Yet more pics from the K.C. visit

My maid of honor Heather....(and her bo Seth in the orange shirt)

Jonathan & baby Zion

My youngest sister Lindsay, my mom and my oldest sister Amy



Jeremy, Tricia and Zion





International House of Prayer in K.C.

Part 1: Visit to Kansas City Extravaganza!!

My dad, Tom, eating a massive plate of his favorite Gorozzo's spaghetti

My mama Kathleen and I

My brother Tyler and his dog Tritney

Jonathan and his daddy-O Gary

My mother in Law Joyce





Baby Zion Michael Ray Collins

and my sister in law, Tricia

Doesn't she look incredible!








Jonathan offered some of his "lawn & lanscape expertise" to His brother and sister in law...then fell asleep on their floor. Cool red socks babe

Family fun

Here is a link for a few pictures from my mom's camera of our time in K.C.

Jonathan and I are visiting Kansas City right now and happened to forget the power cord to our lap top. We'll post new pictures as soon as we can.

San Diego sights

We arrived in San Diego on Saturday, and will be moving into our place Sunday afternoon.

This is the track Jonathan will be training at.

We went on a little cruise tour of the San Diego Bay.

Sea Lions!

&

Sail Boats!

California Cruisin'

More to come later...

The Summer Track Season Is Over!!

The summer track season is finally over. There were no special meets nor any official decathlons for the summer, but there was plenty of opportunity to set marks. This was a season of breakthrough as almost all of my marks went up significantly. Last year started around 5,000 points. This year started around 5,600 points. This year ended around 7,000 points!!





To give some perspective, 7,700 can get me in to the olympic trials and anything over 8,000 will usually qualify for the olympics (depending on the quality of the competitors that year). So that's roughly a 25% increase in one year with only another 12% needed in the next two years. Obviously progress will become more difficult, but I'm still setting personal bests every time I go to a meet.







San Diego will hopefully add much more opportunity for progress as I will be able to train through the winter without hinderance. Also, I will have access to real coaching down there, which will hopefully help my throws and jumps. I'm in the olympic window for the 100, 400, discus, and javelin. My 1500 exceeds the olympic performances. My hurdles, jumps, p.v., and shot put still need quite a bit of work, but they are coming along quickly. I increased in the pole vault by nearly three feet this year and only need a foot and a half to go. I dropped four seconds off my hurdle time and only need 1.5 more. My high jump and shot are still ugly, but I haven't give much attention to them in practice at all.

So things are looking up. Lord willing, they will continue to climb.

Thanks for all the encouragement and support that seems to flow continually.














My next track practice will include ocean views with cool breezes! So until the end of August, I'll be enjoying a little r&r.

adios, Bend.