Jennifer Sue

Jennifer is by far my favorite daughter who lives at BYU. She is a freshman on full academic scholarship. I never see her, and she never calls her beloved mother, but she believes I should blog about her as well. Jenn, Jenn, Jenn, Jenn. I love Jennifer. She is a perfect child. She had a 4.0 all through high school, and will do well to keep her scholarship for next year. She is also working a Pinnacle Security, and is trying to get my other children employed there as well. She is a great girl. I love you, Jenn!!

Making it all fair

Evidently I love Michael and Ammon more than my other kids. Jayme counted how many times I have written about each child, and Michael's name came up the most. Obviously, I must love him more, right? Ha, not! I love all of my kids, so in an effort to remind them of that, I am making this entry. Jayme, Jayme, Jayme, Jayme. There, now your name is here! Jayme is my little worker bee, she is taking a billion credits at school, working at Cracker Barrel, teaching dance, and doing the choreography for the musical at the jr. high. I never see her! She is living at home, but may as well be living on the moon for all I see her. Most mornings she leaves before I get up and gets home after I'm in bed. Sometimes she'll come home to eat, shower and sleep. Is it any wonder I don't blog about her? I love you, Jayme!!

Regon IV Varsity Wrestling

I hesitated to write this because I know Michael will be embarrassed, but I just have express my feelings. This last Friday was the region wrestling tournament to determine which wrestlers qualify for state. In Michael's weight, the top 4 wrestlers go to state.

First of all, I need to explain that Michael has had a pretty rotten year as far as wrestling goes. Before regular practices even started, he was going to extra practices with coach John Webb. At the first practice, his tendonitis in his hip flared up again. Rather than go to the physical therapist that has helped him before, we decided to try someone closer to home. Big mistake!! After 10 days of no improvement, we went back to the therapist who had helped him before. Although he got better, he missed 3 weeks of practice and working out. The first or second day back, he took an elbow to the eyebrow and needed stitches. There went another week.

Michael didn't quit or stop working out though. He continued to lift weights and go to practice to do as much as he was able. He worked really hard trying to play catch up with everyone else, but it was tough.

Michael won a few matches, and lost quite a few. He got pretty discouraged, and it hurt alot to see him hurting so badly. After a big tournament, where he got beaten out on the first day, he was pretty much at rock bottom. We had a good talk, and Michael got a really special blessing from his dad that night. Things really seemed to turn around from that point. I could see a huge difference in his attitude and confidence. The next day was a second chance tournament for those beaten out the first day. Michael went to that tournament, and took 2nd place.

He still lost a fair amount of matches after this point, but he was wrestling better, and feeling better about things. He was ready to take on the world at the region tournament, and his head was in the right place. His first match was against Tanner Prestwich from Timpanogos, he had beaten Michael earlier in the season, and pinned him again this time. He went on to beat Shane Kitchen from American Fork, and Steve Tebbs from Lone Peak. This put Michael in the final match for 3rd and 4th place. He wrestled Steve Westover from Pleasant Grove. They have wrestled several times this year, and Steve has always won, but we always felt that Michael "should have" won, either Steve got a lucky throw or Michael ran out of gas or made a dumb mistake. This time we felt that Michael had a good chance of winning. He wrestled his guts out. He did everything right, but because of a couple of questionable calls, Michael lost this match. That put him in fourth place which would qualify him for state.

However, for some reason, this year they decided to do "true 4th place" wrestlebacks. This meant that if the 4th place guy hadn't beaten the 5th place guy earlier in the day, he could challenge for 4th place. The guy in 5th was Tanner Prestwich, who beat Michael in the first round. Michael went out on the mat and was ready to give it all to win this match, as he said, he had nothing to lose. I'd like to say this had a happily ever after, but Michael lost this match.

What I am so proud of is the way he wrestled, he truly gave it his all. He was actually winning, until he made a pretty big mistake. It cost him the match and the state tournament.

All throughout this wrestling season, as my heart has ached for my son, I have prayed to our Father in Heaven that he would be able to wrestle his best and feel good about his efforts. That prayer was finally answered in this tournament. Michael put forth his very best, and he knew that he could have beaten both of the guys he lost to. He realized that he is just as good as they are, it just didn't work out that way this year. Although he was disappointed in losing and not being able to go to state, he stayed positive and upbeat. He was at peace. That is what I have wanted for him. Of course we all want our children to succeed, but my true desire was for him to have peace and comfort.

I am so proud of Michael and the young man he has become. He handled himself with grace, and is ready to put this year behind him so he can start fresh.

I love you!!

State Jr. High Wrestling Champion!!

This weekend was the state junior high wrestling tournament in Roy, UT. Ammon has been wrestling for Champions wrestling club in Mapleton this year. He has been coached by Craig LaMont along with other great coaches. He also wrestles with Coach John Webb three times a week. Ammon has had a great year, with a record of 21-9. He is 13, in the 7th grade and wrestles at 145 pounds. Because of his size, many of the kids Ammon wrestles have been 8th or 9th graders. This has been good, because it has forced him to work hard and get better. For the state tournament, Ammon wrestled in the Middle School divsion at 145 pounds. His coach wanted him to be seeded first, but some of the other coaches were more vocal, and Ammon got the third seed. On Friday night, he wrestled Skyler Tucker from Box Elder, pinning him in 1:12. Saturday morning, he wrestled John Harmon from Payson, and pinned him in 1:26. Then we had to wait until later in the afternoon for the finals matches to start. Ammon wrestled Micah Ngatuvai from Mt. View. Ammon won with a major decision, 12-2. Champions Junior High and Middle School teams both won first place in the team competitions as well.

It was a great weekend, and I'm so proud of Ammon. He has grown not only as a wrestler this year, but as a person. He's worked so hard to be able to compete and do well. Ammon is also a great example of sportsmanship. He always has kind words for his opponent, even when he loses. He also looks out for the other kids on his team, cheering them on, and encouraging them to do well. Way to go Ammon!!

Now we move on to Freestyle wrestling....

Sixth Folder, Sixth Picture, Tag!

I was tagged by my sister, Theresa, to take the sixth picture from my sixth folder and write about it. This is actually kind of a fun one to write about. It also seems fitting today, as it is my mom's birthday. She would have been 74 today.

This picture was taken June 21, 2008. My dad, Scott and I had flown to Arizona for an Ellsworth cousin reunion. These were my mom's cousins on her dad's side. Dad really wanted to go, and Scott and I were excited to see our own cousins that we haven't seen for a very long time. In this picture are: Aunt Marjorie, Aunt Robyn, Uncle Ardell, Dad, Aunt Dema, Uncle Paul, Uncle Ernie and Aunt Joyce. They are around the headstone of their parents, Harvest and Velora Ellsworth. We had gone to the old Show Low cemetary before the reunion to visit graves, and this was one of the pictures we took. It was a great weekend to see family and renew friendships!

If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged. Take the sixth picture from your sixth folder and write about it! TAG!