The boys competed in their second ski race on Monday and did extraordinarily well. How about these pictures by a friend of mine from a nearby town whose wife trained with my training group in Rumford back in the 1980s.
William likes working at the student-operated snack shack during basketball games. The kids raise money for their classes by selling hotdogs and the like. Soenke is more for the games and the crowds as seen in the pictures below. If you look closely, center picture, left-hand side, half way up, you'll also find Connie... a true fan.
We were interviewed by the regional newspaper last week for what we thought was going to be an article about several families of exchange students. But, the piece ended up about us and featured Bailey prominently. (He's now wearing sunglasses to ward off the fans and the paparazzi.) The boys will have a copy of the article in the envelops I'm keeping for them.
Both boys made High Honors at Mountain Valley. I'll make sure they bring home their bumper stickers for your cars ;-)
We waited until after New Year's Day to drag down the tree. This, perhaps, will be Rich's last real tree; he likes the book tree idea...
We landed a nice storm last night. I'm sure the skiing improved with this feather-light snow. The boys are at their first ski team competition today in Farmington. Unfortunately, work kept me working, but I'm hopeful one of the parents will take some photos of heir first race experience in a town called Farmington at a ski area named Titcomb.
Here's the back story: having never met one another, Rasmus (Denmark '15) and Simon (Denmark '12) were both in a bar in Aarhus, a city near their hometowns. Rasmus walked in and the first person he saw was Simon and he recognized him. Here's to happy coincidences! I have to tell you that this meeting made my week. I bet they had the best time talking about Rumford, skiing, soccer, Bailey, and the old guy. They left the night (or morning) writing me saying, "We're coming to visit next summer!") Whether it happens or not, that they'd like to visit makes me very happy.
The boys went to the girls' basketball game last night. Part of the fan support for the game has Falcon Fans wearing white t-shirts or coats to "White Out" the gym. One group of boys volunteered to wear white jump suits and cheer the girls onto the basketball court. Soenke volunteered, but poor William missed the opportunity because he really wants to cheerlead for the girls' team! Next time, Viking Boy.
We've had a few bitterly cold days with lots of sunshine but no warmth. Today, the temperature will soar above 32 F degrees... and sadly, there's rain the forecast for Sunday. The boys have had 2, 3-hour ski practices on Tuesday and Wednesday. I saw them practicing on Tuesday skiing on one ski to improve their balance and their edging abilities on skis. They're doing well! Here's a picture of Rumford falls and the town from a hill called Falls Hill. We travel up Falls Hill to get to our home in the Virginia section of Rumford.
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