Carson Courage

This is a very touchy and sad topic to blog about, but I don't want Adaliah ever to forget her little neighbor and the inspiration he was to us all- so here we go....

As many of you may of heard, our sweet little 4 year old neighbor Carson was killed in a very tragic accident on July 5th. It has been such a horrible and  sad time for our ward and neighborhood, but also a very inspiring and uplifting time.

(Here are a few of the neighbor kids waiting in line to play a game on the 4th of July.  Next to Adaliah is sweet Carson in the blue shirt and cut off shorts)

We spent the 4th of July with our street having our annual street party eating breakfast, playing games, having a bike parade, and having a giant water fight. Our street closes off the road and plays all morning long.

So you could imagine the surprise when we heard the news about what had happened the very next day. Our hearts were broken for our neighbors the Cheneys. They were more than broken, they felt like they had been ripped out of our chest. Not only because we will miss that chubby cheeked smile every day, but because we couldn't imagine the pain Zach and Hilary had to be experiencing. Is there anything worse than loosing a child?

Carson was such an amazing little boy. He learned to ride his bike WITHOUT training wheels at age 2 (a week before his 3rd birthday). He loved pushing himself and trying new things. He loved riding his bike and  was outside every day riding up and down the street and going off a ramp his dad built him (yes- at age 4). He loved to flex his muscles for people to show how strong he was, and when he would get hurt he would grit his teeth as hard as he could and try not to cry. They told a story at the funeral about Carson in primary class. The teacher was telling how Heavenly Father wants us to choose the right, and Satan doesn't want us to because he wants us to be miserable like himself. Carson jumped out of his seat in a karate stance and said "I'm going to kick Satan's butt!' That was Carson. The Cheneys started calling his determination to be strong and try new things "Carson Courage".

The morning of the funeral at 6:30 am the entire neighborhood brought their bikes out in front of the Cheneys house in memory of Carson. It was so emotional and inspiring to see 100+ kids ride their bikes over and park them and then tie balloons on them...all with it being COMPLETELY silent. There were 140+ bikes by the end of the day.

(Adaliah's is the tiny little blue bike with the yellow balloon. Not much of a bike- but Carson has ridden that thing up and down the side walk so it couldn't be left out)

The funeral service was so beautiful. The plan of salvation is real. It was so good to be reminded how special sweet Carson must have been to have a free ticket to live with his Heavenly Father again and not have to be tested any longer in this crazy world. We all laughed and cried together and we all left feeling inspired to have more Carson Courage in our lives and also to enjoy EVERY MOMENT of being a parent.


This was the cover of the program. This was taken only 30 mins before the accident. Sweet Carson saying "I made it! Celistrial Glory is Mine!"



After the funeral, at about 5:30 pm, the ward all came together again and released the balloons. All the primary aged kids lined up to give Carsons parents hugs. Hilary had a smile on her face for the first time in days as all the kids yelled "Goodbye Carson!" as the balloons made their way into the heavens.

Tear jerking. A week later and I'm still sobbing like a baby writing this post.



This whole experience has been so life changing for Pete and I, and hundreds of others. Carson came into this world to touch our lives and remind us to have a little more courage so we too can live with Heavenly Father again someday.

I hope we all can try a little harder and hug our children a little tighter.