Ultimate 2011

Yesterday was a Phi Kappa Pi (Merriman House) tradition.  It was their Ultimate Frisbee tournament.  For quite some time, the boys and girls get teams and compete in a tournament.  For over 15 years, they have picked a family to raise money for.  This year, they picked the Patrick Blessing Memorial Fund.  Thank you to Tyler Shultz for organizing the event.

http://www.ripon.edu/library/archives/exhibits/buildings/merriman.htm

The shirt they made for the event.

Last year, Patrick and his brothers attended what would be his last Ultimate.  He had so much fun and talked about it for days.  He just loved hanging out with his fraternity brothers...and as always...for a good cause.

Patrick, Adam and Jim at Ultimate 2010.

This year, I made meatballs for the boys.  That has been a Merriman tradition as well.  I got Olivia all bundled up and we headed for Ripon on Saturday  morning.  

O all bundled up for the day.

We met some alumni there as well. Sibleys, Leatherburys, Mathias, Blessings, Schrieber, Luek, etc.  It was so fun to be able to hang out with them.  

The boys. Ultimate 2011

We also had a chance to go back in the house.  They opened it up for a few hours.  It just wasn't the same.  Not only with not having Patrick there, but the house was empty.  It's too bad Ripon College couldn't come to a conclusion on making it work.  It's a damn shame.  I wonder if Ripon will get all of their donations this year like they did in the past?  We'll have to see.

O and I in the lounge in front of the fireplace.

Shawn holding O on the mantle.  He held Payton in that same place 14 years ago.

Before we left for the day, Channel 5 News was there to document the event.  Thank goodness I wasn't on camera for long.  But Miss O got her TV debut!  She looked great on camera. 

http://www.wfrv.com/news/local/Ultimate-frisby-fundraiser-for-local-family-120026294.html

We then headed over to the "Old Timmons" for a beverage.  Had some nice laughs with the girls and the boys took care of O.

Jon and O at "Timmons"

Then it was time for dinner at Roadhouse.  Our tables were full of fried food.  Fries, corn dogs, jalapeno poppers, cheese curds, mushrooms, pizza, sandwiches, mozzarella sticks, etc.  It was awesome!  I didn't eat too much.  I had to weigh in today for my weight loss challenge.  Great.  More laughs were had and we enjoyed our time together.

Cheese curds and BBQ sauce.  My new favorite at Roadhouse.

Then O and I headed back to Fondy.  It was a tough drive home.  Memories were flooding my head.  Wishing Patrick was here to enjoy this.  It's always a good time when I see our friends...but also hard.  It's weird not having Patrick there with us.  Then when it's time to go, all of the couples are on their way back home together and I leave by myself.  I miss the days where it was Patrick and I leaving an event.  It's just something I have to get used to over time.  It will get better.  If I didn't have O, I don't know how I would be handling all of this.

As I crawled into bed last night at 9:15, I told myself that I had to stay awake and see us on the news.  It was going to be hard. I was so tired.  Then I got a call from my good friend, Rese.  She helped me stay awake for a while.  We always have great conversations and she's been such a good friend during this whole time.  Some people have dropped off after Patrick died and don't contact us much anymore.  Not Rese.  She's checking in on me all the time to make sure we are ok.  At 10:15 or so, there we were on Channel 5 News.  They did a nice little segment on the event.  I was proud to see my baby on tv:)  Both of them. Patrick and Olivia.  

Today I'm spending the day working, laundry and holding my girl.  Tomorrow is Monday and I don't get to spend time with her during the week.  So I do as much of that on the weekend as possible.

Hopefully it gets as warm as it was last Sunday!

Have a good week everyone! 

Olivia in her first ride in her stroller like a big girl! (It was 80* a week ago today)