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Thank you so much for visiting our website!  Many of you supported us last year as we completed our first half marathon, the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Marathon, with the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation’s Team Challenge Marathon!  We raced in honor of Kerri's brother and your generous gifts helped us to raise $10,870 for research.  That’s big bucks, people!

        That’s us after the race!

       If you drink enough wine, like we did after the race,
      that looks normal. We swear it.

Anyway, let’s continue the story, otherwise known as the depressing part.  This summer, Kerri was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and learned that it likely played a big role in her late term miscarriage earlier this year.  Finally getting a reason for that and her other struggles with health, while not good, at least provided us with something to fight against. 

For those who are new to our story, Kerri’s brother, Kendall, was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when he was in elementary school. She spent much of her school aged days in waiting rooms worrying as her brother went to many doctors because of Crohn's.  We walked in honor of Kendall last year, and suppose he will make the list again this year.  FYI, that is Kendall in the  drunk oversized chair picture with Kerri.

While Kelly thankfully grew up, like most of the world, oblivious to this disease, his recent experience with it has made it an important cause to fight for.  We hope that one day soon there will be a cure so that no one has to deal with this disease the way that her family had to. 

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are known together as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that impacts approximately 1.4 million Americans, including over 140,000 children.  They are painful, often embarrassing, medially incurable illnesses that attack the digestive system.  Most often striking young adults, Crohn’s and colitis exact a heavy toll in acute care, and can often involve multiple surgeries, hospitalizations, and in rare cases, untimely death.   The cause of IBD remains unknown.  However, the effectiveness of recently developed treatment methods and steady advances in research bring us closer every day to finding the cause and probable cure of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.  In fact, Kerri recently learned of a new treatment that is in the early stages that might be a cure for the disease.  While hopeful, we know we need to continue to raise money to help that research get completed.

Just so you don’t wonder where the money is going, over 80% of every dollar will directly go to fund the mission of CCFA.  Since its inception, CCFA has become the largest organization dedicated to curing IBD and has funded more than 1,100 grants for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis research.

So on December 5th, we will participate in, and complete, the Rock’n’Roll half-marathon in Las Vegas.  We will be racing not only for Kerri and Kendall, but for our girls.

     Seriously, how cute is that?

Our girls are at an increased risk for developing Crohn’s since both their uncle and mother have the disease. Coping with a chronic illness is hard.  More than that, however, it breaks our hearts to think that if they do develop Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis, they will be at an increased risk for pre-term delivery, miscarriage, and fetal growth restrictions should they choose to have a family one day.  Bet you thought we were done with the depressing stuff, huh?

So more about the race.  Compared to our last one, which was very, uh, refined, this one will be a little rougher around the edges.  We’re walking somewhere in Las Vegas, with some wheels off stuff.  Apparently they will have local bands playing along the course, and a concert by the over-headbanded, balding Brett Michaels.

But wait, it get’s even awesomer.  They have the option to run the marathon as Elvis.  That will not be us.  And then to completely dumb it down, they have the option to do a “Run-Thru Wedding Ceremony.” Again, not it.

Needless to say, this race looks to provide an interesting experience for us.

Our goal is to raise $6000.  If we can raise more, we’d obviously love that, but we’d like to set an attainable goal that we know we can reach without begging for money at intersections.  This is where we need your help; we absolutely cannot do it alone. Please consider supporting us in this effort by making a tax deductible donation to CCFA.

You can donate via this site, or by sending in cash or checks made out to CCFA. Mail them to us and we will turn them in. Or you can participate in one of our events below.

Here are some events and activities we have coming up:

• Thanks to all those who came out to our Tin Star and Mooyah dinners!

• Cookie Lee Jewelry, Thirty One Gifts, AND Scentsy Fundraiser - November 5th. Email Kerri for more info or to RSVP. (kerri.culhane@gmail.com)

• We finally have some details about the raffle:

Win one of FIVE Pots of Gold, valued from $250+ EACH!

List of prizes includes:

$20 Pei Wei
$20 Christina's Fine Mexican Restaurant
$20 Boudreaux's Cajun Kitchen
$25 Fish City Grill
$25Nordstrom
$25 Scentcy
$25 Red Robin
$25 Run On
$25 Lenny's Subs
$25 TGI Fridays
$25 TGI Fridays
$30 Cantina Laredo
$35 Twisted Root
$40 Sambuca
$50 Disney Store
$50 Bakers Ribs
$50 Bakers Ribs
$94 Office Depot
AMC Movies – 4 passes
Elegant Nails & Spa – Mani/Pedi
Life Coaching Sessions (5 sessions)
Panera Bread – Free Bread for a Year
Prospector Lodge - Park City, UT ($200 value)
Sip N Doodle – Painting Party for 2
Studio Movie Grill – 4 Passes

Additional Prizes Provided by:
Another Broken Egg Café
Avon
Genghis Grill
PetSmart
Stampin’ Up
Starbucks

 

Here is the breakdown of ticket prices:

$5      1 Ticket
$20    5 Tickets
$30    10 Tickets
$50    20 Tickets
$100   50 Tickets

Call or email us to buy tickets for this!

 

Thank you for taking the time to visit the website.  We hope you’ll help contribute to our cause and help out not only our family, but so many others as well.

“There is an underappreciated truth about disease: it will harm you even if you never get it.
 Disease reverberates outward, and if the illness gets big enough it brushes everyone.”  - N.R. Kleinfield