Happy Birthday Taysen!

Taysen at age 7 ....

FUNNY. vibrant. full of life

Loves people.

Loves chocolate milk, strawberries, noodle soup and peanut butter and honey sandwich.

Enjoys playing wii in the stander but only 2 games. Sim animals Africa and bull riding.

Loves to play on the IPAd and his favorite game is the hunting game where he gets to shoot bucks

Is an excellent swimmer.

Tells us numerous times a day how much he loves us.

LOVES his dog, Jackson, and one of his favorite things to do is to lay next to him and pet him

Sometimes calls people "humans" and says "cheechother" instead of "eachother"

Will sit on the floor and play animals for hours. He has a huge collection of animals and sets them up into families.

Loves to play "rodeo" where he is the "rodeo announcer" and will often request that one of us sings the national anthem to prepare for the rodeo.

I mostly took video on his birthday so there aren't too many pictures. Please note the cake that Taye specifically requested. He asked for his dog (chocolate lab) and carrots. (?) so that is what he got!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYSEN!! WE LOVE YOU

13

13 miles done today! We are feeling pretty good about the way things are going. The cute boy in the picture is my nephew, Carter. He rode his bike with us the whole time and carried water bottles and snacks in his backpack. Thanks Carter!

Thanks you everyone who has donated to our race. Every cent is appreciated and I am so thankful for each and every one of you. www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/taysen/runfortaysen

Marathon Training

An Update on the Running.....

Well it's week 8 of the marathon training. For you runners out there, we are doing the Hal Higdon Novice 1 training schedule . Things have been going relatively smoothly so far! Neither Tawnee or I have gotten any injuries aside from the usual aches and pains associated with long distance running.

Typically, I feel amazing until about mile 9. Then I start to get tired, and thirsty. Really thirsty. And kind of hungry too. Also, my legs start to get heavy. Hopefully my endurance starts to kick in soon because there is still 10 weeks left of long runs! Yippee!!!!

I have to say that raising MONEY and AWARENESS to find a CURE for SMA has made everything worth it! I am proud to say that we have added 5 runners and walkers to our team with some more possibly signing up! We have raised $780 in just a couple weeks! Thanks you everyone for your support!

All money raised goes to Sohia's Cure who has commited one million dollars to Dr. Kaspers gene therapy program at OSU. To donate, please click HERE

Taysen Swimming

The only time his body is truly free to move how he pleases. He absolutely loves to go swimming and so does River. Quite the accomplishment for a kiddo who is immobile on land. Enjoy the video!

Run For Taysen...

So here it is. The first fundraiser for our 200 for SMA I am running the Bellingham Bay Marathon on Septmeber 25. I am so very thankful that my sister in law Tawnee is running it with me.

I want to say a special thank you to you Tawnee for not only being so supportive and such a cheerleader to Taysen, but also being invested in SMA by learning about it and researching treatments. Thank you for being such a good sport and taking on 26.2 miles with me!

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Consider making a donation! 5 years ago when Taysen was diagnosed, people would often ask "what can I do to help?" I simply did not know how to answer that. I had big ideas for fundraising back then but they fell by the wayside as our family simply tried to keep our heads above water. We are in a good place right now and felt it was time to raise some bucks. I am not kidding when I say this. No amount is too small! If you can only afford 5 bucks then we will greatfully accept it!

I am scared. Nervous. Maybe even a little excited. I know I can do this and will do anything for my son, or any SMA kid for that matter. I know Taysen would be outside running with me if his body allowed him. Please read our race page, by clicking the link below and consider sponsoring us in our quest to raise awareness and money for gene therapy.

FirstGiving - Your fundraising