2011 Great Strides Walk

On May 21st Brian and I participated in the 2011 Great Strides walk to help raise money and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis.

This cause really means something to my family. My little cousin, Makayla, was diagnosed with CF at 6 months old. She is now a whopping 5. Makayla's Mom, Laura, has really tried going above and beyond to raise money for CF as well as trying to raise awareness.

I had never participated in this walk before, and I must say, it was quite interesting. Basically we walk 3.1 miles around downtown Grand Rapids... We caused a couple traffic jams, too. Whoops!

Here are some pictures from the event:



It was held at Calder Plaza. This was taken before everyone showed up.



This was most of our team.



Makayla's family.

We also saw some cool things along the way...










My Uncle Tom decided to make his own route. :) Cheater!






We walked by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, too.






He's also buried there.



So, we got to see some pretty awesome things.

We were pretty tuckered out at the end, but it was a blast.

For My Mom

This hummingbird was perched on my tomato plant last Friday morning. :)

Gardening :)

Well, Brian and I have really been working hard on the yard for the past few weeks...

We have planted a red fury, begonias, petunias, royal carpet, cosmos, cat grass, and a few other things. While cleaning out some old flower pots last weekend I found some sprouts growing in the leftover dirt. This dirt belonged to the people who owned this house before us... So, they are kind of mysteries. :)



Petunias.



Begonias.



Red Fury. Pre-bloom.



Mystery sprout #1.



Mystery sprout #2. (Pretty sure it's the same as #1... But I found them at separate times.)



Mystery sprout #3.



Here is my Royal Carpet after just one week.



Our yard is in full bloom of tulips. :)



Here's a close-up picture of some Rose Breasted Grosbeaks. I absolutely LOVE these birds. I was talking to Brian about them literally the day before they showed up. We have at least 3 males and 2 females. (Pictured are two males.)



Here is a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.

Lastly...



Maggie and her boyfriend!

That's all for now!