Today is Father's Day and we are so happy to be home for it.  It's crazy to think that just a few days ago we were sitting in a hospital room discussing what we would send in the mail to our Dads and today we go to give Will's Dad our gift in person!  It was the best day ever.  We have both been blessed with wonderful Fathers who are great examples of faith and endurance.  Will's Dad had lung cancer several years ago and had one whole lung and part of the remaining lung removed.  He manages to get around now with only part of one lung without any need for oxygen.  As you can see, the Beavers men are cut from steel.
Willie is doing fantastically.  He has been resting here at home and doing a few small things around the house.  Yesterday his Uncle, parents and sister came to lay brick down on a grassy area next to our garage that we've been meaning to get to for years.  It was above 100 degrees and I thought I was going to melt right into the patio when I went out to help them.  We say that Willie has become de-conditioned after laying for a month in a hospital bed, but I'm just as weak from sitting around!  They did an amazing job and it feels good to have it done.  We have received so much help with our yard that it actually looks better now than it ever did before Willie got sick!
Friday afternoon was the fundraiser for Willie down at our store.  His Dad and friends from the gym thought up the idea for a free ice cream day at which they would sell tee shirts and wrist bands to raise money.  The event was from 2PM-8PM and the turn out was amazing.  I went down around 3PM and was overwhelmed by the amount of people who came down to support us.  I was in awe of the generosity of the community members and their willingness to donate to us.  We are so blessed. 
Tammy has been working on a "surprise" down at the shop for quite a while.  I knew she was doing something and was very curious, but she was sworn to secrecy about her project. When we got home on Wednesday night she informed me that I was not allowed to go to my own shop until Friday.  I was actually a relieved to be banned from doing business because there were far more important things to take care of at home. 
I grew more curious as I waited the time out until I could go down there.  Friday afternoon came quickly though and I was soon pulling up to the back door of the shop.  Tammy came out into the alley looking like a kid on Christmas morning.  She was excited to unveil her project.  She pushed me toward the front door, but I was met by on onslaught of well wishers on the way. After some brief conversations we entered the shop and I gasped, in awe.  She had created a banner that spans the width of the shop that read "Strength for Willie."  A smaller banner of the same style is strung above the cash register that reads "Welcome Home."  The rest of the shop was covered in "Strength for Willie" signs, posters and pictures of support.  A long table was set up next to the register with tee shirts, bracelets and raffle tickets for sale.  She also made a poster for people to sign with our pictures on it. 
Anyone who knows Tammy, knows that she doesn't do anything half way.  This is something I admire about her.  For example, if we were having a family dinner and all we had was paper plates and plastic forks to work with, I would lay them out on the table in straight lines and call it good.  For me, symmetry is good enough.  Tammy, however, would wrap those plastic utensils in a piece of rustic ribbon that was free, but looks expensive, then she would create a centerpiece and place mats from foliage and transform our cheap utensils into something worthy of a centerfold in a Martha Stewart magazine.  She is that kind of creative.
The first time I experienced this was at our wedding reception. Will and I got married in Las Vegas at the top of the Stratosphere Tower.  It was a beautiful wedding, but nothing that I ever thought I would have.  I always planned on having a classic Utah wedding which consists of a small private ceremony and a HUGE reception in which everyone you know or have ever met is invited to come wish you well and eat cookies.  Utah receptions are funny events, but they are the only thing I knew growing up.  It is common to have 300 people come to a wedding reception.  If I remember right, my brother and his wife sent out something like 500 invitations to theirs!  I never really liked these receptions.  They were always overwhelming and impersonal, but it's all I knew.  When I came to California, I learned that there are other ways to have weddings.  It sounds silly to say, but I had no idea there was any other way to do it! 
We went to a wedding in California while we were dating and it opened my mind to a different options.  This wedding had a small group of family and friends in attendance and had a reception that followed immediately after.  This was a new format for me since Utah weddings usually have a break in between the wedding and reception and it's a much larger group that joins for the reception portion. This wedding also included A LOT of drinking.  I had never seen that in a Utah wedding!  They had dinner and dancing and cake cutting and it was a nice time.
When Will and I were planning our wedding we had to find a balance between these two worlds.  It was kind of amazing how everything ended up falling into place.  We wanted to find somewhere in between our two families and Vegas was the obvious choice.  We then called around to get available dates and the Stratosphere had a room available.  Thus, by default and by design, we ended up there.  We booked our wedding without even seeing the chapel.  We really trusted the venue to be as good as they said it was!

