Wildcats - 26
Trojans - 24

WILDCATS WIN THRILLER
and FINISH ON TOP!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHEW! The season kicked off with everyone having one goal in mind and that was to FINISH. FINISH on top like they had last year and so many years before. It was printed on t-shirts and drilled into everyone's mind from practice one. Merely getting to the championship game was not enough. Last night we all added an -ED to our team motto as we FINISHED in our rightful place- LEAGUE CHAMPS!

We woke up this morning still on cloud nine after last nights amazing victory over the Trojans. Although it was a victorious game for us, it was way too close for comfort. But it's now official, Coach Eli has blown his whistle for the last time and he can retire knowing his Lil Wildcats are champions AGAIN! I honestly thought he was going to cry last night, but I'm glad he didn't since we had enough tears on the field between our players, the Trojans players and the parents. We spent the night celebrating at Coach Chad's house as team and looking forward to our last awards banquet.

I really don't have too much else to say. I can't wait to see the pictures, I can't wait to see the videos, last night was something NONE of us will ever forget. My husband loves those boys so much. He knows he pushed them hard every year, but all he ever hoped for is for them to remember him and the lessons they've learned through him as they continue to mature in to young men. It was because of them that he refused to let a little thing called chemo keep him down, not even life threatening cancer could keep him off the field.

It's going to be fun watching these boys grow up. We will keep up with them because they will forever be a part of the Alexander family. Thank you Wildcat parents, it has been a fun ride!

Kimberly

Coach Eli's Little Wildcats are headed to the championship game...AGAIN!

Long time no post, I know, I should update more, but it has been CRAZY! Ever since the phenomenal golf tournament we have still been going non-stop. There are so many great things in the works for TMF! I can't begin to adequately thank all of our supporters, old and new who believe in what we're doing. Our financial assistance program for families who have children fighting cancer has been a big hit, especially in light of this unstable economy. We have been working on figuring out ways to do more for more people so stay tuned because more news on that front is coming soon.

When Eli isn't working on TMF related projects he has been busy coaching his football team. It's a big deal this year because this is the last year that the boys, who he's been coaching since they were 5, will play together. Next year the majority will play through their middle school.
Well Coach has ONE MORE GAME and then he will officially hang up his whistle. We won tonight 34-6 over a great Giants team, and next week we play the Trojans. Yes, the Trojans who still have a very special place in my heart that dates back to fall 2005, when Eli was newly diagnosed with myeloma and weakened from aggressive chemo treatments. We beat them in overtime that year, but what took place after the game still makes me cry. Coach looked like hell and could barely get around, but he mustered up enough strength to make his way on to the field and inspire his boys to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. And despite the loss, after the crowd cleared, the Trojans invited our family over to their sideline and prayed for our family. They also presented Eli with a shirt autographed by the team (who were about 8 or 9 at the time) and a USC shirt, like their coaches wear. It was so touching and I will never forget that moment, the shirts are neatly folded on coaches shelf. This year, those very same Trojans are the only team that beat us so saturday's game should be quite a treat.

Health wise, Elijah is doing well. Now that the weather has gotten a little cooler, he won't ride his bike in the morning, but he'll still lift weights and continue to eat healthy. I'll be back next week to let you know if his team pulls off a big victory to claim their title of back-to-back CHAMPS. For those of you not in Texas I know you couldn't possible comprehend how big of a deal this is for us, but trust me it is. These young men mean the world to coach so to have just three practices and one game left before his retirement, we all may be a little misty eyed come Saturday.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Love,
Kimberly

In Memory of...

The Tackle Myeloma family recently lost two very special people. Kenneth Talley and his company, Porter Lighting, was a TMF supporter from day one. His grandson is on Big Eli's Wildcat football team and he would never fail to mention how much it meant to him to see grandson happy. In April of 2008 we were informed that Mr. Talley had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. The irony of that just blew us away. Here was a man who gave to our cause because of Elijah's diagnosis with myeloma, only to find himself diagnosed with the same disease a couple of years later. Mr. Talley will be missed.

We also recently lost Dillion Wolford. As many of you may remember Dillion was the young cancer patient that was a huge Dalllas Stars fan. His parents wanted to do something special for him so Elijah and Trevor Daley (one of Dillion's favorite Stars players) visited him at hospital. We were later told by one of Dillion's doctors that that day was one of the first times he didn't feel any pain. Elijah ran in to Dillon during a hospital visit not too long after this picture was taken. He kept talking about how strong Dillion must be and how impressed he was with his desire to keep fighting.

