2010 Down Syndrome Indiana Buddy Walk®! Join our Dash with Nash! team

Hi, its Nash! I am now 9 years old and in fourth grade. I enjoy playing basketball, riding horses, football, watching movies and playing with my friends and with Seger of course! Can you join my team Dash with Nash (and Seger our 3 year old golden retriever) and help me reach my fundraising goal for our 2010 Down Syndrome Indiana Buddy Walk®? For those not aware, Down Syndrome Indiana (DSI) is an organization that is committed to assisting and supporting individuals with Down syndrome, along with their families, and realizing the potential of all people with Down syndrome. The Buddy Walk® is designed to promote awareness and inclusion for people with Down syndrome, as well as to raise money to support national education, research and advocacy initiatives. My Dad, Jeff, is President of DSI this year, so he wants to raise LOTS of money- well, you know how he is about raising funds! Just click on the "Sponsor Me" tab to donate. If you would like to walk with us click on "join this team" and register. All funds donated before October 16th will be counted toward our team goal of $5,000. If you donate 50.00 you get a T-shirt! If you Walk with us we will see to it you get a T-shirt too. Hoping to see you all on October 23rd and if we don’t, thank you for your support and generosity. Jeff, Jan, Nash and Seger Huffman

Tomorrow is Teacher conference day for our boy, now 8 years old and in third grade. My blog has taken a back stage to daily/weekly/monthly events; my work at the Attorney General’s office as a criminal appeals attorney for you, the citizens of Indiana, my new appointment with the ARC of Indiana board of directors, working with Down Syndrome Indiana and ARC of Indiana to initiate post-secondary educational opportunities in Indiana, being Mom to Nash and trying so, so hard not to be “educator of Nash”, getting our powerful husband/dad BigDawg back on his feet after retinal detachment surgery took him OUT for two weeks…and still continuing.....ugh, he is so vital to our family! And now that our 2009 DSI Buddy Walk is over, so many positive raising over 110K, but knowing I will be involved in big changes soon, locally and nationally. I am just mind boggled at the split in the national spectrum in the DS movement right now with the major fundraiser (NDSS Buddy Walk) that has allowed ALL of our affiliates to progress to the point they are today. ALL of them. But I digress…. Tomorrow will be a “show me” day, a day for Nash to shine (we tend to leave the negatives for the communication notes, but even those have promise!) and I have no doubt he will do so. We have a fantastic team this year, wonderful accommodations. Looking forward to tomorrow, unlike the days when I couldn't see beyond the tears.

So you wanna Dash with Nash? 2009 DSI Buddy Walk® -Indy- October 10th!

The 2009 DSI Buddy Walk is Saturday, October 10th, 2009 Celebration Plaza, White River State Park - Downtown Indianapolis Join Team Dash with Nash! We are taking part in the Buddy Walk®, as an affliate of the National Down Syndrome Society, to raise money for Down Syndrome Indiana, an organization near and dear to our hearts. The Buddy Walk® has three primary goals: * To promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome* To raise funds locally and nationally for education, research and advocacy programs, and; * To enhance the position of the Down syndrome community, enabling us to positively influence local and national policy and practice. Please join our team and/or make a donation by visiting DASH WITH NASH You can donate online with a credit card or shoot me an email and send a check via snail mail, but it needs to be in by October 3rd to go to our team total. For more information about the Buddy Walk click here Thank you!

DSI 2008 Buddy Walk

Here is the slide show of photos. Wow, what a weekend. We had over 2500 people at the DSI Buddy Walk, guess-timate. Over 120K so far in donations. Even though we didn't have our wonderful IRL again, it was a success Thanks to my YaYa's at work that came, had fun! Even with Nash and the F-bomb! And it was good to see Rebecca again, and Nash loved hanging with Chandler, her son. Nash had a few friends from his 2nd grade class come, and thanks to you all! It was 85 degrees, sunny, and Seger was a very good Buddy Walk Doggie!

Its Buddy Walk Time!

