Two Days for Briggs....

On Thursday night we attended a wonderful fundraising dinner for Briggs at Bella's Mexican restaurant. The food was great, and Brenn even got up to sing a few songs. When he sang the song he wrote for Briggs, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. They had a great silent auction (Grandma Sue won a bracelet!), and all of the proceeds went directly to the family. It's truly inspiring to see all of the love and generosity that have been shown to Briggs. Mason brought along our "Team Briggs" buttons that we had made for the relay, and ended up selling them all! We had Emily and Thad make more so he and Quayden could sell them on Saturday. Go Team Briggs!

"A Day For Briggs" was a huge success! When we pulled into the parking lot for the 5k,we were amazed to see the amount of cars. We literally jumped out of the car, put up the trailer for Emma, and ran to the start. It was a little after eight, so the runners had already gone. Bruce, Emma and Colter ran ahead, while Mason, Juss, Sara and I were pretty much dead last. I tried to get Mason to run with me, but he was more interested in checking the ditches for Turtles. After getting him to move faster, we started to pass other groups, and really made pretty good time. While we were walking, the coolest thing happened. A man walked out of his house and asked me "are you walking for that little boy?". When I replied that we were, he handed me twenty dollars and asked me to add it to the donations! Isn't that neat? My heart just swelled with love. What a nice gesture for a child he didn't even know! By the time we were approaching the final lap, Mason was just exhausted. We decided to just cut across to the park and find the family. As we approached the park, I couldn't believe the number of people. The line for breakfast was stretched all the way around the building! We found Bruce and the kids, Grandma and Grandpa and Quayden. We ate some breakfast and visited with some great friends and family. After we were done, Bruce and I set up the table for the kids to sell their "Team Briggs" buttons and balloon animals. My friend Becky is a genius with balloon animals. Seriously. She rivals any party clown! She generously donated her time and made five bags full of for the kids to sell. How nice is that? The boys sat down to sell, and we went to check out the auction. About this time, Joan came running over with tears in her eyes. She and Dave had donated four Denver Bronco's tickets for the auction, and guess what? They sold for almost six hundred dollars!!! She was literally speechless. Thanks so much Erickson family for your generous donation! We spent the rest of the morning visiting with all of the great people who had come out to support Briggs. When Brenn, Sylina and Cambridge showed up, a crowd gathered around them. They were so overwhelmed with the love that the community had shown them. And if there is one thing I have learned from this situation, there is plenty of love in this community. From all walks of life. Different faiths, different circumstance. All comming together to help one little guy heal. In helping with the fundraising, I have met some great people. Some I'm sure will be my friends for life. I'm so grateful for the love that they have shown Brenn, Sylina and the kids. It's truly inspiring. Go Team Briggs! Thanks so much to everyone for comming out and supporting this great cause. Here are some highlights......

Juss, Sara and Emma J cool down after the 5k.

Taylore, Mason and Quayden:Buy a button? How 'bout a balloon animal?

All aboard the "Team Briggs" express!

I lost count of how many times the kids road the train....Maybe seven times???

Who could resist buying something from these cuties?

Later that night, Briggs story was featured on the PCMC telethon. As we sat at watched, I teared up. What a hard, uphill battle little Briggs has had and still has in front of him. He's endured more in a year than many of us do in a lifetime, but still remains strong. Brenn posted these pictures last night. Yes, Briggs is "riding" a trike! They said he might not walk, but look at him now!