The Adventures of Jadon and Kalina: LPA District 11 Spring Regional

On Memorial Day weekend, our LPA (Little People of America) District had its regional conference. Our local chapter, the Puget Sound Chapter, volunteered to host the event. This meant a lot of planning and preparing for me and some other members. Andy, Jadon and Kalina were also a big help, always supporting what I was doing and giving good advice.

The regional conference was help in Olympia, Washington. We had about 100 people attend. The weekend went well and I sincerely hope everyone had a good time.

A highlight for Jadon and Kalina was the kid’s room. We had volunteers from Camp Korey come and run the kid’s room all Saturday morning. They did a great job and the kids had a fantastic time.

We also had some great speakers and presentations, including Dr. Goldberg (our beloved skeletal dysplasia doctor), a nutrition presentation (which really made me think about what we eat), and a meaningful family roundtable discussion.

During the afternoon presentations, Jadon had some time to hang out with his friends. Andy needed some fresh air so he went for a walk. I really wanted to attend the nutrition presentation but Kalina was not too excited about that. One of our dear members, Shirley Hill, asked if she could watch Kalina for me. Having two kiddos with trachs, we don’t often get asked this question but Shirley happens to have a son and husband with trachs. I agreed and am so glad I did. Kalina and Shirley (and Kalina’s friend Grace) spent time coloring and chatting and having a great time. What a blessing!

I feel like it is important for Jadon and Kalina to have time to spend with their little people friends. Although we have quite a few that live near us, there are others we don’t see often. We all look forward to these events – a chance to connect and spend time with people and families like us.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this event a success!