People are SO NICE!!

My oldest sister, Katie, is the bravest person I know.

My mom once dared her to wear a giant bow in her bangs all day, including to her violin lesson.  And she totally did.

The teacher kept staring at her hair, but didn't say anything.  haha.

Here's a picture of Katie now:

Here's a picture of her beautiful family.  {She has 6 kids!!}

{The road was abandoned, so nothing to worry about.  Still, funny :D}

You might notice in that first picture that she's wearing a headscarf.  That's because she has an aggressive, fast-growing soft tissue cancer, leiomyosarcoma.  The chemo she's been doing for the past few years makes her hair fall out.  {I told you she was brave, right?}

Sometimes she gets so sick from the chemo, her kids dress up and entertain her to keep her mind off of it.

Sometimes she's so worn out, she can only crawl up the stairs.

I only know this because my other sister knew it, and she told me.  I have never, never heard Katie complain about anything.  She is incredible.

Cancer is the worst.  I don't know of anyone who hasn't had their heart broken because of cancer.  It has been so hard to see it hurt my sister.   The chemo hasn't been easy on Katie, and now she's developed leukemia as well.  So she needs a bone marrow transplant.

BUT GUESS WHO HAS TWO THUMBS AND IS A MATCH???

THAT'S RIGHT!!!  THIS GIRL!!

Now all we need to do is raise the money, get the transplant, and she'll be cured!  Nothing to worry about!

We're in the process of raising the money.  {Insurance won't cover the transplant.}  So we decided to organize a fundraiser.

It's been an incredible project to help out with.  I've been so touched and floored by all the sweet, kind people who have offered to help.  {Geez...I'm tearing up now just typing it!}  I was a wreck the first meeting...so many people had shown up to help!

You'll never guess where I'm sitting.

A couple of guys at work heard that I needed help, and by George, they came to my sister's house with cameras and microphones and recorded her kids so they could cut an internet video together.

A sweet lady at church heard we would be having a bake sale, and even though it's a lot of work, she offered to make some of her amazing chocolates.

{Side note: I've had these chocolates before.  She gives them out at Christmas.  So help me, if you buy them before I do I will KILL YOU.}

My friend Aubrey is a manager over several Cherry Berry stores, and they've offered to donate a percentage of their sales on the day of the fundraiser.

I'm never getting ice cream anywhere else again.

Someone at work left an anonymous donation on my desk.

Ugly cry/happy tears for the rest of the day :')  :')

These are only just a few of the many, many people who have offered to help, donate, organize...people who've been sacrificing and giving their time and talents for this fundraiser.  I'm so touched, I just start to cry when I think about how kind these people have been.  It makes me think of how many times I've been not as generous as I could have been, and how I want to be like them.  People are amazing.

Here's the basket I'm donating to the silent auction:

It's a "Disney Artist Jumpstart Kit".  {I had to draw it because I forgot to take a picture before I entered it in.}  It has a brand new wacom splash tablet, an {older, used--but still great!} version of Photoshop, and 6 1-hour art lessons from a Disney artist!  {That would be me!}  

I'm a little nervous it won't sell.  West Point, where the fundraiser is being held, is a kind of small town, and this is pretty niche.  But, I grew up in West Point and I would've sold my soul for something like this!  So hopefully I won't get it back after the fundraiser...

Yeah.  Don't let this happen.  Come to the fundraiser.

Here's the flyer :)

Here's the link to register/donate/etc: http://www.anythingforafriend.com/index.php?cID=285

That's right!  It's this Saturday!  And it's gonna be a kick.  I'll be doing the kissing booth.  

Just kidding.  There's no kissing booth.  We're trying to raise money, not scare people away.  I'll be doing caricatures with my assistant, Lauren Williams, who is a super talented artist :)  {Assistant!  That sounds fancy!}

If you live in Utah, you'll definitely want to come.  If you live in Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, California, etc, you'll definitely want to come, too.  Everybody just come :)

Here's the video.  You'll want to watch it.  Have tissues handy :)

Addendum:  A biker dude saw this video on facebook...

...and now he's organizing a motorcycle rally.  That'll be June 13th.  I'm totally buying a Harley :)