2002 Winter Olympics

Although I am admittedly not an athletic person, there are some sports that I do enjoy.... okay, they usually involve my husband and sons playing softball or basketball; but I'll never forget my introduction to the Olympics. It was the Munich Olympics in 1972, the summer that I turned fourteen. I loved watching the Olympics, my favorite was of course Mark Spitz (my gym teacher had a life-sized poster of him on her office door wearing nothing but a flag speedo and his seven Olympic gold medals around his neck). Although I enjoy watching the swimming and gymnastics, the winter Olympic games are my favorite and I particularly love figure skating.

I'll never forget being at the beach house the summer of 1995. We were all watching as the announcement was made that the winter Olympics in the year 2002 would be held in the city of Salt Lake City (that sounded so funny to me... the city of Salt Lake City). In 1995; 2002 seemed so far away, now it seems so long ago.

During the 2002 Olympics I took Caitlin out of school one day and we went with my Mother, my sister, and my nephews to downtown SLC for our own Olympic experience. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved it. They participated in Olympic events, won medals, and had pictures taken. We saw a display of "Olympic paraphernalia" through the years and so I decided to share some of my "Olympic paraphernalia". I purchased four "Kelly" dolls (Barbie's) at Target. I spent about $5 each on them. I've kept them in un-opened boxes for the past eight years and the other day I looked them up online. My figure skater Kelly is now worth $44.95 and my hockey player Tommy is worth $39.95. My other two dolls; a snowboarder and a skier are both in the $20 range. I think I'll hang on to them for a few more years. Do you think I should? I also have a "Roots" beret. Everyone wanted "Roots" berets and they stood in line for hours waiting for the opportunity to buy one. I was lucky; I was able to order one and never had to wait in line. But I've never worn it. I saw one on eBay the other day for $5. It doesn't sound like "Roots" berets are valuable paraphernalia.

My daughter-in-law Kristin was a volunteer during the Olympics, she worked at the opening/closing ceremonies and with stage/props. She loved it. Kristin came home from the closing ceremonies with a souvenir bag for us. It had cool stuff inside that Caitlin wanted to open but I said "no", I was still remembering all of the "Olympic paraphernalia" that I'd seen In SLC and I wanted to keep that bag in perfect form; after all, it could be worth some money someday. Do any of you have memories of the 2002 Olympics?

Family Friday: Featuring My Daughter (by marriage) Kristin

It's funny how things work out when you throw names into a tupperware bowl and pick them out one by one. Some families have had all of their family members featured on "Family Friday", some only have one or two of their family members left to be featured, and most of my family have yet to be featured. This week it's my daughter-in-law Kristin. It has been nearly ten years since Kristin was the first of our three daughters-in-law to join our family, and we were all pretty excited when she did. It was fun to have another girl in the family, it was fun to have a daughter-in-law, and Caitlin loved having a big sister. It was fun and exciting to see the beginning of a new era in our family as new "daughters" and eventually grandchildren joined our family.

Andy and Kristin met in high school, they even went to a school dance together, but it wasn't until after graduation and just weeks before Andy left on his mission that their friendship blossomed. Eleven months after Andy returned from his mission they were married in the Salt Lake Temple on March 10, 2000.

Kristin has always been a very thoughtful and considerate person. She remembers important dates and events in the lives of others. Members of the family and friends have been recipients of kind notes and treats on holidays and other special occasions. When Andy was on his mission Kristin came by the day before Mother's Day and dropped off a treat, I invited her to come back the next day so that she could talk to Andy on the phone when he called for Mother's Day. Kristin was so sweet when she said, "it's Mother's Day, not girlfriends day." But we still managed to get her to come over.

Kristin has always been very supportive when it comes to family activities. She makes family a priority and I appreciate that so much. Several years ago Kristin, Caitlin, and I went to see a display of Princess Diana's dresses at the U; I had always been a "Royal Watcher" and it was really exciting to see the actual dresses that the Princess wore; the three of us had such a good time together that day. On another occasion, our ward had a mother/daughter overnighter at Zarahemla; Kristin, Caitlin, and I all went together. A few years ago several of the girls in the family got together to watch the most recent version of Pride and Prejudice. We were all squished in my little family room watching the show (and eating of course) and adding our own commentaries. There's always a lot of laughter when the girls in the family get together. I remember during the movie glancing around the room at everyone, when I looked at Kristin she had a big smile on her face and I could see that she was enjoying herself. That made me smile.

Lesley, Caitlin, and Kristin at Zarahemla

Kristin did everyone's hair at our families "girls night" in 2008; here she is with Becca

Kristin grew up in a family of girls, and now she is raising a family of boys. Kristin has always been very gracious, polite, courteous, and attentive as well as many other wonderful qualities that I admire, she is a good mother to her boys and wife to her husband and loves them all so much. I have to share this story that happened just recently: we had all of our kids over and were playing some games when Kristin very excitedly announced that she had a game she wanted us to play; I won't go into the details of explaining how to play the game, but it had to do with one of the players being named "Ar-ted". It was so out of character for Kristin, and I loved it!! I still laugh when I think of us playing that game, and coming to the realization that living in a house full of boys has rubbed off on Kristin...well, maybe just a tiny bit.

Some things to know about Kristin: She has a beautiful smile. I love it when she laughs. She is very talented at decorating. Her home is always spotlessly clean. She's always been very thoughtful. She thinks of others. She's dedicated to family. She magnifies her church callings. She's a good friend. She listens. She doesn't waste time. She's a good speaker. She always looks good. She graduated from SLCC and the U of U. She was an EFY counselor. She was in the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Kristin has run in a couple of marathon's as well as half marathon's. She has participated in other races. She stays in shape. She was a volunteer at the 2002 Winter Olympics in SLC. Kristin enjoys to travel. She's very motivated. She's a good and dedicated mom to her three boys. She is wise with money and other resources. She loves the Lord. She's a hard worker. We are all grateful that Kristin is in our family and we love her so much.

Kristin's family: Adam, Kristin, William, Andy, and Zachary; I love this picture

The 5-K

This morning I'm a little bit proud of myself. I set a goal and I accomplished it. This morning Kristin, Emily, and I ran/walked in the Gobbler Gallop 5-K run. I finished in 42:25 minutes. I know that's a lot, but I finished. When I was done I told Mike that I thought I was the last runner in. He assured me that I wasn't, "...the man with the oxygen tank still hasn't come in..." (seriously, there was a man with an oxygen tank). He came in a few minutes later and then still a few more runners after that. I'm grateful to Kristin and Emily for staying with me. Kristin (our marathon runner) could've pulled way ahead and come in much sooner but she said, "we're going to stay together." I've really enjoyed running in the last couple of months and I plan to continue. Maybe next year I'll make it back before the guy that ran barefoot.