Down Syndrome Resource Center

'Better than I could have imagined' This was a common statement I heard throughout the Grand Opening of the Down Syndrome Resource Center. As folks walked in the door, their eyes seemed to widen as they took in the new look! I stood in the foyer, greeting everyone, shaking hands, giving (and getting) hugs, and handing out tickets for the door prizes. I feel like I had the best job of the day - getting to see all those beautiful, smiling faces as they walked in and saw our new home for the first time!

The wonderful people of NINFA'S Restaurant had arrived very early, and set up a beautiful catering display. They provided all the fixings for delicious fajitas, tamales, enchiladas, desserts, and drinks. As our members arrived they followed their nose to the conference room, and helped themselves to an incredible meal! We thought we had enough chairs set up, but we were off by quite a bit. We put down as many chairs as we could fit, and there were still people standing! That was a nice 'problem' to have.

It was so great to see old and new members mingling. To see the older children laughing and smiling, the toddlers running around (with a parent not far behind), and all the beautiful babies surrounded by their family! Rosa Rocha, a longtime member, past President, and also slated as our President for 2008, began the event by welcoming everyone and talking about the vision of the Down Syndrome Association of Houston. How the Resource Center, which was the culmination of many parents' dreams, including hers, for 18 years, was now our new home! This new home is where we can come together as a community - to share, learn, dream, and grow!

The Talent Show was a COMPLETE HIT! Dave Ward was our smiling emcee, as he is every year! He had 10 entries - some were solo acts, and some involved all the kids in the family!

The Fabulous Macias sisters started us off, jamming to 'Nobody's Perfect' from Hannah Montana.

Mason Taylor LOVED being on stage in her purple tutu, and showed us her famous somersault.

The Ishee-Dunn clan had a choreographed version of the '12 Days of Christmas', which included high-kicks from Abby!

Joshua Lopez was a little shy at the piano, until he got help from Justin Nyenya- then you couldn't stop the duo.

The Medrano kids, in full costume, wowed the audience with their paired Latin dancing!

Nathan Gaddis, our resident ham, could have woken anyone up with his rendition of 'When You Wake Up'!

Christian Bennett prefaced his reading of 'Little Snowflakes', by asking for a round of applause for his mom, Reneé Bennett, our newsletter editor, with which the audience happily complied!

Arabella Burdeaux belted out 'Tomorrow' from the show, 'Annie', and then told her mom she wasn't done yet; then took a bow for the audience.

Sean Davis, a regular at the annual Talent Show, started singing 'I Love You' from Barney, and got the whole crowd to sing-along!

And then the Medrano kids came back for the Finale, inviting every performer, and every child in the audience, to come up on stage and dance with them! It sounds cliché, but it was a sight to behold!

To cap the evening off, Paula Davis, who organizes our beautiful calendar every year, made arrangements to have many of the 2008 Calendar models at the party! She brought them up, one by one, telling funny and poignant stories about each of the photo shoots! I heard a few comments from the members, that they really enjoyed hearing these stories. It gave them new insight when they viewed the calendar pages, and an appreciation of what Laura Popiel (the photographer) is able to accomplish with these precious, and sometimes tenacious, children!

Thank you for attending, and if you weren't able to attend, hopefully this will make you wish you had! We look forward to seeing many more faces at each of our monthly meetings, and other upcoming events!