San Antonio in 24 hrs

We loaded up our bigs at 330 am last Thursday morning and road tripped it to SanAntonio for Roe to compete with the other level 7's in the Alamo Classic.

 It wasn't a question whether we would go or not, Jeryka was really looking forward to this meet and would want the girls to compete. Jeryka's  mom had texted us and said tell "Toe to kick boots and make coach proud", gotta love autocorrect.

 Thursday night we spent walking around the riverwalk and checking out the Alamo, this is my kind of place, lots of mexican food and beautiful weather.

the alamo

 Mandi (left) coached us with Jeryka 3 years ago and then her husband got stationed at Ft Hood, Texas.  This lady now has 3 girls under the age of 2 and made the trip to help Nicole out coaching the girls for the meet, thank you Mandi! Paige also competed with the girls a couple years ago and made the trip from Ft Hood. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

 So proud of these girls, they all had a great meet!

 

I was worried about Roe's bun, Jeryka had always fixed her buns (hair) when they came out during the meet, thankfully no issues this time.

 the girls had to wait FOREVER for beam, 45 minutes before competing their last event, these faces...

 As always my trips revolve around food, we tried out Rio Rio, funny story there, 2 thumbs up!

 As much as I don't want my kids to grow up, I am loving their ages, the bigs anyway. They are fun, funny and super easy to take places.

 Roe is too busy pigging to smile for a photo op

Jeryka had the girls make goals for every meet and would write cards for them with inspirational quotes,  Roe had a goal of getting a 36.00 all around.  I thought it might be stretching it especially with beam as the last event, but she managed to pull it off,

I know Jeryka is proud. 

Vault 9.225- no video 

Bars 9.05

Beam 9.0 a generous score for a wobbly routine:)

Floor 9.2

Montgomery, Alabama

(1-9-15)

Ill be honest, Montgomery, Alabama was not on my list of places to go this year. 

When Jeryka booked us going a month ago, I couldn't say no.  The meet, leo and room was paid for through the state so how could we pass this up as well as spending time with our favorite coach. 

Up until the week of the meet, Jeryka was adamant she was still joining us. Little did we know she had texted Hannah on Christmas Eve and asked her to go in her place if she wasn't able to go. Hannah coaches at Pinnacle in KC and is one of Jeryka's dearest friends. I had met Hannah on different occasions through Jeryka and knew we would be in great hands. They are both so cool, calm and collected. Hannah gave Roe the sweetest card and charm bracelet before the meet, was so patient and even rode the glass elevators Roe couldn't get enough of at the hotel. Hannah also posted a Jeryka tribute on their gym blog site.

The girls made the 15.00 ;) souvenir program

Aisha from Catts, Monroe, Mackenzi from McCracken's, Olivia & Myrna from Diamond, & Elizabeth from Flip Zone (hard to believe this little thing is 12!)

 I loved seeing these girls who would typically compete against each other compete as a team, girls on the end and middle are actually in older age groups but for the most part

 Kansas did not get in the top ten, think the top 3 was Oklahoma,  California and Ohio. It was still a great honor and experience for the girls.

 Another sweet surprise was the Nashville Say girls made the trip, they have never gotten to see Roe compete before.  We hit a fun pub to carbo load before the meet.

 I felt bad because anyone who hasn't experienced gymnastics before you sit for 3 1/2 hours to watch less than 5 minutes of one gymnast compete,

We couldn't go to Montgomery without going to the Rosa Parks bus stop:)

1-13-15

#38

I will never forget my 38th birthday, definitely the most tearful one I have had yet. We lost one of the most beautiful people I know, but she gained the best gift ever in heaven. 

I was not surprised at all Jeryka, loves odd numbers. 

Roe is buried in this group huddle as the girls are praying together.

they shared some special time together last night in the gym

love looking through old pictures and videos from my blogworld, they look like babies!

Jeryka's b-day weekend 4 yrs ago at kc coed meet

blessed to spend time in the hospital making some boost shakes to share, even if they smelled like baby formula

God, I love this girl and miss her a ton and she has been gone for less than a day.
Im so thankful for the last 5 1/2 years as a coach and friend that she has blessed our lives with her always positive attitude, inspiration, example and fight. She has been my daughter and several other gym girls second mom, spending 15 hours a week with her, only been more patient than I will ever be and taught her more about life than I ever will. I prayed for a miracle everyday for the last 2 1/2 years and I am deeply saddened that my prayer for her wasn't answered. I am so thankful that her suffering has ended and she is in heaven. God, I am trusting you through this and through the tears,
I know that there are better days ahead and Jeryka is and will always be a part of these girls. I am feeling so selfish, but to lose someone who brings out the best in your child, is a heartbreaker. Thank you that she shared her journey with us to the end.
One of her last texts to me was "I love your child like she is my own", she really did.
Prayers for Kyle, her amazing family and MGA family as well, she would never want us to be sad.

One little word 2015...

There really is nothing little about this word, but I am excited about it. This year as I have in the past, pondered several words like organize, plan, but again why would I set myself up for failure? The most humbling thing is to ask friends what they think your word should be. The words I got was MOVE (lindsay;) and APPRECIATE, wow I got some work to do.
Trust is not measurable, but it is a heart thing I need to work on for myself and family.
There are so many scriptures I would love to memorize this year about trust, so maybe we will work on this, one a week I would love, but I am thinking one a month as a family is more realistic.

Proverbs 3:5-6New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.^[a]