Please keep the Wolford family and the Talley family in your prayers.

WHEW!

The dust has settled, our hard work has paid off. This year's event nearly doubled the amount we raised last year! The Tackle Myeloma Foundation has truly been blessed by having wonderful supporters who share our vision. But of course, no rest for the weary. We are forging ahead with big and exciting plans for Tackle Myeloma that will allow us to do more for raising awareness about myeloma while also helping the littlest cancer patients. The progress will take time so be on the look out for small changes here and there until the big reveal.

In the meantime, Eli is back on the job, coaching his little Wildcats team (they are 1-0) and working with the hospital social workers to get funds to families in need of help (keep in mind that I haven't even touched on his husband and daddy duties). I look at him and wonder how does he manage to do it all while still working out almost daily and having to be mindful of his own health. I can't lie, sometimes I worry about his stress level, but he obviously likes to GO. He likes to golf too, so I'm sure a much needed recharger trip is being planned as I type.

Thank you again to all of those who attended our golf tournamnt and those who wanted to, but couldn't. Information about our 2009 Celebrity Poker Tournament (March 1, 2009) & Celebrity Golf Tournament (September 8, 2009) will be made available shortly.

Thank you again for your prayers and support! Enjoy the slideshow below, if you're at work turn down the volume.

Kimberly

compliments of David Podwika

TMF Celebrity Golf tourney & auction - SOLD OUT!

Wow! All of our hard work is paying off. We are so excited about this year's golf tournament just because, it's obvious, so many other people are getting excited too! More participants, more volunteers, more celebrities, more supporters, more opportunity to make a difference in the lives of other people. When it all boils down, that's what it's all about. This is truly a labor of love, not just for Elijah and I, but also for our boardmembers who voluntarily plug away on our behalf, despite having their own families and careers. It's all in an effort to watch our dream grow. Call me crazy, but I'm already looking forward to next year's golf tournament! We have so many big plans for this foundation, it's hard to keep my giddyness bottled up.

One thing I am trying to brace myself for is the emotional rush that may hit me when I see everyone on Tuesday. I'll admit, I've already cried a few times just looking at the names of people coming. One person's name really touched me. His name is David. He is the dad of one of the kids my husband coaches in football. When Elijah was first diagnosed, and in the hospital undergoing plasmapheresis, David was one of our first visitors. He saw my husband at his worst and the look of concern on his face is burned into my memory. I remember those days like it just happened last week.

I recently started cleaning out the over 6000 e-mails that have accumulated in my inbox since October of 2005. I don't know why some of them are so hard to erase. I came across the first e-mail I sent out to our friends and family after learning from the emergency room doctors that Eli had cancer. I still have every response to that e-mail that came in. I remember people telling me all the time that they thought I was strong. They were surprised by how I could appear to keep it all together despite the devastating blow of that cancer diagnosis. When I went back and read that e-mail, that was sent out on October 4, 2005 at 12:40 p.m., I can see why they may have thought that. When I read the e-mail a few days ago, I honestly didn't even remember coming up with the words within it. I was obviously in fight mode (flight, the other option, was never under consideration). All I can think of is that poem called Footprints in the Sand. That is one of Eli's favorites. I had an artist handwrite it and then had it framed for him for Christmas. One of his friends even bought him a copy of the poem, small enough for him to carry it in his wallet, so that he could have it with him in the hosptial. I developed a love for it too because it seemed so fitting for what he was going through. Well I'm now starting to realize it was pretty fitting for both of us. No other way to explain it.

One night I had a dream--I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints, one belonged to me and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that many times along the path of my life, there was only one set of footprints.

I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in my life.

This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it.

"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you would walk with me all the way,but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints.

"I don't understand why in times when I needed you most, you should leave me." The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never, never leave you during your times of trial and suffering.

"When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."...Mary Stevenson

On October 4, 2008 I am going to post that original e-mail. That's the three year anniversary of the day our lives were sent down another path. I'll be sharing it with you all as an act of defiance. During those first few days of extensively researching this awful disease, almost everything I read gave those who are diagnosed with it an average of 3 years to survive. In typical Eli fashion he's bucking that trend. He took that three years to survive and turned it into 3 years to thrive. I am so proud of him.

Until next time, please continue to keep our family, and all of the others you may know who have been touched by cancer, in your prayers.

