Our Weekend Highlight

As I slowly walked into the building, I was overwhelmed with my senses as memories from my childhood came back to me... the sounds of blades slicing through the ice, occasional toe picks hitting the ground, grunts and groans of hard work and of bodies hitting the ice. The smell of cold ice and Zamboni exhaust, of leather skates, and of sweaty hockey players (who we shared locker rooms with)... everything sounded and smelled just the way it had 20 years ago when I put my first pair of ice skates on and entered the rink for my first ice skating lesson. I remember how hard I worked through the years, all the coaches I had, the competitions and shows I participated in, and most of all, I now remember how good it felt to pass on my love and passion for the sport, onto my three nieces, who made me so proud at the ice skating show last weekend. It was the ice skating club's 20th anniversary and they re-skated routines from past shows. My brother's oldest daughter, Brittany, actually skated my last solo performance that I skated as Elvis Presley, during my senior year of high school. For grins and giggles, I have actually attached a video of me as Elvis below, along with videos of my nieces, Brittany, Sarena and Natalie from this year's show. I was so proud of them!

Before you watch, you should know that I got back from a month in Germany the night before this show. I was suffering from pretty bad jet lag and hadn't slept in hours! If you think that it looks like I forgot my show and was just skating and dancing in circles, you are right, I did! Oh yeah, and I recorded this off of a TV, so it's pretty bad quality. Enjoy...

Here is a little clip of Britt skating the same routine. She did an awesome job...

Here is a little clip of Sarena's solo, "Great Balls of Fire," which is so fitting for her. She is a little ball of fire, always on the go. I've never seen this girl run out of energy!...

Here is a little clip of Natalie. She's the little one in this group, "At the Hop," and is sooooo good for her age. I was impressed...

And to end this post, here are some pictures from the skating show! The show got really long for Maida. Her favorite part was actually the national anthem at the beginning of the show, in which she sang to VERY LOUDLY in front of everyone (in her own language and in her own tune). It was so funny, cute, and embarrassing all at the same time. I wish that I would have videoed it. Skogen slept most of the time, but did wake up long enough to see Uncle Jay, Aunt Nancy, and his cousins.