12:21 on 12/21/12

 

(Claire G, Taylor, and Lauren on vacation in Canada 2007.)

 

Today is a pretty interesting day in history too ... it's a festive number (12/21/12) and the projected "end of the world" based on the Mayan calendar.  Funny that it was simply the end of a calendar cycle for the Mayans, not the projected end of the world.  I wouldn't have put it past the Mayan's to know it, however.  They're pretty brilliant.

For our family, it isn't the end of the world, or even a more important day because of the numbers (although we find both of them interesting.)  It is important to us because it is another birthday -- and since Lauren would have made a big celebratory deal out of the numbers and the birthday boy, I figured I would help her out.  (I loved to help her with her creations to "one up" her big brother in the "I love you MOST" game and thought I would seize the opportunity to update their competition.  She liked to win.)

So, Happy Birthday, big brother!!! ... In honor of your special day, 12 gifts of $21 dollars each in Christmas DOUGH were donated to Oncology families at PCMC in need of a little extra help this holiday season.  It's Lauren's way of saying ... I LOVE YOU MOST!!

(A special thanks to Juanita W. and Karen L. who donated the cash sufficient for Lauren's Foundation to give the last half of those gifts.)

 

A Happy 12/21/12, Happy Birthday, and a Merry, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the 

Living Lauren's Legacy Foundation!!!

Wishing on recurring numbers!!

Living Lauren's Legacy

Hope you all had a great 12/12/12!!!

(This is a watercolor painting of Lauren playing in the ocean when she was 8 years old.  This painting and another pastel of the same image were donated to PCMC and Huntsman today as a completion of the 12 months of projects for Lauren's foundation and in celebration of Lauren's habit of making wishes on recurring numbers.)

The book about Lauren's wish (Happily Ever After: The Power of Perspective) is still available if you are interested in reading and/or purchasing it.  It has been intentionally removed from the website, but if you would like more information, please contact me.

May all of your wishes come true!

Happy 12/12/12

12/12/12

For the projects of November and December, two paintings will be donated to PCMC and Huntsman Cancer Center of Lauren playing in the ocean when she was just about 8 years old.  In addition, 12 simple gifts for Christmas are being donated to the Hem/Onc Clinic at PCMC.

The 12 months of projects aimed at honoring Lauren by helping to make others wishes come true has been small in scale, but large in intention.  All in all, it's been a sweet way to honor Lauren and try to give a little cheer in her beautiful memory.    We'll continue to give our best efforts to live her legacy.

 

October Tricks and Treats

 

Lauren's first Halloween.

(She was "Dino" and her siblings were

Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles from the Flintstones.)

For some Halloween cheer, Lauren's foundation donated big buckets of Halloween Candy to be distributed at PCMC and many $5.00 gifts to help families purchase prescription medication who were in need.

August and September

August:
Just over two hundred items of electronics, clothing, toys and books were donated to the Humanitarian Aid projects of the LDS church for distribution to areas hit by natural disasters.
September:
Three separate monetary donations were made to three charitable organizations aimed at helping with the medical bills for two men and one woman struggling with Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, and Cystic Fibrosis.

June and July projects

June and July found Lauren's Foundation traveling with humanitarians to Peru and Guatemala.  Each of the two trips were filled with great folks who like to "leave places a little better than they found them" and the donations they made to rural schools in each country were pretty significant.  They were great teams for Lauren's foundation to be part of.

 

Peru 2012

Guatemala 2012

May donations to Wasatch, Upland Terrace Elementary School, and Skyline Hight School

Walking for Wishes

Meet Zac, Mac, and Jack!!

Three of my favorite young men ever.  They are my nephews and complete studs who walk or run for the Make-A-Wish foundation every year in honor of their cousin, Lauren.  They aren't just the most polite boys I know, (and entirely entertaining) but sincere in their efforts to make others wishes come true!  You are the best and we love you!  And, Living Lauren's Legacy was a PROUD SPONSOR of your efforts this year!!  

Keep up the good work!  We'll ALWAYS be cheering you on!!

Happy 18th Birthday!!

 Lauren's 15th birthday

Whew!  18th birthday today!!  That's a big one.
We tried to celebrate it her way, but it will never be the same without her.
Today, 18 treats, 18 kids toys, 18 teen 'toys', 18 balloons, and 18 head scarves ("Che-MOO caps") made their way to Primary Children's Medical Center.  They were to be distributed to cancer patients who were visiting in clinic today.  Seeing her sweet friends (caregivers) there was a special treat.

Special thanks to Brittany, Shanna, and Jen Nichols who sewed the head scarves and delivered them with me.  They'll be making a lot more to contribute - so if you sew - let us know!

Lauren's "Happily Ever After, The Power of Perspective" was delivered to each of the three schools (Upland Terrace Elementary, Wasatch Junior High School, and Skyline High School) she attended by her friends Emma and Eliza Jackson by way of a Skyline High School fund-raiser.

http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/2825207#store-price

We're still raising funds and trying to deliver wishes to Lauren's favorite charities.  This month, her foundation will match any funds raised by the sale of her book on Blurb.com.

She'll be receiving an honorary diploma from Skyline High School and the Church Seminary program this month.  Her cute friends are all a part of this "perfect class" graduating in 2012 - and she'll be a part of it all.
Thanks to all who remember her and live her legacy by making wishes for others to come true.
We celebrate all of the days of love and laughter ... and that she's ours forever.
Happy Birthday, Lauren!!  We love you!

Claire and Grace Guthrie releasing balloons at the cemetery.

Happy Easter!!

