I guess this blog is a place to express what I am feeling, and since I am not sure if anyone actually reads this thing, I am going for a bit of a personal post.  Someone who has meant the world to me is not in good health and writing it down helps me.   My grandpa has been a very influential part of my life.  He has not always had things easy, not always made the right choices, and not always been there for people that have needed him.  But what he was for me was a man that always said the right thing when I needed him to, supported me even when he had no idea about what he was supporting, and been one of the best shoulders I have ever had to lean on even if it was a little boney because he never ate enough from fear of getting fat!  He is a veteran of World War II and felt the consequences of fighting in a war through the rest of his life.  Those experiences that he had during the war made him my number one advice giver when it came to handling pressure and executing at my highest level in sport.  My favorite advice from him that I will remember my whole life is "keep your head down and your chin up!" He is kind and loving beyond words and inspires me to be a better person when ever I am around him.  Even though now he can't remember what you said 30 seconds ago, he still has an amazing ability to say the right thing at the right time, like making everyone laugh by asking the nurse out on a date, or by saying "I love you" at just the perfect moment.  No one knows when he will enter heaven, but every hour he is with us is a blessing as he continues to inspire, entertain, and shine light on a loving family. Please pray for my grandpa, we call him pa or pa-sie.

What a glorious return to summer!  I am fresh off the plane from a three week training camp in New Zealand.  I love the change of seasons throughout the year, but it makes me so happy to have a complete change of season in just one day! It was winter when I left Queenstown on Saturday, and a perfect summer day when I arrived in Mammoth on, well Saturday.  

As you can probably tell, my website has a bit of a new look to it! I have struggled for 4 years to run my website writing my own HTML, which is pretty hard to do.  I have moved to a simpler format that hopefully will allow me to keep you better updated and more interactive.  I will start blogging here soon, and I strongly encourage you to play an active role on my website by writing comments and messages.  I LOVE to hear from you all. Also, Let me know what you would like to see on my site and blog and hopefully I can make that happen.  Be back soon...