Final Medal Count & Locations

Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1.		United States	9	15	13	37
2.		Germany	10	13	7	30
3.		Canada	14	7	5	26

See you in two years in LONDON:

Olympic Games 27 July-12 Aug 2012

879 Days to go

Paralympic Games 29 Aug-9 Sept 2012

912 Days to go

See you in four years in RUSSIA:

XXII Winter Olympic Games
7 - 23 february
1439 days left

My Own Olympian

This past week or so I have talked about the amazing athletes who have paraded, skied, jumped and crashed in my home.

I have posted about focus here, strength here and being a good sport here.

It occurred to me Tuesday night around 7:30 P.M. I have my own Olympian. He's a little smaller than the ones in Canada but he has shown perseverance, strength, focus and drive in the few years it took him to get his Eagle--all before he turned 14!

My oldest son went on a 50 mile hike when he was 13; he completed 48 merit badges before receiving his Eagle; he showed he could be a leader and he has helped other scouts with their Eagle projects.

A few of you who don't know my son might think he is a scouting nerd. I might have sided with you about 5 years ago. But I watched him play video games, jump on the trampoline, play ball, tease his siblings and leave stinky socks around the house.

And sometimes he gave up on his merit badges. But not for long.

You see, this son is a self-starter. He set his goal to get his Eagle before 14 and he did it! All this Mom did was pay for camps and merit badge classes. He did the rest.

It helps to have an amazing scout master who REALLY wants these boys to succeed in more areas than just scouts. Our scout master deserves more credit than we can give him in this life time.

My Eagle Olympian is a good example of hard work, achieving, winning and enjoying the journey.

Cheering For Good Sports & Olympics

I'm not a particular fan of ice dancing but for some reason this Olympics, I have watched with interest. It was interesting to watch their routines, hear what music they felt inspired to dance to and the costumes! Hmm, very interesting.
The problem was that so many of the teams were amazing and every time a routine was over I thought to myself, "they're going to be in 1st place!"

I cheered for the US teams, wanting a 1st and 2nd, but the home team won gold. I was a little disappointed until I saw the Canadian team on the podium, faces flushed with joy, singing their hearts out. I was moved and found myself smiling and nodding my head. I was happy they won on their own turf.

I try to point out to my kids the good sportsmanship as well. The athletes and teams who shake hands or hug is a good example to the world. We can overcome cultural differences, even if it's only for 14 days.

Back here in good 'ol Utah County DH is an alumni for the home team so it's natural to cheer for them. But I also cheer for all the Utah teams. I want them all to win. It would help a great deal if the Utah teams didn't have to compete against each other; it would be easier to choose a team to cheer for.
I would LOVE to see more sportsmanship between our Utah teams AND fans. Of all the states in the USA, I think Utah should be front and center, showing the example of being a good sport.
How do we start? Getting rid of beer at games? Not letting certain fans attend the games?
No. Being a good sport starts in the home, with me. Then it trickles to my family, to their friends, to the schools, community and onward.
Let's cheer for the good.
Let's not boo the other team. Let's show respect to the athletes who worked to get to their competition. I haven't heard any boos at the Olympics. Maybe they don't televise...no, wait.
I went to a couple of events when the Olympics where in SLC. I did not hear boos. I heard cheering for hard accomplishments.
I heard cheering when an athlete was able to get up from a hard fall.
I heard cheering for the underdog.
There were no boos.
We can still cheer for our team to win!
Let's start to be a kinder nation.
Let's start at home.

		Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1.		United States	7	8	10	25
2.		Germany	7	9	5	21
3.		Norway	6	3	5	14

Focus, Stay Focused

Watching the Olympics I see every athlete focus in a different way. Some wear noise canceling headphones, some iPods, others close their eyes and image their course and how they will run it (my kids got a laugh out of a female athlete, eyes closed, arms limply in front of her as she made the turns on downhill skiing), and a few sit and watch their competition but most don't show up until close to their turn.

But they are all focused. What in our lives do we need to focus on? Is there some goal we want to achieve but haven't yet? Is it for lack of focus? Sometimes it scares me to focus on one goal because I might fail/succeed/lose myself/find I love what I do.

My son earned his eagle recently. It was his big goal he focused on but he didn't focus to the exclusion of everything else. The Wii and Xbox got their fair amount of focus. He knew what he wanted, knew how to get there, and achieved his goal. It wasn't easy and it took two years but he worked.
He is already onto his next big goal.

And when the big goal is won, how great is that victory! And how strong we become!

What about you? Do you have a big goal? How do you focus? Have you recently achieved a goal that made you feel good?

		Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1.		United States	6	6	8	20
2.		Germany	4	5	4	13
3.		Norway	5	3	2	10

Awe, Awesome, Awe Inspiring

I'm amazed every time I watch the Olympics at the speed, height, flips, air, strength, and focus the Olympians exhibit! I'm always in awe of the world's best athletes.

Last night watching snowboarding, my mouth hung up as the men looked like they were all just hanging out and doing tricks to impress each other. Awesome!

There seems to always be a competition that the underdog wins while I am holding my breath. Awe inspiring.

1.		United States	5	3	6	14
2.		Germany	3	4	3	10
3.		France	2	1	4	7

16 Days-Bathing Not Required & Leftovers Served

Yes!
Winter Olympics are almost here!
That's all I have to say about that...

Ski Forrest! Ski!