December 2014 Part 2...The North Pole!

As if race weekend wasn't enough fun, Ingram and the girls got to go to the North Pole to see Santa!!!  Okay, so they didn't really go to the North Pole, but the wonderful folks at Delta Airlines sure made it possible for Ingram to believe he was going there! 

We checked the kids out of school a little early so  that we could get to the airport in time to check in for our Fantasy Flight to the North Pole with a ton of other St. Jude and Lebonheur patients and families.  There was a group playing Christmas carols on violins, a lot of therapy dogs from SJ and Lebonheur, the Riverkings Turtle, the Child Fil A cow, and the University of Memphis Tiger that entertained us while we waited to board our plane.  We took off aboard the Memphis Grizzlies private plane and wound up at the North Pole with Santa and his Elves, and Elsa, Anna, and Olaf from Frozen too.

The Memphis Fire Fighters and the Delta Airline employees were also there.  While we were on the plane, there was lots of singing and dancing and Ingram got to tell what he wanted for Christmas over the loudspeaker on the plane.   "Let It Go" was sung by all and Ingram immediately plugged his ears while Lindsey refused to sing even though she sang it for the rest of the night!!  We had a great time meeting new friends and seeing old ones.  The only thing missing was Madison, but she was at home sick.  Now if we could just figure out what Ingram told Santa that he wanted for Christmas!


 

This Group Played Christmas Carols For About 30 Minutes For All The Kids And Adults!

Ingram And The RiverKings' Turtle!

Ingram And The University Of Memphis Tiger!

"Here Doggie Doggie Doggie!"

Playing Tag In A Completely Empty Gate In The Terminal With The Ellsworth Crew!

The Sweetest Lady Was Getting Some Of The Kids Excited To See Santa!

Seriously...How Tiny Does Ingram Look In That Chair??

Ready For Takeoff!

"Noooooo...Not Let It Go Again!"

"My Name Is Keith And I Want An Xbox And Pokemon Cards For Christmas!"  Ingram Was Asked To Say His First Name And To Tell Everyone What He Wanted For Christmas.  When He Got Back To His Seat, We Asked Why He Said Keith Instead Of Ingram.  He Said "The Guy Told Me To Say My First Name And I Did."  Apparently Ingram Knows How To Follow Directions; He Must Have Learned That From His Kindergarten Teachers!

The Memphis Fire Department Trying To Make A Snowy Entrance For Our Plane With Their Water Hoses.
It Wasn't Quite Cold Enough, But It Sure Was Pretty!

The Big Man In Red!

Both Ingram And Lindsey Were A Little Nervous Waiting To Talk To Santa!

But Not To Elsa, Anna, And Olaf!  Ingram Was Joking Around With Them The Whole Time!

Putting The Ingram Charm On!

Now This Little Peanut Is Definitely Trying Not To Be Mischievous!  Look At That Smile!!

I Think This Is When Santa Asked Ingram If He'd Been Good This Year!
Can You See Him Trying To Figure Out The Right Things To Say??

"Don't Worry...He's On The Nice List!"

Ingram And Noah Battling It Out With Their Balloon Swords!

December 2014 Part 1...The Race!

All we can say is that the race weekend was AWESOME!!!!!  Team Ingram had around 150 runners and hundred more supporters that helped us raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital during the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend!  The weekend started with the Packet Pickup and the Expo on Thursday and Friday and then the Pasta Party Friday night.  We had several tables at the dinner and all sat together.  We saw so many of our St. Jude friends and loved catching up with them but also loved spending time with our team and watching them get inspired by hearing stories about St. Jude and meeting other patients too.  Saturday morning started super early and ended super late too!  All three races were jam packed with tons of people along the roads cheering everyone on in the 5K, then the Half Marathon and Full Marathon!  With us running in different races at different times, we didn't have much luck getting pictures.  Everything we have was sent to us by others so if you managed to catch the five of us or any of our team running, please email us pictures to ingram@teamingram.com so we can add them to our "stack."  Hopefully, the pictures we do have will give a glimpse of how much fun the weekend is and you'll keep it in mind for 2015 when we start fundraising again!




The St. Jude Heroes Pasta Party The Night Before The Race!

Soccer Buds...Olivia, Lindsey, And Sydney

Lindsey Photobombing "The Jays!"
Coach Jay (In The Grey CONQUER Shirt) Is Lindsey's Soccer Coach And Little Jay (In The Black) Is His Son And Agreed To Run With Lindsey Because She Wanted To Go Fast!  Poor Little Jay Had No Idea What He Was In For! 

Missy, Debbie, G-Mommy, And G-Daddy Are All Very Thankful This Years Drive Up From Texas Wasn't Met With Ice And Freezing Rain!

Thanks To Everyone Who Donated To Lindsey's Hero Account! 
She Was In The Top Five For The Individual Fundraisers!

 

All Grins With Mr. Shadyac!

And This Years' Top Individual Fundraiser Was Madison!
Thanks To Everyone Who Helped Her Reach Her Goal And More!

