SHAYNE, SOPHIE & BRASHLEY

WARNING!!! This will be a long blog!!!! WARNING!!!

This was an incredible weekend!

1st: Shayne went up to 4A State Swimming Championships on Friday. State was held up at BYU which usually is great for us because we just stay in Lehi but, my Brother Brad was getting married in St. George the next day and there was no one to cheer for Shayne because they were all down here. Thankfully her Grandpa Beckstrand drove up from St. George Friday just to watch her. We were all so grateful for his love and support for her. He even recorded her races for us. She swam the breaststroke part of their 200 Medley Relay. They were ranked 7th in the state and took 6th place. Then she swam her 200 Freestyle and was ranked 15th and took 8th. She was also named fastest female freshman in 4A. (say that 3 times fast!) We were excited for her. The next day she was swimming her 500 freestyle and her 400 Free Relay which she was hoping would take 1st. Unfortunately, the swim meet wasn't scheduled to start Saturday until 6pm and Grandpa wouldn't be able to stay to cheer her on. So, I was excited and sad for her all at once.

2nd: The next day, Saturday Feb 7th, my littlest brother Brad got married to an incredible girl from Ivins named Ashely Potter. They met at Tuacahn where I introduced them. So, Saturday my entire family, Parents, Jan & Andy, Steve & Juanelle, Paula & Charles, Me & Joel, JoEllen & Kyle, Andy & Sarah and Brad and Ashley where all in the St. George Temple together. It was AMAZING! The first time ever that all of my Dad's kids and there spouses were together in the temple. My Dad's dream come true. Although, there where MANY times through the years that he thought it wasn't going to happen. Thank goodness for the power of prayer. Right after the wedding everyone went to the reception hall to get ready for the luncheon except for Me and Sophie. Which brings me to #3

3rd: Sophie auditioned for Tuacahn's Summer Outdoor Production of "ANNIE" on Thursday and got a call back for 1pm Saturday. So, we ran out there and they taught all of the little girls a dance to "It's a hard knock life." Sophie was one of the first to perform. I was a terrible wreck! I was outside getting some support from friends that where there auditioning for the adult roles. I just don't understand why you'd put yourself through an audition. I don't want to be in a position where people critique me on purpose. I like to be the one in charge. I like to be the one that can fire someone, not the one who can be fired. I guess that's why I manage the actors instead of act. Actors are brave and I'm just not brave enough. Anyway, I was a real mess because I was worried about Sophie having enough confidence to not come out bawling her eyes out and worried about Shayne not having someone there to cheer her on for her last two events and worried because I didn't want to miss the program of fun of the reception or anyone to get mad because I wasn't helping out. I did shed a few tears while all this was going on in my head, how could you not? You'd have to be a robot to not be a mess right? Anyway, Sophie got done and said that it was really fun. YEAH!!! That's all I wanted to hear. Even if she doesn't get in (we'll find out on sat.) she will have had fun and that's all I care about. So, one down, two to go. We rushed back to the luncheon and everyone was gone. So went went to McDonalds, grabbed some lunch and went home to wait for a call from Shayne.

At 5:30 we ran back to the reception center, took some pictures and people started coming in. It was GORGEOUS! Jan did the incredible cake and Paula and our cousin Melissa did the flowers and centerpieces. Ashley's colors were dark red and cream. It was elegant. Two down, one to go.

We hadn't heard from Shayne until 11pm when we were back home. It was over and she was sad. She had added 1 second to her 500 Free but was ranked 17th going in and took 9th. She really wanted to do well for Brad since she had missed his wedding. But, she didn't feel like she had done as well as she could have. Her 400 Meter Free Relay team had broken the Pine View High School record 2 weeks earlier during Region by 5 seconds! That's a ton! So, they were ranked 4th and ended up taking 4th but they knocked another 4 seconds off of there time. (Side note: I still hold the Lehi High School record in track for the 4 x 100 relay team!) So, they were extremely happy about that but sad because the other 3 girls on Shayne's team are all Seniors and that was there last High School meet ever. I was happy that the day was over!!!!! I had never been so happy to go to church and just sit. I even looked forward to our CTR5 class.

4th: You thought I was done didn't you? I had one day off then back to work. I am headed up to Orem tomorrow for 2 days with Jan for Auditions for High School Musical 2 that we are doing this summer at Tuacahn. No rest for the wicked. At least all of my kids are happy and back to as normal as we get. I'll post some wedding pictures when I get back.

Denny's Free Breakfast!!

