Justin & Karina Rico: The Tasty, Talented, and a little Tired TRIO

Boy oh boy have I had a weekend of events! Justin and I had the opportunity to watch my mom and two of her friends compete in the Utah Summer Games! I had no idea until the day before my wedding that she was even planning on going! Her friend Sylvia that was helping us decorate told me and I was completely shocked! I knew that she went swimming with some friends for exercise, but I couldn't believe she was going to compete with it! I thought she just went to the pool, wore her frilly swimming suit with a flowery swimming cap, and splashed around in the water a little bit, but BOY was I wrong!! This is serious business folks, and this trio seriously kicked butt! I got the amazing opportunity to go and see them compete because the Summer Games are held right here in this little town I live in! We had to get up at 7 in the morning to make it in time to watch them swim. Once I arrived, I learned that none of them really slept, they chewed their nails off, and got there an hour early just because they were so anxious! They couldn't believe they were actually doing this, but I couldn't be more proud! I felt like I was at the Olympics, everyone there was VERY serious about this stuff. They were all dressed in their Speedos and eating granola bars as they talked about different techniques they liked to use. There were people competing from little kids up to old men in their 90's! Crazy huh?! These ladies had worked seriously hard and it showed! They all smoked their competitors and did amazing! Of course a team name was in order so Justin and I came up with "T" adjectives they could chose from to go with TRIO and they chose to be the Tasty, Talented, and Tired TRIO!! Perfect team name if I do say so myself, it fit them perfectly. They all freaked out when they found out that the mile was their first day, and they didn't know if they could do it, it was 30 laps in the pool! I can't even imagine trying to swim that far! But, contrary to their beliefs, they all had great times and needless to say they were very happy to be done with their biggest race. Everything else would be a piece of cake... Right? Of course. And it was. They all placed either first or second in their races and came home with so many medals that you could hear them coming from miles away because of the clanking coming from around their necks. I felt like the proud mother of an Olympian, it was great! They made tons of friends, and weren't afraid to let people know how fun they were! They were yelling, cheering, and encouraging their friends on, and that is a huge part of the games, is just to have fun, make friends, and do the best you can! By the last day, we had a whole group of people we were cheering on, and they us. They improved more and more each day, getting tips from more experienced swimmers, and they were determined to improve and come back next summer and do even more butt kicking! Needless to say, I had the best weekend I've had in years! I've never been so proud of my mom and her amazing friends, they were an inspiration to me and Justin. If they could swim in competitions and do great, then maybe I should start trying to.. we'll see, maybe Justin and I will compete next year. Way to go Tasty, Talented, and Tired TRIO!!! YOU DID GREAT!!

Look at these champions getting ready for their first race! (Sylvia, Judy, Shelly)

Mom and Jenny at the opening ceremonies... Adorable.

Me, mom and Jenny after her third and fourth gold medals, and second silver... She is awesome.

Judy.. being great and winning her first silver! She did so great!

I even caught one of Judy in the water. I'm pretty sure this was the backstroke... ha. But I could be wrong. :)

Mom being so cute on the podium with her medals. She was so excited!

Mom and one of her competitors!

Sylvia's first gold medal! WAHOOO!! Good job Sylvia!!

Planking on the podium.. Idea of yours truly :)

Look at all three of them, could they be cuter?!

Their new friends Kyle, and Lin. Both AMAZING swimmers and definitely people for them to look up to.

I mean, can she be more adorable?!? This is my favorite picture of her, it really captures her amazing personality. Little did you know she was nearly dying of nervousness but she performed incredibly!

Mom planking on the platform! :) Cute.

The TRIO!! They worked so hard for this and definitely deserved it!

In action... Awesome mom!

After the terribly long MILE!! These girls really felt like champions and were! That is a REALLY long way to swim!

Judy was so excited for the first award ceremony she could hardly wait to run up there and claim her gold medal! One of the funniest ladies I have ever met!

Mom's first gold medal! WHAOO!

They were all SO tired after the first day of competing and not getting any sleep the night before. I caught this one of Sylvia at cafe rio... Priceless.