Two Weekends-- Two State Swim Championships

 

Last weekend-- February 18th and 19th-- Faith competed in the Utah 6A High School Swim Championships down at BYU.  She kindly asked if I would get up early and make her pancakes.  And I kindly agreed to do so, because if your daughter gets up at 4:20 in the morning, 5 days a week for four months to train hard and meet all of her season goals, you better believe, you'll happily make some pancakes at 5:00 am.  

She qualified in multiple events, but each swimmer can only swim two individual events and up to two relays.  Her events were 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay, and 4x100 freestyle relay.

Faith is second from the bottom.  I thought this was a pretty cool picture.  At least it's the coolest picture my phone camera could catch:) 

This facility is so nice-- Faith is in lane 3 (third from the left)

All you really need to know is that she dropped time in all her events and she was pleased with the meets.  I would say she was really pleased, but it's hard to really please a swimmer because they always think they could have gone a little bit faster.   I say, if you dropped time, it's a big win.

Swim meets are LONG and the actual time spent racing is quite SHORT.  There is lots of time for socializing with friends in between.

Here are the kids on the Riverton State team that made it to the finals on Saturday.

Confession:  I loved Faith's yellow State hoodie so much that I bought one for myself as well.  Apparently, it's not always cool when your mom copies your fashion.  Thankfully, Faith was a good sport.  

I really like this picture.  The obvious reason is that we're here wearing our matching Riverton Swimming t-shirts cheering our daughter on at State.  That's pretty great.  But there is more to this picture than meets the eye.  If the truth is told, Abe and I were not getting along very well on this day.  No particularly big problems, just misunderstanding one another and not giving the benefit of the doubt.  Sometimes it's like that in marriage and relationships.  We just couldn't seem to get on the same page.  So what I like about this picture, in hindsight, is that we still went and spent the time together.  We hung on.  We stayed sitting together and cheering together.  We knew we were both feeling a little ornery and contrary, and we knew it would pass and we'd reconnect and try again to be better for each other.  And we did and we are.

...Not quite one week later...

Faith's biggest accomplishment this season was qualifying for Utah Swimming Senior State Championships.    To clarify, this is for USA club team swimmers.  Faith's high school team is Riverton, but her club team is Lehi Aquatics (not to be confused with Lehi High School.  Clear as mud?)  This is markedly harder to qualify for and more competitive than High School State. It's also down in St. George.  So the Foxy Ladies (minus Greta) packed up and headed down for the three-day meet and a girls' trip before Bethany leaves on her mission.  

It turned out that the swim meet overlapped with Abe's brothers' trip in Las Vegas.  So we did what any responsible parents would do...

...We pawned half our kids off with friends and neighbors for the weekend.  The kids spent Thursday and half of Friday at the Schramms, where they felt very much at home.  

Except that they served her spaghetti on a square plate and that was a problem.  Apparently, the spaghetti was okay, but not the plate.  I can't imagine what the Schramms were thinking--- serving food on a square plate???  It's madness!

Then on Friday and Saturday, they were with their very best neighborhood friends, the Chases.  For my part, I was so grateful to have the kids in homes where I knew they were being well-cared for and they would feel so comfortable.  Many thanks to the Schramms and Chases for making this weekend possible.

First stop, a little Chick-fil-a for lunch.  Yes, please.

I didn't realize Faith hadn't been to St. George since her 7th birthday when we came down on a girls' trip for Bethany's dance competition.  Faith got Jake and the Neverland Pirates toys for her birthday.  This time around she was thrilled to see palm trees.  Bethany took a series of silly pictures of Faith all weekend-- this being one of them.

We loved being Faith's entourage and cheering for her.

We enjoyed going out to eat, even if we had very time-consuming periods trying to decide where to eat.  Here we are at Black Bear diner with Faith's friend, Alex-- a super fast breast-stroker.

Another silly Faith picture.

Their B-relay in the 4x100 medley relay did great and they were less than half a second behind Lehi's A-relay.

At this meet, you can swim two bonus events in addition to what you are officially qualified for.  She was officially qualified for the 100 butterfly.  Her bonus events were the 100 back and the 200 back.  By the end of the meet, she had dropped times and is now officially qualified in both of those events. 

We were excited to meet up with Rachel who still holds the 100 fly record at Riverton.  She is basically Faith's swim idol and it is Faith's goal to try to beat Rachel's time before she graduates.  We'll see, but it was so sweet of Rachel to come to watch Faith swim.  It meant a lot to Faith.

A little Waffle Love to celebrate the end of a very fun and successful weekend.   

That's pretty much the end of the short course (25-yard pool) swim season.  

Now onto long course season!  (50 -meter pool)

The Middle of February

 

Cannon had a fantastic dance performance on February 15 at the Covey Center in Provo.  He was in two ballet pieces.  Family outings to watch each other perform are my very favorite.  Bethany's friend Dallin came along because Elinor had to work.

Later that same week we went with James and Andrea and family to see One for the Pot at Hale Center Theater.  Going to plays is also my favorite.   Did I mention February this year is full of a lot of my favorites?

I am not a foodie who regularly takes pictures of my food to share with the world.  But I am making an exception for these most delicious roasted carrots.  I couldn't get enough.  I want more.

