DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT http://www.megsmither.com/

My Brother and I went on an adventure.... High School Reunion

Pictures from the Saturday in Lawrence Kansas at the KU vs OK game. OK won -- but we stil had a great time....

The Arch at "Abeles Field" Leavenworth, KS

Our house at Ft. Leavenworth 605 Grant Ave.

Such a beautiful tree -- the leaves are changing in KS

Our High School - Leavenworth Senior High (LHS)

Tony and I walking down what is called "Main Street" at LHS

Tony and I in 1975

Lots of friends -- it was COLD at the game.

October 2009

Tony and I recreating an old picture from 1975

Well, where do you begin to start when you are told you are going to go back about 35 years. My brother and I graduated from Leavenworth High School --me back in 1975 and he was in 1976. Anyway last weekend they had their last football game in Abeles Field. We also went to Fort Leavenworth and remember all kinds of memories as well. So very fun and sad as well.... Anyway Tony and I went back to see that and than on Saturday we went over to Lawrence Kansas to see the KU vs OK game. It was so much fun with all the memories that go along with it.

Tony and I just kept walking around going "this is really weird". And do you remember that and that. :o) Laughed alot and saw some old friends. Just lots of fun.

They say you can't go back. Well you can't - but you can remember and it was FUN..

As they say THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.

New Scarves available

All,

New scarves available. please go to my website http://www.megsmither.com/ and check them out.

I know, I know

Sunshine Motif Scarf 24 x 24

Saint Mary's School Design 15 x 60

Sand Dollars and Starfish 15 x 60

Happy Hands Design 15 x 60

Turquoise and Green Floral 15 x 60

Turquoise and Green Floral 24 x 24

Black and White Floral 11 x 60

I know it has been like forever since I have been on this site. Lots has happened. Of course the obvious and now history is that we got back from Taiwan. But now we are onto other chapters of our lives.
I am trying to get my Art moving along again now and making new designs for my scarves. You can go to http://www.etsy.com/ and than type in megsmither (one word) under Search and you can find my site. I am so excited about it. You can also of course go to my website and see my other works http://www.megsmither.com/ and see everything. I really am trying to get myself in a routine of working on a regular basis. It seems that life and errands, etc.. get in the way. But I am working at it. Look above and see some of the NEW DESIGNS.
Let me know what you think and thanks for all the support over the summer for Anna and our Family.

Thank you Letter from Anna

Dear Everyone,

First off I would like to thank all of you again for helping me to get to Taiwan for the 2009 Deaflympics. It was an amazing trip with so many wonderful memories. But the most exciting thing of all is that we WON

THE GOLD MEDAL for USA.

We played our first game against Germany and won 4-0. (Guess what I #7 in WHITE made the FIRST GOAL of the games) . I #7 also had an assist to Liza Offreda #10 who made another one of our goals, Felicia Schroeder #2 made the other two goals with penalty kicks. She is an amazing player all around the field.

Our second game was against Denmark and we won that game 7-0. Kelly O’Steen #16 made 3 of the goals. It was a hat trick day.
She was on fire that day. I #7 had a head assist to Kate Ward #19 and she made a goal. That was so much fun. Here we are Congratulating Kate for making the Goal!!

Our Third game against South Africa was canceled because they dropped out of the games… so upon stepping on the field we were considered the winners. :o) Easy GAME.

Our fourth game was against Great Britain and we again won that game 2 – 1. It was an unbelievably hot day and everyone was moving slowly that day. God was with us that day cause winning was a gift. Felicia Schroeder #2 was our hero because she made both of our Goals. I #7 did have an assist to her for one of the goals, but I have to say that was my only saving grace during that game. The only reason that Great Britain made a Goal was because I missed my mark. Not a good game for Anna. But Felicia #2- she is a BEAST.

That put us in the Finals. We waited to see who we would play. Russia and Germany were playing and it went into overtime. Germany was behind and came out after half time and made 3 Goals in the first 15 minutes. It than went into overtime and Germany came out winning 4 - 3.

