Row Row Row Your Boat Firecely Across a Lake...

What a bummer it was last year for Sage to finally find a sport that she truly enjoyed only to have the season come to a screeching halt once covid struck, especially since it happened just as the most important part...racing season...was upon them.  So when the season started back up at the beginning of her freshman year, we all held our breath hoping it would continue on as planned.  Thankfully the club she rows for (OARS) was determined to get the rowers out on the water for the 20/21 season and they did just that.  Granted it wasn't without daily temp checks, masks in the boathouse, occasional covid tests and a few online races (which I still haven't figured out exactly how those work) but that was a small price to pay for a taste of normalcy after such a disastrous end to the prior season.  It was times like this I was especially grateful to be living in Florida, rather than the northeast or west coast where many of the clubs were unable to get their rowers on the water.  Granted, spectators weren't allowed at many events but aside from the Head of the Hooch regatta in Tennessee that usually takes place in Nov being cancelled, all other races went according to schedule. 

It turned out to be a great season for Sage who attended the American Youth Cup and got 1st and 3rd in her boats.  OARS invitational...we don't discuss and we don't remember it with pictures she has told me...as it was not one of her better races...lol.  She got first in both of her District races, and then attended States where her boat scored 4th in the Freshman 8.  She was invited to attend regionals in Tennessee where she got 3rd in the 3V category and the icing on the cake was being invited to attend Nationals in Sarasota, rowing in the U17+ Women's 8 after the coaches assessed performance and had them compete in strenuous seat racing for a position.  She was so happy she was in tears when she got the email she would be participating.  Nationals usually rotates between California and Florida each year and how happy I was that it was in Florida and we could go watch!  Her boat got 9th out of 24 overall in her category which she was very happy with, especially since half the boats don't even make it to the semi finals. And since ESPN live-streamed the whole event, it was so fun to go back and watch it through the eyes of the drone.   She was invited to attend the Olympic Development Camp South East this summer which was quite a compliment as only a few get invited, but she chose to pass on this month-long camp since the boys would be leaving for their missions during this time and to her credit she wanted to be around them for as long as she could. A decision our pocketbook wasn't going to complain about either...

The one thing with rowing is it's not easy to get photos of her actually participating.  We laugh that we drive hours, wait hours, and in the end only get to see seconds...  Sounds familiar.  So between me, Sage, and some of the other parents, here are a few of the photos I was able to rummage together to honor Sage with!

Her biggest fans...

A scene from race day...

Ready for the Jingle Row around the Chain of Lakes

Deland Scrimmages.  Not the nicest venue but no less exciting to watch.  I see you smiling at me!

The heavy lifting...

American Youth Cup in Sarasota (Feb)

Districts  in Deland (April)

States:  I loved that her boat focused on the American flag theme. (April)

Regionals in Oak Ridge, TN (May)

Nationals in Sarasota (June)

OARS girls team

Of course the biggest highlight of the season had to be the end of season banquet at Bella Collina.  It was by far the nicest sport banquet we've attended.  And wow, do these girls all clean up so beautifully.  Here she is with just a few of her many friends she took photos with.  How proud we are of this girl and all the hard work she put in.  

Coach Kelly

And now a two month countdown until we do it all over again...

Tis the season for...visitors!

I love spring time in Florida!  Not only does my Bougainvillea bloom and look absolutely beautiful, but we always look forward to welcoming visitors from out of town who are either here on vacation and stop by or are coming to stay with us. Of course this spring I was most excited to have my cubs retuning back to the den from BYU.

The third was the charm for Rachel and Justyn who finally made it out on their long awaited trip after having to cancel last minute the two prior times. How fun it was having them here with us and getting to spend time with them.  Of course Sage was thrilled that on this final booking they added Issy to the itinerary.  These girls have been face timing each other for years, spending hours talking about their crushes to playing online games together so you can only imagine the excitement of these two to hang out together in person.  Jack was also happy to hang out with someone as excited about light sabers as him... haha! 

Next up was The Howards who are dear friends we became close to during our NYC days.  While they didn't stay in the City nearly as long as we did, our friendship has remained strong until this day.  Usually every one to two years we meet up in Utah but how fun it was to host them for a day on their recent trip out to Florida.  Of course Sage loves any family that shows up with a bunch of girls!

