A gymnast in the making...

One of our joys as a grandparent is being able to watch our 

grandkids participate in the activities that they love.

Our oldest Audrey is 9 1/2 and has a love for gymnastics.

It runs in her blood... her mamma was a gymnast as well.

Audrey already has a knack for the sport at such a young age

She belongs to a club in Rochester called ROGA (Rochester Gymnastics Academy)

https://rogagym.com

This is her first year competing and she's already a "gold medal winner"

Presenting to the judges

 She took 1st Place on bars in her age group, and team level (Bronze team)

So fun to be there to see her 1st place routine.

(Yep, that's Audrey on the top)

She already has so much poise, she's getting ready to start her floor routine.

Beam, which was here mama's speciality 

Seeing this brings back memories of another girl that was 

constantly in this pose in every room of our house .

Proud Mom & Dad

She walked away with 3 metals at this recent tournament

At this age the girls don't really even know if they will "medal" until 

their name gets called at the awards ceremony.  

They are having too much fun with the overall excitement of the meet and

just being with friends, competing together and 

cheering each other on.

 The bronze team (Audrey far Left) 

All done for the day, but just a few more minutes....

 to watch "the older girls" compete. 

Right now we love to watch the kids play soccer, basketball, baseball and gymnastics

 and that's only the Rochester Grandkids. 

Our two sweethearts in the twin cities are a few year behind in age, but it won't be long I'm sure

  that we will be heading up to watch 2 more little one do what ever they choose to enjoy.

This afternoon it's off to watch Audrey's final basketball game, 

then next weekend to the Twin Cities for a gymnastics meet. 

We love it and look forward to many years of sharing in their passions.

Youth sports can be about more than winning.

 Rick and I both love the game of basketball. 

We played from a young age through high school and beyond, so you can imagine the excitement we have watching our oldest granddaughter as she begins her 2nd year of youth basketball. We are even more pleased with the organization in which she is apart of... "Champion basketball" a well rounded organization that begins each game with a prayer, and then during half time a short devotion.  

I Love that!!!

"Champion Basketball" exists to meet physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs in today's kids.

• Physical, because we get them off the couch and exercising;
• Emotional, because Champion is all about encouragement and building self-esteem;
• Social, because Champion Basketball is a place where kids can build meaningful relationships with other kids;
• and Spiritual, because Champion basketball teaches kids about God and encourages them to have a meaningful relationship with Him.
• But we also believe that kids need fun, and Champion Basketbball is a place where they will have a lot of it.
  Dave Hammond, Champion Director

We pray before they play!
I snuck this photo of sweet Carson with hands folded during the pre-game prayer.

(click on the  play arrow below to watch this short video)

Score.... Atta girl Audrey!

The skills from last year to this year have been quite noticeable.

Audrey's dad is her coach, he's a good coach, who also loves the game!

Watching the game in grandpa's lap.

We hope Carson takes an interest in basketball, but it's not for everyone...we will see :)

(click on the  play arrow below to watch this short video)

Dribbling skills with an assist.

Cant help but smile, they are all so cute out there. Audrey dribbles then passes the ball to her
team mate who then goes in for "2".

Looking forward to the years ahead of watching all or our grands in what ever
activities they choose to participate in. 

A full heart.....

Those of you who are grandparent, you know the feeling well.

There is nothing like it... those grand babies just rock my heart.

Relaxing next to my 2 1/2 year old granddaughter Scarlett,

unprovoked she puts her hand in mine, sharing her "My little kitty" figures. 

We started our Saturday off by watching our oldest Audrey play in her last BB game of the season.

 

We have loved watching her being excited about this game, She loves that her daddy is the coach.

This is such a wonderful way to start them out, it's called Champion Basketball, It's a Christian-based league that promotes fun, and learning the game without all the pressure and stress of "winning". They do not keep score at this level, they cannot steal or block the ball and they can even travel a little bit... in other word the kids learn to love the sport first, they get to handle the ball without some one in their face...that will come all too soon as they get in the bigger leagues. I also love that they have half-time devotions, they teach about perseverance, patience and positivity.

~  ~  ~  ~

Our twin cities grands (and their parents) came for a visit, It was so good to get baby snuggles from our littlest Lewin who is just 4 months old.

 Snacking on his bacon teether... When I saw this I couldn't resist getting it for him.

 Can you tell we are a little enamored with him

Lewin's big cousins Carson and Audrey loved talking to Lewin and making him smile.

Oh Uncle Gavin....he loves those babies

Everyone gathered at our house Saturday afternoon

We had a girl-cousin sleep over, it's so fun to see these two little ones bond, 

they are just over 5 years apart.

 This was Saturday morning.... 6:50am, "move over grandma....

waking up to Mickey Mouse and Scarlett favorite frozen book

They were both so excited to sleep at Grandma and Grandpa's house. 

A little Sunday outing to the Library then a look at the River. Of course there had to be rock throwing into the river...that's the best part.

My sweet baby Lewin... so hard to see them go home,  he is the sweetest and growing way too fast.

Slow down baby boy!

It always does my heart good to have my kids and grand babies around especially when they are all together in one spot. I love seeing our family grow and watching my kids with their own... 

just nothing like it.