE is up for a HUGE contest and we want to encourage everyone to help... so we are offering a giveaway!!!

Link back to THIS POST and share everywhere you can think of... each time you share leave a comment HERE on the blog (not Facebook) with a link. Leave a separate comment for each link. On Wednesday July 7th we will pick a random comment number and giveaway something COOL!! Please help spread this GREAT news and have a chance to win something awesome too :)

more news stories!!!

Wow.... I just found another story about Project Surf Camp that has Nathaniel all over it!! Check it out HERE ... and don't forget to go vote for Project Surf Camp!!!

We were on the TODAY Show Today!!!!!

Big news for our little family!!!! An organization that we are passionately in love with was featured on the Today Show on NBC today! And WE were in the footage used!!!! How exciting on so many levels! First, we LOVE this organization and the prize would be HUGE for them to share the love of special kids and God's love. Second, it's cool to see my special boy on TV!!!

So check it out HERE then GO VOTE!!!!

And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pass it on to all of your friends :) If you want to link back to this blog so that people can see how much this organization blesses the life of our special needs family, please feel free to do so! There is a NEW LINK on the navigation bar just for Project Surf Camp!

This is a letter I received from Gene Miller on the Board of Directors for Project Surf Camp this morning...

Please send to everyone you know. The quick link to vote is:

http://www.today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38027143

Project Surf Camp has been selected as one of four finalists in the Pepsi Refresh Project and the Today Show’s “What Do You Care About TODAY”. Beginning July 1, 2010, the four finalists will be featured on the Today Show. Viewers will be able to vote on their favorite not-for-profit organization. The organization that receives the most votes will receive a grant of $100,000. Voting runs from July 1 to 9:00 PM EDT July 6, 2010. Votes can be cast on the Today Show

web site http://www.today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38027143.

Project Surf Camp is a local 501(c)(3) charitable and educational, nonprofit organization designed specifically for individuals with special needs. While great strides have been made in recent years to increase access to goods and services for special needs individuals, opportunities for leisure or recreational activities are often still difficult to access. Sometimes we forget, especially living on the coast, that not everyone has experienced the ocean. One group in particular that has been deprived of such a privilege is those persons with disabilities. Our hope is to introduce people to the water who would otherwise never receive such an opportunity.Project Surf Camp uses surfing, the beach, and other ocean activities as an educational modality to build self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-efficacy in individuals with special needs. We further provide opportunities to build social skills, improve physical fitness, develop healthy outlets for stress reduction, and foster independence.

The Project Surf Camp Board of Directors