Ella's First Team Gymnastics Meet

After practicing really hard and putting in very long hours at her gym in Auburn, Ella's first gymnastics meet finally arrived today.  Her meet season runs December through March and there are six meets that she gets to compete in.  The first meet, called The Reindeer Games, is held at her gym every December.  Ella was so excited all week long and kept on squealing every time she thought about it.  Her Level 2 team had to be there at 2:30 today for a 3 o'clock start time and so I had to check her out of school two hours early to have enough time to take her home to get her ready before leaving at 2 p.m. to make it to Auburn in time.  I was able to leave home a napping Emmett with both Lia and Logan (who I had also checked out of school early since I had no way to get him home from the bus stop at 4 p.m.) and was able to just focus on Ella which was such a relief.  In addition, my mom offered to drive down from Issaquah to watch Ella compete.  We all pulled up into the gym parking lot at the same time which was a convenient coincidence.  My mom was able to find our seats while I helped Ella get dressed in her beautiful team leotard and warmup suit that wasn't ready for pick up until today.  Ella was so excited to put on her fancy, new clothes and to go out onto the floor to join the rest of her team.

The meet started at 3 p.m. right on the dot.  My mom and I got amazing seats on the second row and were comfortably able to watch everything from where we sat.  We watched Ella's team warm up for 30 minutes before the actual competition started.  The coaches then divided the Level 2 girls into small groups and they then rotated around the four events for the next two hours.  Ella started on the floor and then moved to vault, bars, and finished off on the beam.  She did so well on all four of her events and even scored a 9.2 on the vault which is her strongest event.  I was so impressed by how calm and confident she looked out on the floor!  When the meet was over, the judges tallied all four of their events and the top ten girls in each of the four age groups received a medal.  Since this was the first competition, we had no idea what to expect, so I was so surprised when Ella's name was called out from a huge group of girls to go up and get a medal.  She came in 9th place for her Junior B age group and received a beautiful reindeer medal hanging from a red ribbon.  In addition, since her overall score came to 34.9, Ella qualified for the State Championship meet at the end of the season since she scored over 34 points.  I was so impressed that she was already able to accomplish this goal at her first meet.  Way to go, Ella!  I am so proud of how well you did today and how hard you have worked all of these past months!  Your determination, hard work, and persistence have really been an amazing thing to watch these past six months.  You are so awesome!

Ella dressed in her new team uniform and ready to go at the beginning of the meet!

Ella standing with the group of girls that she was assigned to compete with through the different events of the meet.

Ella getting a pep talk from one of her coaches, Bree, before starting her first event on the floor.

Ella waiting for her music to start.

Completing a backwards roll.

Ella leaping...

and doing a handstand...

and a bridge.

Ella waiting for the judge to signal to her that she can start her routine on the beam.

Ella doing a pull-up pullover...

  and then finishing her pullover.

Doing a cast...

and a back hip circle.

Ella smiling at me while her group walked by the audience on the way to the vault.

Ella starting her beam routine.

Ella doing a passe...

and a t-lever.

and a handstand into her dismount.

The Junior B girls standing on the blocks after getting their medals.  Ella is the one on the far right.

Ella smiling for me after getting her medal.

Ella standing on top of the medal ceremony blocks after the entire meet was over!

An Early Snow Storm

Since it rarely snows here in November, I was shocked to see it on the weather forecast last weekend.  After a light snowfall on both Monday and Tuesday, I thought that the snow storms were over since I didn't watch the news again once the school week had started.  So, much to my surprise, I couldn't believe it when the snow started falling again on Wednesday afternoon right as school was getting out.  It snowed all evening long and we had about three inches of snow on the ground by the time we went to bed last night.  Although it was supposed to snow on and off throughout the night, it sadly did not and so we woke up to the same amount of snow this morning.  Luckily, school was cancelled and so the three younger kids and I went out to play in the snow in our yard and then to go sledding at Lia's junior high school up the hill with Poppy and Daisy.  Although the roads were clear enough for me to take Ella to her piano lesson this afternoon, Logan's chess club and soccer practice were cancelled and so the kids enjoyed a twilight session playing back out in the snow with the neighbor girls until dinner time.  I just loved having this little break from the rush and the roar of life this time of year and for the chance we had to enjoy some early winter snow during the Christmas season!

One of my all-time favorite things is how beautiful Christmas lights look when there is snow on top.  Since it so rarely snows here before Christmas, this is a sight I barely get to see.  As a result, I had to walk up my road last night to take a few pictures of two of my neighbor's trees covered in Christmas lights and snow.  They looked so magical!

The white lights with white snow on top.

Emmett, Logan, and Ella heading out into our untouched backyard at 8:30 this morning.

Ella and Emmett making snow angels.

Ella and Emmett admiring their snow angels once they were done making them.

Emmett taking the sled down our slide.

Ella doing one of her all-time favorite things--eating snow!

Logan making a snow man.

Since there wasn't enough snow on the road to sled down, we tried sledding down the skinny strip of grass between the street and the sidewalk while walking up the hill to Lia's school.

Since there wasn't much snow on the ground, the snow on the sledding hill didn't last long once multiple sledders show up.  Luckily, we were one of the first groups there and got some good runs in before the hill got overrun with people. Here is Ella flying down the hill.

Logan's turn!

The kids climbing back up the hill.

Logan and Emmett taking a turn.  Emmett was so brave and was totally unfazed by how steep this sledding hill is.  Much to my chagrin, he even went down it a few times by himself.

The boys coming to a stop at the bottom of the hill.

