UDSF BBQ...

Saturday we went to the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation (UDSF) Davis County chapter BBQ. This is our first big event getting together with other families that have children with Down syndrome, and we were all excited and a little nervous. The nervousness, at least for myself, was centered primarily around not knowing anyone at the event, and slightly less so by not knowing what to expect. I felt like everyone would be friendly and cordial, but I was kind of worried of being the new "friend" among people that are already best friends. I was also concerned about Coleson's perception of the whole event, would he have fun, would he make friends, would he want to come again?

After some driving around we finally found the pavilion at the park and immediately we could tell this would be something special. There were balloons on every table, tied to plastic beach buckets with little shovels and several bottles of bubbles inside. The grass next to the pavilion was covered with inflatable watermelon size basketballs, golf balls, and baseballs, that were the perfect size for a little kid to kick or catch. A card table was set upon the grass with two girls sitting there doing a variety of face paints. Once we got our nametags on Coleson immediately ran over to girls and got a green crescent moon painted on one cheek (before the night was done, Coleson had a blue ladybug painted on the other cheek). A bubble machine was blowing bubbles across the play area, and two large buckets filled with bubble solution were set up so you could dip children's clothing hangers in them and then run around screaming while creating "monster" bubbles.

From the moment we arrived people started saying hi to us and introducing themselves. It was nice to put a face to some of the names that I heard before. Instant friends were almost an understatement with some of these people. One lady, Janet, came running up to Summer and neither could believe that the other was really there. Janet and Summer used to do aerobics together several times a week before Ammon was born. Janet and her husband live in our stake and have four beautiful girls and Aaron, a 9-month "big" baby boy that is right around 19 pounds (Aaron also has Down syndrome). Apparently, about two months before Ammon was born, Janet was one week short of being full term and gave birth to Aaron. Both Summer and Janet had heard from friends that "someone" else in the stake had recently given birth to a child with Down syndrome, but both were obviously very surprised they would actually know who the other person was. Now I don't know if you have picked up on an interesting little fact yet, but Aaron's names is, well Aaron (and Aaron's middle name is Ammon). In the scriptures, Aaron and Ammon were brothers that were incredibly valiant and powerful instruments used to bring thousands to a knowledge of the Savior. Thinking back on the experiences we've already had with Ammon concerning who he is and his time before he came to our family, I can't help but be reminded of the special little person he is, and the special big person he once was.

The night was a complete success in so many ways, and I just wanted to share two more of those with you. First, Coleson had a blast, he was an excited kid at a carnival. About half way through the night a smiling clown showed up (a very friendly, very round, fun looking clown, not the other type that some people get scared of). The clown wasn't into the whole juggling pins or spraying cold water from a fake flower, he was all about the subtle jokes and making balloon stuff, which in my opinion is the best kind of clown. Coleson and a bunch of the other kids received balloon swords, which were an instant hit, literally. The kids were whacking each other as hard as they could and just loving it. Coleson got into a sword fight with several other kids, two of whom were at least 9 or 10, and this is when we fully realized that Coleson will probably be just fine, if not much more than just fine, in the whole Down syndrome world. Summer noted that for once there were kids much older than Coleson, who Coleson was trying to play with and they were gladly playing back with him. Coleson could have cared less if the two had Down syndrome, he was just ecstatic to have older kids actually wanting to play with him. Coleson grudgingly left the event when it was all over with two balloons, two face paintings, an alien balloon figure, a shovel and bucket filled with two bottles of bubbles, and a big smile on his face. It seems like we've had a lot more perfect nights since Ammon joined our family.

Second, I wanted to tell you a little more about Aaron. It was awesome to talk with Janet about just a few of the experiences her family has had with Aaron. Aaron recently had open heart surgery, but you wouldn't know from looking at him (about 50% of children with Down's syndrome have heart problems severe enough that it eventually requires surgery, sometimes several surgeries). The scar down the center of his chest is a thin red line that almost looks like a scratch. The surgery was a success and he healed very quickly afterwards. You could tell this is only one of the many miracles that Aaron and his family have already experienced. Summer and I got talking last night while going to sleep and another interesting thought came to mind. You all know that Ammon came to us quite early, and one of the many things he came with were three little holes in his heart of varying degrees. You'll also remember that over four months after his birth we went to his cardiologist who performed extensive procedures and noted the following: two of the holes had completely disappeared and the third hole had become so small that surgery probably wouldn't ever be required. I can't help but wonder with retrospective view, knowing what we know now, that part of the reason why Ammon came so early was so the Lord could perform his miracles on Ammon's heart before his heart had the chance to develop more fully. Maybe if Ammon had gone full term, an additional two months of development would have occurred on Ammon's heart that might have been the wrong kind of development, and he could have ended up with three holes that were not so little. Then I think of all the prayers offered on Ammon's behalf regarding so many things, including his heart, and the Lord the whole time giving the comfort that Ammon's heart would be just fine; He knew long before we knew, and all He has asked of us is to trust in Him. It has been said that the Lord works in mysterious ways, and I've come to understand that some of those mysterious ways are really various miracles that eventually get us to the same result. I'm filled with joy everytime I think of the miracles that Ammon has been blessed with, and I'm filled with peace by simply trusting in the Lord, even when trusting feels hard and we don't always know the end at the beginning. Our family will gladly take the daily trials along with the daily miracles, knowing that the Lord knows us and He works from an eternal perspective. And with the knowledge that our family is truly an eternal family, with intense charity for each other, this perspective is just fine with me.