Kimberly

The month of July...A.K.A. The Whirlwind

Hi everyone! This posting is long overdue, but I have great excuses for being so behind with the update. The month of July was CRAZY for us, it was a great month, but CRAZY. The first week, the Alexander family went on a much needed vacation. We went to Barbados which was absolutely wonderful. It was beautiful , it was relaxing, the food was good, what more can you ask for? Cell phones don't work there so it made us slow down and spend some quality time together as a family. This picture of us was taken inside Harrison's Cave, a must see if you make it to Barbados.




A couple of weeks later we went to New Jersey and New York. There were lots of treats during that trip, the biggest was seeing Ryan. Ryan is a young man that Eli refers to as his brother because they are both fighting cancer. I've talked about him here before. This was my first time meeting him and I now understand why Eli thinks the world of this kid. He's been through a lot battling cancer, but he has the best spirit, personality, sense of humor, just everything. We had the honor of being able to accompany Ryan and his dad Kirby at the NFL headquarters in NYC. It was a surprise for Ryan so seeing his face light up when he realized where we were was great. As soon as we set foot in the offices we ran into Adam Schefter who works with the NFL Network. The ironic thing was that Adam used to be a reporter when Eli played for the Broncos so he remembered him from those days that seemed like they were a 100 years ago. I made the guys pose for a pic (you know I've always got my camera on me).

We also got to meet Mike Pereira who is over NFL officiating, He was hilarious! Nothing like getting a retired NFL linebacker and an NFL referee in a closed space together. Pure comedy. Mike cut us deep when he talked about a little incident where Eli was flagged for a dirty hit and ejected from the game. It's still a sore subject for me (snicker).
Ryan got a kick out of hearing the two debate about X's and O's, but the best part was when he was presented with a red Matt Leinert jersey. And of course it looked perfect with the Arizona Cardinals hat he was sporting that day. He couldn't wait to put it on!


One of the next stops was to the NFL Network control room. It was cool to see where they record every single game that takes place during the season and how they look over all of the calls that are made on the field.







Ryan and Eli got to play a game called "You Make the Call" where they sat in front of the big screen and the NFL Network guys cued up different plays and asked them whether or not the refs got the call right. Needless to say my husband always favored the defense.

Ryan was then taken to see Super Bowl rings, trophies and all sorts of NFL memorabilia. But I think it's safe to say that his favorite part was getting to meet NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. I'm such a cry baby that I had to excuse myself from the room at one point. Seeing Ryan's grin spread from ear to ear when Goodell let him sit at his desk and even presented him with the Lombardi trophy like he does the Super Bowl winning team was just phenomenal.

Everyone there was so wonderful to us (I haven't even mentioned all of them), and being able to experience that day with Ryan and Eli was so special to me. I had no clue that it would be as amazing as it was.

Well believe it or not, there was even more great stuff going on in July. Elijah and I have been praying about what direction we want to see TMF go in. We have begun exploring ways to expand our financial assistance program to include hospitals outside of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex and also add another component for myeloma patients. We know it will take some time, but we also know it's possible. We have had some amazing people come into our lives through this journey and we are convinced that this is what we are supposed to do. Please keep our family and our foundation in your prayers. Elijah is continuing to do well and guess what, we celebrated his 38th birthday yesterday! It wasn't a big deal to him, but it was to me. In 2005 when I read that myeloma patients tend to live 3-4 years after diagnosis, I wasn't sure if my husband would even see his 38th birthday. God is good.

Love, Kimberly

Hello everyone! We are so excited about the progress our foundation is making and the impact Elijah is having on people's lives. He's become quite the public speaker lately. Even as his wife I find myself saying **WHO KNEW?**.
During the first week in June Elijah spoke at a cancer survivor event for Medical City Dallas. That was such an awesome day because we met so many people we could relate to. The absolute highlight of the day though was meeting Ms. Samantha. She's the little girl in the above slideshow with Eli. Her family is one of the ones that the Tackle Myeloma Foundation has been able to help thanks to our AMAZING supporters! Her mom told us that she was listening to Elijah give his speech and heard him mention the Tackle Myeloma Foundation and put two and two together. She came over and introduced herself and let us meet her little angel Samantha. She is so sweet. Talk about reaffirming your purpose. It's moments like that that make us know why we're here and why we must forge ahead.
I had to take Eli straight from the cancer survivor event to the airport so he could fly to Chicago for the ASCO convention. While there he met a young man that he has something in common with. His name is Ryan and he's also a cancer survivor. He and Elijah are both taking the one of same medications and thriving! It turns out that Ryan is a big football fan (his favorite team is USC), and his favorite players are Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. Hopefully Eli his one of his new favorites too. One thing for sure is that he really impressed Eli. Ryan is 15 years old and has been battling brain cancer. Eli got to meet him and his family and we're hoping to see them again this summer.
So then he was home a fews and off again!!!! This time he went to Clermont, Florida. Our friend and his former teammate, Tony McCoy, has a church there and he invited Elijah out there to come speak. Eli wouldn't dare turn Tony down. Tony presided over the ceremony when Eli and I renewed our vows in 2005 and when Eli was diagnosed he kept our family in his thoughts and prayers. Eli spoke at 2 services and he told me for the firt time, he was a little nervous. But he made it through. I'm looking forward to seeing the dvd from the services that day.
Before I close out for this posting I just want to say that TMF has an announcement to make pretty soon here. In addition to our new look (do you like our new logo? The helmet with the 58 and the drop of blood, myeloma is a blood cancer ya know, we just to make sure people remember that) we are about to spread our wings a bit to help more people. When everything is a go I'll be back to blog about it and make sure I send the info out to our database. If you're not signed up just go to http://www.tmf58.com/ . Ooh, and don't forget our golf tournament, if you've been before you know how fun they are and if you've never made it out WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Love,
Kimberly