As part of the theme of the dinner beforehand, there was one of those promotional money air chambers where you try to grab as much money as you can.  You didn't get to keep any actual money, but if you got enough bills, you could win a beanie.  I just so happen to love beanies, so Abe won one for me.  My hero:)

The boys really enjoy playing regular chess.  Recently Peter introduced a new kind of chess that he made up with these army figures.  I'll be honest.  I had no idea what the rules were or which guys could move which way because they all looked the same.  But I thought he was pretty cute trying to explain it to me.    

Greta and Jules are best little cousins:)

I love it when kids find a series that they can't get enough of!  The reading FIRE is lit!  These are the Wings of Fire graphic novels.

We were so excited this week when our good friend Zach opened a mission call to San Antonio Texas!  He'll leave just a couple months after Bethany leaves for Fort Worth Texas.  

I love when George is in his happy tinkering place.

Peter and his best buddy Eric are missing the same front tooth.  

Jesse and Amy are always so kind to remember Tessa this time of year and send us flowers.  

We've been getting solar panels put on our roof.  Ooh la la-- how fancy.  And hopefully economical:)

Look at this adorable hairstyle Faith did on Greta!  She may wear her own hair in a messy swimmer bun all the time, but she is really good at doing awesome hairstyles for Greta.

February is Fun?

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm loving February!  If you've known me for very long, you may recall that in years past I haven't enjoyed this month very much-- it is the month we've experienced the loss of my mom and our daughter Tessa.  It's the end of winter and the cold and dark isn't nearly as cute and cozy as it was in December.  

Thankfully this month is booked solid with so many fun activities, that I haven't had a chance to feel down as I sometimes do this time of year.  Who knew February could be enjoyed-- not just endured?  This is good news, indeed.

In my previous post, I shared my adventures in California with the Foxy sisters-in-law.  So fun!  

Cute little Peter (he wouldn't like me to call him that, but it's true!) officially lost his first tooth.  Last year he had his two bottom teeth pulled by the dentist, but I don't think that really counts.  This front tooth he worked for and wiggled himself.  And I would like it noted that the tooth fairy (who identifies as male in this house) arrived on the very first night!  Pretty impressive for child number 7:)

Bethany took this fun picture of Greta.

Clark scored five tickets to a UVU basketball, including food vouchers through his work.  These guys made a boys' night of it.  

Apparently, Willy was Wolverine was very smelly.  Perhaps his fur has not been washed in some time.  

Several weeks ago Clark took all three of "The Little Brothers" to a Heroscape tournament on a Saturday afternoon.  He's mentioned a couple times since how much he enjoyed doing that with them.  I enjoy the dynamic of our family in that there is a group of girls together with one little one at the end.  And there is a group of boys together with one big one at the top.  I am hopeful that they will all be a support to each other as they grow up.  

I really admire the support the comradery that Abe and his siblings have.  Here are the Utah Foxes on ab birthday lunch with their younger sister Marjorie.

One more because it makes my heart happy to see them all together.  

This past weekend we joined James and Andrea at Stratford Ranch in Avon, Utah for some serious winter fun.  We love going to the ranch in the summer, but after this weekend, we're not sure which is more fun-- the summer or the winter?

We all went snowmobiling for the first time!!  I guess Abe and Bethany had ridden ones before, but it was a first for the rest of us.  SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

It was just so beautiful and so much fun and of course, Andrea and James are so kind and generous to welcome us all up there.  We are a loud, disruptive group, and to be totally honest, we sort of invite ourselves:)  Stratford Ranch has become a special place to our family where we've made wonderful, happy memories with dear friends.  We are so thankful for their hospitality.

Love this picture of Faith.  

Everyone else wore snow pants and boots, whereas Faith wore only sweatpants and tennis shoes.  However, since her usual winter clothing is a swimsuit, athletic shorts, and sandals, I suppose this was really bundling up for her. 

While we were up in Cache Valley, Bethany and Elinor both enjoyed getting to spend some time with their Utah State friends as well.  

Look at that blue sky with the white snow!  So pretty!

Besides snowmobiling, I also ate an elk burger for the first time.  IT WAS AMAZING!!!! So, so yummy!  James shot this elk on the property very near to theirs.  So, you know, it doesn't get much more local than that!

This is how Greta felt about George making her a kitty necklace.

And to add to the gloriousness of the weekend-- the Olympics were on!  It doesn't get much than that.

I adore this picture.

As much as I loved the snowmobiling-- and I did LOVE it-- this was actually my favorite adventure of the weekend.  Andrea and I went snowshoeing.  I've wanted to snowshoe for a long time and now I have.  It's winter hiking and I loved it! 

Next up I want to go cross country skiing.  Then I want to raft through the Grand Canyon.  I suppose cross country skiing is more accessible and feasible, but someday I want to do both:)

Our delicious Stratford steak dinner. 

These two will miss each other when Bethany leaves.

Ha ha!  Thankfully, driving the van out of the ranch was less eventful than it was driving it up (pictured here).  The mega van is not so good on snowy roads.  

We came away refreshed and relaxed.  Everyone was in agreement-- it was a most excellent weekend.