Saturday, May 18, 2013

Running with Angels 2013 Review!

We had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Running with Angels 5K Walk/Run at Thanksgiving Point.  It turned out to be a really wonderful morning, even though it was very cold...and VERY wet!  I could feel Joshua with us and it felt so good to do something in his honor. 
 
 Last night, I went and picked up our packet with our running numbers, t-shirts, and other goodies that came with registration.  It was then that I realized I was actually going to be walking a 5K!  I had been focused so much on the dove release in my head, I didn't really think about the 3 miles I would have to run.  Even though I didn't end up walking the whole thing (I would have, but Logan was miserably cold and I took him to the car to get warm), I was proud of myself for what I did, especially knowing it was for Joshua.

One thing I loved about this experience was thinking of a special way to showcase our little angel during the run.  People did all sorts of things, including making special shirts, hats, and writing the angel's names on a special "In Memory Of" bib.  I decided to make our own bib to wear on our backs.  They were all the same except mine said "Mommy's Angel", Tim's said "Daddy's Angel", and Logan's said "Brother Josh". 

Logan LOVED carrying his picture of "Josh" around and showing anyone who would look.  

Showing off our little Joshua! 

Another thing we did was wear our "I {heart} Joshua" t-shirts.  These shirts were designed by my brother and his wife while Joshua was still here.  They started a special campaign for Joshua and they have now become a wonderful way for us to keep Joshua close.  



Like we mentioned before, we had the wonderful opportunity to release doves before the race began.  These doves were in memory of all the angels that people were running for that day.  It was such an honor to represent these wonderful families and to think about their little angels.

Getting ready to release the doves

Logan was fascinated by them!

That is, until they were out of the cage...then they were a little scary.

  But it was so neat to see all the doves fly away together in a big flock! It was such a beautiful moment!

Then, it was time for the race to begin! It was also time for the rain to begin.  We were only about 1/2 a mile into the race when we were completely soaked! In fact, I had to cut some serious corners and get poor Logan boy out of the rain and into the nice warm car.  If we had remembered the ponchos at home, he would have had a much more pleasant experience.


But, we were lucky to have Tim's sister and her husband come and they were able to stay in the car with Logan and help us get some pictures of going across the finish line!  I met up with Tim when he got there and we finished together.

The soaking wet victors! (But really...my sweatshirt weighed about 10x more then it normally did because of water!)

It really was a wonderful experience!  It was so perfect to be able to honor little Joshua in such a special way!  I hope we can do something like this in the future.

Another great part of the morning was seeing this wonderful lady!  Carolyn Kasteler is the founder of the program Angel Watch, which is the program the 5K benefited.  I feel so blessed to have her as a very dear family friend and a "love aunt".  She was a great help for me while we were going through everything with Joshua and she has been even more help as we go through the grieving process.  Her program has helped countless families make a tragedy into priceless memories.  

Thank you to my dear sister-in-law and her family for coming and for the countless other people that wanted to be there, but couldn't make it!  We are so humbled by the love and support we have received through this whole experience.  We love you all so much!




4 comments:

  1. This looks like such a neat experience, and it looks like a lot of people were there in spite of the rain. Awesome. Is this an annual event? If so, what a neat tradition it will be to participate in every year, and it will be an extra special way to remember Joshua and share your memories of and love for him with others. Glad you got to do this! And the doves! The pictures of Logan's face are priceless! So adorable!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wendy-this is an annual event! They have done it the past 9 years! We will probably do either this one or there is another race that the Intermountain Healing Hearts puts on every year. It is definitely a neat thing!

      Delete
  2. What a neat event! Logan's look during the dove release is awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a neat experience for you guys! I'm so glad you were able to participate, especially with the dove release. :)

    ReplyDelete


<a href="http://abrokenheartandcontritespirit.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fFBnbQw6_z8/UUzA-HPVQPI/AAAAAAAAH7I/k-O9jlm_Q18/s1600/Button.jpg" /></a>
Joshua Kent Ipson was born December 1, 2012 with a very complicated combination of congenital heart defects. After 2 1/2 months of fighting for his life, he passed away on February 13, 2013. We invite you to share our experiences as we grieve his loss, rejoice in God's plan, & keep Joshua's message of hope alive.
Powered by Blogger.

The source of all my hope and peace

Search This Blog

Popular Posts