This is the Schneider-Farris Family's Blog. Keep up with what we are doing by logging into this site regularly! (The reason this site is called "Tragedy and Triumph" is that when I first founded this site, my husband, Dan, had been in a horrible accident, and he recovered. His recovery was a miracle! Go back to the 2005 archives to read our story.)

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Awards Photo and Video 12-13-08


Rebekah and Joel are the smiling ones on the far right in black! (Rebekah's medal is the only one that isn't covered up with flowers.)


Pairs Videos 12-31-08

Happy New Year and Happy 2009!


I didn't have time to send out holiday cards this year, so instead, I'm going to write a short New Year's note.

As we begin 2009, the Schneider-Farris family has so much to be thankful for! Everyone is happy and healthy, Rebekah and Joel are the 2009 U.S. Juvenile Dance Silver Medalists, all three children continue to love to skate, we continue to enjoy homeschooling, Jo Ann continues to write about figure skating for About.com, and Dan's job at the V.A. is about the same (but never boring).

Check out the latest news on us at: http://danfarris.blogspot.com/

Happy 2009!

Jo Ann, Dan, Joel, Rebekah, and Annabelle Schneider-Farris





Figure Skating Videos 12-30-08

Photos of Kids in 2009 Junior Nationals T-Shirts

Here's some "happy photos" of the kids wearing their new t-shirts.







Friday, December 19, 2008

Our Adventure Home From Lake Placid

We had "an adventure" returning home from Lake Placid. We spent a pleasant morning in Lake Placid and even had our photo taken with the Protopopovs! The drive to Albany was also delightful. Then, it seemed everything began to go sour:

First, our plane was delayed in Albany due to the weather in Chicago, and then, in Chicago, our flight home to Colorado Springs was cancelled. We also had a small mishap as we boarded the plane, since the attendent insisted we took on too much carry on lugguage. That was very upsetting since we actually did comply with the airlines policies....

We had to spend the night in Chicago, which turned out to be just a "teeny bit" fun, since Jo Ann's parents live there. They booked a motel near the airport for us, and visited us the next day and also took us to the airport. We found out Chicago's O'hare has a "Kiss and Fly" area. I wonder if it was named after figure skating's "Kiss and Cry?"






To get back to Colorado Springs from Chicago took over 15 hours since all the direct flights to Colorado Springs were full. We had to travel to Memphis, then Denver, and then we had to wait 5 hours in the Denver airport in order to fly from there to Colorado Springs. We didn't get home until midnight on Wednesday night!

Joel kissed the Colorado Springs' airport's floor once we got off the plane!

We spent most of the next day recovering, but Dan had to go back to work.

We are so glad to be home!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Rebekah and Joel Pairs Slide Show 2008-09

A friend put together this wonderful slide show of Rebekah and Joel!

I'm a proud mom!


Again, I'm a proud mother. My own two children, Rebekah and Joel Schneider-Farris, are the 2009 U.S. Juvenile Dance Silver Medalists! We've spent an exciting week in Lake Placid, New York at the the 2009 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships!


Further Reading:

Five Broadmoor Skaters Medal at Junior Nationals

















2009 US Juvenile Figure Skating Medalists Rebebekah and Joel Schneider-Farris, Katie Shipstad, Eddie Shipstad, Logan Bye, and Jessica Pfund

Five Broadmoor Skaters Medal at Junior Nationals

Five young figure skaters from Colorado Springs and the Broadmoor Skating Club won medals at the 2009 U.S. Junior National Figure Skating Championships which took place in Lake Placid, New York from December 10--13, 2008.

Rebekah and Joel Schneider-Farris won silver medals in juvenile dance, Katie Shipstad and Logan Bye took the bronze in the same event, and Jessica Pfund won the bronze medal in the juvenile girls event.

Pfund skated a clean program, which included two double Axels.

The competition between the Schneider-Farris siblings and Shipstad and Bye was very close. Only four hundreds of a point made the difference between second and third place. "We performed our best free dance ever and even got a Level 4 score on our dance spin," said Joel Schneider-Farris. "We admire Katie and Logan's skating so much and are so glad all of us ended upon the podium," said Joel's sister Rebekah. "The competitiion was really tough."

The five medalists train at the Colorado Springs World Arena.Thirteen other figure skaters from Colorado Springs qualified for the 2009 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Congratulations to all participants!


Further Reading:

U.S. Junior Championships Diary - By Jo Ann Schneider Farris, IceNetwork.com

Ten Fox performance

This is really fun to watch!

Fiesta performance

I think this is pretty good!

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Rebekah and Joel Free Dance Fire and Ice 12-5-08

This was the kids' last performance of their free dance before leaving for Junior Nationals.

Feutured in Cheyenne Edition 12-5-08

The kids were featured in the local paper!

