The Results

Jordan finished her season this evening. She had a great practice and warm up prior to competing. Unfortunately, she didn't skate well and finished out 10th in the qualifying round. It's been a long month and it was nice to have the family gather to watch Jordan skate. She had many friends and family come out to watch her skate. It was quite a roar of cheers when they announced her name. Even though she didn't make it to final round, her season was full of great accomplishments and many learning opportunities. We appreciate your support throughout the past year. Jordan will attend skating seminars and Mom and I will volunteer the rest of this week along with attending a few Christmas parties and visiting family.

First Photo: East Rink Zam door-I like the whale painting inside.

Second Photo: Uncle Larry and Brent. Uncle Larry is such a fan. He has attended most of her local competitions, along with Brent and Uncle Steve. They are great, funny guys!

Third Photo: One of the banners on the East Rink.

First Photo: Missy and cousin Steven J. waiting for Jordan's turn to skate.

Second Photo: Taylor and his girlfriend, Sara...I love her red hair! Taylor is a great older brother. They stayed up and laughed all night. He really wanted to cheer her up after her not so great performance.

Third Photo: Kiss and Cry Booth. After the skater performs, the skater and their coach sit in the "Kiss and Cry Booth" waiting for their scores.

Well, it's now time to pull out the Christmas decorations and take some time away from the rink to make the preparations for the next season. I am so proud of the kids. As they get older, they seem to really support and grow closer together. I enjoyed having them watch Jordan compete and cheer her on. It's been a terrific year watching all three of them grow closer together, learning from hard choices and understanding how important family is.

TIME CHANGE

Jordan's event was changed to a different group and time. She competes Wednesday at 5:25 pm. She is in Group B and will need to place in the top 6 to advance to the Final Rounds on Friday from 2-4 pm. She had her official practice this evening and skated very well!!!

Mom's in TOWN!!!

First Photo: Jason, Tiffany, Missy (trying to hide my double chin)
Second Photo: Mom and Cousin Terry
Third Photo: My Handsome Boys, Jason, Taylor and Tanner


First Photo: Tiffany and Robbie
Second Photo: Brent, Uncle Steve and Jordan
Third Photo: Mom and Robbie

Uncle Steve and Tiffany

First Photo: Jeff, Jordan and Mom

Second Photo: Jeff and Mom

Third Photo: Callie (Robbie's wife) and Tanner

THANKS UNCLE STEVE and JEFF for DINNER!!!

Junior Nationals start this week. This is much different than last year! Our family is more "behind the scenes" since it's in our home rink. Sunday, we volunteered all day and night preparing for Junior Nationals. It's amazing how much work is involved in so many different areas. The place looks wonderful and exciting. I will post photos tomorrow of the location. Cordero (skater who stayed a few weeks over the summer to train) qualified for Jr. Nationals and we spent time with his family. What a terrific family and we enjoyed their company. This morning I picked up Mom from the airport and our first stop...the rink. She started her volunteer shift as part of the Medical Staff. Jordan also practiced a few hours. The atmosphere is energizing...glass is removed from the rinks, windows are covered, vendors are setting up, banners are located throughout the building, officials are arriving and the hundreds of people make our facility packed! What seems weird is heading home instead of a hotel. Skating was OK for Jordan, it's a Monday with so much activity going on in her little "home". She loves having Grandma spend the week with us and I am excited to share this week with her and the boys. Jordan is in Group A and competes Wednesday at 3:35 pm. (Admission is $15.00) We then met family for dinner. We saw my cousin Robbie, who I haven't seen since the day I was married - over 17 years ago!!! We had a great time enjoying each others company and of course, sharing stories about Dad...sure miss him!

Don't Make Us MAD!!!

Tanner was trying to be funny and he wasn't..This is our classic look of "we are not falling for it!" What's worse then Mom being mad, it's Aunt Missy!!!

Thanksgiving Photos

After a little tug of war with Cubby, I won and took home Dad's very nice digitial camera. I still have his last photos he took the day he died. The camera is wonderful and I know Dad would love the photos we are taking.

Thanksgiving Dinner

I made dinner....it wasn't great but good enough to eat. I made a mess with the marshmellows on the yams. They boiled over, so I just added more. I made more funeral potatoes but didn't add enough stuff to make it creamy and according to Missy, the turkey was missing brownish skin. However, we made it. The first Thanksgiving without Dad and we were OK.

