It is one month into summer and everyone is loving the quieter days of summer around here. John is fishing 4 or 5 times a week, Jamie is in gymnastics 5 days a week, Hopper 4 days a week, we have an 8th grader "nannying" for us during the day which is working out great, I've been on one scrapbook retreat in June and have another planned in a few weeks. Our family vacation is coming up as well. We decided to visit Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Should be fun. Work has be...
Continue Reading...

Last night at gymnastics, Jamie finally accomplished a goal she had set for herself. She did her kip on the uneven bars. It is a huge milestone for a gymnast. This means she is ready for Level 5. She was sooooo excited.

For the last 2 weeks she has been doing double conditioning. First, she warms up with the level 4 girls from 5 to 6, and then she warms up again with the level 5 girls from 6 to 7. When there is a little time in between, she practices her kips on the bar. It i...
Continue Reading...

Leap day was not such a great day for Miss Jamie. Jamie managed to break her toe/foot at gymnastics practice tonight, doing a simple thing she has done a thousand times on the uneven bars, a single leg shoot through. Poor girl was crying and in more pain than I have ever seen her in before. It is the 4th toe on her right foot. Right now it is buddy taped to her third toe to try and realign it properly. She has a flat "shoe" on it, and she has crutches. No gymnastics for a while for her! ...
Continue Reading...

Tonight we had to put down our 11 year old fur-baby, Rusty. Rusty was the sweetest yellow lab you could ever meet. Even those that claim to not like dogs loved Rusty. He was a sweet, gentle soul that could always bring a smile to your face. John gave Rusty to me about 2 months after we were married, back in 1996. He came home to our apartment in married student housing and told me he had a surprise. He took me to one of his friends homes where there was a large closet blocked off with wood...
Continue Reading...

Tonight Hopper will start Level 4 gymnastics. She is so excited to be joining the team. When we started with Elite in May, they wanted to place Hopper in Level 4 with her sister, but Hopper did not want to commit to 4 days a week of gymnastics. (and Jamie DID NOT want her sister on the same team!). We were not about to push her into a sport she didn't love, so she continued to take lessons once a week. Hopper took September and October off from gymnastics, and did soccer instead. She abso...
Continue Reading...