(To read the article and see the photo, lick on the image at the left for an enlargement.)

Monday, December 01, 2008

Colorado Skaters Are Going to Junior Nationals

November has been a busy month for my family, since in early November, my two older children, Rebekah and Joel Schneider-Farris, qualified for the 2009 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships that will take place in Lake Placid, New York from December 10 through December 13, 2008.

I'm a proud mother, but I need to mention that sixteen other Colorado Springs youth have also qualified for the prestigious event!


Further Reading:






2009 Midwestern Juvenile Dance Champions, Logan Bye and Katie Shipstad, and 2009 Midwestern Juvenile Dance Silver Medalists, Rebekah and Joel Schneider-Farris are just some of the young Colorado Springs figure skaters who will be competing at the 2009 U.S. Junior National Figure Skating Championships that will take place in Lake Placid, New York from December 10 through December 13, 2009 - Photo Copyright © JO ANN Schneider Farris

18 Broadmoor Skaters Going to Junior Nationals!

World and Olympic dreams begin at a young age, and some of the best young figure skaters in the USA are being groomed right here in Colorado Springs. One reason is that the Colorado Springs World Arena Ice Hall's training atmosphere is excellent. That training atmosphere has paid off. This year, eighteen young figure skaters from Colorado Springs and the Broadmoor Skating Club have qualified for the 2009 U.S. Junior National Figure Skating Championships which will take place in Lake Placid, New York from December 10--13, 2008.

In order to qualify for the "Junior Nationals" event, the skaters competed earlier in the figure skating competition season at regional and sectional ice skating competitions. Only the top finishers won spots on Broadmoor Skating Club's Junior National Team. All skaters participating in the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships must be under eighteen.

The following skaters from Colorado Springs and the Broadmoor Skating Club will be participating at the 2009 Junior Nationals:
  • Avery Kurtz - 2009 Southwestern Regional Juvenile Girls Champion

  • Jessica Pfund - 2009 Southwestern Regional Juvenile Girls Bronze Medalist

  • Ayaha Chen - 2009 Southwestern Regional Juvenile Girls Pewter Medalist

  • Logan Bye - 2009 Southwestern Regional Juvenile Boys Champion

  • Daniel Neudecker - 2009 Southwestern Regional Juvenile Boys Bronze Medalist

  • Sam Anderson - 2009 Southwestern Regional Juvenile Boys - 6th Place

  • Lukas Kaugars - 2009 Southwestern Regional Intermediate Mens Champion

  • Rebekah and Joel Schneider-Farris - 2009 Midwestern Sectional Juvenile Pairs Bronze Medalists

  • Nicole Perkey and Brandon Frazier - 2009 Midwestern Sectional Intermediate Pairs Silver Medalists

  • Katie Shipstad and Logan Bye - 2009 Midwestern Sectional Juvenile Dance Champions

  • Rebekah and Joel Schneider-Farris - 2009 Midwestern Sectional Juvenile Dance Silver Medalists

  • Paolina Bushar and Jason Garofolo - 2009 Midwestern Sectional Juvenile Dance - 7th Place

  • Molly Raymond and Douglas Stevenson - 2009 Midwestern Sectional Intermediate Dance Silver Medalists

  • Jessica Mancini and Michael Hopkins - 2009 Midwestern Sectional Intermediate Dance Bronze Medalists
Three of the skaters participating have qualified to compete in more than one event: Logan Bye will be competing in both Juvenile Boys and Juvenile Dance, and Rebekah Schneider-Farris and Joel Schneider-Farris will be competing in Juvenile Pairs and Juvenile Dance.

Katie Shipstad, Logan Bye, Rebekah Schneider-Farris, Joel Schneider-Farris, Brandon Frazier, Molly Raymond, and Douglas Stevenson have participated at previous U.S. Junior Championships, but this is the first year that the other club members won berths on the national team.

"I am so excited about competing," says Rebekah Schneider-Farris. "It will be fun to make new skating friends in Lake Placid and at Junior Nationals. I am especially looking forward to seeing some great skating. It's such an honor to be competing in two events and to represent the Broadmoor Skating Club. I can't wait!"



Joel and Rebekah Schneider-Farris show off the pair and dance medals they won at the 2009 Midwestern Figure Skating Championships. Their placements earned them spots on Broadmoor Skating Club's 2009 Junior National Team - Photo Copyright © JO ANN Schneider Farris

Friday, November 28, 2008

Thanksgiving 2008 in Larkspur



We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Larkspur! Take a look at the beautiful table! My brother Billy and his wife Amy, and Amy's family made a wonderful dinner. It was a wonderful and special Thanksgiving!

(Click here for more photos.)






Blog Archive

About Me

My photo
Jo Ann Schneider Farris has participated in skating for most of her life as a competitor, coach, and author.

Followers