Blubbery Mess

Okay! I am a blubbery Mess. When Shawn won the gold medal I was relieved that she would finally get what she deserves! But then when they said her parents have more then once mortgaged their house to keep her in gymnastics I LOST IT! I can relate as a mother. I just hope that as my kids grow up I can be as in tune with my kids to find that "thing" they are made to do. That I find it and back them 100% as Shawn's parents did! These parents deserve gold medals as well. I admire Micheal Phelps mom. Add I know behind most gold winners their are similar stories. I want to see my daughter smile, n beam, as Shawn did as she triumphantly waved to the crowd and listened to the National Anthem of the United States of America! I want Alicia to find something to be proud of, something God has made her for. O, I am a blubbery mess and you all got to be a part of my mess on paper. I think it is the lack of sleep from watching Olympics every night for way too long. They are too blame for the emotional state they have thrown me into!

Girls Day

Today the Wilson's had a girls day. This was the first time Alicia had gone on a "girl's day." She reminded me that I have gone on lots of these special days but this would be her first. Martha, two of my sister in-laws, Rachel and Donna, Donna's daughter Anna and my daughter all went to Lincoln City. We left Ethan with his boy cousins here at my house with a brave babysitter.

When we got to town we grabbed Ben's grandma who is staying at the beach and headed to the outlets. If you had 7 people you could get coupons and a $5.00 Gift card from Tangers Outlets. So we added two more wonderful ladies from church who just met us for the bucks and then sepereated from us. It was a fun day. We shopped, then had an icecream, shopped some more, ate lunch, then had our girls convince us this was a beach trip and we should actually go down to the beach. We weren't there very long as it was nasty weather but also because not 10 minutes of being there my sweet niece, Anna, got swallowed up by the waves. She was pretty wet. We adults tried not to laugh too much but it was so funny to see all of us running AWAY from the waves and one little one run sideways IN the waves ~and finally just eat sand. As we went up the stairs back to the SUV she made sure we knew she does not like the beach. Later she let us know her dad is strong and protects her when she was in the ocean with him.

A Reminder: Please read the post below to enter the book reading contest I am running until Friday. After reading your comments I am now planning on doing one book review every week. There are so many incredible books out there. I want us to find the good ones and stay away from books that would be a waste of time and money. So stay tuned for that!

Contest

So a few posts back I said I may have to think of something to get some of you to come out of hiding here on my blog. I think I have come up with an idea. . . . So to help you all come out, and LEARN to post, I am hosting a contest. If you post with a book you have read this summer and a review of it you will be entered in to win a gift card to Borders for $15.00. I will give you all one week. The contest will end Friday the 22nd at 8:00 am PT. Then I will randomly, or random.org will, a winner on that same Friday.

You may tell your friends to enter as well. I always love hearing what others are reading and love the idea of helping someone buy their next book. Have fun and GOOD LUCK!

Random Thoughts on the Olympics

In two years with the 2010 Olympics in Whistler, Canada I will not have to stay up until after midnight to see the good stuff!! We Pacfic Coasters will be in the same time zone!

China has incredible Divers! Wowzers. We watch the synchronized divers and it is like watching a man dive in a mirror. They are so good. Unlike the American men tonight who had a dive that was actually perpendicular to each other. Someone needs to tell them they needed to be parallel.

Maybe you can answer me this question. Why, when the divers come out of the water, do they grab towels that are sitting in the water! Can't figure that one out.

My daughter asked me this question: Why are there 5 rings? So here is the answer for you. The five rings represent the five major regions of the world: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Every national flag in the world includes at least one of the five colors, which are (from left to right) blue, yellow, black, green, and red.

I haven't been real happy with NBC. During the day while when we watch even more olympics they are advertising their primetime shows! I don't really need my children to see some of the previews!! Isn't Olympics a family event. I may be a conservative family but still!

