Special Olympics 2009

Last Friday we had the pleasure of attending the Special Olympics. This is something that Quade and Austin participate in every year....its their opportunity to show off their athletic abilities and get some recognition for the events that they do...there is always a regional Olympics but prior to that, our school does their very own special Olympics. Our whole school comes out to support and cheer the athletes on and our track team comes and helps by being "Helpers" they pick or are assigned an Olympian to spend the day with... they stay with them, run with them, give them attention and praise.

Here are some pictures of our day.....

Austin in the Long Jump Competition

Sawyers class came out to watch and cheer on the kids from their school...and maybe a few brothers as well...

oh hey...there is that monkey hat again....I told you that it does not leave his head..and you thought I was only kidding!!!

Austin throwing in the soft ball throw event....man that boy can throw! must be in the genes

Quade throwing in the soft ball throw event. you will notice that he has his softball glove on...the boy can not throw a ball worth a darn without that glove attached to his hand!

Hayden is trying to convince his little buddy to throw the tennis ball...it took alot of talking but he finally threw it!

Quade running during the TORCH RUN

Here is Quade with his idol! this is Griffin, he played football with Hayden. Every Friday night you could hear Quade in the stands yelling for his hero....and it wasn't Hayden's name that could be heard....oh no...it was

GO GRIFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Griff was chosen to be Quades helper and boy was Quade thrilled!!

A Huge Crowd showed up to cheer the athletes along....

This is something I love about our school. Every year when the special Olympics roll around the kids classes get out to come and be part of the experience.

Hayden and his little buddy for the day!

The whole gang...and their helpers!

Quade Receiving his 2nd place medal for his Race (be sure and see the video below)

Hayden admiring Quades medal...which Quade is enjoying showing off

Austin Scoring a 1st in his race

Its not always about the race, sometimes its about the journey that gets you to the finish line...

This is a video of QUADES RACE as you can see he has a helper (Griff) running with him....If you keep your eyes on the left side when the race begins Quade made several stops along the way to say hi to the people along his journey to the finish line...and then on the right he stops to gather someone else to run with him....

sometimes we are so geared toward winning that we forget about those on the sideline. But not this boy....He could care less about the win if he cant stop along the way to spend time with those he loves