Very Busy Weekend!

Everything happened to land on the same weekend this year, which made for a very eventful time. I am rather tired today!
My church's alternative Christmas fair, A Festival of Hope, was all weekend.
Saturday night was the Breath of Life Gala for Cystic Fibrosis--Levi & I are auction runners every year with our friends Jen & Ryan.
And Sunday was the Heifer reception for the Betty LaDuke art exhibit at St. Mark's Cathedral.
All went very well.
Here is my mom at Festival, with friends Kathy & Allen.

Good thing the pouring rain did not keep people from attending the fair & supporting local & international self-help non-profits. In fact, the Festival broke all kinds of records this year:
the Heifer booth brought in the most it ever has with just over $2,500 & the total fair brought in almost $12,000!! All will be donated to organizations like Heifer, Northwest Harvest, & Seattle Youth Garden works.
One of my favorite people from Keystone, Nell.

Here we are later on Saturday night, just after the live auction ended. The Gala kept its title of the single largest fundraising event for CF in the nation, bringing in $2.4 million in one night.

Jenni & me on the dancefloor.

Unfortunately, I do not yet have photos from the art exhibit reception on Sunday. It was wonderful, in the beautiful setting of the Cathedral, with local hot cider & sheep's cheese, an acapella men's group singing beautiful songs from Croatia & Bosnia. The artist gave an insightful tour of her work & I made some great connections for the future of Heifer in the NW. We did have a professional photographer donate his time & talents, so I will hopefully be posting some photos next week.

Tomorrow I head downtown for the installation of the new Heifer International Giving Kiosk in Pacific Place Mall. It's an exciting new venture for Heifer.
As soon as that is done, Levi & I head for Spokane for the rest of the week. We're looking forward to spending time with his folks, relaxing, & catching up with some old friends.
Happy Thanksgiving to all & safe travels to & from wherever you might be going!