A few weeks ago TMF was contacted and asked if we knew any Dallas STARS players who could visit a young hospitalized patient who was a BIG fan! We were more than thrilled to help, but not really sure if we could pull it off since the STARS were in the middle of the playoffs. Elijah called Trevor Daley and told him the young man's story. On his off day Trevor accompanied Elijah and went to surprise Dillon with a visit. Dillon was thrilled to meet Trevor and even more excited when he was presented with an autographed jersey and other gear. Everyone had been warned not discuss the STARS playoff series with Dillon. Because he couldn't watch the games in the hospital his family would Tivo them, bring the box to the hospital and put it on the TV for him to watch in full, and in order, on the days he felt good. So he didn't know that at the time the STARS were down 0-3. After their visit Dillon's family said they hadn't seen him smile like that in a long time and the next day pictures from their time together were posted all over his room. During the next STARS game Trevor scored the first goal! Dillon didn't see it live, but we're sure it made his day once he was able to watch it on Tivo.

It's almost that time again!!!!! If you haven't had a chance to come you don't want to miss out! Registration for the 3rd Annual TMF Golf Tournament in now OPEN! Go to http://www.tmf58.com/ and click on events to register!

I have to get this in too! Elijah and I just celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary last week! Crazy huh?! We couldn't believe it ourselves. It seems like not too long ago we were gearing up to renew our vows for our 10 year anniversary. We spent a lot of time reflecting on how quickly things can change in matter of months and especially years. For those of you who don't know, it was 5 months after we celebrated our 10 year anniversary when Elijah was diagnosed with myeloma and our world was flipped upside down. It definitely makes you put things in perspective. Last week Elijah and I toured the pediatric oncology floor of Medical City Dallas with Dr. Lenarsky and a few members of his staff. It was so nice to spend time in a facility you know you're making a difference for. After the tour I told Elijah that we're so busy doing so much for other people that sometimes I forget that he has cancer. I mean I look at him get up in the morning and work out and go, what seems like, non-stop trying to get people to support our foundation. We haven't even talked about the fact that he's still coaching too. He's a shining example of a person LIVING with cancer. We just pray that a cure is found, I just pray that we celebrate 13 years now, 20 years in 2015 and 50 years in 2045. That would be a blessing.

Please keep us ,and all those other warriors fighting cancer in your prayers.

Kimberly

The 2008 TMF celebrity Poker Tournament slideshow...Here are a few of the images from that night's festivites. Thanks to the money that was TMF will not only be able to offer financial assistance to families with children fighting cancer, but will also assist with the remodeling of Medical City Children's Hospital's palliative care room. That is a special room set up for families who have children facing end of life care. Enjoy the slideshow!

Click on the THANK YOU message below to view photos from the

2008 TMF Celebrity Poker Tournament

Just for the record, Elijah is doing GREAT! This is a pic of him and the boys at Kansas State University during the spring ball game weekend. Elijah has also been busy with speaking engagements, speaking to cancer survivors about staying positive, keeping informed about their disease and fighting cancer. I am so proud of him! Please keep the prayers coming! God has been so good to us and we know that all of these phenomenal things that have fallen in place for our foundation are not just happening by chance.

Thank you, Kimberly

Electrifying!!!