* Down Syndrome Indiana 2008 Buddy Walk * Saturday, October 11, 2008 * Dear Friends and Family: It’s Buddy Walk Time! For those not aware, DSI (formerly the Indiana Down syndrome Foundation) is an organization that is committed to assisting and supporting individuals with Down syndrome, along with their families, and realizing the potential of all people with Down syndrome. The Buddy Walk is designed to promote awareness and inclusion for people with Down syndrome, as well as to raise money to support national education, research and advocacy initiatives. Needless to say, it promotes a cause that is close to our hearts. To Join the Dash with Nash Team and walk with us October 11th click here and click on “Join Dash with Nash”. You don’t have to donate to Walk, but you can donate! (Ignore the “personal goal” part, not sure why that is there) click on “personal donation” and go from there. If you can’t walk, click here to donate. Click on “Donate to Dash with Nash” If you choose to donate please make sure they it is in before SEPTEMBER 25TH so we can count it toward our team goal! We will be combining all teams from White River Elementary to Walk on Oct 11th- Hoping to see you all on October 11th and if we don’t, thank you for your support and generosity. With warmest regards, Jeff, Jan, Nash and Seger Huffman email: jehjms@yahoo.com Down Syndrome Indiana

Remembering Annette and the 2007 Indiana Buddy Walk

Today is the 6 month Anniversary of our friend Annette's death. In honor of Annette, I submitted an article for our DSI Buddy Walk Newsletter, as the request was to provide an article about what the Buddy Walk meant to our families. While I could have written about how I brought Nash to our first Buddy Walk in 2001 when he was 6 months old, and I was just overpowered with anxiety, fear and joy and all of the aforementioned emotions, I chose to write about one magical Buddy Walk; last year in October of 2007. My draft: Buddy Walk 2007 and Memories of Annette Our family consists of three, plus a few hundred or so, since the birth of our son Nash in February 2001 thanks to the members of the IDSF, now DSI family, and those we have met via internet support boards. When Nash was born, and his diagnosis of Trisomy 21 official, we bought books, cried a bunch, loved on our son, and went on-line. My support was my loving husband Jeff, our families, a box of tissues and a group of gals originally on a parentsplace.com Down syndrome board, which later evolved into the tri21online.com discussion group. On this board, I was able to somewhat covertly discuss my fears, dreams and issue-of-the-day, share my love of internet research and my findings to all those that will listen, make some friendships that still, to this day, feel stronger than genetic family ties. The strength of the bond among those of us with children with Down syndrome is inexplicable to those not officially members of our exclusive club; those with a family member with Down syndrome. The strength of this bond was evident at the 2007 Buddy Walk. Annette Lammer and her husband Tom became friends with Jeff and me via the internet in early 2001 when Annette and I met on-line. Their son Ryan also has Down syndrome and is Nash’s age, born within a week of each other. Our friendship grew as we shared triumphs and disappointments, and finally met each other in person. These meetings are known as “IRL’s” in the online communities, or “In Real Life” meetings. The IRL’s were held in various locals, and the last one with Annette was at our home in Indiana for the 2007 Buddy Walk. We had over 80 people attend the IRL at our house in Noblesville after the Buddy Walk from all over the country, including Annette and family from Canada. But I knew this was much more than an IRL. It was a gathering of friends for Annette who all share that special bond of having a child with Down syndrome, as we didn’t know how long we would be blessed with her friendship and presence here on earth. Annette was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma in February 2006, five years from when her son Ryan was born. She passed away on December 16, 2007, just two months after that wonderful gathering at the Buddy Walk. So you see, the Buddy Walk is a special event for many of us; a place to gather family, friends and those special in our lives. It’s for educators, therapists, friends and family to show their support for Down syndrome Awareness. It’s an event to celebrate, and for us that knew Annette, to remember. And we will be doing just that for the 2008 Buddy Walk in Indianapolis. Celebrating and remembering. We hope you all join us! Annette at the 2007 Buddy Walk- God Speed Annette, we miss you. Annette and family on the right at the end Please leave a link to your Buddy Walk or IRL experience in your response for us to enjoy, expecially if it pertains to our much loved, much missed Annette.