True friendship is going years even decades without seeing or talking to someone yet once you get together it's like no time has passed.  I finally reconnected with Stacy and Noelle last summer and at that time we had planned a girls trip in Florida.  Unfortunately Noelle was unable to make it but Stacy came and what a great time we had.  We pretty much just visited and hung out in the backyard but you can't come to Florida and not see an alligator so I took her to Blue Springs and on a drive through the Apopka nature reserve where you get to see plenty of gators out in the wild!  How much fun we had reminiscing and laughing about old times and reconnecting!

Speaking of childhood friends, how fun it was to host one of my high school best friend's daughter. Michele and I were in each other's weddings, she visited me in NYC, and we met up for one of our high school reunions but with her having remained in California and me never returning after my parents moved, our paths don't really cross.  Of course our friendship has remained strong so when she asked if her daughter Jaidyn could come hang out with us for a week to get out of the California lockdowns of course I was thrilled.  And it really was like having Michele with me being that the two share so many of the same mannerisms and even talk the same! Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate perfectly so we didn't make it to the beach but between spending time in the pool and on the lake and a trip to SeaWorld, I think she really had a good time and how thrilled Sage was to have her here. They hit it off perfectly.  Thankfully Jaidyn has a sister sage's age so she was equally as happy to hang out with Sage!

Friends forever!

While I truly love our Florida lifestyle admittedly, I look forward to being out in Utah, close to the things that matter most...my family and my friends.  In a perfect world I'd be able to plop our house and yard down on a lake in Heber but since that is not an option I continue to look forward to the groundbreaking on our lot in Heber.  In the meantime though I will focus on the things I continue to love about being in Florida and that includes this beautiful Bougainvillea that really starts to bloom so beautifully in the spring.  This is definitely something I won't be able to replicate in Utah.

Another candle for this beauty!

Fifteen candles as a matter of fact! I ask Sage every year if there is anything else she'd like to do with her friends to celebrate her big day, but every year she comes up with the same idea...a lake day.  Thankfully her friends all seem to really enjoy celebrating with her that way too.  I love that she has her church friends, school friends, and rowing friends and it seems like each year the group grows larger.  Since they all don't know each other or even attend the same school she does her best to narrow down her invite list to those she thinks will best connect with one another.  This was this year's group!  Between sports and jobs by the end of the night her group had dwindled but it was sure nice that everyone made a point to drop in at one point or another.  Happy Birthday sweet Sage!

And now that's she's fifteen, she also took her driving permit exam, so yes, another soon to be driver in the house.  Now I just need to get up the courage to get on the road with her in the drivers seat...

Happy Mother's Day

When Jack suggested I fly out to Utah and surprise my mom for Mother's day I was a bit apprehensive. Not because I didn't want to go but it was just three days away and felt a bit rushed. Two days later I was on a flight.  And how glad I am that I did it.  While being away from my own kids on Mother's day felt a bit strange, being with Jack and my mom was well worth it especially after seeing the look on my dad's face as I walked into the house.  My mom was upstairs so after greeting him I snuck upstairs to surprise here too.  Boy what I would have done for photos of their faces...

Jack knows just what I love...And there is no better smell to arrive to than fresh lilies in the car at the airport.

The next morning we drove up the canyon to check out the view from Squaw Peak.  Instead of enjoying the view though we found ourselves in love with all these beautiful wild flowers at the top.

After a nice morning we made our way to Heber to enjoy some golf together.

On Sunday we honored mom!  I am forever grateful to have been blessed with her as my mom.  She really is everything I hoped to be but will fall far short of becoming.  Here we are enjoying a wonderful light lunch that Jack had grilled up for us.

After a lovely lunch we jumped in the jeep and took a drive to Wallsburg, which is just off the highway as you pass by Deer Creek.  It's a very "American" small town and we love it!

Later in the week I was able to meet up with Noelle for lunch and once again we could have talked for hours longer but we will look forward to my next visit out.  

And of course Jack and I made one more trip up to Heber to get in a round of golf, doing our best to get as much use out of our membership as possible because at times I'm not sure what's going to come first...Jack digging my grave or digging to begin on our home construction...

One last photo before mom and dad get ready to head off on their road trip with their best friends Eydie and Rick.  So glad Jack encouraged me to make the trip.  It truly was such a wonderful time.