The rest of the weekend....

BBQ and Pool Party!

Celebrating Kams B-day!

Saying Goodbye for this trip...

From the Orange County Register...

The Orange Family History Center, located in the rear of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Orange, celebrated its 20th anniversary on Saturday afternoon with an open house and dedication of the new Caroline Braxton Rober Internet Learning Center.

Following a presentation and a ribbon cutting ceremony, visitors had the opportunity to tour the center and use its various resources to learn about their ancestors.

The center, at 674 S. Yorba St., is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday and welcomes all guests regardless of religious affiliation.

JEFF ANTENORE, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Orange Family History Center Director Beth McCarty speaks during an open house and 20th anniversary celebration at the center on Saturday.

Randy Burnett - a stake president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which hosts the Orange Family History Center on its church grounds - speaks during Saturday's 20th anniversary celebration.

Larry Rober, husband of the late Caroline Braxton Rober, for which the new Internet Learning Center at the Orange Family History Center is named, was on hand to help dedicate the new center.

Lisa Rober, daughter-in-law of Caroline Braxton Rober, stands with Kamden Rober, left, and Davis Henderson, Caroline Braxton Rober's grandsons.

Caroline Rober Internet Learning Center

The highlight of the weekend in CA was the celebration of the Family History Centers 20th anniversary, and the dedication for the Caroline Rober Internet Learning Center.

As we mingled with people who work at the Family History Center it was amazing to hear how many people our Caroline taught. She truly was teaching the teachers as well as the students. It is such an honor to have her name associated with the learning center.

Walk to Defeat ALS 2011

It was such a great day! The park was gorgeous as was the weather! I can not begin to describe how touched I was to see so many different families who have all been effected by this horrible disease. It hits every race and every age but that Saturday we were all combined as one in our grief and resolve. A great example of this was when they called out all of the team names. One team was called "ALS sucks" and there was a collective laugh throughout the crowd. Not because it was particularly funny but because everyone there had a personal belief for how bad ALS truly is.

We did not hear our team name called and so at the very end they re-announced our team as "Last but not least - Sweet Caroline!" Then they said they wanted to hear it and we sang the chorus to Neil Diamonds Sweet Caroline. Then the  DJ played it for everyone. It was awesome and my Mom would have loved it.

Thank you to those of you who showed up to support us and for walking with us. Thank you to those who helped us raise money and donated so generouly. Between the two Sweet Caroline teams we raised almost $8000. What an accomplishment!

I wore your shoes for you Mommers. ALS may have taken your life but it never took your spirit.

Truly you defeated ALS!

Important Information for Saturday!

The week of our walk is here! We are so excited and look forward to seeing so many of you on Saturday. I have had several inquiries and want to make it very clear - You do NOT need to donate in order to walk. We understand the economic times we are in and do not want anyone to feel they have to donate money to honor our Sweet Caroline. Your support in walking with us in her name is the best way to honor her memory!

A few more details:

• Instead of getting t-shirts for our team we have decided to get balloons with Sweet Caroline on them. We will be wearing red or white shirts to coordinate with our blue balloons if you would like to wear red or white.

• We will be meeting at 9:30 in order to take a group picture so please try to be there. We will be near the registration table - just look for our blue Sweet Caroline balloons. 

•  The track will be 3 laps around the lake at the park so if you are concerned about being able to do the whole walk you should be able to stop after 1 or 2 miles.

• The Family History Center is celebrating 20 years of being open that same day! At 3:00 that afternoon they will be dedicating the Rober E-Internet Learning Center! You are invited to attend the open house and the dedication.

• That evening we will be hosting a BBQ at our home for the walkers. We will give more details at the walk but if you are walking and would like to join us keep your evening open.

We would like to get a general idea for how many balloons to plan on bringing and also food for that evening. If you can please shoot us an e-mail: johnlisa02@gmail.com letting us know numbers that will be walking and also if you will be joining us that evening.

Thank you all for your support and for those that have so generously donated! We surpassed our goal and almost doubled our original goal!

Bellingham Walk to Defeat ALS

My Dads sister Linda and her family and friends organized themselves in the Northwest to do the Walk to defeat ALS in Bellingham. They raised approximately $3500! Here is their team photo!

I wanted to share something beautiful that Linda wrote about that day.

Enjoy this photo that truly captures our solidarity toward a cause. For those team members from afar who could not be with us, let us say we felt your presence as we
trudged in Caroline's memory and for the cause of defeating this devastating
disease. The day was cloudy and windy until right at the end of the race.
The clouds parted, the sun shone on our team, and we felt Caroline radiating
down on us saying "I am with you all right now". It was a magnificent and
poignant moment.

Thank you so much to those in the Northwest who took the time to walk and also those that donated money to this cause!