Sunday, March 10, 2024

A Fond Farewell

We are so proud of Faith and her dedication to swimming for the last six years.  Day after day, morning and afternoon, year-round.  She never stopped, she never wavered in her commitment.  She was a beast!  Years of smelling like chlorine, wet hair in a bun, no makeup, sweat pants and hoodies, wet towels and swimsuits drying on the shower rack, studying the race times and rankings of her competitors.  Swimming isn't just a sport, it's a lifestyle and Faith embraced it all.
And now it's done.  A couple weeks ago was high school state and her final competitive races.  
I'm so grateful that another swim parent is such a good photographer and shared so many amazing pictures with the other parents.  
She loved being a captain of the Riverton Swim Team this year.  This picture is from Senior Night.  She was the last senior swimmer to be recognized and there was a lot of love for this fit and feisty little lady. It's hard for me (and many others) to believe she is a senior.  She is a young spirit with so much energy and joy and confidence.  I've never met anyone like Faith before.  
Here are a few more awesome pictures of her final swim season--


The Seniors
The morning of Regions



This foursome won first place in both the 200 medley relay and 4x100 relay.  


Four event and four medals-- for the third year in a row.
Faith and Braxton have been loyal swim buddies from the beginning.
It has been a joy and an honor to be her #1 swim fan.
The speedy little relay girls all brought home a lot of hardware.
She has loved being coached by Coach Powers.  He's always been so positive and extremely low drama.  From the perspective of a parent, he has been such an easy coach to work with and I am grateful for his calming influence on the team and Faith.
The high school state championships were once again down at BYU.









Here's the speedy relay ladies again-- they placed third in the 4x100 freestyle relay for the 6A high schools in Utah.
Best buddies-- Faith and Braxton
The State team
The medal winners.








Saturday, March 9, 2024

Christmas Day 2023

6:00 AM has always been the appointed hour that the children are allowed to wake us up on Christmas morning.  I don't know what my problem was this year (it had been a rough month), but when they excitedly came in at 6:00, I VERY FIRMLY told them to go away, I wasn't getting up yet.  I think they made it another half hour or so, and then gathered on our bed.  I am under the covers with the pillow over my head.  

The mad dash down the stairs-- another injury free morning








The girl couch








Bethany gave all the siblings Squishmallows



Daniel's first Christmas
Faith gave me her senior picture-- this was my favorite gift
Ben's gift to our family




Abe's famous British fried breakfast
Abe in his happiest place