Legacy Meet 2022

 Well our third meet of the season was this past Saturday. Another 10-hour day of driving, meets, etc.! It's just extra-long for us because the two girls both have meets - one after the other. This meet, thankfully, was only in Grand Junction - so just a bit over an hour's drive. Nothing compared to the previous meets in Denver and Gypsum.

The fun thing about this meet is that both girls were competing with their teams - as opposed to just a few teammates (like the Denver meet) or competing in a different session (like the Gypsum meet). There were about a dozen teammates in both Lucy's and Emmy's groups. Lucy's Gold team was up first. Lucy did well - she had a solid bar routine, fell once on beam (darn it - she's usually so steady on the beam), had a great floor and a good vault. She ended up placing on everything but the bars - Lucy thought it was funny that she placed on beam, with her fall and all! She also ended up placing 3rd all-around. Whoop, whoop.

Emmy's group was up next - they started at 6pm and didn't get over until 9:30pm. It seemed to last forever . . . But Emmy had a great meet. She had great bar and beam routines - scoring her highest in each, yay! Floor was really great, as usual. For some funny reason, she forgot to do her back-pike flip and instead just did a back-tuck flip. But whatever. She ended with vault and unfortunately it just wasn't great. Her warm-ups were awesome. Then they had to wait at least 30 minutes to go, which was kind of lame. Her first vault she misstepped and landed on the board way too back and had an awful vault. Luckily you get two chances on the vault. Her second vault was good - but with a big step on the landing. She was bummed to get an 8.6. It's not a bad score, but she could have definitely done better. She placed on everything except for vault. And ended up taking 2nd place all-around. Awesome!

Just in case you want to watch, here are the links to Emmy's and Lucy's Legacy meet.

Just a few cute pictures:

Emmy claiming 2nd AA.

Lucy claiming 3rd AA.

Miles' first day as an Adult

Well I think Miles' first day of adulthood was a tad routine. Which sounds about right for adults! He got up, went to seminary, came home and worked on school, went to school for lunch and classes, hung out with a couple of girls after school, took Nia (sp?) (a girl from his climbing team) to the climbing wall in Olathe (I'll call it a date, but it wasn't, but should be ha), came home way past his expected arrival time, made his mom mad (see previous point), ate his classic birthday dinner of elk pasties and creamed leeks, opened gifts, ate monkey bread and homemade ice cream, and finished the day with some weird but oddly good movie of his choosing - something something and The Ten Rings. 

And there you have it - Miles' first day as an Adult. :)

Miles' good friend from Germany (whom we met over Christmas break), Melody, sent Miles a wonderful birthday package. Full of fun treats, Harry Potter bracelets for all the kids, etc. She drew this picture of Miles. Pretty darn awesome!

Haha, I don't have a lot of pictures, so I'll include this one. Elk Pasties. It's an easy recipe, but does take some time making. But they really are delicious. Too bad we only eat them once a year (although ground elk is expensive, so it's probably not too bad). I think even when Miles is gone, we should still eat elk pasties and creamed leeks (sooooo good) for dinner on March 9th. :)

We ate monkey bread with homemade vanilla ice cream for his "cake and ice cream." It was scrumptious. 

Miles got a few "big" gifts from us. He got a new and cool backpack - much needed. It will be good for college, plus also day-adventure trips. Then he got some "money" to be used for purchasing a suit. Man they are expensive! His first question after seeing this gift was, "Can I buy a yellow one?" The answer was yes and no. Yes with your own money. No with this money. :) His last big gift was a long-weekend trip with his mom and dad to somewhere of his choosing in the continental US (and perhaps Mexico or Canada). Fun! I came up with that a bit ago for all of our kids when they turn 18. At first I said just Ben will go with the boys and I with the girls. But then I thought this would be a great trip for us as parents to spend one-on-one with our child and neither of us should miss out, so now we'll both go. Yay. We'll see where he chooses . . . With Miles, I am sure it will be interesting . . . 

Happy Birthday and Happy Adulting

(Because you're an adult now, I let you choose the picture. Well, kind of. I did say "No" to quite a lot. But this one is . . . you. Plus, Aunt-e will hate it because she hates Pit Vipers. And you've got three on. Ha! But Aunt-e will also love this because now she's part of your letter. :) )

Miles,

Well you're now one of us ("us" meaning your parents) - an adult. I'm sorry. It's not quite as grand as being a kid. But there are some perks, I guess, and so hopefully you'll enjoy this new stage of your life - especially as it's the stage you'll be at for the rest of your life. Luckily, you're still a "young adult" and that is actually pretty darn fun. (Adulting really becomes a drag when you have a bunch of teenagers at home, haha.)

You've grown from a little and adorable baby to a little and handsome mini-man. I can hardly remember the days when you were going to elementary school. And, as I always say, you're still much the same as you were the year before (or even the yearS before).

One way you're the same is that you're different. Ha. But you like being different. Sometimes you like it a little too much and I feel you are trying to purposely be different. But, really, you are just different. You always have been and I am sure you always will be. Being different has worked out well for you. You have confidence in your uniqueness and that's a huge benefit to your character. You are who you are and you know who you are. Not many kids/young adults can say that.

You continue to like small and weird details of life. You continue to ask me questions that 1. I have never thought about and 2. I have no clue on the answer. This began when you could talk and continues to this day.

In your short driving life, you have owned three vehicles. A Lincoln, a Studebaker, and now a Mini Cooper. Each car was unique and cool - just like you. But with the current crazy-high gas prices, I am betting you are enjoying the Mini's awesome gas mileage - a mere seven or so times better than you other cars!

