Thanks to Ammon's Heroes

Ammon's cool team logo/tag this year

Cheney cousins!

Our family, getting ready to walk

Ryan, Jill, and Jayna


Thank you to all who were one of "Ammon's Heroes" at the Buddy Walk. We had a fantastic day. Brian and I managed to run the 5K (I came in 3rd for my age division pushing two kids in the jogger(thanks for letting me borrow your jogger , Karen)--I think there were maybe 5 or 6 ladies, I guess being 31 has its advantages). Next year I definitely need someone to run with, so I don't go mental- I needed you KyAnn. I was very proud of Brian for running the whole way. I think it's sheer love for Ammon that drives him to run without any training. The kids had so much fun with all the activities. We had some wonderful volunteers from our neighborhood-thanks Brianna(and BF), Whitney, Heather, and Mckenzie! It was a beautiful day with lots of smiles! Ammon and Brynn were a little worn out, but they made it through! Earlier in the week I met a family new to the down syndrome group. Their little girl is barely a year and has gone through the whole spectrum of hospital stays like Ammon, but in her first year. They are feeding tube buddies (what's in your tube)! Their girl is still on oxygen at night (the memories...), but she was so cute sitting in the restaurant high chair, with feeding backpack and stickers on her cheeks-for the oxygen tube placement at night. It was nice to talk to her, and to be thankful that we didn't have to do all those things at once. It's always humbling to talk to someone that might have it immediately more challenging than you. Anyway, thanks to our family memebers who helped us enjoy this day for Ammon and all his special friends!
Coleson gave high fives to every runner coming in!

Brian here. Alright, so Summer didn't do a complete job telling the whole story about her 5K experience, I'll take it from here. Once again you would think that both parents shared the load of pushing the jogger with two kids in it (I would think that). Well shortly after the start of the race Summer demonstrated her incredible athletic ability, even with minimal training over the past month, and quickly left me in the dust. Granted, when you're talking about my athletic abilities the term "running" a 5K is more accurately described as a borderline slow jog/very fast walk, but I was consistent and didn't slow the pace. Try as I might, I couldn't catch up with her and the kids and she ended up finishing about 3 minutes before me. I like to unselfishly think of it as letting her and the kids have all the spotlight to themselves. There were actually still people at the finish line when I finally arrived (no, I wasn't last), next time I'll have to cross while holding a 44-ounce soda and chomping on a couple breakfast biscuits ("just stopped at the DQ on my way in"). Anyhow, Summer was great and the kids had a great ride, with Brynn pointing out all the dogs along the route.

Special thanks to Kevin, Harmer Dog, Scotty the Duke, and so many others that ran the race or cheered us and Ammon through the finish line. The actual Buddy Walk rocked again this year! I think Coleson and his cousins got a great training run for Halloween next month, they hit the jackpot on all the carnival games! One time they came back to unload their goods before heading back for more, and each one of them handed us a 2-liter of Squirt soda they had won (imagine Coleson later on trying to get the lid off and chugging all by himself on his own 2-liter bottle...that's just great). They had a live band this year that played a couple of pretty good covers, and none of us could get enough of the unlimited snowcones. Thanks again to everyone that was able to come and play the games and support Ammon (Shah, you're on board for the 5K next year, right after we do the Wasatch Back, right?). Someday when Ammon can express himself a little better I'm sure his Thanks to everyone will convey so much more than we can!