We walked for YOU!

Each year we take part in the Walk to Fight Arthritis. Brian's sister Lena and her hubby Jarren have been doing it for so many years now and we have joined them the last 3 years (maybe 4, I cant remember). The walk takes place all across Canada. Its a 5km walk and always such great time. This year all the Reed side siblings joined us and it was awesome! Our kids were so happy to see all their cousins and enjoyed racing, laughing, finding bugs and even having tired little legs together.



Of course, penny brought Maverick and she even shared him with others too. (We won't mention the part of her littlest cousin, Reed, thinking he was pretty sly and funny throwing Penny's baby Maverick into the garbage .. hahahaha... oops! Penny forgave him so fast though and all was well).





The walk is right beside the Bow River which always makes for a beautiful scenery.







(Thanks Lena for that last pic!) And, thanks to Carter.. we all literally stopped to smell the flowers.







At the very end of the walk, we saw some baby geese and Carter fell IN LOVE with them.





They were super cute but the Mama Geese had me a little worried. After the walk, everyone enjoys live bands, face painting, popcorn, a bounce house and the park. The weather was absolutely perfect too so it was such a wonderful day!













Arthritis is an autoimmune disease that we hold close to our hearts. Brian and his sister Lena have it (two different kinds) and recently Lena's husband, Jarren, was diagnosed with it too and thats only to name a couple of people.

I know from being with Brian that day-to-day living is hard. Its exhausting and painful. What seems like simple tasks like mowing the lawn or taking out the garbage can be so painful. I do my best to do those jobs myself but I still watch Brian get out bed in the morning and can tell he is stiff and in pain.

However, what I absolutely admire about Brian (and Lena and Jarren too!) is that he doesn't let it stop him from doing what he wants to do. He knows going on a hike will hurt him so much the following days but he does it anyway. He knows that throwing the football around with Carter and Bentley will make his whole body hurt and his elbow will feel like exploding but he would never tell you that nor does it stop him from throwing that football has high as he can. I admire his strength and his ability to push through trials and to still create a life that he has always dreamed about.

Man, he is amazing! I love you Brian Reed. So yesterday, we walked for Brian. We walked for Lena and Jarren. We walked for their cousin Megan, for our grandparents and for our parents and EVERY SINGLE PERSON who is affected by Arthritis. Young and Old, weak and strong, we walked for you!