club 21 auction..or an excuse to put Max in a bowtie!

Can you stand it? *sigh* I'm dyin over here looking at all the cuteness in that bowtie!



Thursday was the Club 21 Auction and we used it as an excuse to try him in the suit he wore back when he was 4 months old to his Aunt Mary Jo and Dave's ANniversary party. Well - the shirt and vest and bowtie fit - but the pants - little did we know that they were really shorts! So he wore jeans and his fancy red shoes instead. I'm so glad I brought my camera!


And yes - thanks for asking...Max did get TONS of attention in that little outfit. Oh my gosh you should have seen it. And - he loved it. He did great that night. kept him out much too late and he was just fine with it all. Went with the flow. Smiled and laughed and hugged and then....melted down just as we were heading out at 10pm!

here is Molly looking beautiful!
And here is Jessica who I met at the Down syndrome conference up in Sacramento. All I remember is that she was standing there with a very large pink drink from Starbucks that had a lot of whipped cream on top and she was pretty darn excited about it. And here she is surrounded by her friends having a grand time.
Christopher. He told me that day that he won THREE gold medals in the Special Olympics this past week. I already thought he was an amazing guy...but really! THREE GOLD MEDALS!
Tim with his dad. Tim is looking so handsome in his suit!
Close up!
Nancy Littekin and Jackie Page. Nancy is the executive director of Club 21 and Jackie was key to helping get the auction to where it was that night. So talented.
Nancy with Tracy who made the most incredible film about our children. I'm still speechless. We were all interviewed for the film. She had 70 hours of footage and made it into an 8 minute film - it was beautiful , touching, emotional, educational, wonderful and a great opportunity for all of us to learn about each other even more. We all shared what our first thoughts were when we found out that our children had Down syndrome. It was hard to hear but also made me feel more connected. Then it went into how we got those ideas in our minds about what Down syndrome is and how our culture doesn't really show us the truth about Ds. And so we all had an opportunity to share what it really is and how our experiences of our children have changed the way we view Down syndrome. So touching. I think I'm still processing about the film and what I said on it. But overall it showed the amazing things that Club 21 is doing and how important it is to have this place for them to learn to read, to gather as a community, to play, to learn sign language, etc etc etc.....I hope the film touched some of the people there that had never really known about Down syndrome or maybe shifted a point of view. Tracy blew me away with her film and with the way she helped run the auction. She was in charge and she did it was grace and ease! She inspired me to make my own film about Max...so stay tuned people!

here is the auction committee. and yes - Max and I were both on the committee. I really enjoyed being behind the scenes and seeing it all come together and meeting these incredible women who spent so much time and energy to make this event happen. I was so impressed! I didn't do much since I had a little one with me all the time - but it was great to witness it all.
The room just minutes before the doors opened.

The branches on the centerpieces had little twinkling lights on them - so as the day turned to night the lights twinkled and glowed through out the room. I was looking around and thinking that each light represented a person who has Down syndrome and how each of them really does light up the room.

The night was a huge success - much laughter, joy, community, and fund raising! Plus great food, good friends and lots of love in the air. And Max! and no I didn't win anything in the auction - but I did win in so many other ways - not just that night - but Max in my life is the biggest prize ever. I know - you're thinking that was a cheesy thing to say, right? Well - I don't care! It's true. People were asking why he was with us - and why we didn't get a babysitter. Well - We don't have a babysitter yet. And we LOVE having him with us!

When we were driving home I was telling Jerry that it's true - you can't pick your family... I certainly didn't know I would be joining this family when Max was born - but it's true that they are there for me and I am so grateful to know each of them.