Adorable Kid Feet!!

When we were in Boise visiting, I took my kids and got a picture taken of their feet. I got the idea from my sis-in-law and I absolutely love it. I think it turned out so cute!!

Walk to Cure Diabetes - Please read

On September 20th, we will be doing the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. (This is a 4 KM walk in Akron, Ohio.) This is JDRF’s largest fundraiser, with the proceeds going toward Type 1 diabetes research.

Since Jacob was diagnosed in November, he has had to get “poked” 4-5 times a day to check his blood sugar, and has had to get 2 “shots” a day (insulin injections). That means so far ~2200 pokes and shots.

Our goal as a family is to raise at least $1 for every poke and shot. We are asking for your help. There are lots of ways to participate. Please take a minute to read through this, and to help out any way you can. (You can get all the information at http://walk.jdrf.org/ - just search for our name.)

Ways you can help:

1. Join us on the walk: If you are in the Cleveland area, you can sign up to walk with us. (If you do, please join our team!) Registration is free. They just request that you try to find others to sponsor you walk, with a goal of collecting $100. (But you can still walk, even if you don’t reach the amount.)
   
2. Join us in spirit: If you cannot physically walk with us, you can still register for the walk as part of our team. You can determine to walk 4 KM wherever you are at that time. Then you can still reach out to others to sponsor your effort.
   
3. Encourage others: Even if you cannot join the walk, please consider telling others about what we are doing. Donating through the website is easy, and every little bit helps.
   
4. Sponsor us (especially one of the kids): You can make a donation through the web pages at JDRF (each member of the family has a site). A donation of $7 sponsors one day’s worth of pokes and shots.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this. Please don’t feel obligated to participate – we aren’t going to keep tally and chase you down. If you do have a chance to help, we would really appreciate it!

Thanks

Fun in the pool

There was a pool at the reunion, and the kids had a great time. So one day we got a water proof camera and took a bunch of photos. It was a lot of fun, and we got some very cool photos. You can see them all here.

Bertasso Family Reunion

For the first time in at least three years (maybe longer), we had the whole Bertasso family together for a reunion. Of course, there are a lot more of us now then there were any time before. We met in Utah on July 24th, and the whole crew included Mom and Dad, 14 sons / daughters, and 17 grandkids (with Katelyn as the oldest grandchild).

We did lots of fun things together. It would be more than anyone wants to read if we tried to write about it all, so we will cover the highlights (especially the ones where we have photos). We will add more posts / photos as we get them from the other siblings and mom and dad. (For example, we did family pictures -- a feat with 33 people -- but we haven't seen the outcome yet.)

One of the first activities was a trip to "Kangaroo Zoo" -- a collection of giant inflatables. The kids had a blast (including the "old children"). We lost a little skin on elbows, and had a few crashes, but for the most part, everyone had a great time. You can see more photos of the fun here.

We also had a chance to go back to "Brick Oven Pizza" -- the best pizza in Provo, and a popular spot for BYU students. The food was great. Even more fun for the kids, they had a balloon guy there that folded balloons like nothing we had ever seen before. Katelyn got "The Little Mermaid" and Jacob got Spiderman. You can see the final products here.

Of course, no trip to Provo would be complete without dragging the kids around campus. They saw the buildings where mom and dad went to classes. They even got to see their Uncle Brent. (And of course, had a picture taken with one of the statues on campus.)

There were many more activities, including Family Home Evening, games, (lots of) eating, swimming, and just enjoying each other's company. More posted later, but to see more photos, you can check out the ones Andrew took.