Day 17: 31 for 21----Nice day spent with nice people

Today we had a chance to spend the day with our friends, the Zuidema's at their 3rd annual Buddy Walk.  What a nice time we had.  Her team is a great group of friends and family who really show their support for them, Chloe and Down syndrome awareness.  We all wore custom made shirts supporting Chloe's Buddies.  Very cute too!  When I start posting pictures here, I will have to post a picture of the shirt. 

It was a beautiful day in Inverness, Fl.  I got a little sunburned on my face and the 84 degree weather kept me drinking plenty of water.  I can't imagine doing these walks during the summer that is for sure.  The walk is held in a beautiful park on the lake.  The kids had a ball playing on the bounce house and slide and doing all the carnival type games to win prizes.  In addition to our family, mom went and so did two of my nieces.  Blake was gifted a really nice lithograph from a raffle ticket that Chloe's dad, John, won.  Thanks again for making Blake's day! 

We met the Zuidemas while we were at Shands during K's NICU stay after she was born.  We missed seeing them in the NICU by 4 days.  She had her heart surgery and was transferred out after that.  I remember when we got to the NICU that all the nurses and support staff kept mentioning that we needed to meet Chloe.  Well, we did meet them eventually.  Kiley and John met each other in the elevator!  They got to talking and we ended up spending one morning at the Ronald McDonald house sharing our stories.  I remember going up to meet Chloe in her room before we went home.  We kept up with each other over that first summer sending each other numerous emails.  We have had the chance to meet up the past two years for a NICU reunion at Shands and also for the last 2 Buddy Walks. 

My hope is that these two girls will be life long friends.  I can see them spending a week together during the summers when they are teenagers!  I hate that we live 3 hours from each other, but I am so glad that we had the chance to meet them during a very stressful time in our lives.  Chloe, John and Michelle were the first people we met who had a very real experience with Ds that we could relate to.  Our daughters do share Ds, but they are little girls first and foremost, who will share a lot more than that common bond.  Thank you Lord for bringing the Zuidema's into our lives.  We are so grateful for their friendship and love!