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It's the 29th, so it's Georgia's 39th month off treatment! She finished up her summer swim training last night and made huge strides in just a few weeks. She's ready to get back to it in September when the regular season starts, and we're excited for her to put her new skills to use!

And great news today from Washington, D.C.! Thanks to the hard work of my Momma friend, Danielle, the Director of Government Relations & Advocacy for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, as well as scores of childhood cancer families and their allies, the Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research (STAR) Act has been introduced in both the House and the Senate! Thank you to those who contacted your representatives and senators! Please stay tuned for more actions you can take to help get the bill passed, and here's a copy of the press release with links to further info. This is a huge step forward in getting proper care and cures for kids fighting cancer, so thank you for deciding to #StepUp with us!

Tomorrow night, I'll be telling Georgia's story as part of a fundraiser called "Attorneys in the Arts," where lawyers from around town share their artistic talents in support of two local charities. While I am no longer a practicing attorney, and my standing as an artist of any sort could be called into question as well, I was very honored to be asked to participate. Any chance to raise awareness, you know I'm going to jump on it!

We hope y'all are enjoying these last weeks of summer - and we're hoping to share pictures of a finished pool before too long!

Celebrate Good Times - Come On!

What a week! We are still floating on air after the grant announcement last week, and over the weekend, I had an incredible time at the VEO conference in Los Angeles. Sitting in a room full of people as passionate as we are about this cause was so inspiring - and energizing! By Saturday night, I had an entire event planned in my head! I'm looking forward to taking some of the new ideas and new connections I made and turning them into a stellar event next year, so stay tuned ...

 

Momma Alyson, my partner-in-planning

 A great team of folks from Las Vegas

In the meantime, today is my birthday! I can't thank all of you enough for your support over the past five years (see the post below!), but we know that we still have a ways to go in the fight against childhood cancer. Nothing could make me happier on my birthday (or any day!) than a donation to the St. Baldrick's Foundation, so if you want to be a hero for kids with cancer, click HERE to help fund the latest and greatest childhood cancer research. Thank you!

We Did It!

"We" as in ALL of us - all Friends of Georgia who have shaved in her honor, volunteered at or attended events, or donated to our efforts in support of the St. Baldrick's Foundation since we began this journey over five years ago - we did it! We have funded a childhood cancer research grant with the Georgia and the Peachy Keens Hero Fund!!!

I had the distinct honor and pleasure to share the good news with the doctor whose research we have chosen to support, and today, the 2015 Summer Grants were announced via the video below. Dr. Corrine Summers is a St. Baldrick's Fellow at Seattle Children's Hospital who is doing great work in treating relapsed ALL with engineered cord blood donor T cells that specifically target and eliminate leukemia cells. As we've said many times here, we strongly believe that immunotherapy is the future of cancer treatment, and we are beyond thrilled to be directly involved in bringing this Big Science and Big, BIG Hope to kids who are running out of options in their fight with leukemia. We can't wait to see where this research will go, and we look forward to meeting Dr. Summers and thanking her in person for her dedication to helping kids like Georgia. 

It's been a big day for everyone within and without the St. Baldrick's Foundation, and one of the most special for our family. Today, more than $21 million was pumped into the childhood cancer research pipeline in the form of 70 grants in 48 states and 11 countries. HUGE. So huge, that "thank you" seems incredibly inadequate. But we do thank you and love you all for your generous support and continued commitment to Keepin' Georgia on Your Mind. We are moving mountains, y'all.

Hittin' the Road!

It's hard to wrap my mind around, but Georgia is now taking ... Driver's Ed! She's actually enjoying it, learning a lot (which she reminds me of as I'm driving :)), and looking forward to getting behind the wheel herself. The first step is getting her learner's permit, which we did on Thursday!

Ready to roll!

I'm also hitting the road this weekend for a St. Baldrick's conference in Los Angeles. They're bringing together Volunteer Event Organizers from around the country to share ideas, and I was asked to give a keynote speech about Georgia's journey and our involvement with the organization. I'm very honored to be asked to speak, but I'm looking forward to meeting other VEOs and hearing about their events as well. We're so proud to have been a part of St. Baldrick's for the past five years, and we'll be here until we CONQUER childhood cancer! If you want to be a part of the Peachy Keen Express, click HERE to join us!

Gimme Five!

Crested Butte was wonderful, as always. Even though we had a little more rain than usual, we adjusted and were still able to do many of our favorite things - hiking, fishing, rafting, and horseback riding. We also had the best pie in the land in TinCup, Colorado - make sure to go to Frenchy's if you're ever out that way!

Riding up Mt. Crested Butte

About to hit the Lower Taylor River

TinCup Pie!

Trail ride from Harmel's

Making friends with Wookie and Hennessy

I actually left Colorado a couple of days early to get over to Kansas City for the sixth annual 46 Mommas Shave for the Brave! The folks in KC were lovely, and we had a really nice event. We're keeping that momentum going and are on track to hit $2 million raised for research by our next event - so proud!

 Our Leadership Team - minus Momma Alyson, who couldn't make the trip.

We missed you, Al!

Former Kansas City Chief Shawn Barber took a few swipes

 The Class of 2015 Mommas!

I'll be staying bald through September and will continue fundraising for the rest of the year. On July 5th, I started a new challenge because Georgia is five years past diagnosis, I've shaved my head five times, and Tim Duncan (our favorite Spur!) has five championship rings. So, I'm asking everyone who wants to support our efforts for the St. Baldrick's Foundation to GIMME FIVE! Even $5 can help fund childhood cancer research and make a difference to kids in the fight. If you haven't donated yet this year, I'd love for you to #gimmefiveforchildhoodcancer! Click HERE to donate - thank you!

Is This Thing On?

Two weeks! We've been absent from ye olde blog for two weeks due to travel, computer problems, and a nasty cold, so apologies! But we're getting back on track and will have lots to share in the coming weeks - please stay tuned. In the meantime, how about the Girl of the Hour in this shot from our rafting excursion in Colorado? Can you say "hambone?!" Back in a jiff!