Special Olympics

This last week Will and I got to experience the Special Olympics first hand. The speed skating was at Idaho Ice World and Will got to be a timer and I was an ______________. I decided not to fill that in because over the course of the week I did everything from tie skates to fill coffee pots. It was the experience of a lifetime and I am grateful to have been a part of it. Just being around the athletes and seeing all the hard work they put into the sport was so rewarding. It was a bit of a challange to talk to some of the participants from other countries but for the most part we were able to make it work. Will made some friends from Kyrgyzstan who were very impressed with our camera phones. We ended up with lots of intresting pictures. I also got to spend some time with a young man from Japan who spent lots of the time shaking my hand.

Over the course of the week several celebrities stopped by including Doctor Cox from scrubs, Speed Skater Derek Parra, and Michelle Kwan. Derek skated several days and he is so fast. It was amazing watching him fly! Will said he was going around the track in less than 10 seconds. It doesnt seem possible that someone can be so fast and I am sure he was not pushing himself! I tried to take pictures of him skating and at that speed I couldnt keep up with him. He was so nice, and I think that it is great that so many VIP's take an intrest in the athletes.

During the week it snowed in Boise and I thought it was great! Some of the kids had never before seen snow and they loved it. Bonnie and I (the girl I was working with) got to teach some of the kids how to make snow balls. They were trying to have a snow ball fight and were just picking up handfuls of snow and trying to throw it. It was great to share that experience with them. The girls in the picture are from the Chinese Taipei.

Part of my duties was helping in the front lobby. I really enjoyed this since it gave me a chance to meet alot of people. We also got to spend time chatting with the Idaho State Police that were security for the event. The athletes loved the officers and as you can see loved to share pins from their countries with them. They had quite an amount of bling by the end of the week.

Being Volunteers we were given tickets to the closing ceremonies but when we got home on friday Jake was running a fever so Will ended up going with Emmy Jo. I think she enjoyed it. I am sure it was exciting seeing all the countries represented and listening to all the music. We were sad to see the week come to a closing but we got back so much more than the time that we put in. Our lifes were touched in a way that we will never forget!