Only Lauren could find a way to make a cow a part of Easter!
So, in her unique way, her Foundation delivered hundreds of Easter Eggs
with "MOO-lah" and "mun-CHEESE" inside to cheer
CheMOOtherapy patients at PCMC.

In May, one of Lauren's best friends, Brittany and her sister Shanna
will be making headscarves with their mom to donate to PCMC
and Huntsman Cancer Institute.

If you would like to be a part of the projects
of Living Lauren's Legacy Foundation,
you can send a donation to P.O. Box 9043, Salt Lake City, Utah 84109;
visit: http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/2825207#store-price
to purchase her book "Happily Ever After";
or e-mail us for other ways to become involved.
loveandlaughtereveryday@gmail.com

One loving group of women just donated two full carts of goods
to the parent break-room of ICS, toys, and a couple hundred dollars
for gas and prescription funds for Oncology families.

There's lots of different ways to be a part of
helping others wishes come true!

COWnt your many blessings

Ireland
St. Patrick's Day at our house was about green and leprechauns and pointing out that we were LUCKY to have each other. We ate green pancakes for breakfast and green cream cheese on bagels for lunch. We searched our ancestry for IRISH and found it, and most importantly, celebrated it! We had a lot of fun with typical and unique traditions each March 17.
But, most importantly, St. Patrick's Day signaled a reminder of what we 'TREASURE' and to COWnt our blessings and good fortunes. Giving thanks to the Giver was the very best part of the holiday. And, trying to share our blessings added sweetness.
This month, The Living Lauren's Legacy Foundation is focusing on sharing our blessings with one individual cancer patient in Texas. According to her friends, she's a "POT O' GOLD" whose friendship they treasure .....
May the Luck o' the Irish sprinkle down gratitude for all of your good fortunes and blessings, and may you just be lucky enough to have the experience of sharing your treasures.

"I UDDER-ly love MOO!"

(Lauren's book "I Udder-ly LOVE Moo!" has not yet been released but is still coming. Send a note if you are interested.)

Lauren's love for cows inspired 'MOO' perspective on holidays and every day. We tend to appreciate more if we try and see things the ways she did, and it permeates into everything we do.
Even more than her perspective, is the way her legacy of love has changed the way we see things. Love isn't nebulous or fleeting. It isn't conditional or timed. It isn't a simple emotion, it's an action - it's a way of living - and it's whole-hearted or it isn't love.
So, how fun to celebrate Valentine's in exactly the way Lauren preferred to do it - loving big and loving in action!! And, add the element of whimsy and it's entirely Lauren.
During one of Lauren's big battles, when eating and appetite were big challenges, Lauren had an evening where she actually felt like eating a hamburger from Wendy's. We were thrilled and rushed to make the purchase to bring it back home to her. What was really inspiring is that Lauren's thoughts were on the kids who were dealing with cancer and lack of appetite who didn't have the money for the purchase, or even a car to dash out to satisfy the craving. And, the reality is, ... she was right. Families come from all over the Western United States to be treated at PCMC and many are in Ronald McDonald houses, or renting tiny apartments without transportation. And, many still don't have the money to satisfy even the rarest of cravings.
In honor of Lauren's love for the other patients whom she wished could have what she had, her Foundation has donated valentines of Wendy's Bucks to the Hem-Onc Clinic of Primary Children's Medical Center in hopes that Lauren's unique perspective to say "I UDDER-ly LOVE MOO!" will bring some joy and satisfy a craving for families still dealing with the disease.
(If you wish to be a part of The Living Lauren's Legacy Foundation, send a donation to P.O. Box 9043, Salt Lake City, Utah 84109 or purchase one of her books at Blurb.com.)

Happily Ever After: The Power of Perspective
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2825207

Text only:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2825345

A Pocketful of Perspective:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2828042

Happy Valentine's Day Lauren's way!!

Happy MOO Year!

Making a difference in Peru - July, 2009

I've been a little slow in posting MOO Years greetings Lauren's way ... but even though they are late, these greetings are heart felt.

Since Lauren focused wishes towards her favorite charities, we've kicked off the fun year from 11/11/11 to 12/12/12 with projects and donations scheduled to make contributions Lauren's way. We hope to make a bakers dozen difference in the "happily ever after" of many deserving causes.

As you may already know, on 11/11/11, the Living Lauren's Legacy Foundation donated Lauren's opportunity to have a wish granted back to the Make-A-Wish foundation of Utah. This included also becoming a sponsor to finance the wish of another teen-age girl with a life-threatening condition.

Our family at the star hanging ceremony 11/11/11.

In December, donations were made to a few needy families to help spread Christmas cheer and hope and peace.

For the MOO Years, we teamed up with four of Lauren's friends who had a school assignment of a service project who chose to collect blankets, books, toys, and cash to donate in Lauren's name to donate to PCMC. The Foundation supported their project and added some of it's own. Thanks to Jessica, Janie, Sarah, and Claire (L to R in the photo) and all those who contributed to the success of their project.

Lauren's friends touring where Lauren's nurse painting hangs in an Oncology conference room.

Lauren's 3 books are still available ... with the other 2 still coming. Technical difficulties have delayed it, but the intentions are still in the process.

Happily Ever After: The Power of Perspective
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2825207

Text only:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2825345

A Pocketful of Perspective:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2828042

We've got big plans for the rest of this year and will keep you updated as we go. And, if you want to be a part of making the wishes of others come true, send a donation or e-mail us to find other ways to get involved.

Living Lauren's Legacy Foundation
loveandlaughtereveryday@gmail.com
P.O. Box 9043
SLC, Utah 84109