Ammon is One Year!

A strange feeling came over me today, a sort of déjà vu. We have just wrapped up the Q3 review of my client located in Santa Ana, CA and here I am sitting in the airport. There are a lot of people here today, all four of my coworkers are here with me, and we are all flying home. It was one year ago today that I was standing alone here in this same airport, an emotional wreck, not even able to get out one complete sentence. Summer and “Baby Cheney” were going through the most traumatic experiences of their lives, with only one family friend there to be a witness to the events. The last message that Lisa delivered was choppy and breathless. “Why are you breathing so hard?” I had asked. “I’m running to keep up with the doctors!” “Why are they running?! What’s wrong?” “I don’t know…they are doing the surgery now, right now!” And that was it.

I think two of the largest differences between today and one year ago are these, I’m not alone this time and I know that everything is okay at home. In hindsight we’ve come to realize that we were not alone that day either. Some of ‘Baby Cheney’s’ angel friends were there, maybe quite a few of them. They were whispering strong warnings and encouragement to Sherry, “Go ahead, put the heart monitor on anyways… just go ahead…” They were there steadying the hands of a very experienced surgeon just a little more (“most traumatic surgery I’ve ever performed, but yet it was one of the best I ever performed,” he said). They were there calming and reassuring Summer, in even the most gravest of circumstances. Most importantly they were there helping their precious little friend, the one that had just left their presence. They were there standing vigilant watch over him for many hours after he arrived before earthly family and friends could come visit him. They reminded him of his strong courage, of his strong desire to come no matter the immediate circumstances. They reminded him that he was loved. I know that there were spiritual friends and family there that day and I’m grateful everyday since that they were allowed to come. It’s been one year, and it has been a wonderful and growing year. Ammon’s heart is okay, his eyes are okay, his hearing is okay, his breathing is okay, his eating is okay. He brings so much light, happiness, and joy into so many people’s lives. He brings so much gratitude and humbleness into ours. As we celebrate this amazing day with Ammon, we just wanted to say thank you again, and again, and again to all of you. It was you that prayed for Ammon, that had his name placed on the Temple rolls, that fasted on his behalf, that brought us breakfast, lunch, and dinner, that cleaned our home, that did my work, that blessed us with so many gifts, that filled our cars with fuel and our fridge with food, that watched our other precious boy Coleson, and that loved us and supported us.
On this truly amazing day, we just wanted to say thank you again, we are ever grateful.

Buddy Walk 2006!

We had the much anticipated Buddy Walk on Saturday, and it was awesome to say the least. There was a slight "drizzle" most of the time, but nobody ever really got drenched. As a family we were very impressed with the large number of people that came to the event despite the inclement weather. My Dad even made the comment that he really didn't see that many individuals with Down syndrome, which to some extent pionts to the success of the event even with the weather (additionally, many of the Down syndrome individuals were young children or babies being held by families). With only one in every 800+ births resulting in an individual with Down syndrome, the true sign of success at an event like this will be when we have 800+ people show up in support for each individual with Down syndrome. But until then, there were still many wonderful opportunities to meet and interact with so many of these wonderful individuals. Another note, the number of volunteers at this event was amazing, especially the number of youth volunteers (I'd never really even thought of volunteering for something like this when I was 16). Thank you again to all of you for being such a wonderful support for the Walk. We've been humbled many times over at your kind words, generosity, and service. All told, Team Ammon, which includes KPMG, raised over $600 and probably much higher than that amount (I don't have the final tally as of yet). I can't help but think of the incredible blessings these donations will provide to future families blessed with a Down syndrome child that don't have the exceptional support system we have been blessed with. The driving purpose of the Buddy Walk is to promote understanding and acceptance, and based upon the number of people that have stopped by my office, come by our home, or thanked us for the opportunity to participate (that still seems a little backwards to me) I can't help but feel a great hope in Ammon's future. I've rambled too long, thank you again. We've attached a few of the photos from the Buddy Walk, if you want to see more let us know.