Heart Walk 2009

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.