Friday, August 16, 2013

Clear Creek and Swimming

...But not swimming in a Clear Creek!  These are two different events!  :)  I will explain!

Kaylee has had an amazing summer and it's made her grow up a little too fast!!  In fact, she's been babysitting so much lately that we just opened her first bank account!  Crazy stuff!!

This girl has no fear...a little reservations maybe, but she is always ready to try new things and jump right into whatever she does!  Swimming has just made her grow and push herself so much!  I have loved watching it!  Here she is in June with her first ribbons...she was pretty excited!  She's getting better and better and just got moved up a team...something she worked really hard for this summer...nearly every morning at 7 am at the outdoor pool!  Hard work!
She has made some great friends in swimming as well...which helps for those long meets!  :)  These girls are so fun and so encouraging!  They love to cheer each other on! 
And here are a few links to some of her June meets:
Spanish Fork Long Course
 And then back to Short Course
And then her 100 IM!  Which has become her favorite I think.  This video was from the beginning of the summer and just this morning she raced it again at a mock meet in our pool and took 12 seconds off!  I was so excited!  (sorry...someone called in the middle of the videos below and I was recording with my phone)  :)  Anyway...way to go Kaylee!

And now, what is Clear Creek you might ask??  Well great question...especially for any non Utah County people that hopefully still follow this blog.  (and if you are still reading...thanks!  Sorry to brag so much about my kids!  This is life and we are having fun!)  :)  Back in April I talked HERE about the 5th grade overnight trip that Kaylee got to go on with the school.  She loved it and had begged and begged to do the week long summer camp.  Right away I said no...I never thought of sending my kids anywhere during their summers until they turned 12 and went to girls camp for church.  She kept begging so we talked to some friends and got a better idea about what this would be.  We even went to the information meeting and found out more and at that meeting they said...ok...any parents out there that attended this camp when they were kids please stand.  Matt and I felt like the only ones sitting down in that room!!  I couldn't believe it!  It was like a big family reunion for these people, kinda reminiscing about this amazing experience that they were now so excited to give their kids!  It sounds like something just our school district does and it really is a pretty big deal.  So...let's get on with the pictures!  Kaylee LOVED every second!  

Here were the kids saying good-bye...they knew they would miss her but really had no idea how much!  (as you will see in a picture further down!) 
 She was going with some great friends and one of her VERY best friends even ended up being in her group.  This was great because I was excited for her to be her own person and meet new people...but it was good to know she had a friend close by for those times when maybe she missed home or was nervous....oh wait...she didn't miss us that much and she was having too much fun to be nervous!  YAY for amazing friends!!
 And now for some of the MANY pictures Kaylee took with her camera!
 
One of Kaylee's favorite counselors and a Lehi Frenzy alum!!  :)
 
More friends!
Only 2 awards are given at Clear Creek.  Kinda a Miss Congeniality award for both a boy and a girl and a Best Collection award for a boy and a girl (so I guess that would be 4 awards).  Kaylee won the best collection award and her friend, a faithful Gardner Family Blog reader, video taped her going up to get it.  Thanks Sammi!!  You are the best!  Thanks for cheering her on and being such an amazing friend!  :)  :)

 So what exactly did WE all do while she was gone??  Kaylee's bedroom was blue when we bought the house.  We bought cute bedding for it and tried our best to make it a girl room.  Then it became a place for the queen bed where guests would stay when they came over.  Kaylee has wanted it just the same tan as the rest of the house for a long time.  So that is what we did while she was gone...and we gave her her old bed and bedding back.  That room was just too small for a queen bed!
 She LOVED it when she saw it!!
 The kids really REALLY missed their big sister while she was gone!  She is the ring leader!  She does so much for all of us!  The girls couldn't wait to decorate the house and make posters for when she got home and got off the bus!!
 And this picture makes me cry every time I see it!  Do you see the tears just coming down Taylor's cheeks?!  This girl really missed her big sister.  I really hope it wasn't just us putting added big sister role pressure on her.  I just love how much my girls do love each other!  I didn't even realize how hard it really was for them until Kaylee was back and I saw them not want to leave her side.  It was a sweet moment.
 
 Kaylee!  You are one of a kind!  We love you!  We missed you!  We get excited as we watch you learn and grow!  Love ya!!

1 comment:

Heather said...

The picture of Taylor crying is priceless! I love sisters and their bonds :)