Wednesday to Sunday June 5th to 9th, The Fed Ex St. Jude Classic Week!!

Ingram was sooooo excited that the "Golf Guys" were back in town at Southwind this week!  Ingram had been asking every day if it was time for him to play golf again; last year, we took one of his clubs and he got to hit with a couple of the players at the 11th hole as part of the Little Loopers program for the St. Jude kids and this year he was able to do it again.  And again he did!!  He took his little red golf club and asked anyone he could if they had a ball he could hit.  We purposefully didn't take a ball because it could have been hit out on the course while we weren't looking...yes, it's happened before but on the soccer field during one of the girls' games! 

On Wednesday, we got to Southwind early because not only was Ingram getting to be a part of the Pro-Am, but Daddy got to play too!!  Craig was asked to fill in for Tony Thomas (Danny Thomas' son) and was able to play with Professional Golfer Mark Wilson for the day!  Also in the group were SJ Donors Al Saltiel and Micheal Simmons and SJ Board Member Camille Sarrouf Jr..  They even let Ingram tee off with them on the 3rd Hole.  We followed them around for a while before we headed off to caddy on the 11th after lunch for Cameron Tringale and Scott Stallings. 

Ingram and the girls both walked from Tee box to the Green with Cameron and they were chatting the whole way down the fairway!  I was walking right alongside the boundary ropes down the whole time just to make sure Ingram didn't decided to show Cameron his underwear like he did last year to Scott Verplank!  Ingram had told Cameron that he threw a ball in the water last year and asked him if he had one he could throw in this year; I guess it made sense to Ingram since it was fun to watch the splash and of course Cameron was sweet and gave him one to throw and one that he signed for him too! 

When it was time for Scott Stallings to come through, Ingram went out by himself and he talked to Scott a bunch.  Somehow Ingram managed to get a hold of one of Scott's clubs, not his little red one, and hit a few balls off the 11th tee while they were waiting for the green to clear!  Reluctantly, Ingram gave back the real club and watched Scott hit before they headed down the fairway.  Once he got to the green, he was just way to fascinated with the water.  Luckily, Scott and his Caddy made sure he didn't get too close and fall in; I think he was just looking for his balls that he threw in earlier.  Scott was so sweet and gave Ingram his glove after he signed it and Ingram automatically put it on his hand and kept it there until we made it all the way back to the 11th Tee to show Daddy!

On Sunday, we went back for the final day of the tournament and followed around daddy's new favorite golfer, Mark Wilson!  We were all there and Ingram was able to shout out "Go Mr. Mark!" on the sidelines and he actually heard him and shouted back "Hey Craig! Hey Ingram!" and even hit a little better after he saw Ingram; we'll just say it was a little Ingram the Conqueror that helped him along!  We followed him a little more then headed in to the SJ tent for some cold air and ice cream before we headed out once again to follow Scott Stallings and Phil Mickelson who were paired together.  We grabbed a spot on the 12th hole and watched another of Craig's favorites Padraig Harrington come through before Scott and Phil.

After we watched everyone play, we headed back indoors for another set of ice cream and lemonade while we waited for the end of the tournament for another fun SJ kid moment.  Ingram and the other kids that were there got to go down on the 18th Green as Harris English was presented as the winner of the 2013 Fed Ex St. Jude Classic!  They also got to meet Univeristy of Memphis Men's Basketball Coach Josh Pastner as he tried to make a 50-foot putt for $50,000 for SJ; he didn't make it, but he gave all the kids a hug while he was out there talking to them all.  Ingram was able to get Harris' autograph on his ticket to add to his collection for this year's fun stuff.

We had a great time at the tournament and saw all of our favorite ALSAC and SJ guys and gals, especially Mr. Shadyac.  Ingram actually said he wanted to stay home and have a pajama day, but when we told him Mr. Shadyac was going to be there, he got dressed super fast to go see him.  We were able to see a lot of our favorite golfers and also met some new families from St. Jude. We met the Allen family last year during the Little Looper program because they shuttled the kids back and forth for their caddy times in the golf carts.  But this year it was different because their daughter, Ally, has since been diagnosed with Anaplastic Ependymoma and is currently undergoing treatment...this is Ingram's same tumor type and they live here and go to our set of schools and everything. It was totally orchestrated by God for us to be there again and meet them and I about fell out when I realized who they were and vice versa!

It Took A Long Time, But We Finally Found Daddy...In The Sand!
Apparently The Two Holes We Watched Him Play Gave Him Bad Luck;
Once We Left, He Was Hitting In The Fairways Again!

Daddy Lining Up His Putt With Mark Wilson Watching!
No Pressure!


Ingram Taking Some Pointers From "Mr. Mark" While Daddy Watches From The Back!

Meeting Mr. Cameron Tringale On The 11th Tee!

Walking Down The Fairway With His Girls And Cameron!

One Happy Daddy + Three Happy Kids = One Very Happy Mommy!!
He Finished Playing With Mark Wilson, Now He Gets To Play With Us!
Ingram Trying To Carry Scott Stallings Bag

Ingram Showing Mr. Scott Stallings How It's Done!
Notice That They Switched Clubs And Scott Is Holding
Ingram's Little Red Putter While Ingram Has Scotts Club!

"But I Just Want To See Where I Threw The Ball.
I Promise I Won't Fall In The Water!"

"Look Daddy! I Got A Glove Like You!"

Waiting For Scott And Phil To Tee Off At The 12th!

University Of Memphis Men's Basketball Coach Josh Pastner
Giving Ingram A Hug!

Look At All Those Cute Kids!!
The Crew With Mr. Rick Shadyac!!

Apparently Ingram Got Bored Waiting On His Autograph From Harris English!
What Are We Going To Do With That Kid??

The Anaplastic Ependymoma Twins (According To Our Girls) And Instant Friends
Ingram And Allie



1 comment:

  1. It's great to see Ingram looking so robust again. And the girls are beautiful...

    You are in our thoughts every day. :-) Happy thoughts, of course!

    Love

    ReplyDelete