walking to defeat ALS

this morning, i was the official photographer for the spring ALS walk in our area. i've been attending this event for several years and have been able to photograph it for at least the last 3 years. it holds a special place in our church community because of jill, one of our members who was diagnosed with ALS a few years ago.

it's an awesome event, and i loved working with the volunteers this year to help document the day.
i also got to see lots of familiar faces outside of church and work, like lily and molly--staying warm in their bike cart. i commented on how cool it was and that i wanted one, and molly said, "you have to have kids first!" when i told her i was working on that and asked if she knew that i was going to have a baby, she said, "yeah, i think i read about it on facebook." we all had a good laugh on that one!
of course, there was josh who has the nickname "monster" and had this adorable hat to go with it :)
and my friend stephanie from work brought out her daughter riley. we'll be doing photos with her in a couple of weeks and i'm super-excited!
also representing our work crew, brinklea with my buddy amanda...
and craig and jackie brought out samantha--gorgeous gorgeous dog.
there were plenty of activities out there for the kids, including balloons and face-painting before the walk started.
maddie was sporting this beautiful butterfly--love photographing her, too!
and then it was time for the walk to start--silas was there, ready to ride the 3k route on his bike!
and the ribbon was cut and the walk began--it was so cool to see everyone from work and church there to support the cause.
christie from work and her husband, randall, are committee members and do a great job of helping to organize and find volunteers for the walk.
and then as everyone else walked, i took my place at the finish line to capture some of the happy faces as they completed the walk. like these crazy girls...
love them. (hope they don't mind that i included that picture--i think it's hilarious!)

and the whole work crew!
i was proud to capture this shot, though--our walk team to support jill, "jill's caring angels." we had nearly 100 walkers there!


and won several awards, including the best t-shirt for a team, most walkers, and most money raised by a team.
so proud to be there with friends from all across the community and to hear about the amazing research that is being done to find a cure for ALS.