Ingram Got So Excited Announced His Team That He Stood Up In His Chair And Waited To Mr. Shadyac To Point Him Out!  He's Such A Ham...But A Cute Ham!

Ingram With Fellow Patient Alyssa!

Lindsey Found Her Name On The Car At The Expo!

What Better Way To Get Ready For The Race Than To Wrestle Your Sister
On The Floor At The Expo After Almost Everyone Has Left!

 

Grey Smith (One Of Ingram's Favorite Dudes!) Signing The Wall For Ingram!

 

Oh How This Brings Back Sweet Memories!  We Were Already Looking Forward To Seeing Mae And Her Family And She Was One Of The First That I Saw In The Expo!

Oh Yeah!  They're Ready To Run!  They May Freeze, But
They'll Have Fun Doing It In Their Green Team Ingram Gear!

"Are We There Yet???" As We Rode The Hotel Shuttle To The Starting Area!

And This Is Only PART Of Team Ingram! 
Go Team Ingram!

Had To Throw This In...This Is The First Time I Have Ever Run With My Sister (Other Than Chasing Our Kids Around)!  We Were Both So Excited And Nervous At The Same Time!



Mimi And Her Grandboys...Brett And Ingram!

Ingram And Nolan!  These Boys Love Each Other And Were So Excited To See Each Other Again!

Ingram With Mrs. Laurie!

After The 5K Started, I Met Up With Tricia, Mae's Mom, At The Start For The Half Marathon.  Seth (SJ Photographer That We See All The Time At SJ Events In And Out Of The Hospital) Took Our Picture.   

Look At The Right Side Of The Picture To The Lady Pointing Her Finger At Ingram.  I Can Only Imagine What She's Saying And It Makes Me Giggle Each Time I Look At It!

Lightning Lindsey Getting Her Move On!

Ingram Slapping Hands While He Runs!

Daddy, Ingram, And Madison Speeding Along The 5K Course!



On The Race Route Heading Through The Campus!

Ingram, The Leader Of The Pack, Vroom Vroom!
 

This Is A Clip From The O'Connell Family At One Of The Turns On The 5K.  You Can See Madison, Ingram, Daddy, And Of Course, Kevin And Mandy O'Connell!



Ingram And Daddy Finishing Their First 5K Together.  Ingram Would Say He Beat Daddy But Since I Wasn't There, I Can Tell You That Ingram Finished 8th In The 1-9 Age Group With His Fastest Time Of 33:20!

Lindsey And Grey Were Hanging Out, Cooling Off And Waiting For The Rest Of The Crew To Finish!
They Both Ran Super Fast And Placed In The Top 5 For Their Age Groups!

Ingram With Mark Allen (Our Co-Captain From The Vining Side Of The Team)
Mark Had Open Heart By-Pass Surgery Earlier This Year!

More Of Our Soccer Stars...Olivia, Ameyla, LIndsey, Olivia, And Sydney

Ingram And Nolan Playing Games And Trying To Stay Warm!

Ingram With Nolan's Parents, Kevin And Mandy!  Ingram Kept Looking Back To Make Sure He Was In Front Of Them THE WHOLE RACE!  He Really Wanted To Beat Them For Some Reason!

I Think At This Point, I Was Still Wishing I Had My Long Running Tights On!  It Was A Cold And Windy Race, But So Glad To Not Have Any Rain Or Ice!

 

And There's Amye!  She Was Moving So Fast Len Almost Missed Her With The Camera!

 

Ingram And Pops Celebrating That Pops Finished His Second 5K For St. Jude!

 

See, They Were Smart!  Look At Those Layers! Cheering For Everyone At Our
Team Ingram Station And Having Lots Of Fun!

Ingram Walking Along Missy As She Heads Down Towards The Finish Of Her First Half Marathon!

Aunt Amye And Uncle Len!  Yeah Aunt Amye!



Lindsey And Madison Trying To Pull Mrs. Stephan Rowland A Little Faster To The Finish Of The Full!  She Was Trying To Qualify For The Boston Marathon! Madison Ran Ahead To Have Someone Take A Picture Of Them With Her But No One Was There So She Turned Around And Took It Herself Of Just Lindsey And Mrs. Stephan!  By The Way...She's Boston Bound!!!

Lindsey And Coach Chhim!  Coach Chhim Trained Lindsey For Her First Elementary Cross Country Regional Meet And Then At The State Meet And She Wanted To Run Alongside Him And Pull Him As He Finished His First Full Marathon!  Way To Go Coach Chhim!!

And Then This Happened!  After All The Excitement Of Race Weekend And On Top Of Getting Up Way Too Early For School All Semester, Madison Crashed While We Were Eating Lunch In The Hero Lounge Of The Peabody Hotel.  She Tried To Stay Awake, But The Couch Won.   

There Is So Much I Could Say About This Picture.  The Main Thing To Make Note Of Is That Ingram Is Right There With Us And He Is Our Hero.  We Will Do This As Long As We Can And We Will Raise As Much Money As We Can.  We Love Ingram.  We Love St. Jude. And We Thank God Everyday.