Winding Down Swim Season

Olivia holding some of her awards from Stingrays Swim Club this year.

The first season of Olivia's career as a competitive swimmer has come to a close.  I say competitive very loosely.  She loved each time she got a new Personal Best (PB), but I don't know that she really pushed herself that much harder in the water to get them.  She was just out there to have fun, but that is completely fine with us.  We want her to know how to swim and to have fun.  She most certainly did both and can't wait to swim again.  She even wants to do their summer Stingrays program.  She ended the season with 8 PBs, which isn't too shabby considering she only did home meets and missed one or two of those.  She also wanted to participate in the State swim meet in Grand Rapids, so we were there last Sunday cheering her on.  She did set a few PBs there as well.  It was a great experience for her.  We are very proud of her accomplishments!

Getting her jacket and award for heading to the State swim meet for 8 and Under age group.
 

All ready for the State swim meet wearing her daddy's old sweatshirt with his stars from when he was a youngster in Stingrays.
 

The 8 & Under Sturgis Stingrays team - They all did terrific!
 

Olivia in action

Most of the photos from the meet turned out horrific.  They were either super blurry or dark, so we don't have many of her in motion.

Andy's HS swim team is winding down their season as well.  They are at their big conference meet as I type.  It was yesterday and finishes today.  School being closed and bad weather made yesterday almost impossible to get their, but after much stress, praying, begging and pleading, they made it.  Andy was ecstatic with his swimmers performances yesterday.  He had 3 relay teams qualify for state and 3 individual swimmers.  He also has a swimmer seeded first for an event today.  Even those who didn't qualify for state he came home beaming about how much time they cut off their previous best time.  The girls and I are headed up to watch the swimmers today and support their daddy.  They only have an awards night left and then the state swim meet for those that qualify. 
 

I can't do a post without including my Mia monster.  She dressed herself in this photo.  Can you tell?

The Last Ringenberg Wedding

Early in December I received a wedding invitation in the mail from Pennsylvania.  I was puzzled, not able to think of who I knew in Pennsylvania, and the name on the return was not one I recognized.  When I opened it and realized that Blake Ringenberg was getting married to his girlfriend Gretchen I was thrilled.  I also felt so honored that I was invited to this special event.  I then read that the wedding was in Pennsylvania and felt a little saddened realizing how far that was and not believing I'd be able to make it.  Then I started thinking that Pennsylvania isn't really that far, especially if it's on the western side of the state so I googled it, only to learn it was more on the eastern side.  I mulled over the decision, and it came down to the fact that Blake holds such a special place in my heart I didn't want to miss his wedding.  So it was decided that I was going.  After all, I attended all the other Ringenberg children's weddings.  I couldn't miss the last wedding.

My coworker Renee's daughter and her family live in Pittsburgh so she agreed to tag along with me for the ride if I would drop her in Pittsburgh on the way.  It was great to have a travel companion for just over half of the journey.  We left by 5 AM Saturday morning and it ended up being a prettier drive and not as bad as I had feared.  Thankfully the weather was fine and traffic wasn't bad in the least. 


Karen, Blake, Gretchen, and Roger after the ceremony

It was a beautiful quaint wedding in an old historical chapel.  Under 100 guests made for an intimate event.  The ceremony was the perfect amount of time.  Not too long, but long enough for the minister to deliver a beautiful message on marriage and not finding fault in your partner, but seeing faults as needs not met, and trying to realize how you can meet those needs.  Ian, Sarah's husband also partook in the ceremony allowing the newly married couple to partake in communion together as their first act as husband and wife.  He blessed them with a Hebrew blessing that was very moving.  Gretchen's sister also played guitar and sang while they lit the unity candle.  The wedding encompassed family and truly brought two families together to become one.

Sarah's and my lantern lighting up the night sky.

Immediately following the ceremony guests went upstairs to the balcony for hors d'oeuvres.  After the guests were asked to bundle up and head outside for a surprise.  Blake and Gretchen went by horse and carriage while the rest of us went by school bus.  My first wedding reception that we rode in a school bus, but it was fun.  They took us a few blocks down to the river where everyone lit lanterns together and said a prayer for the newly married couple before sending them off into the night sky.  Sarah and I were busy being the last to actually get our lantern lit and off that I didn't get many great shots of all the lanterns together, but there were quite a few floating off.  We were all hoping we didn't accidentally burn down any homes or forests on the other side of the river.

A photo of the chapel in daylight.

Sarah, Blake, and Jason

Getting a little romantic

Not my greatest photo, but it's the only one I have of myself with Sarah.

The reception was held in the chapel as well with delicious choices of four soups, along with bread and salad.  Cake of course for dessert.  After the typical wedding dances, we all witnessed two guests do some amazing dancing.  We joked at our table how no one else would get up to dance after watching them because we'd be embarrassed.  Then we learned that they were professional swing dancers there to teach us all how to dance.  It was a lot of fun watching everyone test out their newly acquired dance moves.  I then bunked up with Karen and Roger for the night.  Karen and I stayed up way too late catching up.  Sarah got me up the next morning for breakfast so we could chat one last time before everyone had to go their separate ways.  Ian and Sarah are a terrific couple themselves and it's wonderful to see them together and hear about all their adventures and what they are so passionate about.  They had to fly back to Alaska that day.  I said my good byes and safely made my journey home picking up Renee along the way.  I am blessed to have been part of this special event, and even more blessed to have gotten home safely and been able to see my husband and girls that I missed more than I thought I would.  They even cleaned the house for me while I was out.  Maybe I need to go away more often.  Congratulations to Blake and Gretchen!  I know they will be blessed with years of happiness!

Ice Skating

As a child, my all time favorite winter activity was ice skating.  I dreamed of becoming a professional figure skater like Kristi Yamaguchi.  I'd attempt cartwheels on the ice and spend hours trying to improve my technique on our choppy awful public outdoor ice rink that thankfully was right next to my house.  I then grew up to realize living in Sturgis, that dream is not going to happen, even if I was blessed with the talent (which by the way, I wasn't).  Our ice rink, the same I used as a child is rarely ever even filled with water anymore.  It has an asphalt underlayment that attracts the heat and never allows it to freeze properly.  So for years now the youth in Sturgis have not been able to experience the joy of ice skating.  After public demand this year, the city decided to put up a temporary ice rink in the downtown area.  It just opened up a week or two ago.  Esther was gracious enough to find used ice skates for the girls and take them for their first time.  So the girls first ice skating experience was last Saturday, January 26th.  Nana and Papa took them down there, but I had to be the meddling mom and eventually make my way down there for some photo opportunities. 

Olivia up on two skates.  She loved it, but just kept pushing off with one foot.
 

Mia had just removed her skates when we arrived and was not willing to put them back on.
 

Olivia ready to fall down.  This happened frequently, but she always got back up and had a smile on her face.
 

Daddy spinning Mia around for a bit.
 

Another fall.  I'm sure Kristi Yamaguchi had a few of these in her younger years too.
 

Mia just being cute.

They've got their next ice skating date scheduled with Nana and Papa for tomorrow.  Now mommy and daddy need to find their old ice skates and dust them off and enjoy some ice skating as a family in the near future.

Oh, and still no name for my new niece!