A Day of Champions!

What a great day in this family!  It was a day of champions, for sure.  You would think we started our day eating Wheaties or something...

Brad had a master's meet today.  First time since college that he has started off blocks, and he admitted to some nerves about that!  But he did great, considering his rib injury kept him from training the last couple months.  It was fun to see him racing again...took me right back to the college days when I would sit in the bleachers doing my homework while he swam lap after lap after lap.  With a boyfriend that spent a minimum of 4 hours a day in the pool, if I wanted to see him I had to see him at the pool!  Good memories of that time.

starting off the block

butterfly

breaststroke

A very exciting part of this meet was getting to see an Olympic gold-medalist swimming!  Megan Jendrick was a treat to watch...she makes it all look so easy, and she is just so smooth and fast.  (The "smooth and fast" makes it sound like I know what I'm talking about, but I just stole this information from Brad, who knows what he's talking about.)  But she was really amazing.  And standing on the pool deck at the end of her lane taking pictures made me feel even closer to a real paparazzi girl.  I can officially say I photographed an Olympic athlete!

here's Megan, showing 'em how it's done!

Brad took Beth over to introduce her~great inspiration!

Next on our day's agenda was Alex's bassoon regional solo...competition of sorts.  He's been working so hard for this.  Stop reading right here if you are sickened by parental bragging, cuz I'm gonna brag on this boy!  And it's my blog...so here it goes:

This is the punchline to the wordiness to follow.

He was a very nervous kid for this, playing solo is an uncomfortable beast for most people.  Then we got to the room and found out that there was only one other bassoon entry, a senior from Alex's school.  Alex is seated above him in the community orchestra they both play in, so he knew he had the ability to outplay him to qualify for state.  Well, as it turns out, this kid has been sick all week and was too sick to play today.  So Alex was the only bassoon entry!  He didn't play his best, but he played very well.  When he was done with his solo, the adjudicator said, "Did you say you were a freshman?"  Alex said he was.  She said, "Well, let me start by saying that you play with the skill of someone 20 years older than you are.  I am really, really impressed."  Yeah.  We are too.  I don't know about the 20-year thing, because Alex is the only bassoonist we know.  She had some limited comments, and then we went down to await his scores.  He did score a "one", which was not a huge surprise.  So then we had to hang out to see if he earned an All-State entry.  It wasn't a given.  There were other instrunments that did not advance anyone to All-State, even though "ones" were awarded.  But, his teacher suggested we call and book our hotel room as we were leaving the room.  He said to me, "You know, sometimes I get the impression that you and Brad don't fully understand what you have in this kid."  (Meaning music ability.)  Well, no, not really.  But I think we are starting to understand.

Talking with friends while awaiting the results.  This is the face of relief.

Right after receiving the good news!

So, this coming weekend he travels to Yakima to play with the All-State band.  Then in April we will head over to Ellensburg for him to play his solo in that competition.  What a great experience for him! 

Alex, we are so proud of you!  We see all the behind-the-scenes work you put into preparing yourself.  You have worked with great integrity and diligence to develop this gift.  It is so much fun to sit on the sidelines watching this unfold in front of you.  We are your biggest fans, Alex...we love you.  I pray you always use this gift to glorify the One who gave it to you.