Saturday, September 30, 2006

Counting on Them

It's easy to let the days go by and to forget to be thankful for all the blessings that have come your way. This week was full of little blessings that I was happy to sit here and recall and now share with you.
My darling husband surprised me with "Happy Wednesday" flowers. The doorbell rang and much to my surprise a man was handing me a vase full of Gerber daisies (my favorite). Wednesday continued with a surprise "paint your own pottery night." Kenton took the family out for a belated birthday celebration and we all three painted plates. Judah wants to eat spaghetti off of them as soon as they are fired and returned to us. But the best blessing of the night was our visit to TCBY!!! They have a no sugar added vanilla fudge yogurt that taste too good to be 98% fat free!! What a blessing to have a husband who's willing to stretch himself to surprise me. (Thanks Kenton)
Thursday, our little swimmer got to show off his swim skills for his daddy. Judah is a "pre-school paddler" at the YMCA and Daddy got to take class with him this week.

Even though Daddy didn't know all the words to the motorboat song, Judah still had extra fun. It's so awesome to be afforded these precious opportunities with Judah.

Since boys are wired differently, it's a normal day to be "set on fire" by dragon Judah, or have "cooker guy" Judah spray imaginary mustard all over you, and of course the constant "throw the rock game" has yet to cease. However, every once and a while Judah's nurturing side comes out and I catch him doing something gentle. He has his stuffed friend "Lamby" (who got a new shirt this week because Judah didn't want her to be cold). Friday, I found him reading Spiderman to her and her friend "Mr. Bear."

I know I have an angel for a son, but it's so wonderful to be reminded every once in a while.

Today we were able to participate in Race for the Cure. There were several events to participate in, with all the proceeds going to fight breast cancer. Kenton and I ran the 5K race with 700 other people. We were taken back by all participants running in celebration of a battle won, a personal victory, and unfortunately many were running in memory of a lost loved one. People had signs on their backs listing the names of their loved ones. It was a rough run this morning, we both got side aches and were ready to give up. Walking became an idea to me until I read the woman's shirt in front of me, "In memory of my mom, 'I Miss You.'" That's all the inspiration I needed to keep going. We did about our usual, I finished in about 25 minutes and Kenton was about a minute or so behind me. It's not our run that I was really proud of that day, it was the spirit of all these people "fighting" for the lives of their family and friends. I was really surprised by how emotional standing at the finish line was, watching these "fighters" cross the line.

Our little man did his part to fight back today as well. He participated in "Kids for the Cure." A 3 and under 50 yard dash. (The cutest thing you'd ever see, by the way.)

Judah dashed to the finish line and got his pink ribbon. Perhaps the ribbon was incentive, but the best part was that Mr. Ronald McDonald was at the finish line. Judah had been excited all week to meet him. This morning, he was a little confused on if it was Ol' MacDonald or Ronald, but when they crossed paths this morning all confusion was cleared up.

It was as though he was meeting a rock star. I was so proud of Judah, and so blessed to watch my family run for our lives!

Now, our run and Judah's run were more than enough to be thankful for, but one more event kept a smile on my face all day.

Jamie Berryman and her daughter Payge joined us and they signed up for the one mile event.

Jamie said their goal was to run the whole thing. As I stood at the line waiting for them to cross I was surprised to hear Payge's voice come up from behind me. They made it right past me with out me noticing. They did what they came to do, they ran it without stopping! AND They did it fast!!! It wasn't timed, so we're not for sure but we think it was under nine minutes! I was so proud of them. Innocent little Payge made the amazing comment, "If my Great Grandma can beat cancer, I can run a mile." I was glad to have my sunglasses on at that comment, the water started to flow! You both did awesome, I'm so so so proud of you!!!

It was a great morning. I was so pleased to be able to run with such amazing people.

A side note about this picture: The beautiful Berryman's look perfect as usual, but we Hansen's have got some serious issues! Don't worry Kenton didn't fall and hit his head, his face isn't stuck like that. But it sure does look like I brought my "special" friend with me! We're thinking of cropping it and using it for out Christmas cards! (geesh!)

God is Good all the time, All the time God is Good!

1 comment:

  1. We always thought of Kenton as special. Now we have a picture to go along with it.

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