October's events

I'm trying to catch up on all of last month's events before Brian posts about today's event. He does a much better job at writing than I do(and actually spends the time to do it), so he usually does all the blogging. I just like to get the pictures out there for everyone to see. We started out the month with Brynn's baby blessing and caught her adorable smile on camera. The weather dumped about a half foot of snow on us that day and we missed all those who couldn't make it.

Ammon turned 3! I can't believe it. We had a fun spooky halloween party for him and Coleson. Coleson made sure everyone knew this was his fake birthday but they still needed to bring presents. Ammon's favorite part was opening presents-he loves to tear paper.
We also went to the Ogden Regional Medical Center's NICU Reunion. This is a very fun event(giant halloween party) put on by the hospital where we see the nurses and docters who took care of Ammon for two months and saved his life. We also get to thank those who help us when Ammon was sick for a week and those that helped deliver Brynn-we are regulars there.

Halloween was very fun. Coleson was Tony Stewart-the Home Depot Nascar driver, Ammon a lion-it was way too hot so he didn't stay in it long, but he looked like a giant stuffed animal when I carried him on my shoulder, and Brynn a fairy. Oh and I was a 70's nerd which most kids did not understand. I did make an appearance as Princess Leah in Coleson's class, which was much cooler and recognizable, but walking around in heeled boots does not work for me very long. The weather was perfect, so I actually took all three kids trick-or-treating for about an hour. We had fun walking with and seeing all of our wonderful neighbors. There are always some "must see's" every year. I put Ammon in his stroller and before I knew it Coleson took off with him racing around door to door. Coleson felt that since he was a racecar driver he should act that way and so he was treating Ammon in the stroller that way. We were lucky not to have a collision or rollover. (This is why I don't think we should ever have a powerwheels vehicle-of course that's all Coleson wants for Christmas). Before I had the chance to ask him to be careful and stop, I realized I had not asked him to push Ammon. He had taken him all on his own. Sometimes I am amazed at what Coleson does as a 5 year old. So I just let him be and the only time he said something about it being hard was when we were cutting through the grass to the next street. Our neighbor Conner is 3 and loves to play with Coleson and visa versa. He was trying so hard to catch up to Coleson, he was breathing hard and could barely take time to say trick-or-treat and then keep running. It was really cute.

Buddy Walk Success

We wanted thank everyone for "Jammin with Ammon"! We had a lot of fun again this year. We even had a few award winners from our group for the 5K-congrats. We are just so glad so many friends and family could make it. We appreciate everyone's support in helping us do all we can to better Ammon's life.

I felt bad that Ammon was stuck in the stroller, so I gave him a better view of the walk and he loved it.

Coleson with his cousins Aidan and Holden

Brian didn't pass out on the 5K and even took time to cross the finish line with Ammon.

Jill even topped off the day with a special cake! Thanks, that was awesome!

The Buddy Walk and Jammin' with Ammon!!!

The Buddy Walk is here again and we couldn't be more excited as a family! This year's Buddy Walk is going to be the largest one we have attended yet. Based on some stellar recommendations from last year, this year our team name will be "Jammin' with Ammon!" And that's exactly what we hope each of you that come to this blog will do. Come to the Buddy Walk and experience all of the fun, prizes, and food, and most especially show your support and love for Ammon and all the other kids! Last year was the inaugural edition of the Buddy 5K in addition to the tradition Buddy Walk activities. Team Ammon did not disappoint and our own friend Jeff took the overall victory, with other team members placing high or winning in their respective divisions. If you would like to refresh yourself on our family's "amazing" performance please feel free to read the post here (and that's "amazing" as in "Wow, I still can't believe Brian actually finished this race"). I expect to "run" the race again this year with the boys, so that there should almost be entertainment enough.

This year there is online registration available by simply clicking on this link,
Buddy Walk 2008. We used the online registration and it is very simple. In the individual with Down syndrome box put Ammon Cheney, and in the Team Name box simply put Jammin' with Ammon. The organizers of the Buddy Walk will be able to identify your specific family based upon information you enter later in the form (your t-shirt sizes, food tickets, etc, will be specific to your family).

