All-Around State Champ

All-Around Level 4 State Champ

Zoe's state championship gymnastics meet is this weekend. She competed yesterday, but team awards will not be given out until later today. Zoe's performance yesterday was outstanding. She ended the meet as the All-Around Level 4 State Champion.

Vault - 9.65 - 1st Place

Bars - 9.7 - 1st Place

Beam - 9.65 - 1st Place

Floor - 9.65 - 1st Place

All-Around - 38.65  1st Place

So very proud of you, Zoe! Your hard work & dedication has paid off. Congratulations!What a great season!

8th Grade Night

Last night my nephew Blake had his 8th grade night for basketball. As a former coach & player, I love watching my nieces & nephews play basketball.

My sister Tracy, Blake, & my brother-in-law Brent

Calling the plays as the point guard.

Taking it to the hoop!

After leading the team to victory, Blake takes a seat on the bench.

Great game last night, Blake. Good luck as you start regional play next week!

P.S. ..... My niece Gracie was also at the game watching cousin Blake. She was lucky enough to have someone give her the cheerleading uniform that she has on. Isn't she a cutie???

Gracie & her friend Bailey

P.S.S. We are on our way out the door. Trying to get to a gymnastics meet before the ice storm hits.

Just Another Reason....

One of our favorite Christmas Cards always arrives a week or two after the holidays. This year was no exception. Look what was in our mail just last week:

Yes, a Christmas/ New Year's card from Zoe's orphanage. We feel so blessed to receive this every year, knowing not all orphanages do this. And you know the best part????

It arrived on Zoe's Gotcha Day!!! Couldn't have asked for another reason to celebrate seven years of gotcha!

7 Years Ago...

A scared little girl was placed in our arms at a hotel in China. How our lives have changed! Neither Paul nor I can imagine life without Zoe Gwen. With her radiant smile & caring personality, she is a blessing to so many people. And...growing up so quickly into a beautiful girl with such a tender heart. Happy Seven Year Gotcha Day, Zoe! We love you more & more each day.

Where Have I Been?

Things have just been plain crazy around here. Zoe is competing in gymnastics for the first time. So, between her practice in the gym & traveling to competitions, we seldom find ourselves at home. Zoe is loving it though & wouldn't have it any other way. She competes as a Level 4 USA gymnast.

At her first ever compeition November 13th (held near Chicago), she placed second All Around. (missing 1st by 0.15) & her team captured first place. As you can imagine everyone was thrilled.

At the second meet December 11th, Zoe got first on the bars, vault, & floor; second on the beam; & won the All Around title. Her team once again captured first place.

Even though Paul & I are rookies at this gymnastics thing, we are amazed at the skills that the gymnasts on our team possess compared to some of the other gyms we compete against. We contribute our team's success to their coach. She is awesome, knows her stuff, & gets 110% out of our girls every time they are in the gym.

It's going to be a fun season. We are headed back up north this weekend for a big meet. I'll be sure to update you all when we get back home.

Way to go, Zoe! We are so proud of you!!!

Happy New Year

Wow! Hard to believe that another year has flown by. Where does time go? We've been very busy. (so busy I just can't seem to find the time to update this blog.) However, one of my New Year's Resolution is to post at least three times per week. I use this site as our family scrapbook so I need to get back in the habit of posting. So, I have a post in mind for tomorrow. Hope you'll check back then!

Happy 8th Birthday, Zoe Gwen

This past week we celebrated Zoe's 8th birthday. We woke her up about a half hour before her normal wake-up-for-school time & let her open her gifts. She was so excited.

Later that evening we joined friends for dinner. Zoe's choice. As you can guess, she chose her favorite restaurant - H**ters! She loves the boneless hot wings. In fact, Zoe always gets a kick out of the waitresses because she always orders 911 wings & every time the waitress will say - "You know those are really hot." (to which Zoe always replies - "Yes, I know.") It was a fun night as the St. Louis Cardinals were in the playoffs so we got to watch them win as we were eating.

Paul & I had waited to give her a special gift at dinner. She had no idea that we had held one gift back. But let me tell you, it was so worth it. Can you tell?

Hard to believe our little girl is 8! Happy Birthday, Zoe Gwen! We love you!