So in the Finals we played Germany. The first half was a tough one. We went into half time with a score of 0 – 0.
The Coach was not happy with us. He told us at halftime that we had 45 minutes to make a decision if we wanted GOLD or SILVER. So after the half we went out to play the game. The first Goal was made by Liza Offreda #10. The Third and Fourth were made by Felicia Schroeder #2. The Second goal was made by Kate Ward #19. So at the end we beat Germany 4 – 0 and we WON THE GOLD MEDAL.

Oh I can’t even begin to tell you how happy and excited and thrilled I was. We went to Taiwan to get our GOLD and we did it!!!!!!

So to everyone that helped me to get to my GOAL I thank you. I have enclosed a picture of me holding up my Gold Medal with a smile on my face that I hope tells the whole story.
Thank you,

ANNA SMITHER – USA Deaf Women’s Soccer Gold Medalist

PRAYER FOR OUR GIRLS

Please pray for SAFETY FOR OUR PLAYERS, STRONG BODIES -- ALERT MINDS and the BELIEF that anything is POSSIBLE if you BELIEVE AND HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF.

September 14, 2009 7:00pm FINALS....

(EST September 14,2009 7:00am)

www.deaflympics.tv

US Men's Soccer vs Argentina AND other US PLayers & Teams

Well we are getting close to the final days.... The Men played a grueling game yesterday with lots of red cards and yellow cards and being beat up by Argentina. To say the least the refing left little to be desired. I keep asking myself WHY??? I thought the refs where out there to make sure that players play fair and stay safe. There was not the watching out for the player at this game. Our players were just beaten up right and left. DJ was taken off the field after being knocked out in mid air. He was taken to the hospital and found to have a concussion. He is doing fine now --- but it was just brutal..... As usual here is the article written by the writer Martin Dale-Hench with http://www.usdeaflympics.org/ .

Argentina elbows U.S. in men's soccer, 2-0

by Martin Dale-Hench on September 12, 2009

And then there were none. Then eight.
The bizarre second half of the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team’s 2-0 loss to Argentina saw the referee hand out nine cards, six of them to the U.S. men’s team, enough to eject three players, and the Americans refusing to play before retaking their positions.
“This was the most appalling game I have ever been involved in 50 years in football,” head coach Ken McDonald said.
McDonald was vocal in his disagreement with the referee’s decisions, pulling his entire team off the field in a refusal to continue the game after the referee gave striker Kenneth Noll his second yellow card with eight minutes remaining in the game.
Argentina was up, 1-0, at that point, and its players celebrated their prospective victory by jumping up and down in front of their crowd.
However, the Americans returned seven minutes later because they found if they abandoned a game in that fashion, they would be disqualified from the next Deaflympics.
As soon as the Americans surprised the Argentineans by returning, defender Justin Hefflefinger was sent off with a red card for “punching in the gut.”
The targeted Argentinean was the one who had injured a few U.S. players with deliberate elbows to their heads during jumps for the ball.
In the 38th minute of a otherwise ho-hum first half, Argentinean captain Claudio Alvarez elbowed defender D.J. Rowse in the face, knocking him out cold mid-air, upending him and causing him to fall onto the ground face first. Alvarez did not receive a foul on the play.
“The Argentineans actually went out to hurt my players by constantly elbowing my players in the face and the back of the neck,” McDonald said. “I actually feared for my players’ lives. One of my players is now in a hospital because he was smashed in the face with the elbow of one of their players.”
This was only one of several plays that angered the Americans.
“Number 10 got away, like, six times,” captain Michael Lawson said. Lawson received two questionable yellow cards seven minutes apart in the second half and was ejected in the 62nd minute.
The Americans appeared to try to retaliate for Argentina’s sneaky play in the second half, running full speed toward their foes, sometimes causing collisions. The U.S.’s frustration showed when the referee missed elbowing calls against Argentina, especially a few on Noll.
“It was without doubt the worst refereeing performance I have ever seen,” McDonald said.
Argentina committed seven fouls in the first half, none of them carded, compared to the U.S.’s four.
Some players said the referee allowed the game to get out of hand by not taking appropriate disciplinary measures. In the second half, both teams received four apiece, plus nine cards.
Argentina got its first goal from a set piece off Lawson’s first yellow card in the 55th minute, with the ball bouncing over the defensive line and kicked midair by an Argentinean striker for a lob over the oncoming goalie.
The second goal came in the stoppage time, when the Americans were down three players.
The Americans play the loser of the Ireland-Iran match for 7th place Monday.

