Hard Work Pays Off!

Warming up with the team. She is the first gal in the front helping to lead the warmup & stretches.

Beam routine beginning.

Looking good....nice and tight.

Floor routine

More beautiful floor routine.

Heading into her vault.

Handstand into landing.

Pep talk from Coach Matt before uneven bars.

Glide swing.

Middle Circle.

Cast.

Front Hip Circle/Shoot Thru.

2nd place uneven bars! 9.550

4th place floor and 4th place vault. 9.400 and 9.050

3rd place All Around!

WAY TO GO GRETCHEN! We are proud of all her hard work. She is a wonderful example to our family of dedication, perserverance and team spirit. She is a great cheerleader for her fellow teammates and is one of the first to give them a big hug of congratulations. We are so happy to have an amazing start to her gymnastics season. (Her level 4 team won 2nd place.)1 meet down.......5 to go.

P.S. Last year, we referred to the uneven bars as her dragon to slay. She worked so hard at the skills and would often come home with the worst rips and tears on those sweet little hands from all that dedication. Well, she definately slayed that dragon yesterday! I was so excited when she finished and even more when they posted her score....I screamed, which scared my sweet cheering companion Angie to death. :) Funny! I was just SO excited for my girl.

Who's Ready for Some Gymnastics?

Every gymnast needs some pixie dust to keep her "flying" and sticking to the beam.

These are the leos from our gymnastics meet we host. The team wore these since it was a pre-season meet.

Cheering for her fellow teammates on floor.

Handstand into front forward roll during her floor routine.

Look at that leap!

A pep talk from Coach Matt before the bar routine.

This girl has some serious upper body strength.

Even while working hard she finds a little time for some fun with her buddies. Gretchen has made some great friends on the team.

We are excited for meet season to begin to watch Gretchen show off those gymnastics skills she works so diligently on each week. She never complains about those long hours of practice, rips on her hands or tired muscles. I am proud of her dedication and true love of the sport and her teammates.

Friday Night Lights in TN

Dallin was invited to join the HS marching band this year, as an 8th grader. He will be marching at the football games and band competitions. So, we decided to head out for some good old American Friday night fun. We even had some burgers & fries to kick off the evening.

We loaded up the gang and our best buds to head over to the 'Boro. We watched some exciting football....

heard the "PERFECT" cheer..........

got some great shots................

had some good laughs thanks to the fans and tons of inappropriate teens..................

had some great girl talk.................

saw one of the cutest trumpet players..................

watched the back of the band perform.....................

(they were being polite to their hosts :) I guess)

remembered the good old days of being in the band...............

had our hair get a little crazy from the humidity...............

danced so much to the band's pep music that we got thirsty..................

All for our favorite trumpet player! I am so grateful that he is increasing his music skills, making new friends, and having an awesome time! So, come out & join the fun!

It Was the 1st day of the .....

8th grade!
I can't describe how fast time has flown by for my big guy on campus. His first day of kindergarten he wore an awesome Hawaiian shirt & was sporting a teenage mutant ninja turtle lunchbox and a huge grin. First day this year, he wore his UNC polo and brown bagged it.....still have a grin!

3rd grade!
This gal loves school, loves her teacher, and is super happy to have so many friends in her class this year. A few more months of fun and learning with her BFF's.

5th grade!
P-man is off to a great start this year on his 2 teacher team. His best bud is in his class, he is one of the big, cool 5th graders, and gets be part of the safety patrol this year.

A Little Bluegrass

Rich, Gretchen and I decided to brave the Satanic heat to head to downtown Franklin for the Bluegrass Festival. We found a shady park bench, enjoyed some shaved ice, and heard some amazing musicians. We were lucky enough to be there in time for the junior competition and left amazed at the kiddos and their talent. Several people were warming up the clogging shoes....but we were pretty sure at that point we were minutes from melting into a pool of ooze. Great festival, fun music and a relaxing Sat afternoon.

Loved the old farmhouse front porch for the announcer to sit on!

The only thing better than great banjo pickin' is awesome style to go with it.

We were secretly stalking this cute gal. Gretchen spotted her warming up on the square and we were lucky enough to be there just in time for the junior competition. Once again, very stylish and she amazing musician.

A little shaved ice to keep those pink cheeks cool :)