Jordyn's 2nd Meet - February 7

Jordyn had her second meet on Saturday, February 7 in Lehi. She started on beam and sadly fell on her mount! She nailed the rest of her routine, and scored an 8.45, so without that fall, she would have been up around a 9.0. She also didn't make her front tuck on floor, and got an 8.25. She nailed her bar routine, but for some reason she only got an 8.25 and I am still shocked since she didn't fall, made all her tricks and did two giants and stuck her landing. I guess her back was bent too much or something. Anyway, it was awesome! Vault was the best! She scored an 9.275! Her highest score ever on vault! She ended up taking 2nd on vault. Because her all-around score was the highest of her own team, she got to take home the "team" trophy, they took 4th out of 12 teams! Not too bad! If she keeps improving, she been amazing by state in March. Here is a picture of her with the team trophy! Very cute!

Ronald McDonald - my new friend!

On Wednesday, January 28, the Ronald McDonald Family Room had it's "official" open house! It was a long day and my legs were about to give out by the time it was over, but I had a chance to meet Casey from Channel 2 News and Ronald McDonald! What a deal! We were supposed to be on live with Casey that morning, so arrived at the Family Room at 6am, but there was a problem with the "feed" and they couldn't get picture or sound. So, they filmed the room and it aired later that day. I still haven't seen the piece I watched them film, but hopefully we'll get a copy soon. Later that day we prepared for the big open house, where all the community members were invited as well as hospital staff and Ronald McDonald Board members, donors and staff. We had probably over 100 people attend and it was a wonderful turnout. We had one family attend who had just had twin baby girls. It was a great experience for them and they got to be in the TV spot, so it will be something they treasure I am sure. I love my new job and all the wonderful people I have met and our volunteers are the best!

Here is a picture of me with Ronald!

Jasmine (left)

Sweet Billie!

Here are some pictures of our critters (Jovi, my FAVORITE cat laying in the sun; Jasmine (or Jazzy as I like to call her) eating some hay (isn't she beautiful?); a "magical" morning after a snow storm; and Billie, our sweet billie goat who went to heaven on Christmas Day. I miss him!

JOVI, laying in the sun! What a life!

Jordyn's 1st Meet - Level 7

Jordyn had her first level 7 gymnastics meet on Friday night, Zack stayed with Granny and spent some quality time with her eating her homemade cream puffs and watching cartoons. Sara, Savannah, me and Sam took Jordyn to her meet. It was nice having Sara and Savannah there, it made it not quite as stressful and much more fun.
Jordyn started off on beam, she made all her tricks including her front walkover, tick-tock backhandspring and her roundoff backtuck dismount. She had one big wabble where she nearly fell off the beam, but managed to hang on! She got an 8.65 which was GREAT!

She had some trouble on floor, it was really good but she was unable to make her front handspring front tuck, so received a .50 deduction right off the bat. She ended up with an 8.0 on floor.

On bars, she didn't connect her cast/squat on (.30 deduction), and didn't quite get over on her first try on her giants on high bar and had to jump down (.50 deduction). Her coach helped her back up on high bar and she then made her two giants and did a beautiful layout dismount. I think she ended up with a 7.75 on bars. So, had she made her two tricks, she would have had a high 8. She'll get it next time.

On vault, I thought she did beautiful vaults, and she stuck both landings, however, I guess she didn't get enough height and her score was low, only an 8.15. She is capable of a 9, so hopefully she can work on the height issue and get it next meet.

Overall, she ended up second on beam and got 5th and 6th on two of the other apparatus. I think she was disappointed, but hopefully it will motivate her to work harder on the things she has trouble with.

It has been raining and really foggy/misty in Utah for the past few days. Very odd, I feel like I am in Pescadero again!

Last Saturday was my last day at the YWCA, it was so sad to leave, but I made the right decision. I am loving my job at Ronald McDonald Charities and it is so nice to be just minutes from home!

We have two weeks until Jordyn's next meet and will update again then!

Where did "TheFarmers" come from?

If you are wondering why we call ourselves "the Farmers," here is the story. When we first moved to Utah, we moved a home that had been vacant for about a year, it is also in the country. Our first weeks were quite the experience, including little critters living in our fireplace chiminey, birds nests in our dryer vent and a house the was in desperate need of some work. We are huge fans of Chevy Chase and the movie "Funny Farm" where they move to the country from the city and every crazy thing than can happen does happen. When we got our cell phones in Utah, Zack put in an automatic signature that put "the Farmers" at the end of every text message we sent and so in a crazy way we now refer to ourselves as the Farmers.

I didn't even realize how it had caught on until Christmas when my sister Amy made us a cute home decoration of blocks, spelling out The Farmers. I cracked up! So, I guess it is official! We are still having crazy things happen with critters, chickens, dogs, me falling on my face in the snow chasing dogs and losing my shoes while in my PJs at 7am in the snow kicking a rooster away from killing me (yeah, that must have been a sight)! In the summer it is jumping out windows to save baby chicks from the jaws of the cats in the area and opening the chiminey flu in our bedroom fireplace to let the trapped birds escape through the windows while the cats are safely locked in the hall (try it sometime). I am sure we will have many more adventures on the farm this year, I hope you get a laugh out of them!

Happy Farming!

Zack & Jordyn at the Bees game - August 2007

This is the first time Jordyn got near a mascot! She has always been afraid of them, even the princesses at Disneyland. What a cute picture!

January

This is our first post for 2009! We are looking forward to a fun and healthy new year! We are about ready for spring, it has been so cold that I am really dreading the gas bill this month.

We added a llama and billie goat to our farm this past year, unfortunately, Billie got sick and died on Christmas day, it was very sad. He was so sweet and beautiful. We will really miss him. Jasmine, the llama, is a character. She rules the other animals and is so fun to look at and talk to. I am sure they will all be happy when the sun starts to shine again!

I had strep throat just after New Years and it was the most pain I have been in that I can remember. I hope I never have it again. We are sure Zack will get it since he is the "king" of strep. We are planning to have his tonsils removed over the summer since he will be starting Jr. High in August and we don't want him missing school now that he will be in the big leagues!

Jordyn is doing great in gymnastics, she is a level 7 this year and has been at it since she was 18 months old! She has had two "break the ice" meets already and scored a 9.0 on vault and a 9.05 on floor, so she is on her way! Her beam routine is spectacular and if she nails it she could get close to a 10.0, it is her best event. She is also amazing on bars, and has already made her giants and competed them on high bar! By state she should be amazing!

Work is fine, I am leaving the YWCA for a new position at the Ronald McDonald House Charities, I will be the volunteer coordinator for the Ronald McDonald Family Room in Ogden Regional Hospital. It is an exciting opportunity and close to home. I am so looking forward to not commuting to SLC three times a week. Sammy is starting a new sort of position at his company and he is really excited about it.

I will hopefully apply to graduate school next year and get going on that. I have been dragging my feet in fear of the GRE (graduate school entrance exam), but will hopefully have the time to study for it over the summer and take it and be ready to apply in the fall. I am hoping to get into the Combined Clinical, School and Counseling Psychology program at Utah State University. Some day I will make my goal of being a school psychologist or counselor. I just may have more gray hair!

That is all for now, I will post more when I have a chance to upload some photos!