Atlanta

We just got back today from a VERY long weekend in Atlanta. All of the squads from our gym had great performances, but still didn't fare well in the standings. Carissa's squad got 7th out of 8. It was quite disappointing, as they were in 6th after Saturday and had an AMAZING performance on Sunday. We were hoping they'd move up, but instead the team behind them moved up further due to eliminating some illegal tumbling. The other teams' standings:

PeeWees - 6th out of 8
Juniors - 4th out of 5 (but they beat Flames)
Seniors - 4th out of 11
Co-Ed - 2nd out of 3
Open - 2nd out of 11

It was great to watch all of the teams put on such great performances. I'm tired and glad to be home!

Carissa is 12!

February 8 has come and gone, and my baby is now 12! I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing home our little bundle. She's turned into quite the young lady. I'm very proud of her!

What did she do on her birthday? She had school, Jazz Band District Assessments, and cheer practice. But we took cupcakes to cheer practice. After all, it's not a birthday without cupcakes! =)

She had a few friends over on Saturday (after a trumpet lesson and ANOTHER cheer practice) to spend the night. It was fun.

One of our family's traditions is to go out for a birthday dinner. This year Steve was in Vegas working, so we will be going out for the birthday dinner soon. I wonder where she'll pick this year? Colorado Fondue or Melting Pot? hahaha!

Cheer, Cheer, and MORE Cheer!

Well, it's the middle of February already. Things have been busy since my last post. Carissa has been at 2 competitions since then. At the local one they didn't have anyone in their division, so they took first. The exciting news is that at the most recent competition they DID have competition. They won! It's the first time in the 2 years she's been with this squad that they've taken first in a competition where they had someone to compete against. Usually they have someone in their division "cheering down," which means they compete a level lower than they should to win. It's like cheating. This time both teams were pretty equally matched, and our girls won! They also got jackets, to which Carissa promptly declared, "It's hideous." It's not THAT bad - it's a little windbreaker with "National Champions" screenprinted on the back. Well, next weekend is Atlanta and the biggest competition of our season. I'll post again about cheer after that.