After the sledding hill got really crowded, I decided that it was time for us to leave since I worried about Emmett surviving on this big hill with lots of kids.  So, I left with the boys and Ella stayed behind with Poppy and Daisy and their dad.  Apparently, after we left, their dad rounded up a large group of kids to make a giant snowman in the school's football field.  Here is the impressive picture he sent me after the snowman was finished.

Lia's Student of the Quarter Award

After two school years of recognizing zero students, Lia's junior high school brought back the "Student of the Quarter" program.  Fortunately, Lia's history teacher chose her as his one 9th grader to be recognized for her performance the first quarter of the school year.  As a result, we were invited to attend an early morning ceremony in her library today at 7:30 a.m.  Since everyone was already up and at it, I dragged the three younger kids with Lia and me into the dark and cold morning.  We found an empty table in the back corner of the library and happily watched Lia and several other students be called up one at a time by their teacher.  Lia's teacher read out loud the kind words that he wrote about her and that were printed on the front of her certificate as she walked up to get it.  I am so proud of how hard Lia worked this fall juggling school with seminary, cross country, and her play while managing to maintain straight As the entire time.  Way to go, Lia!  You are such a superstar in my eyes!

Lia holding up her award after the ceremony was over.

 A close-up of Lia's award.

Trimming the Tree!

After picking out our Christmas tree in the rain yesterday, we gave it a good day to dry out in the house before gathering around it tonight to decorate.  The kids and I had a good time going through out large batch of ornaments and decorating both the children's tree in the foyer and our family tree in the living room while listening to Christmas music.  I love this tradition as it always helps to feel like we are officially kicking off our Christmas season.  I am so grateful for a husband and four children to share this special time of year with.  Here are some photos of our festive fun tonight.

Ella decorating the children's tree with the help of her AGD, Corinne.

Emmett sans shirt hanging up one of his ornaments.

The kids and I gathered around the family tree.

The kids decorating away.

Logan showing me his pearly whites while hanging up another ornament.

Lia hanging up a star way up high.  It pays to be tall from time to time.

Lia's Descendants Production

Lia wrapped up the craziest and busiest 2.5 months of her life yesterday by participating in two performances of Disney's Descendants at a beautiful high school theater in Auburn.  While juggling seminary, school, XC, and homework, Lia managed to find the energy and the time to attend her play practices three to four times a week and to learn all of her lines, songs, choreography, and blocking.  As though this wasn't enough of a challenge, Lia woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat that I am sure she got from Emmett who came down with a cold five days earlier.  We both tried not to panic and quickly decided that she would refrain from using her voice all morning long and would sip on hot, lemon water all day long.  We also said a prayer before she left and asked Heavenly Father to help her voice be able to last through two performances that day.

Luckily, prayers were answered as Lia was able to get through the first performance totally fine and only started to get hoarse at the end of the second performance.  Luckily, only Lia was able to notice this as she sounded totally normal to the rest of us while she was on stage.  It wasn't until she came out into the lobby afterwards that we were able to hear that she was starting to lose her voice a little bit.  Ron and I and my parents went to the first performance along with several friends and their families.  I brought Logan and Ella and three other friends in my car to the second performance and met Chris, Natalee, Riley, and Trenton at the theater.  In addition, several others friends and family members came to the evening performance.  Overall, Lia did a smashing job in both productions.  She knew all of her lines, songs, and choreography and definitely had the strongest and clearest voice out of all of the leads.  I was so so amazed at both of her performances and was just so proud of her.  The play was so fun and entertaining to watch and I really enjoyed watching it just as much the second time as I did the first.  I am so grateful that Lia had this wonderful opportunity to be in this musical production and for the opportunity that it gave her to continue to develop her confidence singing and acting on stage.  I know that I have said it before, but I will say it again.  I can't wait to watch Lia do her thing on stage in many plays and musical productions in the years to come!

***And as a side note, I just have to include the last part of this story.  Lia woke up today (the next morning) as sick as a dog with a fever of 102.3.  She has been so sick that she has spent the entire day in bed and barely ate anything.  She was so weak this morning that she even struggled to sit up in bed when I brought in medicine for her to drink.  I have prayed every day for the past 2.5 months that her body and mind would be able to handle the demands that she was putting on it.  I know that Heavenly Father heard and answered these prayers and kept her body strong until the very last hour of the last day of these 2.5 months so that she could give these performances her all...and then she crashed.  This truly was a tender mercy and a wonderful testimony-building experience for Lia.

Lia all dressed up as Evie and ready to go before her first show.

Lia posing with her friend, Olivia, who played Mal.

"The Evils."

Also known as the descendants of the four Disney villains:

Carlos, Mal, Evie, and Jay.

The cast taking a selfie before the show with their wonderful music director, Nick.

One of the parents is a professional photographer and she agreed to come in before the show and take some pictures of the kids on the stage.  Here is Lia with the other "Evils" trying to steal Fairy Godmother's wand from the Museum of Cultural History.

The awesome signed and framed poster of the entire cast that was part of a silent auction in the lobby.

One of my favorite pictures I managed to get of Lia and Olivia during the "Rotten to the Core" scene.

Lia talking about the atomic weight of silver during class at Auradon Prep Academy.

The kids attempting to steal the wand.

Lia with Doug at the coronation of the new king.

Lia and Olivia singing "Break this Down" during the final scene.

Lia posing in the lobby with my parents, good friend, Kristina, and her two daughters, and Ron and me after the first performance was over.

The "Evils" trying to kill Maleficent in the final scene of the second performance.

Lia walking out to take her bow at the end of her second performance.

The entire cast taking a final bow.  Well done!

Chris and his family, some friends from church, and Logan, Ella, and I posing with Lia after her second show was over.  And that's a wrap!