Saturday, December 6, 2008

The Buddy Walk

Today was the Buddy Walk. The weather was a bit chilly, but it was sunny and overall very beautiful. We had to bundle everyone up. Justin rode in the snuggly pouch, so we didn't put his t-shirt on him. I had to find an alternative outfit. I thought this was appropriate. The shoes make the outfit.


And this was how we walked. Well, I walked, Justin slept.






There ended up being over 2000 walkers, the most they have ever had! Our team was super! We had 41 people walking, plus a bunch of people who donated. This is our entire team.





We walked around the theater district and the Bayou. It really was lovely weather. The kids had so much fun running around. Our team came in last, since we stopped to take a picture. This is our team coming down the hill. Justin spent some time talking with the team. Actually, he just sucked his thumb and was passed around.
















All in all, it was a really good day. We plan on making it an annual event. It meant a lot to us to have so many people come out and support Justin and our family. We have many, many years ahead of us, and I am overwhelmed looking at the picture of our team. So many people walking with us, today and always. They had signs along the route with facts about DS, including the prevelance of DS. There are about 5,000 babies born with DS in the US each year. Justin is one of the 5,000 for 2008. Someone off-handedly mentioned that we ended up being one of the families with this, one of the "lucky" ones. Today, I felt VERY lucky indeed.

2 comments:

Tiffany said...

What an awesome event to do as a family and what incredible support you have! Your family pic at the end of the post is WONDERFUL! It was also so great to see Mireille.
So glad you guys could be part of such a fabulous event. Hard as some days might be, Justin truly is one of the "lucky" ones!

Kelsey said...

We had a great time yesterday, especially Clara. She's going to be wishing she could go on a Buddy Walk everyday now. Can't wait til next year!