so very proud of her...

She is so lucky to have found her passion at such a young age. She loves to skate and she has translated that love into synchro skating..... a really fun team sport. She is skating on two different teams this year-the third year in a row. She will have the opportunity to compete at the national level with the Novice team this year. On the Juvenile team, she is one of the oldest skaters and the program comes easily. On the Novice team, she is one of the youngest skaters and the program and speed of the team is very challenging for her. But she never complains. She goes out and gives her best at every practice. A few weeks ago, on the little team, she was towing a line of skaters up the ice when she fell backwards and got a little whiplash. But she kept right on skating to finish the practice and it was only when we got home that she complained that her neck was sore. Grammie & Grampie came to visit, but she didn't ask to skip practice. This sport demands a big commitment from it's skaters... it starts at the end of August and goes right until the end of March. Missing practice is very frowned upon because the whole team depends on you to be there to fill your spot in the lineup. This year our practice times are 9:00 am 2 hour practice on Saturday morning, where we leave the house at 8:15 am; Sundays sees us leaving the house at 7:15 am to get on the ice at 8 am for a 2.5 hour practice followed by 40 minutes of off-ice work. This means no sleeping in....... all week....... until the end of March. This 11-year-old gets up no matter how tired, and showers, gets her practice dress on, fills her water bottle and packs her bag.......all without being asked or reminded and with a smile on her face (wish I could say the same for me.....I am so not a morning person...) We snake thru the streets of this city early on Sunday morning.....there are barely any other cars on the road....we are at Second Cup for our hot chocolate just as it opens...... and we enjoy our ride to other side of the city in the quiet of early morning. Ron and I are constantly impressed by the level of dedication she has to her sport...... she makes it all seem so easy........we are so very proud of her.