The day before our wedding we met with a coordinator at the Stratosphere.  She took us into the wedding chapel and we were both stunned at how amazing it was.  The room was done in a soft champagne color with white and gold accents and one half of the room was covered by windows that offered an breathtaking view of the strip.  I remember commenting on how lucky we were that it was actually good since we hadn't seen it.  The coordinator was shocked that we hadn't seen any photos of the room before booking and said we should have received a package with photos, but that had never arrived.  It didn't matter so much to us, we were just happy to get married.   The room that was fancier than we imagined was just an added bonus.

The wedding was magical.  My Dad is allowed to perform weddings in Utah and got special permission from the State of Nevada to perform ours just a few days before the wedding.  He did a lovely job and it was an honor to have him marry us.  It was hot in the room and I remember watching a single bead of sweat running down Will's forehead and onto his cheek as the ceremony progressed.  I wasn't too hot and wondered if that was a sweat bead of anxiety or heat!  He still said "I do" so it must have been the heat!  At one point in the ceremony a fighter jet few by the window and stole the attention of everyone in the room except me, since my back was to the window.  It was the talk of the ceremony afterward and I still feel cheated for missing it!
We had a dinner immediately following at the buffet downstairs.  To me, it was the perfect place to blend our two backgrounds. There was no drinking for my side of the family and regular wedding drinking celebration for Will's side and no one was uncomfortable. 

I realize we're eating, but I like this picture
of Willie at our reception.

A month after our Wedding, Will's sister and Mom put together a wedding reception for us in which about 100 friends and family member who weren't at the wedding were invited to celebrate with us.  This was the first time I was acquainted with Tammy's Martha Stewart abilities.  She transformed her backyard into an oasis.  There were white lights strung from the trees that sent twinkling white lites on the starched white linen table cloths.  There was a deep brown accent cloth placed on each table with a vase of lemons and eucalyptus branches in the center.  She made paper napkins and plastic silverware appear like fine silver by tying them up with brown ribbon and using them as accents on the table.  I remember standing on her deck and looking out into the backyard with complete disbelief at what she had done.  It was a dreamy night and a wonderful memory. 
That night I was overwhelmed by the love that people had and expressed for Will.  I knew he was amazing, but here I had 100 people telling me that same thing!  People love him because he is a man of integrity.  There is nothing he wouldn't do for someone in need and he is loyal to a fault.  He had good friends because he is a good friend. 
I was reminded of that again on Friday at the fundraiser.  I barely had time to admire Tammy's handiwork before I was bombarded with hugs, and love from a seemingly endless line of friends.  It was so nice to talk to everyone and gain strength from their support.  Everyone thinks the world of Willie and gave me their love to send to him.  It was almost an out of body experience.  I would be talking with someone when another person would reach over and touch my elbow or offer a side hug while also receiving a wave from another supporter across the room. There were bowls of free ice cream being passed all around me and money exchanging hands.  All of this was accompanied by the ding to of the cash register up front as people bought products from the store to support us.
At one moment I felt like I was living the scene from "It's a Wonderful Life" when George Bailey returns home to his family after his life changing experience.  In the film, he is clapped on the and handed loads of money while his family nestles in close to him.  A bell rings in the movie and his daughter says the classic line
"Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings."
If that is true, then our cash register was giving out a lot of wings to very deserving angels on Friday!
I took some pictures of the event and came home to show Willie.  He was touched by the support of so many people and wishes to send big thank yous to everyone who has helped in in thought, deed or with money.  That night his family came over and we ate dinner and re-capped the events of the day.  We were all exhausted, but there was an air of gratitude and peace in our home that was so refreshing.
We are so grateful to everyone who came out to support us at the event on Friday.  It was a HUGE success and we are thankful to our friends who organized it and those who came to support us.  There are still wrist bands and tee shirts for sale at the Health Habit and we will continue to have them available as Will continues his fight. 
Thank you for the hope you provide us daily through word, deed and prayers.  We are living a miracle and know we are not doing it alone. 
I hope everyone had a good Father's Day.  I'll see you back later this week with updates after our return to Stanford...