On a more pleasant note we have met some wonderful people here from all over. So many athlets with so much talent. It is just amazing. The Men's Basketball Team and the Women's Basketball Team are all in First Place at this point. The Men play their final I believe Tomorrow of course at the same time that we do --- but just amazing. Beach Volleyball has been wonderful and so much fun for folks to go to the coast and watch them. Lee and I were fortunate to meet the Men's Volleyball player Mike Bruning and his lovely wife. I just can't say enough about all the folks that we have met and how nice everyone has been to us as a family and as athletes .... The local people are just wonderful and they have all done such an amazing job with making this Deaflympics a HUGE SUCCESS.

Men's Basketball Men's Beach Volleyball



Men's Soccer
Women's Volleyball

Women's Basketball Women's Beach Volleyball

Women's Volleyball Team

Also now about a friend that we met here. His name is Craig Saalfeld and such a nice guy he is. He is one of twins. Mike is his brother. Both of them are into Track and Field. Craig won the SILVER in the Decathlon event. Here is his picture by Jason Chiou and an article written by Joshua Weinstock from http://www.usdeaflympics.org/ . So very proud of all the USA TEAMS and their accomplishments.

Craig Saalfeld nabs silver in decathlon

by Joshua Weinstock on September 13, 2009

On Friday, September 11, Craig Saalfeld began a two-day journey of ten events, going up against seven exceptional international athletes in the decathlon in Taipei Stadium.
Saalfeld was the lone American squaring off against three Germans, two Russians, one Japanese and one Chinese Taipei athletes. There originally were ten athletes, but Chinese Ming Yuan and Russian Ali Ametov backed out before the 400m for unknown reasons.
In order to earn points, one does not have to come in first place, but earns points based on a pre-determined chart.
“The decathlon is a competition against one’s self,” head coach Thomas Withrow said. “Saalfeld must perform his best in every event to get the highest points possible.”
Saalfeld’s decathlon results, in chronological order:
Friday, Sept. 11
9:00 A.M. - 100 meters
Saalfeld ran past the pack in the second heat for first place. However, his time of 11.53 seconds put him in third overall.
Russian Kirill Tsybizov won the 100m with a time of 11.35 seconds.
Saalfeld earned 746 points with his performance, putting him 38 points behind the leader, Tsybizov.
10:00 A.M. – Long jump
After the 100 meters took place, the decathlon athletes moved to the long jump strip to warm up.
Saalfeld leaped for the third-best distance, 6.35 meters, earning him 664 points.
Taiwanese Ching Lung An took first place with 6.65 meters, bagging 784 points. At this point, Saalfeld had 746 points, 38 behind An.
11:30 A.M. – Shot put
At the shot put, Saalfeld often looked into the crowd to get pointers from throwing coach Dan Fitzpatrick, Withrow and shot put gold medalist, Joanel Lopez.
Their pointers helped on his first throw of 11.05 meters, the best of his three throws.
Saalfeld placed third and received 549 points for his best throw. German Christopher Bischlager won the event with 679 points for his toss of 13.19 meters.
Entering the 4 ½-hour break, Saalfeld was in third place overall with 1959 points, 161 points behind Tsybizov.
5:00 P.M. – High jump
Saalfeld got his chance to grab the lead during the high jump, his best event.
He jumped 1.92 meters, well below his personal best, but it was enough to win first place in the event over Bischlager’s mark of 1.86 meters.
Saalfeld made up lost ground, earning 731 points, which put him only 32 points behind Tsybizov as Tsybizov placed fourth with 602 points in the event. Overall, Saalfeld had 2690 points.
7:00 P.M. – 400 meters
In the final event of the day, the 400m, Saalfeld gave it his all and ran a strong race in which he had a big lead but ran out of steam at the end.
However, his first-place finish with a time of 51.04, earning him 767 points, was good enough to catapult Saalfeld into first place. The slim lead of six points ahead of Tsybizov wasn’t secure, but Saalfeld was well ahead by 228 points of the third place athlete, Bischlager.
Saturday, Sept. 12
9:00 A.M. – 110-meters hurdles
