Together Again

After six very long months, the girls got to see Jordan again! Although Jason and I have visited Jordan, this was the first time since January 1 that the girls had seen (other than pictures) or talked to Jordan. I don't know who was more excited, Jordan or the girls.

I was admittedly nervous to see how our day together would unfold since so much time had passed, and since the kids hadn't gotten along so great before Jordan left for Utah. I needn't have worried, because not only did the kids get along better than they ever had, they actually LIKE eachother!

We spent our time off campus at Quail Creek (since Sand Hollow had swimmers itch). I lost count of how many times Jordan said, "This is such a great day." He was right, it WAS a great day.

I had more glimpses on our two-day visit of what an eternal family can be than I ever imagined. One of my favorite pictures from the weekend is of all the kids running off the end of the dock. I love the picture for so many reasons. First, they are holding hands. Second, they are doing something together. Third, they are truly happy. The picture is kind of a metaphor--they are running off into something deep, cold, and kind of unknown, but as long as they are together and happy, it doesn't matter--all is well.

Jordan

Jordan has been away from our family since January 1, 2010. That's nearly four months! Much has happened since then, both for Jordan as well as for the rest of our family. Rather than try to catch everyone up on the past few months, I have decided to just start posting now and fill in the gaps as I go...

I wanted to share a couple of my favorite photos of Jordan. These were taken in March. I wish now that I had posted photos from Jordan when he left for DRA (Diamond Ranch Academy) so others could truly appreciate the progress these pictures represent. Not only has Jordan put on some healthy weight, he is clearly HAPPY!

For now, I want to share with everyone that Jordan is well.

I miss him terribly.

California Fun

Last weekend was CRAZY! All three girls had meets in California which sounds great except that Kacey and Kami had to be in Bakersfield for three days while Kennadi's meet was in Universal City--way too far apart to get one hotel to accommodate both meets. So...Jason took the simmers to Bakersfield while I took Kennadi to Universal City. We all met up on Valentine's Day before Jason had to drive all the way back home by himself. The girls and I stayed over an extra day for some girl fun!

Kacey's and Kami's meet was a JO (junior olympic) meet which means swimmers need qulifying times in order to swim. This was Kami's first opportunity to swim out of town, so she was thrilled! She dropped two seconds in each of her backstroke events (50m and 100m). Way to go Kami! Kacey is already so fast, it's hard to drop too much time in her events. She was happy to keep her existing times. Grandma Gypsy, Grandpa and Grandma Smith all came to watch the girls swim.

Kennadi had an interesting meet. She fell on beam for the first time this season! She was disappointed, but she got right back up and finished a great routine. I was especially proud of her for brushing it off and moving on. She managed to get 2nd place on beam which tells what a great athlete she is. Bars also proved challenging this meet, and Kennadi placed 6th. Kennadi got first with a spectacular vault, and 3rd with an awesome floor routine.

Perhaps the best part of the weekend was the fun day the girls and I spent at Universal Studios City Walk.

Champion..Again!

Kennadi blew everyone away at Lady Luck again this year! She got first place on beam with 9.45, first place on floor with 9.4, first place on vault with 9.4, third place on bars with 9.050, and first place all-around with 37.3! Her rankings were for her age group at level 7. Including all age groups at level 7, there were 280 gymnasts. Among all 280 gymnasts, Kennadi still placed within the top three for floor, vault, and beam, and had the 4th highest all-around score.

In addition to Kennadi's awesome-ness, her level 7 team took second place! So that you realize how amazing this is, team scores are calculated using the top scores from each team on each event. Obviously, the larger the team, the greater the pool of scores to draw from. Twelve level 7 teams competed at the same session as Brown's--most teams having at least 10 gymnasts. With only three girls on Kennadi's team, that means all their scores had to count--no room for error. What a terrific team!

She's our champion!

New Years

As many of you know, our 2009 Holidays were pretty rough, to say the least. I just wanted to post a few pictures to show that, as of New Years 2010, our family is doing better every day. We rang in the New Year with Grandma and Grandpa Pulsipher, and Uncle Dave and Aunt Bobo's family in St. George. It was a welcome break with loved ones.