CFTC THANK YOU!!!!

WOW!!  Seriously, I am not sure what else to say except - WOW!!!  That is how I feel, today the morning after Crop for the Cure.  I want to say THANK YOU but those words just seem to be so small in relation to how overwhelmed I am feeling!!  What an amazing day filled with SO much incredible support from many many amazing people!!!  Each and every one of you who support our day deserve credit, appreciation and so many thanks for helping us make our day the crazy success it has become.  A million times I say thank you and that will still not be enough!!!

Our day was amazing again!!  Not without it's glitches but still amazing!!  I have to admit I panicked just a wee bit when the power went out very early into our day but thankfully it was just a flicker and then the crazy weather cleared up and we were okay after that.  That unfortunately was not the last glitch of the day.  Dinner was running a little late due to a crazy issue with outlets where our roasters kept blowing breakers.  Man, that was frustrating!!  Thankfully, we have so many amazing, incredible and patient ladies who attend our day and we made it through and did finally serve up a yummy late dinner!!  Thank you to everyone there for being patient with us while we worked out the issues!!  You guys are all the best!!

I have to say a gigantic THANK YOU to our vendors this year.  Scrapping Turtle - what can I say about this amazing store?!?!  Well, I love the store!  It is truly my happy place.  Such an awesome store but more than that, I love the ladies there!  Hannah - you rock, my friend!!  I was so glad to have you there with us for just about the entire day!  I ask for help and you step up and support our day in major ways!!  THANK YOU for that!!  You are amazing and I love ya!!  And of course, I cannot forget Lori.  I bring you some goodies and you create and teach the most amazing class!!!  Sure, it ran over time but isn't that what I love about your classes?!?!  You pack so much goodness into it that it is impossible to complete it all in time!!  Truly awesome!!  Thank you so much for being a fabulous friend and a truly amazing support to our day!!  You too rock and I love ya!!

Our other fantabulous vendor was the super sweet and amazing Denise Donald - Stampin Up Extraordinaire!  Thank you so much for supporting our day and helping to make it awesome!!  And your class was incredible!!  Again, I am so very appreciative that you share your time and talent with us.  You are fantastic and I am blessed to call you friend!!!  I have to do another shout out too since Denise was so sweet to make Crop for the Cure the hostess for the day so we were so incredibly blessed to receive an extra $140 donated to the cause!!  Thanks lady!  I love ya!!

I also need to send out many thanks to our incredible sponsors!  We couldn't do it without you all!!  Seriously, I cannot say enough how much your generosity is appreciated!  Thank you just doesn't seem enough!  I contact you and you all step up in a major way!!  You are amazing and I am awed by each of you!!  I know one of the things that makes our day fabulous is that each of our participants get to go home with some of your fantastic goodies!!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!!  I hope to be able to count on your support for years to come!!!  (Please, if you are reading this, go check out the list and give some love to all of the fantastic companies and people who support our day.) 

We have so many businesses that support our day but we also have many generous individuals who do as well.  I love that there are so many people out there who have embraced our day and just show up with goodies to give away.  That is amazing to me!  Many of our participants have been with us each of the five years and have become part of our big CFTC family!!  Thank you so much to each of  you for your support!!

One of the very amazing things about CFTC is that we get a lot of the same people back year after year!  While I always feel bad when people miss out on getting a ticket and I have to turn them away, I am so thrilled that this has become just like a big family!  I love seeing the familiar faces walk through the door each year!!  Thank you to all of you who keep coming back!  I guess we must be doing something right!!  ;)

This year it was my pleasure to give away a couple of very special prizes.  These are really tough ones to give away but also amazing ones to give away.  I think they help remind us what we are doing at CFTC every year.  Sure, it is a day of fun and friends but it is also a day to fight toward a future without breast cancer.  At the heart of it, that is what we are all doing!

Kathy Quinn was a lady that I did not have the pleasure of getting to know very well but was thrilled to have with us our very first year doing CFTC.  Sadly, she lost her battle to breast cancer a few years back.  I know she is missed by all those who loved her.  Each year, her family, with the help of Keri Postma, put together something to give away in her honour.  This year we had a special prize of a $48 gift certificate in honour of her 48th birthday that she should have been here to celebrate last weekend. 

Laurie Cheney, or Elmo as we lovingly call her, was a fantastic friend who lost her battle with cancer this past year.  It was very strange not to see her smiling face and her bouncing Elmo backpack there yesterday.  I was thrilled when Grace Stone contacted me and wanted to organzie a gift to be given away in her honour.  I hope in some small this helped keep Elmo a part of our day. 

I also need to thank my friend Kristy for helping me out behind the scenes as I prepped for the day.  And of course for making the very yummy Girardelli brownies!!  I don't think there was a crumb left.  And many thanks as well to Lynne for bringing some sweet treats for everyone to enjoy!  I heard many full mouths commenting on their tastiness!!  Also, many thanks to the ladies who helped us tidy up last night (Marissa, Ria, Shelley, Denise, Heather).  You ladies were a big help - both with cleaning up and with commiserating with me over my injury!!

Oh, and how can I not shout out my amazing Momma & sisters (Tami & Manda)!!  Not only are they the most fabulous ladies ever but they allow me to be bossy and run the CFTC show.  You guys rock!!  The food prep is done completely by these ladies.  I am seriously no help at all in this department.  I really could not do this without them.  Not just because they make sure everyone is fed but because they are the most amazing support a girl could have.  Not just when it comes to CFTC but every day.  I am truly blessed to have the most incredible family ever!!!  Oh, and I can't forget my Daddy who helps us with the heavy lifting and hauls the tables back and forth for us!  Thankfully, he will work for chocolate!! ;)

Oh, and a major shout out to my sweet, funny and adorable niece Marissa!  Rissa Roo was the princess of the day!!  Not only was she super good and well behaved (which really is not a surprise at all) but she was the most awesome help!!  She drew each and every one of those draw tickets and hand-picked the prize each person won!  And many times, this required a lot of deep thought and consideration on her part!!  You are truly amazing Ruby Roo and we all love you too much!!!

Who else can I thank?!?!  I don't know.  I truly hope I got everyone.  I am still feeling so overwhelmed by it all!  So, please if I did not thank you just know that I am SO appreciative of everything everyone does to help and support our day!  I wish I could go through the list and thank each of our sponsors individually but frankly, none of us have that kind of time!  Just know that you are all amzing to me!! 

THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!

Hey, who's ready for June 2nd, 2012?!?!?

Before I sign off, please let me remind everyone how this day got started.  For my family - it is about our Nanny!!  She was the most amazing and incredible woman ever and we all miss her so much!  For us, she is at the heart of this day!  I know that she was smiling down at us!  I love you Nanny and I will until the end of time!!!