Saalfeld continued his three-event streak of finishing first; earning the highest points and extending his six-point lead to 126.
Saalfeld’s time was 15.34, which obtained him 809 points for an overall total of 4,266 points.
9:15 A.M. – 4x400 meters relay heat
Saalfeld also participated in the 4x400m relay heat in the third runner slot. The other runners were Delvin Furlough, Michael Saalfeld and Josh Hembrough.
While every other decathlon athlete took time to rest between the hurdles and discus, Saalfeld helped the Americans advance into the finals with a time of 3:23.80, second only to Ukraine’s 3:22.21.
During the race, Saalfeld appeared to not give it his all, conserving his stamina and strength for the decathlon.
9:50 A.M. – Discus throw
In the discus throw, Saalfeld once again took pointers from Withrow in the stands, but it wasn’t enough.
Saalfeld threw for a distance of 28.82 meters on his final throw, which placed him sixth. Bischlager won the the event with a throw of 37.22 meters.
The second-place Tsybizov chipped away at Saalfeld’s lead, reducing the margin from 126 to 87 points.
11:20 A.M. – Pole vault
The toughest event for Saalfeld came with the pole vault, as four of the decathlon participants also competed in the individual pole vault event. Those vaulters finished inside the top six as Saalfeld took fifth place with a vault of 3.8 meters.
During the event, Saalfeld received assistance from gold medalist Patrick Southern and fellow vaulter Tom Guidon, who was visibly restless in the seats as he tried to help Saalfeld do his best.
Tsybizov, not one of the pole-vaulters, took fourth place as he earned 617 points to Saalfeld’s 562 and slowly caught up with only 32 points to go.
5:00 P.M. – Javelin throw
The javelin throw is Saalfeld’s worst event in the decathlon, he admitted.
Saalfeld’s performance reflected his disclaimer as he threw a best of 38.80 meters for 414 points, which put his point total at 5683.
Tsybizov, Saalfeld’s greatest threat to take away the gold, threw the farthest with a result of 51.93 meters for a whopping 617 points.
5:15 P.M. – High jump finals
Saalfeld took a hiatus from the decathlon to compete in his second side event in which he excels the most: the high jump.
Saalfeld jumped his way to a 1.99-meter finish, better than his 1.92m mark in the decathlon.
However, it wasn’t enough to overcome Russians Alexy Landar and Alexy Savostin who tied the Games Record at 2.05m as Saalfeld finished fifth.
Landar was able to break the record with a jump of 2.08, but wasn’t able to advance since he failed to overcome 2.11 meters.
The high jump ended at 6:30 p.m., and Saalfeld had only 20 minutes to prepare for the 1,500 meters, the conclusion of the decathlon.
6:50 P.M. – 1,500 meters
Heading into the final event, the Russian Tsybizov had a 171- and 230-point lead over Saalfeld and third-place An of Chinese Taipei.
Saalfeld led most of the 3 ¾ laps around the track until the final 100 meters, when Manuel Rapp blew past him for a first-place finish. Saalfeld finished with a time of 4:37.13, earning 698 points.
Overall points leader Tsybizov came in fourth with a time of 4:45.44, which netted him 646 points, more than enough to earn the gold medal and the title of “best athlete in the Deaflympics.”
When the athletes crossed the finish line, every runner except Saalfeld and Markus Bednarek, of Germany, fell to the ground, out of energy and struggling to catch their breath. It was the end of a grueling ten-event, two-day athletic feat.
In the end, Tsybizov ended with an even 6,500 points. Saalfeld trailed by 119 points with a respectable total of 6,381 to earn the USA’s first silver medal of the 2009 Taipei Deaflympics. Heavy crowd favorite An won the bronze medal with a final of 6106 points.
The Russian Tsybizov fell short of the Games record of 7,423 set by Austrian Dean Barton-Smith in 1989.

Don't forget to watch THE WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM - Monday Sept. 14, 2009 at 7:00pm (EST Monday Sept 14 at 7:00 AM)

GO FOR GOLD - USA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We WON GAME 9/11/09 versus GREAT BRITAIN

Well this will be brief but WE WON. Beat Great Britain 2 - 1 and we now go to the Finals. I just can't believe it. We will hopefully win the GOLD -- but this game is for GOLD or SILVER. .