Sometimes I scare myself with how street smart/cunning/wicked (you choose) I am. Yesterday I researched the Free Grand Slam offer and found that Denny's had given every store 1000 coupon books to give to the first 1000 people who order a free Grand Slam. The coupons where buy one get one and 25% off different Denny's items. And each store was also given 500 rain checks to give to whomever couldn't wait around in the HUGE lines. So, Joel and I thought we'd give it a try. This morning we got the kids up and took off to Denny's. We have 2 Denny's here and they were both crammed with people. Mostly High School kids from Dixie, who I must say, get out of school early this week because of Parent/Teacher conference and could have come back at 11:00! I went in and put my name on the list and she said it was an hour and a half wait. So I waited all of 3 minutes and then went back up and asked for a rain check. She handed me 6 rain checks for free Gland Slam breakfasts and 6 coupon books. Then we went back home and made our own breakfast. So, we will be enjoying our FREE Grand Slam breakfast as a family sometime next week when the Denny's isn't crammed full and we can sit and enjoy each others company. Thanks Denny's!

My daughter Rocks and the Spectrum Newspaper didn't even write anything!!!!

I am upset, nay ticked, today by the lack of information on the Region 9 High School Swim Team coverage! Region 9 includes both 3A and 4A schools which is a mistake to begin with. But, when records where broken (by my daughter) then the world needs to know about them! The Spectrum Newspaper had the smallest article written yet this season and all but 1 paragraph of it was about how the the "great" Cedar High was finally knocked off their pedestal. Which I loved, but what about the kids from Desert Hills that did it?
They never mentioned one kid by name. The kids worked there butts off all season and not a word was said. Many kids qualified for state and not a word was said. Records where broken and not a word was said! The one paragraph that mentioned 4A only talked about the Buelter brothers from Snow Canyon who the reporter loves and trains and that we all know dominate the sport. But, what about the other kids!!!!!! This is the only meet that the kids get individual recognition. The rest of the season it is a team effort. No gold, silver or bronzes just points to see which team wins. At region and State the kids are actually given medals to show what they've been working on all season.
I know many kids that got all gold and not a word was mentioned. Shayne got 2 silver for her medley relay team and for her 200 freestyle. And two golds for her 500 freestyle, and her 400 Freestyle relay team which knocked 6 seconds off of the Pine View High School record! 6 seconds is an eternity! Their time was a 3:56.08. That means each girl swam down and back and down and back in less than one minute each. That is AMAZING! And not a word was said about it.
That totally bites! Of course I love my daughter and wish that she could always have an article written about her but to not mention at least some of the kids that did an exceptional job was a huge mistake. I feel bad for those kids that were left out. Every article written with a kids name on it gets sent to whichever colleges they are pursuing and every bit helps. To not have your name written in the Region article is sad and I feel that they did these kids a disservice. I would love to kick some butt about it but if I do then I can guarantee that I will never see Shayne's name in the paper again and I would never do that to her. I am glad that I have a blog to vent in.

Can you tell which kid is the naughtiest?

Shayne's Swimming

Shayne had a great weekend of kicking butt and taking names. She won her 50, 100 and 200 Freestyle races and came in 2nd in the 500 free. Her relay teams continue to climb up the ranks on the top Utah swim teams. I have put some links at the bottom of my blog to some articles from the newspaper on her and from UtahSwimCoach that has the ranking for all of the High School kids in Utah. It's fun to follow her progress and remember that she is a Freshman!

New Year Resolutions

I resolve to not make any resolutions!!!!! That way I won't mess up on them. Why say you're going to loose weight when it's a given that in the next 365 day I will not only loose but gain weight. How about try to weight the same come next New Years? I can probably do that. Every first FHE of the year my sister JoEllen writes down her families New Years Resolutions and they go over the old ones. She said that hers was to not scream as much and she asked her kids if she did that and the room got really quiet. I wish I was there! I would have laughed my butt off. That is exactly the reason I don't make them. If you feel you absolutley have to make them then make them monthly goals or short term goals not yearly ones that you want to shoot yourself for later. That's not a good way to start off the New Year!

Blogspot not Yahoo

I decided to google my blog to see if it'd pull it up and much to my surprise there is another Penny's 2 cents. I thought I was soooo cute and creative when I thought of that title. I was wrong. PLEASE do NOT confuse me with the Penny that has a Yahoo blog. I think she's from New York and she likes to write her congressman alot. I wonder if he ever checks her blog to read the messages she's sending? Oh, well. Definitely not me. Here I am!