Swim Season

When Krissia graduated last year and decided not to pursue collegiate swim career, we assumed our days as "swim parents" would be over.  However, after a stint on the summer rec swim team, Jefferson decided to give high school competitive swimming a try.

Unlike Krissia, Jefferson did not swim much while growing up because his frequent illnesses didn't allow it.  Luckily, he seems to be blessed with some natural talent like his sister because he was able to step in as one of the best freshmen on the team!

Jefferson worked hard and improved his time with every meet.  His best stroke happens to be...the backstroke (no surprise there).  He barely missed qualifying for state in this event; I'm sure with another year of training and physical growth, he'll make it :)

Here are a few pictures from the season:

This is going to be the last installment for a bit, as spring break is upon us and we have some special plans in the works...please check back next week :)

A Couple of Birthdays

In the time between Christmas and now, our family has celebrated a couple of birthdays.

Jefferson's came first, near the end of January:

His birthday was on a Sunday, so we had a small family celebration that day, with a friend party held later in the week.  I'm having such a hard time facing the fact that Jefferson is now 15 years old!!  I know most mothers complain that their children grow up too quickly, but Jefferson was the "baby" of  our family for so long that I tend to think of him as a little kid sometimes.  He has outgrown most of the health problems that plagued him as a child, and is a friendly, active teenager.  Jefferson enjoys most sports, plays the guitar, and is a gifted performer on stage.  He is a member of the JROTC in our school district, and looks so handsome in his uniform :)  Jefferson is also very smart and continues to excel in science.  We are so proud of the wonderful young man he's become!

My birthday was near the beginning of February:

No, that's not poor lighting or photo damage.  It's SMOKE.  You definitely know you're getting old when you nearly set of the smoke detector after blowing out your birthday candles!

I've not been a fan of my birthdays as I've grown older, but my husband worked hard to make it special for me this year.  I actually had a birthday "weekend";  on Friday we went to Mesquite for bowling and a buffet, on Saturday DEl arranged for me to have a massage, and we rounded out the celebration with cake and ice cream on Sunday (my actual birthday).  I had a great weekend and was so thankful to my family for making it special!

Tubing At Brian Head

During Christmas break, we made the trek to Brian Head for some tubing fun.  It was a beautiful day; in fact, we ended up taking off some of our layers as we soon became too warm!

We would try to race against each other as often as we could and seemed to take turns being the winner.  Mathison loved the first few runs, but then the unfamiliar feel of the winter clothing became too much of a distraction for him.  He and Daddy sat out for the last half of the session and just played in the snow.

Here are a few pictures from that day:

All bundled up and ready to go!



Jeff and Bronson in the back, DEl and Mike up front




The Beatty girls :)



Catching Up is Hard to Do...

Wow.

I won't even bother counting the days weeks months I've been away.

I had a whole slew of reasons ready to share, but they really don't excuse my MIA status. 

For those of you who are still reading the blog, your patience is about to pay off.  Prepare yourself for an onslaught of posts :)

My last entry was before December 25th, so that's where I'll begin.  How about a little Christmas in March:

Santa's little helper



A shining star...





Gubler Family Nativity




The CHRISTMAS song - a Gubler tradition



Christmas morning!

Digging into the stockings



That gun's almost bigger than he is :)



Our beautiful girl

Christmas morning aftermath



As I was putting together this post, I realized I only had pictures from the Gubler celebration.  We also had a wonderful time with DEl's family...only, I forgot my camera :(

That's it for this post of "The Beatty's Big Catch Up."  Check back soon for the next installment!