We Would Love Your Feedback

We hope that each and every person at Kyla's Benefit Dinner & Auction this year had a great time and would love to come back next year. Having held two large-scale events now, we are quickly learning the challenges that come along with putting on an event of that size. We understand that there are most likely many things to improve upon. Since you are our guests at these events, your feedback is priceless to us. If you have some feedback that you would be willing to give us regarding Kyla's Benefit Dinner & Auction (both good and bad), please leave a comment for us so that we can work to improve upon it for next year's event.

A few suggestions we have had to this point:
- Speed up credit card processing
- Get people into the room quicker
- More oral auction items

Thanks again everyone for all of your support!

Bellisimo Bracelets

While preparing for Kyla's big event, one of the many rewarding experiences is having the joy of working with those who truly understand what we are trying to do. One of these people this year was Patrina Roberts, owner of Bellisimo Bracelets. Among many of the other beads that we used for our necklaces and bracelets this year, Patrina provided us with all of the polymer-based beads that were used as KID beads. We all came to the conclusion that it would be best to make these beads in Kyla's likeness, but Patrina and the ladies that helped her took it a step further and made four different style KID beads with varying hair styles. Patrina told us that after looking at Kyla's photos, it was obvious that Kyla liked her hair in many different styles. Brettie and I were extremely touched by this.

In the little time that we have come to know Patrina, it has become obvious to us that Bellisimo Bracelets is not just a company trying to sell bracelets...but rather they use their gifts to promote awareness of people in need. Brettie and I encourage you to visit the Bellisimo Bracelets website and see the great work that they do there.

Using her artistic gifts, Patrina has created four different bracelets to honor Kyla. You will find them on her website. They are:

Kyla KID Bracelet:

In Memory of Kyla:



Kyla Know You're Loved Always:



Kora Birthstone:

To top it all off, Patrina offered to donate $5 from the sale of any of these bracelets to be donated in Kyla's name to the charity of our choice. We chose to have the donation directed to The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon because of everything they have done for Kyla and our family during the most difficult time of our lives.

We look forward to working with Patrina again next year!

$24,000 (And Counting)

WHEW! It has been three days since our big event and I believe it has just hit me. The things we did, the words we spoke, the people we met, and the friendships that were made. The evening came and went so fast, when I think of it, I see it as a foggy memory of something that happened...but can't believe it.


Saturday brought us such wonderful weather, we couldn't have asked for anything better. The room was beautifully decorated with flowers and candles. People started to trickle in and that's when I knew the night was going to begin whether or not I was ready... it was starting. One of the main goals for Bret and I were to speak with everyone who attended the event...and although that was our intention, we know we failed at that. Saturday night got so busy and hectic for us, it was much harder then we thought it would be to visit with 250 people!

Bret did an awesome job speaking...he kind of had to. I let him know, it was really hard for me to speak that night. He did a great job... at both his and my job. :) I know I couldn't have done it better then him...he spoke with intelligence, confidence, and emotion. Bret does this because he loves his family and misses his little girl and I can't stress enough how well he did that night.

Sunburst, the band, was on point. Lots of people danced, yelled in delight, and laughed because of them. They all did so well, and rocked out so much that the lead guitarist has had laryngitis ever since. The drummer showed off his best stuff, the bass player moved around his guitar, the keyboardist was on fire, and the woman among all the boys was so entertaining it was almost as if people would rather watch her then dance.

Of course, those who volunteered their evening, (and so many other evenings!) whether it be at the registration table, the auction checkout table, the bead table, selling raffle tickets, working the A/V system...the evening could not have run as smoothly as it did without them. They all exhibited grace under fire.

All in all the evening was full of great people who were there for one reason...to help children living with cancer. We are thrilled that Kyla's Gift Fund will be able to provide money to help these children.

We have been working diligently to finalize the numbers from the event...it may take another few days to complete the process. However, I can let you know that over $24,000 (and counting) was raised that night! Many, many thanks to everyone that contributed...just another example of how the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts!

April 12th was a successful night not only for the people who were there or the money that was raised, but because those who did not know Kyla or her story, now do...they can tell others about her and what she has inspired us all to do.

Last Minute Details

It is amazing to us how things just fall into place, how they are laid out for us....it is hard to believe that there will be around 250 people at Kyla's Benefit Dinner & Auction. When we set that as our goal for this year's event, I think we all thought it was possible, but I am not sure we all believed it would actually come to fruition. The unending support from all of you is overwhelming, to say the least. Thank you so much for honoring Kyla in this way...it means the world to us.

For those of you that will be attending Kyla's Benefit Dinner & Auction on Saturday evening, there are a few things that we wanted to prepare you for.

1. PARKING: There are two pay lots nearby, along with street parking. In addition, there is a parking garage directly across Burnside from McMenamins.


2. ACCEPTED PAYMENT METHODS: We will be accepting Cash, Check, Credit Cards, or PayPal. It would probably be a good idea to bring some cash as there are some items that you may want to purchase for only a few dollars during the evening. In addition, save some money to buy some raffle tickets as we have two really great raffle items!


3. BUY IT NOW: The auction starts at 6:00, with the first hour of the auction being designated as a "BUY IT NOW" period, where if there is an item that you can't live without and you are willing to pay extra for it, you can choose to buy it for the elevated price in order to keep it from going to the silent auction where anybody gets a chance at it.


4. WHAT TO WEAR: We have had a number of people ask us what the dress code is for the event. First and foremost, we want everyone to be comfortable for the evening...this is a festive evening, come prepared to have a good time! We would say dress as if you were going to have a good time on a date! :) For the guys...no ties necessary, but a polo (or button-up shirt) and slacks would probably be appropriate.

We are looking forward to seeing each one of you on Saturday evening as we all join forces to honor Kyla, and help other kids that are currently living with cancer as Kyla did.