Below is a couple photos of my amazing and talented daughter Rebekah who is presently in France performing with Disney On Ice!
She is an Ice Harvester and jumps ramps on hockey skates in the show. She also does other roles in the show, but I don’t have any recent photos.
I am SO excited, happy, and ecstatic! My son Joel passed the Westminster Waltz, his final partnered standard gold dance and his Gold Dance Test and is now a US Figure Skating Triple Gold Medalist!
My late father, my Daddy, Joel’s Grandpa, must be dancing “up there” since my dad just felt figure skating tests were so important to to pass. He would have been so proud!
What is even more significant is that Joel had one pre-gold to pass before he left to tour with Disney On Ice in July of 2014. We had no idea then how difficult it would be to get a gold dance test and senior tests passed since it is hard to train while touring and performing with an ice show.
Getting a Gold Dance test passed is a huge accomplishment. For those who don’t skate it is the equivalent to getting a PHD!
Way to go Joel and thank you to the Sun Valley Figure Skating Club and coaches Natalia Zaitseva Irvine and Brent Bommentre! Also..thank you to ice dance coaches Dianna-Lynne Webster Wells, Judy Blumberg, Paul Steiner, Richard Griffin, Karen Sulpizio, Doreen Denny, and Darlene Gilbert for helping make this happen.
Thank you to my friend Anne Marie Baldy Murphy for your encouragement and critiques and support and to my friend Janet Becht and my friend Debbie Griffin who are ice dance judges who helped critique his gold dances. And…thank you to coach Linda Alexander for being so amazing and positive and encouraging!
Below is the video of Joel’s Westminster Waltz test and also the video of his Viennese Waltz test that I hadn’t blogged about yet. And…of course the test papers.
As you can tell, I’m one proud mom! (More tests to add to the Schneider-Farris family’s “I think we have more US Figure Skating tests passed than any other family in figure skating’s list of tests and gold medals!”)
 |
| Celebrating a day of skiing while it was snowing in my new red down ski jacket! 1-8-2023 |
In 1984 I taught skating with Ice Capades Chalet. The company required its instructors to wear red coats, but allowed us to purchase one since the company issued jacket was not warm enough for the Costa Mesa ice rink where I taught.
That jacket is in the photo of me below with long hair coaching with my closest friend in this world, Marion Ennis Curtis and the photo was taken in 1984 or 1985!
Anyway, I have skied in that red down jacket for about 38 years now and I thought perhaps it was time for a replacement so today, I skied in my new red down jacket that looks exactly the same! I like red so my kids and friends can find me but I also need the warmth and I thought after 38 years it may me time for an upgrade!
 |
| My New Red Down Ski Jacket! 1-8-23 |
 |
| Smiling in my 38 year old ski jacket Sunday 1/1/2023 |
 |
| Teaching Skating in 1984 when my ski jacket was new! |