Coming Home

Coming home to Utah wasn't as easy as I thought. We have constant reminders that Dad is gone. Monday morning we woke up late and needed to call our carpool. As I was searching for a number in the directory, I found a yellow sticky note from Dad to Taylor inside the directory. Later in the day, I started to unpack and went through my Dad's photos on his camera. I found pictures he took of the kitchen he painted hours before he died. I then received my cell phone bill and noticed the last call I made to Dad. Jordan has been wearing the necklace and charm that my Dad gave her last year. In between sessions, we ran an errand and when she returned someone noticed her necklace was off and the charm was missing. We searched for an hour and could not find it. I fought back the tears because I didn't want Jordan upset, she still needed to skate. So while she was skating, I searched again outside and I had a little conversation with God. I couldn't fall apart over a simple little charm but yet I was determined to find it. Within 15 minutes I noticed something shiny on the ground...I found it!

Yesterday, a good friend gave me great advice. She too has experienced similar pain and she said, "You never get over the pain of losing someone so close to you, you just learn how to live with it. Stop thinking you can get over it, you won't, but you will learn to how to deal with it."

So, we plug along another day. I am just happy Mom is coming next week for Jr. Nationals. Be sure to visit my Dad's website www.homero.us and click on "Contact Us"...it cheers me up!

Dad's Website

We have a few more changes but for now everyone can view the video...Enjoy
PS Have tissues near by!


www.homero.us

Photos of the Service

A FEW of the flower arrangments...


Uncle Larry, Mom, Aunt Sam and Uncle Steve
Gathering of the younger generation...
Taylor, Missy, Colette, Calafia, Karli, Bigo, Casandra, Tanner, Cubby and Kristi



Karil, Aunt Sam, Kristi and Uncle Ken
Calafia, Colette and Casandra

Tanner, Jordan and Taylor

More photos to come in the next few days...It was a beautiful service with close to 350 people. I don't know if Dad really knew how many people loved him. It was a beautiful service shared with many tears and laughter.

Preparing for the Service

On Friday after a memorial service at River Rock, we met back at the church to set up tables and chairs and finalize the service arrangements. The first photo is of Meagan and Cubby...we LOVE Meagan and want Cubby to marry her (hint!). Missy, Meagan and I really felt a bond that I know will continue for many, many years to come. Thanks Meagan, for being so special!!! Now, everyone deserves a friend like the McQuoid's, Desmond and Kathleen are great friends of ours. We go way back. Desmond spoke at the service and Kathleen helped with all the food and making arrangements. This would not be possible without Desmond and Kathleen. Everyone thanks you!

Karli, Missy and Jordan. The next photo is the LARGE screen that projected Dad's video. The video was approx. 15 minutes with photos, video clips of my parents wedding and a flood full of memories. The music was perfect, the sound was amazing and the pictures were priceless. We were testing the system Friday evening.


Now you get four girls, with little amount sleep, who have been crying for a week and just returned from a memorial service at River Rock and what starts to happen....a Dance Marathon. As the video was playing we made up a dance and jumped on stage...we were the "Popets". We had so much fun just laughing and singing!

The Popets - Tiffany, Missy, Karli and Meagan


We had a moment being so close and watching the video. It was no longer a photo on the screen, it was Dad up close. I hope to have the video up soon. It's truly amazing!

Family Photos during the Past Week

Taylor, Grandma and Tanner with Ajax, who looks so sad! Mom is amazing. She was the last one to go to bed and the first one up in the morning. We spent HOURS going through photos, scanning and sharing stories. Now, as you view these photos please remember they captured our family gathering together which makes us smile but we each had our private moments as we cried and grieved together. Many asked after the service how we stayed so strong...easy answer, it was Mom.

We made three large posters of various photo's of Dad. The next photo is Colette, Casandra, Calafia and Tiffany. They are my Uncle Nelson's (Dad's brother) children from Oregon and Washington. They drove all night to be with us. We had so much fun spending time with them!

Meagan and Missy....Taylor and Jordan

Uncle Ken and Kristi...she is expecting a girl in February! The other photo is Cubby, Mom and Bigo (Dad's nephew).


Tanner walking Ajax. With all the commotion I must admit they were very well behaved. The boys, Ajax and Bodie, keep looking for Dad:( Missy and I had a terrific time with Karli. She stayed with us and camped out in Dad's room. Karli was a huge help and I loved staying up late catching up on General Hospital and trying to get some sleep. We had a chance to act like little girls. We use to have sleep overs and stay up singing and dancing. Karli was helping us make the centerpieces for the memorial. It was a putting green that had a golf ball and the flag was a photo of Dad on the golf course.