Great Strides 2010

This past Saturday was the CF Foundation's Great Strides Walk at Lake Hefner's Stars and Stripes park. This is the largest fundraising event nationwide for the foundation. All of the local families create walk teams honoring their loved ones with CF, and those teams raise as much money as they can for research. We started the Hayden's Heroes team for our daughter's first walk at 10 months of age. This was our fourth year to participate and we always have a lot of fun. Money is still coming in so I don't have a grand total raised for you but the event always raises well over $100,000. Our team has done about $5000 so far.

On our way to the event (Note: I always swore I would never allow stickers on my car windows. Yep, that didn't last long.)
Striking a pose upon arrival
The Fam
Hayden with her Mommo (my mother)
My friend, Danielle, and her precious son, Jackson
Ryan keeping Hayden and her friend, Megan, warm
My friend, Heather, with her husband and daughter, Yury and Iliana My friend Stacy with her husband, Todd, son ,Thatcher, and mother, Karen
Every year, Hero of Our Heart awards are passed out to everyone with CF. This year, I was asked to present the awards as Mrs. Oklahoma. Last year we had Rumble do the honors so I felt pretty special! One by one, each CFer walked across the stage to receive their medal. Unfortunately there are always loved ones walking in memory of someone who lost their battle with CF. This year was especially sad because Missy Cannon, who just last year was our Ambassador for this walk, passed away the day after Christmas. I remember her last year speaking to the crowd, and this year I was giving a medal to her family as they honored her memory. She was only 35. It broke my heart. As a CF parent, I hate to face the stark reality of what this disease can do, and it's especially hard when it's that close to home. After the walk I told her father how sorry I was for his loss. Through tears, he told me how grateful they were for the wonderful 35 years they had with Missy. I walked away thinking "That's not enough". It was just another reminder for me why I am doing this - why I entered this pageant. It's because I decided that 36.5 years with Hayden is not good enough for me. I can't let that happen. Please say a prayer for the Cannon family as they go through this difficult and emotional time.

Here is our chapter's executive director, Celia Palmer, introducing me to the crowd.

This picture makes me laugh. It looks like the arms of the guy behind me belong to me!
You can't see her face, but here is Hayden talking to Celia before she gets her medal Here I am getting to put the medal on her Hayden with her friends Eva and Megan. Could this picture be any cuter?! Hayden with her CF doctor, Dr. Santiago Reyes. He is WONDERFUL!With friends, Emily and Eva
Me with my bff, Kristin. I'm going to take this moment to say that I quite like my new Walmart sunglasses.
Hayden got to have some fun playing on the playground while we were there. Just as it is every year, it was a fun, but emotional, event. We are so thankful to all of our friends who joined us and to everyone who donated to our team this year. You are all Hayden's Heroes!

My incredibly cute Jessica Simpson wedges were provided by Dillards Penn Square