Anna did not play at her peak today -it was a rough one, BUT Shaq, Felicia, Laura, Reagan, Katie Romano and MJ were the stars of the day in my opinion. In fact I knew something was wrong with Anna when I was watching her play. She blacked out in the first half. Her sugar levels were down due to HEAT, etc.... . Anyways -- definately was not a good day for her game wise. At halftime they laid her down and cooled her off. When England scored their one goal it was Anna's fault -- it was her mark according to her. So anyways... she is feeling better and hopefully will be back in her GAME on Monday. Thanks for Watching. Not saying anything that Anna didn't say herself. Not bashing my daughter.... I was just really worried about her when I was watching her play. Knew something was not right.

She said --- Great the one game that folks from home can watch and I looked awful. So please stayed tuned to MONDAY and hopefully she will be in her GAME that evening..

The Final game on Monday Sept. 14 at 7:00 pm (EST Sept 14 at 7:00 am)

I know EARLY www.deaflympics.tv or www.usdeaflympics.org

GO FOR THE GOLD.

Thanks to everyone back home for all of their love and support of the US Women's and Men's Teams.

US Men's Team play on 9/12/09 at 9:30 am (EST 9/11/09 at 9:30 pm)

Liza Offreda

Shaq MacDonough

Meanwhile here is the article that was posted on http://www.usdeaflympics.org/ regarding game against Great Britain. Remember to watch on MONDAY....

Women's soccer fends off Great Britain, advances to final

by Martin Dale-Hench on September 11, 2009

It was a tale of two halves.
The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team dominated the first half of its game against Great Britain on Friday under a scorching Taipei sun. Forward Felicia Schroeder scored both of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team’s goals, and the Americans held on to a 2-1 win in the semifinal game.
In the first half, the Americans attacked almost continuously on the British side, winning seven corner kicks to the British’s one. However, the playing field evened up in the second half, with both teams exchanging chances back and forth.
“Our players were physically shot after the first half,” coach Ken McDonald said. “We had to play injured players from the start.”
Schroeder was nursing a groin injury when the game started, and defensewoman Megan Johnston injured her leg in the 21st minute when her foot got stuck in the grass while she was going for the ball handled by a British player deep in the American side.
The Americans played with only 10 players while Johnston tended to her leg with a trainer on the sidelines. Six minutes later, Johnston returned, and the U.S. was in full force.
In the 30th minute, midfielder Liza Offreda kicked the ball diagonally from one side to another, from the center line into the penalty area, where Schroeder sprinted past two defensewomen to pick it up and shoot it past the near side of the British goalkeeper to make the score 1-0.
Schroeder scored her second goal of the game, her sixth overall in the Deaflympics, in the 39th minute. The Americans won the ball midfield from the British goalkeeper’s kick, and midfielder Anna Smither moved it down, saw Schroeder running by the last British defensive line and kicked a lead pass to her. Schroeder gained possession of the ball without slowing down, dribbled it to the goal and kicked it from 15 meters away. The ball trickled past the goalkeeper’s reach.
The goalie for Great Britain had three saves by halftime, and American Jessie Zamichow had none.
In the second half, the U.S. appeared languid and slower, playing more conservatively. Although Great Britain did not make the American goalkeeper work often, they were running and sliding more often, showing desire.
“I think it was the heat,” midfielder Elizabeth Hoerner said. “Our focus wasn’t there all of the way.”
The British crowd also jeered and cheered during the game, especially those from the men’s soccer team, who appeared embittered by their 3-1 loss to the U.S. that eliminated them from the medal bracket. The referee motioned to the crowd three times during the game to quiet down.
In the 80th minute, Johnston went down again, favoring her left leg. Shortly after she was carried off the field by the trainers, the Americans allowed their first goal of the Games.
Forward Katie Romano committed a foul to the left of the penalty kick, and the U.S. went down a player. The British took advantage of the situation, kicking the ball around the wall, and it hit forward Damaris Cooke in the traffic, going into the net in the 83rd minute and catching goalkeeper Zamichow flat-footed.
In the 85th minute, Allison Galoob went in for the injured Johnston.
The final five minutes were more frenetic, with the British offense showing more aggressive tenacity, but the American defense deflected any potential shots.
After the victory, the Americans said they knew they would need work to win gold.
“We’re going to practice harder the next three days,” Katie Romano said.
They play for the gold Monday against Germany.
While the United States and Great Britain were battling, Germany and Russia played on a different field, and the Germans came back from being behind, 3-0, to upset Russia, 4-3, in extra time. The Americans will play a rematch with Germany at 7 p.m. Monday. They played each other their first game of the Deaflympics, with the Americans winning, 4-0.

