Sarah's 3rd Birthday - a Very Late Post

I can't believe she's three. I keep wishing I could hold back time. I don't want to lose this time with her, my only girl and my last. How happy I am that she's a part of our family.

Sarah's friend party...







Disney Princesses on Ice the night of her birthday...

Friends at the Gale Center on her birthday...


The dollhouse, her main present...


Jungle Jim's with the Bowens (there should be a pic of the Bowens here, but I didn't seem to upload it)






Grandma Bowen and Sarah...





A princess cake...


Curly hair for her celebration...


Cake and Ice Cream with my family...


= one loved little girl. Happy (super-belated) Birthday Sarah!

Donations

Life has been going full tilt for a while now. My blog has been one of the innocent bystanders. Sorry to all two of you who might have been bothered by that!


Moving on...




I was so humbled by the amount of support and concern shown by so many friends, family, and neighbors when we decided to collect donations for my neighbor whose home was damaged in the fire. Jaylynn (next door to me) and I were able to take the combined donations to him on Saturday, Dec. 19th. I took pictures of most of the items and money, but forgot to take one when is was all wrapped up!

Total donated was (estimated) over $650. $425 was cash (much of this was from checks made out to me), $120 in visible gift cards. A handful of sealed cards and lots of food and supplies.

Thank you so, so much to everyone who shared what you had with him. He was so grateful!

Just so you know, the house was not *quite* a complete loss. They are redoing just about everything though. Every piece of sheetrock has been removed. They will run tests on the wood framing to see how much frozen water remains in it. The siding, brick, and roof will all be replaced. It needs new cupboards, granite, subfloor...everything. Rebuild will take approximately 6 months and then he will live there again. He was looking at the bright side when we spoke to him and thinking about all of the improvements he can make. :)

The Fire on My Street - A Call for Donations

If you are not already aware of this, sadly, a house on our street went up in flames last Friday night. Above are a few pictures we took from our house. (Most of the damage is actually on the back of the home.)

The owner, Roger, was devastated and lost so many things. Many people have requested that we take up a collection for him. So...

We will be collecting donations for Roger through Sunday, December 13th.

*If you would like to contribute, please bring any donations to me by this Sunday. Please contact me if you have any questions or if you need more time. There will also be a group card at my house that you can sign if you would like to express sympathy for his loss.

*If you would like to donate some items you think he would need that are new, it might be good to attach a gift receipt it case he wishes to return it.

*You may donate things that you already own that you think he could use.

*We will also be collecting money and/or gift cards to be given directly to him. We may put money towards Target or Lowe's gift cards.

*Checks can be made out to me (and the money will be combined with other donations), or you can write a check directly to Roger and it will be delivered along with the rest of the items.

Losing your home is a terrible thing to have happen at any time, but it is especially heartbreaking at Christmastime. Hopefully we can rally together and help bring Roger some unexpected joy this season! Thank you so much!

(Leave a comment or email me at malisa5@bowensite.com if you need more info, such as where I live, my phone number, Roger's phone number and full name, etc.)

Here's one of the clips that our security cameras picked up. (It will take a minute to load.) I didn't see this part; it's before the fire engines arrive.

Video Clip