The Pikes Peak Classic 2010 Was Great Fun!

What a busy weekend the Pikes Peak Classic 2010 (September 24 through September 26, 2010) was for the Schneider-Farris family! Since the kids competed in so many events, it seemed like we never stopped.

One of the officials mentioned to Jo Ann that this seemed to be the "Schneider-Farris Competition" since so many events she judged included Joel, Rebekah, or Annabelle!

Anyway, we left the event with gold, silver, and bronze medals and we made new friends.

(I will add more photos from the competition later.)

Annabelle Wins Gold At the Colorado Springs Invitational 9-17-10

Annabelle skated beautifully at the Colorado Springs Invitational and won gold!







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Fire and Ice - September 10, 2010

Fire and Ice on September 10, 2010, took quite a bit of planning on my (Jo Ann's) part. You see, Joel and Annabelle did their intermediate pairs program, Rebekah and Joel did their intermediate free dance program, Annabelle and her ice dance partner, Val Katsman, did their juvenile free dance program, and Annabelle did her juvenile test track free skating program.

Each one of those performances involved a different costume and a different hairstyle! It was also after a full day of school for Joel and Rebekah at Mountain Vista Homeschool Academy and with skating practice before the school day began.

Anyway...it was a great experience for all of us since, because the kids do different skating disciplines, there will be times when we make quick costume changes and do a lot in one day quite often!

Pikes Peak Classic, Southwesterns, and Midwesterns, here we come!

Rosh Hashanah in the Mountains 9-9-10

Once again, we had a wonderful Rosh Hashanah in the mountains. We've gone to this service whenever we can since about 1996 or so....it was originally one of the many of the events held by Rocky Mountain Chavorot, but now it is the only thing left from that group. It was so nice to reconnect with so many of the Jewish families we've met during our years in Colorado!

After the service, we got together with our dear friends Sam and Hellene Anderson for a Tashlich ceremony. We have been through "so much" with the Anderson family. It is very special to get together with them at this time of year and see the children grow up together.

This past year was difficult for both of our families. Hellene's mother passed away and so did Dan's father. Our dear friend, 14 year old Haley Gans, also died tragically in a skiing accident.

Although there has been some sadness, we are blessed with families that love us and friends like Hellene and Sam.

L'Shana Tova! Happy New Year! Happy 5771!

Photo Slide Shows From Our Vacation to Long Beach

I took so many photos on our vacation! I put together the photos in a slide show. It is quite long, but brings back so many wonderful memories!

The first video is just a preview....also I've included just a few photos to get those who want to see the slide show "ready!"

Our Wonderful Beach Vacation - August 2010

Sometimes you read about beach vacations that only people dream about. Our recent vacation to Long Beach, California was like that.

We spent two weeks enjoying the beach, Belmont Shore, pools, and the Bay in Belmont Shore, and the California sunshine, and also, we enjoyed family and friends.

The kids skated every morning at Westminster Ice (which was only about 15 minutes from our family's beach condo). We did also skate at Anaheim Ice two times.

After skating in the early morning, we had the rest of the day to just enjoy being on vacation. The kids went sailing with their cousin Drew, and everyone (except Jo Ann) got on kayaks.

One day we went to Marina Del Rey. The kids got to meet Uncle Bobby (Grandpa Arthur's brother) for the first time.

Jo Ann's best friend from junior high school, Bernadette McEwan Brake, drove from Irvine to Belmont Shore and spent an afternoon with us. Through Facebook, in the spring of 2010, Jo Ann found Bernadette. The two had not seen one another for over 40 years!

We went to the La Brea Tar Pits and the Los Angeles County Museum. We also too a wonderful boat ride in Long Beach Harbor and visited the Queen Mary.

We also celebrated Joel's birthday with Dan's mom, Dan's brothers Mike and Jack (and Jack's wife Wendy) and with the kids' cousin Adam.

We had our own celebration of Joel's birthday at our family's condo and at the beach.

Marion, Bruce, and Paul Curtis came down from Los Osos and spent a week in Naples just to spend time with us. We saw Jo Ann's sister Lynnellen. For the first time in many years, we got to see Lynnellen's son, Cody.

We also got to spend quality time with Karen Berzon who taught the kids ice dance every morning during our vacation. Karen had us to her beautiful home one afternoon, and we enjoyed a bbq and Karen's pool. We also got to meet her beautiful kids.

We got to see Dan's longtime friends, Alan Roberts and Randall Bradford and we had a wonderful dinner with our good friend, Stefano Stefan and his wife Huyen.

It was hard to say good-bye to all the people who love us and to the wonderful relaxed California beach lifestyle! Hopefully, we can visit again in less than a year...