2nd Annual HDSA Utah Team Hope Walk

This past Saturday was the 2nd annual HDSA Utah Team Hope Walk in West Jordan and it went great! Thanks to all the contributions, Purdy Strong (our team) finished in 2nd place with $1800 in donations. Overall roughly $11,500 was raised (not counting donations made the day of the event and the silent auction).

To help us celebrate being part of team Purdy Strong, Emily and I designed signs for each family member. Here are a few shots of those signs.

This was the most popular sign in our group. Sloane and her sign were even featured on the HDSA Utah Affiliate facebook page.  After all that effort I probably could have hidden the tape a bit better.

The best part of this picture is that you can't see Sloane. I wonder if anyone saw this and thought my dad was being unusually supportive of the cause.

My mom holding Seth's "HD ain't got nothing on me. I'm Purdy Strong" sign. He walked great with her for almost the entire walk. He loved seeing his Nana, especially since she watched him for several hours during the event and saved our sanity!

There is the handsome me with my Purdy Strong sign. Also visible are my dad, Thayne, Janet, Wayne, Becca and Kaylyn.

The short walk around Veterans Park in West Jordan went very well with several hundred people participating. We had a great turnout for our team and many more people who were unable to attend but supported us in spirit.

In addition to the walk, there was a charity auction and raffle. While the raffle took WAAAAAAAY too long to get through, we did walk away from the charity auction with a sweet Great Harvest gift basket and a scrapbooking basket from Stamp It Up. While the bread was more exciting for me, Emily practically drooled all over the scrapbooking stuff.

Thanks again to everyone who supported us in our first attempt at fundraising. It was a ton of fun and helped us contribute towards something we believe strongly in. Below are some assorted pictures from the event!

Team Purdy Strong sans Kara and Andy (Kara was taking the picture.)
Back row from left to right: Jon, Joy, Becca, Clint, Wayne, Kaylyn, Janet, Paul. Front Row: Matthew, Briana, Seth, Carolyn, Thayne, Sloane, Emily.
A bit of a rough and tumble bunch.

The Williams Crew wearing a hint of blue to show their support for BYU on Rivalry day. Just kidding guys! Sloane at least gave them their Utah red.



Emily, Kara, her horse (I mean dog) Andy ,and Seth. We should have brought a saddle for Andy so Seth could sneak a ride.

My first two roommates as a married man. Confused? Lets just say one was my movie wife and one was my legal wife. Thanks Becca!

By the end of the event, Sloane was done. I think my dad was happy for the excuse to sit down.

Clint and Emily! Fundraising masters!



Longtime family friend Joy, bright pink Kaylyn and Emily. Fearsome threesome.
 

Emily here....

I am overwhelmed by the support I received on this event.  It brings tears to my eyes to think of the many who donated their time (early on a Saturday morning!) and/or money to this cause.  I truly appreciated the emotional support as well.  So many reached out to me with words of encouragement and love.  I love you all so very much!

I hate this disease.  I truly hate the fear it brings into my daily life and the potential burden it would leave on my wonderful and ever-patient husband if/when I develop this disease.  I hope a cure will be found!  Until then, let's stay Purdy Strong!  :)