#SpecialOlympics World Games Come to Abu Dhabi!! #CatchingUp

The Special Olympics World Games were held in Abu Dhabi about 2 weeks ago. I was lucky enough to get tickets to the Opening Ceremonies. The best part, of course, was watching the athletes process in! I met Emma there around 5 and we left about 10:30, before it was officially over.

Here's a small sample of the festivities. 


Emma!!

Eunice Shriver's son, Michael. He is TOTALLY a Kennedy, right?!?


The stage around which the athletes walked.


They had us park at the Grand Mosque and shuttle to the venue, Zayed Sports City.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I am really leaving!

Image
I have been waiting for today for weeks: Pack-out Day, I call it. I coordinated and scheduled and hoped and prayed it would all come together and then expected it to fall apart. I'm so happy to report that I was wrong! It did NOT fall apart! The packing crew was scheduled weeks ago for today (Sunday, the 18th), and they called to confirm on Thursday (the last day of the Israeli work week) for 8ish a.m. on Sunday. That took care of the stuff that I am shipping, but what about the stuff no one bought and that isn't going back to Idaho with me? A coworker who has been in Israel 35+ years hooked me up with 
Read more

BENIGN!!!

Image
 The results are in: Benign!!! I've been back in Israel since Sunday, late afternoon. I was fine through Monday afternoon, realizing nobody was working in America until 5 p.m. my time. I figured the doctor would call that night and I'd leave my phone on in case she did. However, I fell asleep at 7:30 that night but awoke at midnight--too groggy to realize my phone was in airplane mode. There were no messages when I turned it back on.  Tuesday I took a nap from 4-7 p.m. and called the doctor after Bible study ended at 9. I was super nervous. Nothing yet. Please keep in mind I am utterly exhausted at this point and ended up crying on the phone to the nurse, who said she would call the imaging center to check on it and call me back. I never heard back from her. I slept from 9:30 until 2 a.m., just in time to watch TCU get trampled in the National Championship game. When Wednesday rolled around I got to keep busy because it is our long day at work. I was beginning to wonder if som...
Read more

Awaiting the Biopsy, Managing the Anxiety

Image
Outside the Bullock Museum, Austin I was exhausted after the diagnostic mammogram which, usually less than an hour in total, turned out to be a 5 hour extravaganza. When I got home I burst into tears and had a good cry before I could even get out of the car. I started praying for calm and peace.  More than the results of the biopsy I was freaking out about the procedure itself. Although the doctor and nurses assured me I would only feel the first numbing shot of the local anesthetic, I didn't believe them. Several times in the past I have been told the same thing, only to feel a lot of pain during the procedure. Despite my best efforts I would find myself worried about how I would react to the pain, if I would feel more than the first shot, if these people were trustworthy, if this doctor is good, etc.  I told my parents the news over a dinner of grilled catfish and they did not seem overly concerned--which helped me so much, I think. Wanting to please them gave me a sort of "...
Read more