We're still adding up totals, but last nights 2008 TMF Celebrity Poker Tournament was an even bigger success than before! Thank you to the N9ne group (N9ne Steakhouse, Nove Italiano, and Ghost Bar) for being such wonderful hosts for TMF again! Thank you to the people who came out to support one of our causes, children being treated at Medical City Childrens. We'll be updating the site with totals and pictures (thank you David P. for being such an awesome photgrapher!) There are really too many people to thank because there are so many with good hearts!!!!!! Love ya, Kimberly!!

Save the date!!!!

The 2nd Annual Tackle Myeloma Foundation's Celebrity Poker Tournament

is just weeks away!!!! Visit http://www.tmf58.com/ for more information and to register.

Hi everyone, sorry for the long break, but a lot has happened since my last post!!!

I took a break from TMF duties to participate in some other charity work for a good cause. I joined a few friends of mine in Phoenix, Arizona Super Bowl weekend. Off the Field, the Players Wives Association, hosted the 7th Annual fashion show and honored me by presenting me with the Danielle Beverly Award of Courage. Danielle Beverly is a cancer survivor and fellow NFL wife who I happen to know and have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for. Being recognized by my peers was so special and really meant a lot to me. But there was also work to be done. I wanted to make sure that during my acceptance speech I talked about myeloma. My mission is to bring awareness about this disease at every possible moment. To my surprise I was approached by a few people who were in the audience during the show who were familiar with myeloma. The one thing they all said was that they had never heard of it until they knew someone stricken with it. That's exactly what I want to change.

My fellow wives did a great job with the fashion show and raised lots of money for the Phoenix Children's Hospital. The morning after the fashion show a few of us got up to participate in a Habitat for Humanity ALL GIRL build! This was one of the things I looked forward to more than anything during Super Bowl weekend. Just before Elijah was diagnosed with cancer Hurricane Katrina had left its mark on the gulf coast. I had been working with a few NFL Wives and Habitat for Humanity to see if we could partner up and help famililes in the New Orleans area. I had to back off a bit once Elijah got sick, but as he improved I was able to get back on board and help coordinate 2 builds in Hammond, LA. Unfortunately I was never able to attend any of the builds. This year I was able to get in touch with a very special lady named Missy, who runs the Phoenix H4H office, who allowed the NFL wives to participate in a build in Arizona. The cool thing about this build was that the construction site leaders were all female, our all female group was on site helping and the home was being built for a single mom and her 3 daughters. This all girl crew got a lot done!!! My job was to take pictures and pick up nails! I had the amazing ability of being able to seperate bent nails from straight nails so it was my duty to sort and keep the site clean. Neat huh!? (LOL!)

I'm going to sign off now. My husband is doing GREATTTTTT!!!! Thank you all for your prayers and I ask that you continue to pray for us. Also please pray for all families touched by cancer. My mom lost a dear friend this week to breast cancer and another NFL player was daignosed with a blood cancer. Every time I hear the "C" word I just shake my head because it has just touched WAYYYYYY too many peoples lives. But I have to think positive, everything happens for a reason. Like I said during my acceptance speech, "sometimes you have to pick up the ball and run with it". If what our family has gone through (is going through) helps others, then it was all a part of HIS plan.

EXPECT BIG THINGS FROM TMF THIS YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!

Love ya,

Kimberly

HAPPY NEW YEAR from TMF!

Hi everyone! We hope that everyone had a happy and safe holiday season. We are busy plugging away over here. We're in the process of revamping http://www.tmf58.com/ and getting ready for our two big fundraising events, the TMF Celebrity Poker Tournament (March 2, 2008) and the Celebrity Golf Tournament in September. If you would like to be added to the e-mail list please visit our site and sign up. As soon as the site is updated you will be notified.

A few days ago we presented Medical City Dallas' Children's Hospital with another check. It was so nice to hear about the way the money will be used. I'm waiting to get the other pictures from that day as well as the pictures from the big toy giveaway that Eli and Cliff (our newest board member) created on behalf of TMF to benefit the children who are being treated at the hospital.

The response to our appearance on NBC Nightly News was wonderful. We heard from so many nice people and responded to them all personally (if you didn't hear from us either we didn't get your message yet or our response may have gone in your junk mail). It's so comforting to know that people see and appreciate the hard work that we're putting in to get the word our about this disease. 2008 and will no different for TMF. Our group of supporters has grown every year and this year we plan on reaching out more and GIVING MORE!!!!!!!!

Health wise, Elijah is still doing well. He's working out and trying to drop the pounds he picked up doing all of that holiday eating.


To whom much is given, much is expected. We believed in those words before Elijah was diagnosed in '05 and continue to not only believe in them, but live by them.


Thank you for your prayers and support!

Kimberly