The Winter Olympics of 2010 came to an end last night with the stirring, poignant Closing Ceremonies in Vancouver. It was a super-fun 16 days of competition, with hundreds of truly memorable moments. Here, in no particular order, are our top ten faves of the games:

"Both Sides Now." The best sequence of the Opening Ceremonies featured a young acrobat gracefully whirling and twirling on wires, high above the stadium floor. Simple, poetic, and breathtaking, and made even more special by the fact that the ceremonies were dedicated to the memory of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died during a training run that day.

Competing through grief. Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette was poised for her Olympic moment when the unthinkable happened: her mother Therese died suddenly of a heart attack just two days before the ladies' competition was scheduled to begin. Joannie inspired the world by choosing to skate as planned, and doing so with amazing grace and strength. We can't imagine how it must have felt for Joannie to be dealing with such heartbreaking loss and the pressure of the Olympics at the same time. Her performances resulted in not just a bronze medal victory but a lovely tribute to her mom.

The Flying Tomato repeats. Okay, so he doesn't want anyone using that nickname anymore, but we still love it. Shaun White became a star when he won gold in the snowboarding half-pipe four years ago in Torino, Italy. This year he did it again, with an amazing first run full of towering jumps and near-impossible tricks. He didn't even need to make a second run, but he did... and incredibly topped his already unbeaten score. Magic!

Canada wins home gold. Canada hosted the 1976 summer games and the 1988 winter games, but didn't manage to win a gold medal in either year. This time around, Alexandre Bilodeau finally broke the home-soil "curse" with a top finish in men's moguls, and a nation of fans breathed a sigh of relief. Then they cheered,  yelled, and went a little crazy, like sports fans usually do when they find a new hero. (Turns out they had nothing to worry about, since Canadian athletes went on to win 13 more golds, more than any country in any winter Olympics!) The fact that Alexandre dedicated his performance to his older brother Frédéric, who has cerebral palsy, made it all the sweeter.

Longtime partners rule ice dancing. Gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, along with silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White, helped make the competition electric fun to watch this year. The two pairs train together in Canton, Michigan and have the same coaches, but they share something else in common: they've been partners for ages. Meryl and Charlie teamed up when they were just ten years old; Tessa and Scott when they were 8 and 10. Wow...can you imagine going through so much with one person for so long? It was great to see the rewards of all those years of hard work!

Great Britain finds a reason to cheer. Amy Williams won Great Britain's first individual winter gold in 30 years when she took first place in skeleton. She also managed to break the track record... twice. Good show!

Ammann owns the hills. In Salt Lake City in 2002, they called Simon Ammann "Harry Potter" because of his resemblance to the young wizard. The Swiss ski-jumping phenom won gold on both the normal and large hills that year. Amazingly, he did it again in Vancouver . This makes him the first man to win gold medals in both individual ski jumping events in two Olympics, and the most decorated Swiss Olympic athlete ever. A wizard, totally!

Rivals, friends, and champions. USA's Lindsey Vonn and Germany's Maria Riesch are considered two of the best skiers in the world, and they showed that on the slopes of Whistler, earning two Olympic medals apiece. But what we liked most were the "behind the scenes" videos that showed how these fierce competitors are also BFF's. They root and cheer for each other all the time, and Vonn even spends Christmas vacation with Riesch in her hometown in Germany. Somehow they make it work, and that's inspiring to us.

Bode redeems himself. Many consider Bode Miller to be America's best alpine skier ever, but in the 2006 Torino games he famously washed out, earning zero medals. This year Bode proved himself a true Olympic champ, taking a gold, a silver and a bronze. A true example of how "failures" can often lead to the sweetest successes.

Awesome hockey rivalries. The greatest thrills in hockey this year -- in both the men's and women's tournaments -- came in games between the USA and Canada. Fast, aggressive, spirited play between the best players in the world...it doesn't get any better than that! Canada ended up winning both gold medals, which is appropriate. Hey, they were the host nation and it is their national sport after all. But the underdog American men's and women's teams fought hard, earning their silver medals and making the Canadians work for their golds. If these teams meet in the finals four years from now in Russia, watch out! They'll be grudge matches for sure!

Yes, we're happy we can return to our regularly scheduled programs now, but we'll miss the highs and lows of the Olympics. What were your favorites?