World Down syndrome Day honors local residents

By Patsy Stoddard
Editor

World Down Syndrome Day is celebrated on March 21. This was the fourth worldwide celebration in recognition of those with down syndrome and their families held here in Emery County. The event was celebrated at the Emery County Recreation Center. Tiffany Sorensen welcomed everyone to the event and thanked everyone for coming. There is a website dedicated to World Down Syndrome Day, www.worlddownsyndromeday.org. The website is a good source for information. Lagoon also holds a down syndrome day in August each year. A pizza lunch was provided by BKs. Sorensen invited everyone to reach out and let other families with down syndrome family members know about the organization. Sorensen welcomed Taylor Sitterud to the celebration. He has one missing chromosone and down syndrome children have one too many.
Jessica Huntington told about her daughter BerkLee. She is 16 months old. She was born with down syndrome and had three holes in her heart. She underwent heart surgery. She went in on a Monday and was out by Thursday. She has two dogs. She loves milk. She loves being outside and in her basement. Her favorite toy is her stuffed monkey. She loves the color black. She loves to grab and play with her feet. She hoots like an owl. She likes music. She likes pasta, spaghetti and pizza. Her hobby is destruction. She loves throwing balls and she likes country music. She is really good at growling. Mike is BerkLee’s father. BerkLee was the youngest down syndrome child at the celebration.
Rebecca Marchello introduced her daughter Isabelle Marchello. They are from Price. Izzy is almost 4 years old. She has 13 grandparents and is spoiled. She has two kittens and two dogs. She loves fish crackers. She likes spaghetti with sauce. She likes licorice, her grandmas and playing outside. She likes music. She loves treats and snacks. She will even share the cat food with the cats. She loves playing in front of the mirror. She likes to terrorize her brothers. She likes bright colors. She likes to color on the wall with permanent marker. Her hugs have magical powers. Her smiles will brighten your day. Her laugh is contagious. She goes to school twice a week.
Jared Humphrey is from Orangeville and is the son of Jay Mark Humphrey and the late Joy Humphrey. He is 40 years old. He has three brothers and one sister and no pets. His favorite food is mashed potatoes and gravy and rolls. He likes root beer. His favorite place to go is his sister Jessica’s house. He likes to golf and swim and eat at Texas Road house. He is kind to everyone. He likes to attend concerts and he has been to Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Shania Twain and Brooks and Dunn. He likes country music and playing the guitar. He is looking forward to a trip to Yellowstone this summer. He likes children. Country singer Charley Jenkins is one of his friends. He went to one of his concerts and there were fireworks and it was cool. He likes chicken fried steak. He is very thankful for all of his friends at school and thankful for everything and he has a girlfriend at school.
Justin Humphery is from Orangeville and is 32 years old. He likes to travel and eat. He likes to play music on the keyboard. He loves his nieces and nephews. He likes to eat anything sweet. He likes loud music. He was once able to attend Disney World with the Make a Wish foundation and that was a special experience. He loves potatoes and gravy and homemade rolls. Justin loves to play with paper. He likes the bright colors on Skittles candy. Justin has had some health problems lately. He isn’t able to walk any more. He almost passed away, but he is OK now. His sister Jessica said Justin is here for a reason and she is thankful to her aunts who help out a lot with Justin. Justin will soon get a new wheel chair.
Mandi Bennett is the daughter of Calvin and Tammy Bennett. She lives in Ferron. Her favorite food is Mexican. She likes the state fair, word searches and math books. She likes Shania Twain and country music. She likes horses. She likes to sing and dance. She likes to go camping. She likes to watch Emery High sports. She likes BYU. Mandi works at the Castle Valley Center three days a week mowing lawns and pulling weeds. She likes the color purple. She likes BYU and the Utah Jazz. She likes Shania Twain. She likes to make people happy.
Jennifer Tuttle is from Orangeville and now lives in Price. She has five brothers and two sisters. Her brothers are Richard, Allen, Roger, Lowell and Jeff. Her sisters are Janet and Kathy. She loves pancakes. She likes the color pink. Her parents are the late Blaine and Geneva Tuttle. Her favorite foods are pizza and spaghetti. She likes to color, draw, cook and scrapbook. She likes to go out to dinner and to the movies for popcorn, treats and pop. She likes Disney on Ice and Mickey Mouse and the Disney princesses. She loves her housemates Jennifer and Joelene. Her brother Alan and wife Danielle came to the event with Jennifer. Jennifer is the youngest in her family. She is 47. She loves dessert and cheesecake and donuts. She likes to go to Disneyland and to visit her brothers. She likes to write in her notebook. She likes to color and use the I-pad. She likes country music. She has a great sense of humor and keeps her caregivers laughing. She is a very good speller.
