January/February Catch-up

January and February have been really busy months for our family.  Jessica was in the full swing of the swim season,  having made the Central JV Swim team.  She swam in several meets, a few of them she swam as an alternate on the varsity team.  We are so excited to see how well she is did and can't wait for the summer rec. league to start.  Jessica is 200 pounds of solid muscle.  Not someone anyone would want to mess with.  Here are some pictures from her season. . .

This is the team doing their warm up yell

We loved it when she lapped all the other swimmers.

I wanted to take a moment and talk about courage.  Jessica was ill and missed a Thursday practice, she has early morning seminary and so misses the early Friday morning practice each week.  Since Monday was a holiday and the school doesn't usually practice on days when there is no school, she didn't know that they had decided to have an extra practice on the Monday holiday so she missed that.  The rule is that if you miss 3 practices in a row, you swim every event and your times don't count--if you win, you are disqualified.   In a usual meet a swimmer swims 3-4 events, on occasion they may swim 5 events, but after that it is just too much.  They don't have the energy to swim.  Three girls missed the 3 days and so were swimming the 10 events.  The other two cried,  and complained and really didn't swim that well because why should they, the time didn't count.  Not Jessica, above a picture I took after she found out that she had to swim the 10 events.  I watched as she got out of the pool and went right around to the blocks to start the next event, time and time again.  Each event taking such a tole on her that she was struggling to get out of the pool, each time getting out and giving me the thumbs up signal.  She finished each event, even ones that she had never swam before.  During one event about 1/2 way through--the 400 meter--16 lengths of the pool she was getting tired fast and at one point was 2 full laps, the others finished, and she swam on.  As she pulled herself out of the pool, the entire pool eruped in a standing ovation, not just her team, but the other 2 teams and their parents as well,  for her courage in finishing.  It was an amazing moment that I will never forget.  Fantastic Job Jessa.

Also in January were the winter concerts.  Danial plays percussion instruments, here he is with his bells.

On the day of my surgery Jessica also had a concert, she plays the french horn in the winter.  Here is her band on the stage.

On January 26, Elder Matthew Helm turned 20.  We sent him his birthday box.  He loved his scarf and other goodies that we sent.  However it felt weird not to be celebrating his birthday, so we had the Elders over as proxy sons to celebrate his birthday with us.  They loved it.   Bill got a cake that had a John Deer tractor on it in the "field is white and ready to harvest" theme, and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" for Matt.  Mandy and I knit simple scarves for Elder Dickson and Elder Rodas as well. 

I used the yarn from the dreaded bam bam baaaaaam sweater that was 18 sizes to big for Bill, perhaps by consecrating the yarn from this horrible debacle and knitting it for the Elders we will finally end the "knitting Bill sweater" curse.  The curse is supposed to be that if you knit your boyfriend a sweater, then you will break up before it is finished.  Well I got the guy 26 years ago, just can't seem to knit him a sweater that will fit.  This is to date my single knitting failure that keeps coming back.  So here is to hoping the curse is broken at last.