Chief for a Day event!



Last week was the big state-wide Chief for a Day event in Seattle. They put us up in a hotel the night before so we wouldn't have to get up super early to be there by 9 am. We stayed at the Westin Seattle and it was amazing! They gave us a suite on the 40th floor with beautiful views of the city and Puget Sound. It was breathtaking. And huge. There was a big living room/dining room/kitchenette area that connected two bedrooms.

  

Half of the living/dining/kitchenette area.

The spread we found waiting for us.

Part of our view.  The Space Needle is between the two buildings on the left.

Another part of the view towards the Puget Sound.

But enough about the hotel.  The next morning there just so happened to be an IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) training conference happening at our hotel.  Once they heard that Sheriff Carter would be staying at the same hotel the night before they wanted him to be a part of their opening ceremonies.

We met with all the dignitaries right before it started.  Carter walked in with them and sat up on the stand.  It was so cute.

They did the flag ceremony and prayer then introduced Carter.   Then he thanked Carter for taking time out of his busy schedule to be there with them and then dismissed him and us so we could get to our other event.  The two men with guns followed us down the aisle as we left.  It was really cool to be a part of that.

After we were done at the hotel, we headed over to Century Link Field where all the other little Chiefs were.  We had breakfast and Srgt Gardner took Carter around to get autographs from all the Sheriffs and Chiefs there.

Then we waited for the motorcade to leave.

Riding in the motorcade was one of my favorite parts.  There was a huge line of police vehicles and the police motorcycles kept zooming by us to stop traffic.  The motorcade vehicles were the only ones on the road.  All the on ramps were backed up with a Police motorcycle in front of them keeping them off the road until we passed.  We felt like VIPs.

We arrived at the Criminal Justice Training Center where the event was to be held.  Everyone sat in the auditorium and then all 27 of the Chief for a Day kiddos came in accompanied by the academy class who were serving as chaperons.  Our recruit, Chris, was awesome.  He helped us carry things, got the kids ice cream, took them to see things while I waited in line, and much more.

Here he is with all the other Chiefs.  We did the badge pinning and presentation of certificates and then headed over to have lunch.

Me with Sheriff Carter and Sheriff Lucas.

Each little chief had a table full of gifts for him/her and their family.  We got lots of goodies, my favorite being a scrapbook from Denise with all the newspaper clippings, press releases, pictures, etc from this summer.  It is amazing.  Carter got a new backpack and all his school supplies among other things.  His favorite gift is either the police helicopter or his new camera.  That's right, he got a waterproof camera.  He's been really wanting one for a while now so it was a perfect gift.

There was free ice cream everywhere.

And face painting

and pony rides.

This may have been my favorite part.  The K-9 demo.  They let any little chief that wanted to have a turn to go be a helper to the K-9 handlers.  We've met these guys a few times before since they train down here in our county.  They were really excited to see Sheriff Carter and they even had a little gift for him. 

So he went up there, they gave him a fake gun, and then he said to the bad guy, "Stop or I'll send the dog!"

You can see him to the right with his gun pointed at the bad guy and he was saying, "Show me your hands!"

Then the dog was called off and Carter took the bad guy away.  I think he's the only little chief that improvised that last step.  It was so cute to watch him do that.  I loved it!

Srgt Gardner and everyone else there from the county took such good care of us.  We were all exhausted from being out in the 100 degree heat so we packed up to head off.  But first we opened the gift basket they had for us.  I didn't actually take any pictures of that happening but here's part of the aftermath:

It was such a fun day. 

What an incredible summer we've had!  We have grown very close to these folks we've been working with all summer and it's sad that it's over now.  Luckily, they have assured us that our friendships will continue.  What a ride it's been!  Thank you to everyone that has helped in any way.  We are truly blessed.

Aug clinic and some surprises!!

We went in for Carter's monthly clinic visit last week.  We even had some friends come along to join the fun.  And Carter's chemo pal was there, too.  It was a full/fun room :)  Carter did great, as usual.  It was pretty uneventful, just the way we like it.  His numbers are all looking good so they increased the dose of one of his oral meds again.  They're slowly trying to get back up to full dosage, we're at about 70% right now for both of them.

Now onto the fun stuff!  First of all, Sheriff Carter got to go meet the police dogs!  Here's an article about that:  http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/aug/02/sheriff-carter-meets-police-dogs/.  Then a few days later, the Sheriff's department and Chief for a Day folks sent us to the Great Wolf Lodge!  That was a blast.  We didn't tell the boys what we were doing so they were so surprised and excited to see the huge indoor waterpark insided the hotel.  Here's their faces just seconds after seeing it:

And here's the wolf cave they got to sleep in.

As if that wasn't enough, we came home to a big surprise.  Here's the news clip from that evening: http://www.katu.com/news/local/For-him-to-have-this-to-play-with-its-a-dream-come-true-165079486.html

I can't believe all that was done for us.  Friends, neighbors and strangers all came together in the 103 degree heat and worked ALL day long, cleaning everything spotless inside and out, new light fixtures outside, new plants, bushes, and flowers, new bedding and decor for the boys bedroom, new kitchen set for the baby girl, cleaned our carpets, and of course the huge play structure in the backyard.  I can't name everything that was done it was so much.  And I have no idea who all helped.  I know a few of you that were involved but I know there was more that are still unknown to us.  So just let me say  THANK YOU!!!!!  Thank you so much, this all means so much to us.  To see the look on the faces of our kids when they saw they're new bedroom and "park in the backyard" (as they call it) was priceless.  I can never say thank you enough.  I am overcome with emotion whenever I think about all the kindness that we have been the recipents of.  We are amazed and comforted by the goodness of the world around us.  We already knew that we have fantastic friends because they've done SO MUCH for us already.  But their dedication, along with that of others that we've never even met is just....   I'm in awe.  A special thanks to Sergeant Shane and Denise for organizing this whole thing.  We are so happy that you chose our son to be your Sheriff and that we've had the opportuny to work so closely with you all summer long.  I don't even know where to begin with my Thank Yous for you so I'll save that for later :)  We had such an amazing weekend, it's hard to go back to real life today.  But it's made much easier because my house is clean and pretty, and the kids are outside playing :)