Tait Levanger is from Wellington. His favorite food is spaghetti. He likes playing the drums, puppies and dancing. He likes to go exploring in the jeep and listen to classic rock. He is also stubborn. He likes going to Nana’s house. He has two dogs, he enjoys going four wheeler riding. He likes to tumble and recently was able to hold a baby bear. He likes horses. He likes to take naps. He loves going hunting and looking for deer. He likes to go to school.
Anthony Ariano lives in Price. He has two sisters and one nephew. He likes doritos and meat loaf. He likes to go to Jeff’s house. Jeff is his mom’s boyfriend. He likes whales. He loves movies and going for walks. He likes Shania Twain. He gives the best hugs every. He likes to memorize and act out movies. He likes to fly to Indiana with his mom to see relatives.
Breezy and Brylee Sorensen are from Clawson. They are the daughters of Jon and Tiffany Sorensen. They have three brothers and one sister. Brylee’s favorite foods are pizza, ice cream and eggs. She likes to dance and play with her dolls. Her favorite thing to do is go to school. Breezy’s favorite foods are pizza, ice cream and yogurt. She likes to dance and play with her dolls. Her favorite thing to do is go to school. The girls have a dog, cats and chickens. They love chicken nuggets. They love to go everywhere. When someone is getting ready to leave the house, they say, “I want to go.” They enjoy their dancing lessons and their Expressions dance studio group won first place at the Carbon Classic. They enjoy sign language, camping and jumping. They love to attend down syndrome day at Lagoon as a family. They love doing everything together and they even had pneumonia together and were in the hospital together. They have competed in the Miss Peach Days Pageant and the Special needs talent show at the fair. They like to go to the park and swing. They love playing outside. They like to change clothes. The girls love school and adore their teachers and aides. They like school lunch. They like to go camping. They like to sing.
Jenna Johnson likes pizza. She has three brothers. She likes dogs and walks them every day. She likes to go visit. She likes going to dinner. She likes to watch movies. She once called 911 because her family wasn’t getting her ice cream. She is 30 years old.
Josh Bennett has one brother Joe and three sisters, Jessy, Jenni and Jackie. He lives in Miller Creek. He has 26 cows. His favorite foods are sloppy joes and pizza and chile verde. He likes to have that on his birthday which is Valentine’s Day. He likes riding horses and four wheeling. His favorite things to do are farming and taking care of cows and horses. Josh has competed in two World Special Olympics and has taken home six medals in the equestrian events. He has also won multiple medals at the Special Olympics. He has cats and dogs. He loves to visit his grandma Rita in Layton. He loves to wear camo. His favorite TV show is Duck Dynasty and he even has his bedroom decorated in Duck Dynasty. He likes Kid Rock and Miranda Lambert and has been known to do the worm dance. He loves being an uncle. He likes the Fast and the Furious movies. He is a fun brother and everyone loves him. He loves donuts from Food Ranch. He went with his mom to Oklahoma to pick up a horse trailer. He is 37 years old.
Seth Smith is the son of Seth and Terry Smith of Castle Dale. His favorite thing to do is play with kids apps on his moms phone. He has two push button trucks. He likes to video with kids apps. Seth loves to watch people play video games. He takes a lot of selfies. He basically likes to push all of the buttons and look at the lights. He loves to play one, two, three and tickle. Seth loves doing just about anything.
Karen Ranch is 47 years old. Her housemate is RuthAnn. Her dad is Larry. She loves watching wrestling and loves Michael Jackson. She likes coloring and crossword puzzles. She is a great bowler. She entertains everyone with her rendition of Thriller. She likes meeting new people. she likes to go for a walk and visit friends. She loves babies and dogs.
A talent show was open for everyone to perform. Breezy and Brylee performed a dance. Jared played the guitar and sang. Jenna did a dance. She loves to color and do crossword puzzles. She loves to shop. She likes to go get a pop and visit her friends. She loves meeting new people and she loves to give hugs. She loves dogs.
Tiffany Sorensen thanked everyone for attending the event. She thanked everyone who helped and to BKs for the dinner. She said she is so blessed to have the angels in her life that she does.