Swim Meet

A had her first inter squad swim meet this week. She's in the blue swim cap/pink goggles - in the lead! She is such a fast little thing! (Mom's still working on camera settings for the natatorium . . .) This was the first sport competition A has gotten to be a part of. We were so excited for her! As laid back as she is, she did such a great job swimming. She made up lost time for her relay teams and "kicked butt" on the kick board. She even beats Dad on the kick board! She likes that, too. She's so smooth and clean on her free style and makes great time even though she doesn't have the height advantage to cover more ground faster. On the back stroke she's pretty straight and doesn't "ping" around her lane too much. She's still working on her dives and flip turns. But considering 4 months ago she didn't even know one stroke from another, she's come a long way. She said she wants to be captain of the swim team when she's in high school - just like her coach.

New Smile

A was so excited about getting her braces on. She now has a mouth full of appliances and although she's enjoying it, she's "feeling the pain" . . . She's been on a baked potato, ramen and liquid diet the past week and is finally starting to eat more normal foods. She's also spending a lot of time in front of the mirror keeping her new smile as clean as possible. I guess we can't complain about that kind of "primping" time!

How We Started the New Year!

Mom and A rang in the new year on pain medication! Mom had a muscle removed from her leg on December 28th and A had 6 teeth cut out 2 days later. They buddied up in bed for a few days. A bounced back MUCH more quickly than Mom did! Mom has a new appreciation for anyone who can't walk for any length of time. Having 20 staples in her leg really kept her down hard. She could hardly look at her leg, much less touch it. Dad had to do all the cleaning and bandaging. It's healing nicely and Mom gains a little more mobility each day. Physical therapy begins soon. Got to get back into training for the next half marathon! The next post will have A's picture with her new smile!

What an angel!

G got to be an angel in her school Christmas program. Mom always wished that she'd gotten to be an angel in a Christmas program, but it was always the cute little blond girls that got to do that . . . That would be G!

Picture at Grandma's

We took family pictures for our Christmas letters, but I thought this one of just the kids turned out good with all their laughing faces. I can't remember what they were laughing at, but they all said something together and laughed. G's missing her glasses. They've been "lost" for several weeks now. We're just about to the cut-off point of giving up on finding them and getting some new ones. That's a sure way for them to turn up!