What an amazing 2 weeks it has been...

Hi everyone...

like many of you, it is with a bloody heavy heart i write this...so many lives lost in the Victorian bushfires...an absolute tragedy and a massive shock to those that have lost loved ones...

our hearts go out to terry, mikaelya and brittany who lost a beautiful wife and loving mother 'roz' who died in a car accident helping friends in Kilmore on black saturday. I attended her 'celebration' and it was very clear that terry and their two gorgeous daughters will be well supported and looked after by their friends and family.

Both pete and i have been called away to Ellinbank (just near warragul) to help out with the fire recovery effort being run by DPI...an amazing challenge for both of us in many ways, but very heartwarming given the positivity surrounding our local communities.

Obviously there are many ways you can help...and probably ALL of you have already done it! We were contacted a couple of days ago to help our 'stitching' fraternity...so if ANY of you at all can spare some fat quarters, needles, scissors or any stitching stuff, please contact me on eli-simpson@hotmail.com and i will put you onto the people you can donate too...it really is just the little things for these people...the other charity we are hugely supportive of is the 'lort smith hospital'...again, if you are city based and can afford a couple of extra cans of pet food, please get in touch, and i will let you know how to go about donating...

Speaking of donating...our worlds greatest shave event is hotting up as well...pete and i did a small media release a couple of weeks ago which was a bit of fun...

at last count...our tally for team 'melonhead' was a brilliant $9,000!! we are still pushing for around $30,000. We have had many offers to help, and we would dearly love to thank all the local businesses for putting posters in their shop windows, as well as providing us with donations for raffle items for the night...A massive thanks to all and sundry for being involved...

There is also a blanket invitation to attend the 'shave night' at the lakes entertainment centre on Friday 13 March - 1st shave starts at 8pm sharp...if you would like to have some dinner before, just ring the centre on 5155 3500 to book a table...

Eli has been gone for 3 months today...the hole in our hearts is still bloody massive and we still miss him every day and cry for him and our loss.
our beautiful friend Leona wrote these words (which we are hoping to have placed on a plaque in 'melon's garden')...

Eli Charlie Simpson
In memory of a child whose short life had an ever-lasting impact. His message is clear: let go of those things that do not matter, have the courage and determination to change things for the better and trust in those you love...
An inspiration to all

have a lovely day everyone...

the simpsons
xox

"Leg it' done and dusted!

hi everyone...what an amazing feeling to go to leg it and run!

The event was held at guthridge lake in sale, and we were all a bit skeptical about the weather given we had such hot weather through the week...

melon must have smiled on us, and gave us a lovely morning with light drizzle...and it made a HUGE difference...thank goodness it wasnt HOT! There were a few who mentioned that eli must have helped do a rain dance...so THANKS MELON...

the day was a celebratory run/walk to celebrate the lives of those that are still battling lymphomas, myeloma and leukaemia (and other blood disorders), and to commemorate those whose lives may have been lost fighting these diseases....we were asked by Jenny to think about those affected with the disease and what it means to us...i dont think eli was lost on ANYONE...and im pretty sure we ALL felt him with us today...

Thanks to everyone who came to support us and team 'melonhead'...it meant HEAPS to pete and i...we had petes brother phil who was heading back to melbourne, vicki from buchan, b (baby kate) and lisa (with darcy and amber) from the BLA, aunty jen, cousin casey and cousin in-law stacey who walked, as well as megan, megans mum (im a bugger, i cant remember her name, so hi mum!) and megans sister emma who cut a few laps around the course...those guys came down from traralgon, and thanks to our mate bec (and bub jess) for helping us as well! great nan olive also turned up to say gidday!

it was a delight to know that so many people did it for eli...so THANX TO ALL OF YOU! mmmwwwaaahhh

enjoy some pics we took of the day (some are a bit rough because of the weather!)

love to all
the simpsons
xox



everyone who walked...well done EVERYONE...
some of the gang - casey, stacey, vicki, aunty jen, phil and pete...
me, b and lisa from the BLA with the bubbas, kate, amber and darcy

all the kids that attended with 'lucky';

The gang with 'lucky' the bear...

I might of forgot to mention...this is the little trophy we won from last years 'worlds greatest shave' when pete raised money on behalf of eli...we got 9th out of vic/tas and we were just sooo proud! So thanks everyone for supporting us so well...we hope to go EVEN better this year, with our 'team melonhead' target of $30,000...we have reached about $7,000 with a few weeks to go...so if you havent sponsored us yet, and are still thinking about it...get on board!
love and hugs
xox