The "V" Family Olympics

Have you all been watching the Olympics this year? If you have, then these names should sound familiar: Nastia Luikin, Shawn Johnson, and Michael Phelps.

All of those names are the names we use when we play the "Olympics" outside. I'm Nastia, Hannah is Shawn, and Samuel is Michael.

Hannah, Sam, and I do the ''High Jumps'' on the swings. Sam also does the ''Rings''. This is all done on our playset in our backyard. While Hannah and I are swinging, we are also the commentators. We'll say things like, "Nastia told NBC News this morning that she is totally ready for this competition" or " Ooh, Shawn almost stuck that landing!" It's alot of fun. We enjoy doing it. We do it almost every day!

Sam's Artwork

Welcome to the Art Show! This is in honor of my five-year old brother Samuel! I hope you enjoy these marvelous masterpieces!

A Retired Gymnast

I like to refer to myself as a retired gymnast rather than saying I quit. Saying I quit sounds like I gave up.

It was all a really hard decision. It all started towards the end of fourth grade. I went to the gym four days a week from 4:00 to 7:00. It was all very tiring. I barely finished my homework everyday, and on top of that, I didn't have any time to play with my siblings.

I thought it would all be better for fifth grade because I would start homeschooling. It just made it worse. I would be playing and all of a sudden my mom would be calling for me to get ready. I only got to eat with my family on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. The state meet was in May, but I never ended up doing it.

For as long as I did gymnastics, the thing I hated the most was the meets. Everyone else loves them, but I was always delighted when it was over. They were also very long. A normal meet is about four hours. Including the awards it was like an extra thirty minutes.

When I ''retired'', I was a level 5. That level was when the hard stuff came. Like jumping from the low bar to the high bar, or cartwheels on the beam. It all sounds so easy, but trust me, it isn't.

Here are some pictures of my past days as a gymnast:

Although I miss it sometimes, I'm still very happy with the decision I made.

Pocahontas Pool

A month ago, we decided to go to the Pocahontas pool on a really hot day. It was a really great place to go. They had little slides, big slides, and just regular pools. We all had a really great time there. Here are a few pictures:

This was Sam's favorite part of the whole place. This is where the little
slides were.
This is where the bigger slides were and the 5 foot pool area is.


This was my favorite part. My friend, Haleigh had noticed a man with a snake over by the entryway. When we went over there, he said he was from the Pocahontas Wildlife Nature Center. We asked if we could pet the snake and he said sure. After that, I couldn't stop petting it!!! It's scaly skin was so smooth and slick! I actually wanted to kiss it, but I thought that was probably not such a good idea. We figured out it was a girl, with red stripes and red eyes. It was so much fun!!! Here are some more pictures of the snake:

Me and Dad

People have always said that my dad and I look so much alike. I don't see it as much as other people do, but there are a lot of resemblances. Here are a few pictures:

Olive Garden-2008

Back Porch-2006

4Him Concert-2006