Our Heart Hero....Noah
On Saturday, September 12th, we attended the 2nd annual
Heart Walk for Intermountain Healing Hearts
It was a grueling 1 mile walk, which took us
22:57 to do. Can you believe that?
We may have tip toed the thing we went so slow.
Well, making a good time was not our goal,
showing up to support a wonderful cause with
people we love was our only purpose!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!
After about 50 steps, there was a rest stop and snack station.
Sheeew, I didn't think we would make it, but we did!! We learned that the snacks weren't suppose to be eaten until AFTER the walk.....silly us! Oh well, we didn't take anymore after the race, so I guess we can be forgiven.
Gabe was trying to motivate Jason to the finish line....
You can do it!!
As always,
Ashlyn and Zane were being their usual selves
and taking off to be crazy little monkeys!
Noah and Tyler like to take it easy
Jason pushing a stroller with a
McDonalds cup.
Gabe finally caught up to those crazy
monkeys!
Addie and Zane refueling after a tough workout
The Griffith Family minus the man of the hour
our NOAH!!
He took off to play with some friends he had met
at the heart camp last month.
Our wonderful friends Alec, Jenny and Brian came to support this great cause with us.
Jason,
Tyler and
Ashlyn are always there supporting our family.
We were minus Carrie because she had a church activity.
I guess when the lord calls......you must obey.
Here we are....the whole gang.
We were missing my Uncle Mike and Nikki, because they slept in.
My Mom had a client meeting she could not get out of,
and I plain ol' forgot to tell my dad.
Ooooops!!
They did register though, so donations were made in their names.
Gabe and I with our miracle child.
Gabe is so proud of this little guy
Me and my little man
The 3 ring circus.
Gabe and I are so proud to be their parents.
We are so lucky to have each one of them.
Finally, a picture with all of us!
The purpose of the Heart walk was not only to raise money and awareness to a great cause, but to honor the heart angels that earned their wings through a courage battle with
CHD.
It was very touching to see the beautiful posters
the families had put together to honor their child.
There is so much love and support in this group, each and every family
is amazing to have gone through the struggles that having a child with CHD brings.
Gabe and I have so many mixed feelings when it comes to this.
We were introduced to Intermountain Healing Hearts by a member that did not even know us, but stumbled across my blog one day.
I feel like it had to have happened for a reason.
Gabe and I can look at all these other families who have children effected by this, and realize we are not alone. It would have been so helpful to have when Noah was little, when hope was all we had to hold onto. We never knew anyone in our situation, so we never knew what to expect from another parents point of view. Now we have an amazing 10 years old boy that can serve as an example of what the future can hold to others....something we never had.
It is truly nothing short of an honor to belong to this organization, and we hope to be more involved in spreading awareness to this cause that will continue to be a part of our lives.
There was a beautiful ceremony at the end, where we had a moment of silence for the fallen angels, as well as others that are fighting in the hospital. We listened to musician Paul
Cardell, who is an adult with
CHD, in fact, shares
Noah's exact heart condition,
whom received a heart transplant the Thursday before.
It was beyond touching as I stood their watching these parents who had lost a child release a butterfly in their honor. It was amazing to watch them fly up in the air, where they all kind of grouped together, then took off out of sight.
It was a moment I was honored to have witnessed.
If you look closely, you can see the butterflies.
Paradise....pure paradise. Gabe and I decided a year and a half ago, that no matter what happens in life, we are going back to Kauai. We went for our honeymoon in 1997, and we have never done anything but dreamt about the day we would return. We had gone on other trips....Mayan Riveara and Cabo San Lucas for our anniversary, which were all amazing, but they were not Kauai. We found the perfect reason to go. The Kauai marathon was just a few weeks short of our 12th anniversary date, so we booked it! We asked our friends Kim, Spencer and Chandra to come with us. As soon as we arrived, life became less hectic, the stress was lifted, and I was in love....all over again! 
There are chickens everywhere! It is an amazing sight when you first get there, but after a few days, you barely notice them. We parked at a overlook to capture a picture of the beach and we were attacked by these little guys. The Mama jumped up on our car while her babies surrounded the car trapping us in. I had to get out of the car and lure them about 20 feet from the car then run back and take off. I didn't think we would ever get out of there!
We checked into our room, and was amazed at how lovely it was. A chefs kitchen, huge rooms, balconies, bathrooms.....all of it was just so nice. I was happy we decided to stay here.
Like I said, we didn't do too much the first day, but it was nice to take it easy after the long flight. It was also good to know we would have a good nights sleep, and wake up to paradise in the morning. Kim stayed with us, and Spencer and Chandra stayed in a hotel about a 1/4 of a mile down the road. I just kept saying to Gabe, "We are here, we came back!"