Some additional brief details for those that are new to the Buddy Walk. The Buddy Walk is a unique family event that allows individuals with Down syndrome to be in the spotlight for one day for all of the right reasons. Included with the registration are Buddy Walk T-shirts (mine are great workout shirts), carnival games, inflatible rides, craft activities, entertainment, lunch, and the opportunity to make a special impact a child's life. I wish I had all of the testimonials or experiences people have shared with us to simply post out here. We usually spend the rest of the year just expressing gratitude for all the good people that come to support Ammon. Following are specific details for the day of the Buddy Walk and Buddy 5K:

Community Park
1350 North 400 West
Centerville, Utah
Saturday, September 27
8:00 a.m. - Registration for 5K
8:30 a.m. - 5K Starts
10:00 a.m. - Buddy Walk Starts

If you have any questions please call us, email us, mail us a letter, send a text message, whatever. We’ve always said that it was not the donations that mattered most, but that people just come and experience the magic of this event. So if you have any questions or concerns, especially in regards to registration, please let us know. This past Saturday Coleson wanted to hold a lemonade stand to support Ammon and the Buddy Walk. Before we even had the Kool-aid or cookies outside ready to go, Coleson was outside flagging people down telling them about the Buddy Walk and handing out information. He did a great job, and always offered his customers an additional free glass of Kool-aid or another cookie. In total he raised over $50 (there are too many good people that live around here). If you missed the lemonade stand, no worries he wants to do another before the big event.

30 and Loving It!

Summer turned 30 ancient years old this past week.  It's really quite the achievement, it took 30 long hard years to make it this far.  She has had a wonderful birthday.  Before we left out of town Summer went to dinner with some of her friends and had a wonderful time, while I stayed at home with the boys.  We celebrated her actual birthday at her parents house in California.  They have some wonderful traditions to celebrate birthdays, one of which is to create a poster that is full of funny sayings that everyone has written on it.  In honor of this incredible 30 year milestone, and in a great effort to embarrass Summer and officially welcome her to the land of 30-somethings, we've included below some of the sayings from her Happy Birthday poster (please feel free to add to the list):Forget over the hill! You left that mountain range looooong ago! Welcome to the prairie valley of walkers and Jazzies...Yup! You are that Lady with the three crying kids, and runny noses!I actually remember making posters for Mom and Dad when they turned 30!210 doggie years! You out lived three dogs!Depends jokes aren't funny anymore!Older women are Beautiful! You are Gorgeous!More than halfway to Grandma! You go girl!Older! Wiser! Wrinklier?You have children old enough to write this stuff!Ahhhhh...Ahhhh...Ahhhhhhhhhhhh (Ammon's reaction when he hears how old you are)...Happy Birthday Summer!  We love you, especially in your old age!

Lots of Happenings...

The past week has included all the major big life happenings. Coleson started to attend kindergarten and he simply loves it. He does have one complaint though. Apparently the school that he goes to has two playgrounds and he's been telling people about this for months ("I'm going to the school with two playgrounds, it's going to be awesome"). Well the other day he came home kind of bummed and we were asking him what was up. Apparently recess seemed a little too short. After some additional prodding, it turns out that the kindergartners are only able to play on one of the playgrounds, and the smaller one at that. I can picture Coleson standing on the edge of his playground longingly staring at all of the bigger kids playing on the big set. Your time will come Coleson, your time will come.

Coleson did a great job with his "exams" before school started. Summer and I were sitting in the schoolroom filling out paperwork, while Coleson sat with his teacher at another table. He just kept rattling off the answers as fast as she could ask him. Then in classic Coleson fashion he started quizzing her on various topics as well. Coleson and his new teacher are getting along great.

One day this week Coleson came home and said, "I saw a kid with Down sydrome at school today in the hall." Coleson was excited to say hi the next day and it turns out that it was Aaron, one of Ammon's friends. Aaron started preschool this week at the school and Coleson is way excited to see him and wave hi everyday.

Our favorite show on TV is WipeOUT! Coleson and I can't stop the laughter as we watch people bounce helplessly off the big red balls, or get suckered punched on the aptly named sucker punch wall. This is television at its finest, and we are grateful for all the hapless participants that are willing to potentially inflict incredible bodily harm for our viewing enjoyment (even though everything is padded, it still has got to hurt). Since this is such a big hit and is talked about frequently and in great anticipation throughout the week, Coleson decided to put together our own WipeOUT obstacle course. The picture is a little grainy, but you get the idea. Also let it be known, that I was suckered punched on the pillow crawl thereby allowing Coleson to be the victor by a mere 1.89 seconds.



Here's a brief video of our little Brynn (this is for the grandparents). She is actually even bigger than shown here. We are very proud to note that she is our first kid to actually have baby rolls. I hope they only get larger; a fat baby is a happy baby.



One final note, after many years of working at my current firm an opportunity came our way that would have been foolish to pass up. As of August 15 I will be leaving my current firm and on September 1 I will be starting at another local firm. I started telling my partners and coworkers this past Friday. I told some of my closest friends first during lunch on Friday and actually got a little choked up (it was easy to blame it on the sushi, "must have had just a little too much wasabi with that last bite"). In short, this new opportunity improves every facet of my career by incredible amounts, and we are all grateful for it. Summer noted that after seven years of marriage it will be nice to have a husband at home more often, and I can't wait to be there.