Sorry forgot to post about Sept 7, 2009 GAME

Kate Ward making a throw in...

Virginia Keeler going after the Ball

Kelly O'Steen taking a Corner Kick and it went into the net after hitting the other Teams Player :o) Opps....

Anna Smither Heading the Ball


Team hugging Kate Ward after she made a GOALLLLL....

Game on Sept 7 vs. Denmark. WE WON 7 - 0.

Please forgive me for not posting this article that was written about us. We have our next game on Friday Sept. 11, 2009 at 9:30am. (EST 9:30pm Sept. 10, 2009) you can go online REALLY to http://www.usdeaflympics.org/ and see the LIVEBLOG....

Women's soccer creams Denmark
Team steps up game, wins 7-0, enters semifinals

by Sarah Segal on September 7, 2009

Ten minutes into the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team’s match against Denmark on Monday morning, Denmark appeared fatigued and ready to cash in its chips. The Americans pulverized them, 7-0, moving the U.S. to No. 8 in the world rankings and enabling them to advance to the semifinals.
In 4-5-1 formation, the U.S. women marched onto the field at 9:30 a.m., ready for battle.
The team’s formation today proved extremely profitable, head coach Ken McDonald said.
“The five midfielders go from attacking formation to defensive form in a split second,” he said. “That’s why it’s so difficult to beat us.”
Within the first four minutes of the game, forward Kelly O’Steen gained possession of the ball and swiftly passed it to forward Anna Smither. The ball then ricocheted between forwards Shaquana McDonough and Smither in Denmark’s offensive third until forward Felicia Schroeder took over and chipped the ball into the net, spurring jubilant Taiwanese and American fans to spring up from their seats with thunderous cheers and flags of red, white and blue.
The team’s momentum snowballed from there. Eleven minutes later, Schroeder intercepted the ball again, knocking it in to the right of the goalkeeper.
The brace by Schroeder set the tone for the remaining 90 minutes of the game. O’Steen continued to keep the pressure on the ball after her assist and, by halftime, with the score 4-0, she had scored her own brace. By the 83rd minute, O’Steen recorded her first hat trick of the Deaflympics with three of the seven American goals.
Thirty minutes into the first half, Schroeder pulled her groin and medics carried her off the field, raising the tension in the crowd of fans. But substituting offender Virginia Keeler and the rest of American offense allayed the fans’ fears by keeping the ball pressured in Denmark’s danger zone for the rest of the game, leaving American goalkeeper Jessica Zamichow with few opportunities to contribute.
“I barely did any work,” she said with a smile.
Although Zamichow denies having done much, she made a few close saves. A Denmark offender hit the top of the goalpost at 17:30, then less than a minute later nearly put the ball in before Zamichow dived for it.
The women continued their goal-scoring streak after halftime. Seven minutes in, Smither headed the ball to 15-year-old forward Katie Ward, who put it in from the right. Four minutes later, Virginia kicked in a ball over the standing goalkeeper, bringing the final score to 7-0.
The Danish offenders put up a good fight by keeping pressure on the ball throughout, and many of Denmark’s players had decent speed. However, those qualities alone could not outweigh the team’s inadequate defense or sluggish goalkeeper, who struggled to keep the goal area clear of American offenders.
The Americans kept a steady gait and received 20 corners; the quality of the crosses of the corners impressed McDonald, he said.
However, of the 20 corners, the team only scored two goals when they could “have gotten at least ten more,” he said.
McDonald said though he sees room for improvement, the women’s blowout was a gratifying experience for him.