Rocking Region Swim

Dedication:


Desire:


Focus:


Teamwork:


Determination:


Four golds:


Happy swimmer!

Innocent Wonder

This week's challenge at iheartfaces is "innocent wonder".

Here is my entry:



This little guy is extremely busy; these quiet moments are rare, and I feel fortunate to have captured one on film :)

To see more adorable entries, please click on the button below:

Fourteen Big Ones

Jefferson turned fourteen on Saturday.

He seemed pretty happy about it:

We were coming off of a weekend filled with region swimming and an overnight scout snow camp, so we kept the celebration very low key with only immediate family members attending. Happily, Bronson was able to join us:

Lately, Jefferson has had little patience for picture taking - hence, the "grimace":

As Jefferson has grown older and Bronson's moved out, these two have grown closer:

Mathison's birthday gift to Jefferson:This is a toy of Mat's which he picked from his closet for Jeff, and he gave it to him earlier in the day. Later, he wanted me to wrap it so he could give it to his brother again. It too was cute :)

Here are some things I admire about Jefferson:

*He is a WIZARD with duct tape - seriously, this kid can make and fix anything with that stuff!!

*He is a history buff, especially about anything to do with wars and warfare.

*Jefferson is a gifted performer.

*He will still give me hugs and tell me he loves me - even in front of his friends!

*He has many leadership skills.

*Jefferson has a strong testimony of the gospel and will make a great missionary someday.

*His endless enthusiasm.

Happy Birthday Jefferson - we feel so lucky to have you as part of our family!!

The First of Many "Lasts"

Our sweet Krissia is a senior this year.

Wow - where did the time go?

Lately, it's hit me that many of the things she's been doing are being done for THE VERY LAST TIME.

Like when she went to Senior Ball 10 days ago:



However, I didn't feel as sad about that event as I did while attending her very last home meet ever over the weekend. The team uses this meet to honor the outgoing seniors, and I realized we only have a very few high school swim meets left with our daughter :(

The seniors of the Trident swim team:


Each senior was recognized and given flowers:


Krissia with members of her awesome relay team:


In the water:

The state meet in February could very well be our last time ever watching Krissia swim competitively; although our daughter has been approached by colleges for swimming, she is unsure if she wants to pursue it beyond high school. With the last ten years spent supporting our daughter in the water, it saddens me to think about this huge part of our lives being gone...forever.

But whatever Krissia decides to do with her future, she'll have the support of her parents. If our daughter meets her new goals and adventures with the same competitive spirit and determination she's demonstrated during swimming, we know she'll do just fine :)

Beatty Family A-Z 2010

We only got around to giving out our Christmas Card/letter to family members who live nearby; I totally missed the boat on mailing them out this year. If you didn't get yours...sorry :(

Anyway, here is the Beatty Family 2010 recap from A-Z:

A...apartment (Bronson moved out in July)
B...bye bye braces (Krissia got her braces off)
C...China (DEl's trip in May)
D...dancing (Jefferson started ballroom dance lessons)
E...English (Bronson's major at DSC)
F...5K (Kim began running 5k races this year)
G...gymnastics (Mathison is in gymnastic classes)
H...house (we finally closed on our house in April)
I...Iceberg (Bronson's place of employment)
J...Ji Hye (the Korean student we hosted last summer)
K...knight costume (Jefferson designed and made one for Halloween)
L...lost (how Kim felt during the first month of a statistics class)
M...musical (Jefferson had a role in Hello Dolly)
N...nursing degree (what Kim is returning to school for)
O...Olympiad (Jefferson took gold at the State Science Olympiad)
P...Producer (DEl produced the Miss Nevada pageant in June)
Q...queen (Krissia rocked the stage at the Miss Teen Utah pageant)
R...Ragin' Red (Krissia performed with this DSC group)
S...Spiderman (Mathison's obsession of the year)
T...teenager (Jeff turned 13 - we now have 3 teens in the family)
U...underwear (Mathison became fully potty trained!)
V...vacation (Disneyland trip in November)
W...wonder in the water (Krissia takes 2 individual silvers at state)
X...diXie college (our family has 3 students and 1 dean there)
Y...young at heart (How DEl and Kim feel around Mathison)
Z...our annual trip to Zion

We hope all is well with you and yours!

Love, the Beatty Family

Something Wonderful

On Saturday, I witnessed something wonderful at the Desert Hills Swimming Invitational.

It wasn't the moment Krissia won the backstroke in a new record time - although that was wonderful, too.

Rather, it happened in the first heat of the girls' backstroke.

The first heat of each race is filled with those swimmers who post the slowest times. There were about six swimmers in this heat; one was a girl with Down's Syndrome from Snow Canyon High School. She had competed in the 50 Freestyle the day before, finishing far behind the rest of the swimmers. However, the building had erupted with cheers from swimmers and spectators alike when she touched the wall. I expected to see the same outcome for this heat of the backstroke.

As the race began, I noticed the special needs swimmer was actually keeping up with a few of the slowest competitors. This changed after the second lap, as the girl began to run out of steam and many of the other swimmers began passing her. That is, all but one. The little Down Syndrome swimmer could sense there was someone in the race she had a chance of beating, and it motivated her to keep going.

As the last lap began, I noticed the other slow swimmer kept glancing over at the special needs girl. It slowly dawned on me that this swimmer was pacing herself with the other girl on purpose, allowing the girl with Down's Syndrome the chance to beat somebody - perhaps for the first time in her life.

I grew a little teary eyed at this realization; this swimmer was on a 5A team from Salt Lake City and had probably never met the special needs girl before in her life. Yet, she was willing to sacrifice her chance at getting a faster time in order to boost the esteem of a total stranger. As both girls neared the finish, the crowd grew wild - celebrating the triumph of the special needs swimmer beating someone and the other competitor who made it possible for this to happen.

This act has inspired me to be a little kinder to those around me this week, and I challenge those who read this to also pay it forward by looking for ways to help others - even those who may be total strangers :)

Snow Day

We woke up to a huge surprise Monday morning.

Mathison conducted a personal experiment to discover what had happened:

Hmm, it smells like snow...

...and it tastes like snow....

Hey Mom, it must be snow!!

After posing for a few pics
The kids quickly got down to business:

Throwing it:

Having snowball fights

Rolling the snow around the yard:

And building a snowman:

Mom, I wish it would snow every day!