Treat Your Tummy...And NIE

One of my favorite memories of my little brother, Timmy (he's 29 and we still call him Timmy, like it or not!), is when my family lived in Villa Park, CA and frozen yogurt shops first came out. My parents would take all seven of us down and each of us would order our size, flavor and toppings for ourselves. Oh the power!

And apparently the responsibility.

Timmy would always be the last to order. He would stand up at the counter, lean forward and breathe deeply. He'd put his hand on his forhead, thumb on one side, fingers on the other, and RUB, like he was trying hard to remember an easy vocab word while taking his SAT's.

He would slowly get out the words, "I would like..." and pause and keep rubbing his forhead. He'd swallow hard and finally come up with, "A Small Vanilla with Rainbow Sprinkles." And he'd be done for the visit.

And we'd all laugh, because with all that pressure felt and time spent, he'd order the same exact thing EVERY time!

And we tease him about it whenever we go out to eat and it's his turn to order. Poor TIMMY!

Now to TODAY!

The generous owners of Golden Spoon: Frozen Yogurt at Stapley & McKellips in Mesa, AZ, have dedicated a day at their store to the Nielsons.

Thursday, November 13, 2008 from 10:30 am - 10:00 pm

A generous percentage of all sales will be donated to Stephanie and Christian’s rehab fund.

Click HERE for a high quality version of the coupons Golden Spoon is offering.

Enjoy! Hope to see lots of NIE SUPPORTERS there.

(Hope you don't get stuck behind TIMMY!)

Get Pampered...for NIE! Nov. 22nd

We all want to GIVE. GIVE of ourselves. GIVE to those in need. We also have been taught that when we, as woman/wives/mothers, TAKE CARE of ourselves, we have MORE to GIVE to others. Here is the perfect way to PAMPER yourself AND GIVE to NIE, at the same time!

NIE DAY' PARTY AT HABIT SALON will be a day full of what is important to Stephanie:

• Love
• Family
• Beauty
• Home
• Friendship
• 40's Style (Yes, all of our stylists will be sporting fabulous "Fourties Victory Rolls"!)
• and RED LIPSTICK!

EMILY HEAP, a fabulous stylist at HABIT SALON, has recruited our sassy sister-in-law, BETHANNE JOHNSON, (another amazing stylist at Habit) and myself to help her put on the "NIE DAY" PARTY AT HABIT SALON!

The owners of Habit Salon, Chrissy and Rich Rasmussen, and their wonderful staff of stylists and astiticians, have generously donated Habit Salon and their services for an entire Saturday! 100% of the donations made will go to the NIE RECOVERY FUND.

There will also be a variety of handmade bracelets and barrettes, homemade baked goods and Nie T-Shirts to add to the ways you can treat yourself and help the Nielsons.

Click HERE to go to HABIT SALON'S BLOG and pick your appointment time and services. This will secure your time with one of Habit's Stylists and your chance to participate in a heartwarming and uplifting event. It's that easy!

We have suggested donation amounts for the services, which are just that suggestions. Donate all you can, whether it be a little less or more. Items created for the event and raffle tickets will have a set price.

Habit Salon's fabulous variety of hair and skin product will be available, with 25% of the purchase price going to the Nielsons.

Be sure to pass this on to your mom, daughters, sisters, friends and co-workers. There is limited space, so BOOK EARLY to get the time you want, especially if you want to come with your gang!

Walk-ins are welcome but you will have to wait for the next available stylist. Please come and visit with other NIE Supporters, buy some treats for yourself and as holiday gifts and leave infused with the LOVE OF LIFE.

Mark SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22 on your calendar - It's NIE DAY!

(Yes, the day and format changed! You aren't imagining things. We decided to push it back and allow as many of NIE's "fans" to participate as possible. 'Cuz that's what Nie would do, right?!)

AZ Community Charity Garage Sale - MESA

With everything that is going on in life; personally, politically and economically, it seems that there is very little in the world that is PURE BLISS.

But let me tell the world, the HOURS and HOURS Emily and I spent collecting, preparing, sorting, setting up, running the sale, cleaning up and hauling everything up to Mesa (in addition to the DAYS and DAYS of HOURS and HOURS that CAROLYN and her friends and family spent) were PURE BLISS!

I shed so many tears speaking with people who do not know the Nielsons. These amazing people were so GRATEFUL to be able to donate items to the event, shop at the event or flat out donate cash. PURE GRATITUDE!

One woman handed me $40 for a $5 item and told me to keep the rest. As I thanked her she told me how it was her pleasure, as she would hope that if something happened to her children, people would do the same for them.

People jotted down Christian and Stephanie's names to be able to PRAY for them by name.

People asked for another event to be able to donate items, shop again and so we could continue to raise awareness of this sweet family.

I cried (bawled may be more accurate) that night-with my swollen feet, less than flexible knees and bloodshot eyes from staying up the entire night before)-as I told my husband that I had a WONDERFUL day. I shared that every once of energy that was spent on this, was so worth it. I told him I got to experience the PURE LOVE of the people I worked with and the people that attended the sale and donated to it.

As beat up as I was physically, I committed to do it again.

So - here we go again.

But this time in MESA. In the Nielson's "Backyard". (To be clear, it's in my yard!)

AND this event comes with a CHALLENGE from the folks that ran the Gilbert Sale.

They raised just over $5,000 at their sale. They want to know if the exact community where Christian was born and raised can BEAT THEIR TOTAL.

So what do you say MESA?