We weren't sure when you'd finally be able to finish up your high school course work . . . but it looks like you'll be able to pull it off over the summer. You better - seeing as you're planning on going to BYU-I this fall semester - whooop, whooop! College! Yay! That's when being a young adult is so much fun. Good fun, though. Don't forget that. The girls talk about how much they are going to miss you. Which is kind of funny because it's not like you all are the best of friends. But you're kind to them and interesting and just nice to have around. We'll all miss that for sure. I am actually not excited about the new family dynamics you're starting - that of moving out and moving on. But that's what we've raised you to do and, for your sake, I want you to do it. But it will be odd not having you around (okay, so maybe a few tears are welling up in my eyes . . . I am not totally okay with this. But 100% supportive of it.)

You aren't sure what you want to be when you "grow up." Which is looming closer and closer for you. But it will probably involve the sciences somehow. You rely on guidance from your patriarchal blessing and I think that's pretty cool. I still think you should be a vet, but I also know you'll be great at whatever you end up choosing.

In the words of the brilliant Dr. Seuss: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”

We (as in your whole family - dad, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, oh my) will all be here to support and cheer you on as you create your very own and very unique path in life.

Love you Miles.

love, me.

P.S. I am planning on stopping these "letters" once you're 18. So this should be your last!

February went out with a Bang

I am glad to be done with February . . . it was an okay month, but with Ben gone the whole time pretty much, it was definitely a lot to handle. I mean, I managed it all just fine - but I am pretty sure my patience was hanging on a thread and that it had to do with just managing everything on my own for so long. The calendar doesn't look crazy, but it was quite busy!

The last weekend in February was pretty busy and exciting. The girls had their first gym meet in the Denver area. It was their first meet of their season, as well as their first meet in their new levels. Lucy is now in Gold and Emmy is in Platinum. Miles also had his State Climbing Competition in Denver that same Saturday. He was one away from qualifying for state. But his team had him continue to workout with them as if he were going to state. He took the bus up with them Friday. As the team checked in on Saturday morning, one kid was a no-show and so Miles was able to compete! It was so exciting. And Miles had his best comp ever - meaning, scoring his highest points ever. It was awesome. His JV team took 4th in the state. The girls varsity team took first! Miles had a good time with his team. Aiden Bugarin, one of the boys' best friend from Montrose who moved to the front range (boooo) last year, showed up and hung out with Miles for a bit at the climbing comp.

But I am getting a bit ahead of myself . . . The girls and I headed out on Friday morning. The state had had a bunch of storms earlier in the week - with feet dumping in the high mountains. The roads were mostly okay for us - sometimes wet, sometimes a bit of slush on the roads, but not too bad. We got to Jim and Diana's place and then got ready for a session at the temple - baptisms, of course, and Lucy's first time. Jim was able to come with us and so it was extra-special.

I love this picture!

We had a good evening that night with Jim and Diana - eating some yummy sweet and sour meatballs and even having a good visit with the missionaries.

I went on a delightful run the next morning. When I got back I had texted Miles a couple of times to see if he was able to get in to the competition. Otherwise, he would just be belaying all day and we didn't need to go and watch him belay. :) He finally responded that he got in (!) and so the girls and I got ready and headed out to watch him.

We were able to watch Miles for about an hour. The climbing comp was about 45 minutes from Jim and Diana's - but only a short 15-minute drive to the girls' gym meet. How perfect. So we watched Miles get a couple of bouldering routes and it was super fun.

Miles ended up taking 19th out of the 36 in his division. Which is great by itself, but even better considering Miles pretty much came in at the bottom slot . . . yay Miles!!!!

Then we headed over to the gymnastics gym. Lucy's competition was first. Jim came to watch as well. Diana wasn't feel too great and so she stayed at home. It was fun having Jim there for Lucy's meet! Lucy did well - although she had an unusual fall on bars and so that was a bummer. Her beam was awesome (9.25 score) and her other events went well, too. She was a couple of tenths away from qualifying for state and so she was a bit bummed about that. She has two more meets and so hopefully she can qualify!

Cute gym hair and checking out her medals. :) 

Lucy ended up placing on everything except bars, including a 3rd place on the beam and 8th all-around.

Next up was Emmy's meet. She gets soooo nervous and so I just get nervous for her! It's rough. :) She started off on bars and had a great warm-up. During her competition routine, she had one near-miss on the low bar - she was supposed to do a squat-on to the high bar, but didn't quite make it. Luckily she has a "sole circle" skill and was able to recover without a fall (and with, frankly, a higher skill ha). All was going great until her dismount - she just over-rotated and so fell on the landing. Dang it. She was soooooooooooooo bummed and upset and frustrated. She cried. Her coach, Miss Jess, was great and worked Emmy through this. But Emmy was still just so upset and angry, really. I think having beam up next added to her worries. Beam is probably her worst event and she just didn't want to fall again - especially as a fall on bars is not normal for her. Anyways, she was able to stick her beam routine. Even though her score was not super-high (8.15), she was happy and was able to relax and enjoy the rest of her meet. Her floor was awesome - but just a bit too much awesome power on her front pass. Oh well. It was the highest front-hand front I had seen all meet and so that was cool. I didn't get any pictures of Emmy, but she ended up placing on everything except for bars (just like Lucy!). She ended up with a 7th-place all-around, which she was excited about. But, like Lucy, she was a couple tenths off of qualifying for state. So let's hope this Saturday's meet the girls can do well and qualify!

We went out to eat afterwards and got back to Jim and Diana's after 9pm. It was a long day, but a good day.

Here are a few videos:

Miles climbing at state in Broomfield, Colorado - G1 Climbing gym.

I thought I could add the girls' videos, but apparently not. So you can see Lucy's competition here and Emmy's competition here.