Can you tell it is late. I am just rambling. But these are thoughts I have had for the last week. :) Watching tv this late sure does make me tired during the day! I am actually looking forward to next week when I can sleep more. I am not a big track and field fan and really, Jill~ cover your eyes, I am not a beach volleyball fan. So I can go to bed before midnight next week!!

Did you see it?

Did you see the USA men win in the 4x100 freestyle relay!? I stayed up while Ben went to bed because I knew this was supposed to be a good one! But I had no idea how good. The French had trash talked about "smashing" the US team. The commentaters were saying we would probably take silver maybe bronze. Then the race started and Australia was doing well. At the last turn we started to see the US gain on the French. I sat up and started to yell at the t.v.! I can't believe with 3 sleeping bodies I was yelling. I am still so stoked! Incredible when Jason Lezak barely outouched the French team to break a world record and take GOLD. You would think I just swam or one of these swimmers are great friends of mine the way I feel. Great to be an American!

Have I told you lately that I LOVE the Olypmics.

One World One Dream

I took this picture from the Great Wall of China in August 2006. It seemed weird to see an Olympic symbol 2 years before they were to occur but now it is so cool to have this picture!

I loved the opening ceremony tonight! I am not sure if part of it is that I have been to China. I know how welcoming the Chinese people are. I have seen the "bird nest" in the beginning building process. I know how HOT it is in August. Sweltering. I can believe that some of what we are seeing is not smog but humidity. Take a look at my picture! You can not see the nest very clearly there either. Being there at the SAME EXACT time 2 years ago I can imagine what these athletes are working through.
I love hearing all the little bits of China's long history. But WOW the show was amazing. Such beauty. I am not sure how 10 people can sychronize something let alone have thousands of people move in such harmony. Then watching each country walk in in all the wonderful colorful outfits. Hearing the stories for athletes or the country itself. It gets me excited for the stories they bring all week long. you know, the ones that make me cry.

I love that once every few years all the world gets together and at least try to get along. As Morgan Freeman states in the VISA commercial, "We don't always agree. But for a few shining weeks we set it all aside and we come together to stand and cheer and celebrate as one. We forget all the things that make us different and remember all the things that make us the same."

It gets me to thinking about heaven. When we get there we won't be different anymore. We will be one family. There will someone from every nation praising Jesus TOGETHER~~ FOR ETERNITY! We will lift our voices and sing as one. There won't even be a whisper of war! What an amazing thought! How beautiful that will be!

Embarassing Fact about Me

I love So You Think You Can Dance! I don't care for American Idol, or Dancing with the Stars so I am not sure why I love SYTYCD. I started watching two years ago and now I look forward to it every summer. I watch the dancers and wish I could just dance a tiny bit as good as they can. I am amazed that within a week they learn 2-3 dances that they may have never learned before, fox trot,jazz,etc., and then dance them beautifully. Also last night Josh danced 5 dances after being in the hospital for 3 days for dehydration! Can you imagine learning these dances in 4 days! These kids are incredible! Anyways, this year I really liked Joshua. From day one he has been my top pick. I have watched as America actually got every week right and the right people went home and the best dancers stayed behind. Last night was the final competition. Tonight we will find out who America chose! I am so afraid it will not be Joshua. Last night I belive Twitch showed he may be the best! But also he is 25 whereas Josh is 19. So Twitch just has a presence about him that comes along with maturity. I do like Twitch, he is likeable but O, what about my Joshua!!! There are 4 dancers, 2 couples, left. I do not believe that the girls have a chance against these guys. Though I do believe Katee could possibly make it, I know that as much as we all love Courtney she just won't win.

This video is one of Joshua. He is dancing with Katee to a bollywood routine. You don't have to watch the whole thing but watch the dancing! You will be amazed by him!

I do have to say that last year my all time favorite dance routine was by Hok Konishi. This is a rough video of my favorite all time routine. He is a hummingbird she is a flower. It isn't as hard as some but if you watched all season you saw how this really fit their personalities and was so beautiful to watch. He moves just like a bird!

After watching some videos I am more in love with this show!!!! The finale is tonight so if you have missed the season you can start watching tonight!