Taking home a medal from Ponderosa!!!!

Claire swam her breaststroke today at the Ponderosa Invitational. She came in 6th place out of 38 girls! This qualified her for the finals!

 This is Claire's "I think you have taken enough pictures Mom" face!

 In the finals, the announcer went to each lane and introduced the swimmer and which team they were from! This was such a special honor!

 All pumped up to swim with the very best in North Houston!

 Claire and her friend Addison. Both girls made it to the finals in breaststroke! Addison got 9th place and Claire pulled off 6th place again!

 Being the 6th best swimmer for girls age 7-8 in North Houston gets you a medal to wear proudly around your neck! We could not be more proud of Claire today! Her hard work with almost daily swim practices and her dedication to this sport has gotten her the privilege of swimming with the best of the best and walking away with a medal! This time last year, Ponderosa was never even something we imagined Claire would be swimming in, let alone walking out with a medal around her neck! What a wonderful weekend God has blessed us with! Next year she will be swimming in the 9-10 year old girls so the requirements get harder but with her continued hard work, we may just be back to Ponderosa, who knows?!

Claire is 9!

 We had such a wonderful day celebrating Claire turning 9 years old. We got up early because Claire had swim times that qualified her for Ponderosa in three of her strokes! Prior to heading to the meet, she got to blow out the candles on her cake and open a few of her presents. Today she swam 25 freestyle and came in 24th out of 60 girls. Then she swam 25 backstroke and came in 22nd out of 60 girls. We are very proud of her accomplishment of making it to this very difficult meet!

 She got this very cool bible from Great Grandpa Art Naustdal! Just in time because the bible she took to camp this year got pretty worn out and the cover broke off!

 This is a dolphin necklace that Claire wanted so badly when she saw it in the store. Of course we didn't get it for her that day but remembered to go back and pick it up for her birthday! As you can see, she is pretty surprised and excited!

 Mamalu and Papado managed to find yet another fun game for us to play. We tried it out tonight and found that there is quite a bit of strategy needed! It was great fun!

 Claire has been playing Parcheesi with Papado and was super excited to get the game to have at home. Thank you Uncle Brandon and Aunt Annie and the boys!

Grandma Rachel sent money and Claire had a blast going to the store to spend it! She ended up buying this kit that has scented markers and crayons in it with 20 coloring pages.

 A collection of her birthday presents! 

 We had such a wonderful day! Great times at her swim meet (she beat her fastest backstroke time today!), then we got to see the movie Incredibles 2, we went out to eat at Red Robin, and came home for some cookie cake before jumping in the pool to play Sharks and Minnows! After swimming, we cam inside and played a game and had a coloring competition! Claire's birthday wish this year is to go to Schlitterbahn. She will be bringing a friend along and we are heading there on Wednesday! She is so excited and so are we! I cannot thank God enough for blessing us to be this amazing girl's parents. She is such a wonderful kid with a huge heart and a love of helping others! I am so proud to be called her mom and cannot wait to see what God has planned for this beautiful child!

Claire's birthday swim!

It is a tradition at Fleet Swim Club that each child has to do a "birthday swim" on or around their birthday. Claire got to do hers on this past Thursday. Unfortunately for her, the pool was set up for long course so she had to swim a 50. The coach was kind to her and let her swim freestyle for the first half and she only had to swim fly for the second half. The hard part comes when she gets to where the kids are lined up on each side of her lane. They use their kickboards to make as many waves in the water as possible, making it very hard to swim butterfly! Claire loved the challenge and did great!

Pep rally for Norchester Dolphin swim meet!

Tonight we had a pep rally to get the kids all excited for the swim meet tomorrow. We had a luau theme and the kids got to play beach towel musical chairs, ring toss, 3-legged race, and water balloon toss. Claire and Karsen had a blast together!

 Claire and Karsen won the 3-legged race for the girls and got to take on the winner of the boys. Unfortunately, the girls got beat by the boys in the final race but they had a blast trying their best!

 These two share such a special bond!

 It took lots of concentration to advance in the water balloon toss....

 Claire and Karsen were one of the final pairs in the toss after making some awesome catches!

 Claire and Karsen were chosen to help lead the theme song....

 and then got to pour "dolphin water" into the pool for good luck tomorrow before calling it a night. Go Dolphins!

Fun comparison pictures from the first day of school each year

 A fun way to watch Claire grow over the past 4 years. So crazy to see how much she has matured this year! Slow down kiddo!

Last day of 3rd grade!

It was a bitter sweet day today. My baby is getting even older and has completed 3rd grade. I wish I could slow down time, but since that isn't happening, I am keeping busy soaking in every moment I get to spend with my girl. She has grown so much this school year and I look forward to what 4th grade will bring! I pray our relationship stays as close and open as she grows into a lady in the coming years.

 Claire and her homeroom teacher, Ms. Price.

 Claire and her switch teacher, Mrs. Leiker (she was also Claire's 2nd grade homeroom teacher).

 Claire made many new friends this year but Brooklyn was by far her closest friend in her class. They did lots together during the day. Now we need to find time to have some playdates this summer to keep their friendship strong!