Everyday Adventures

 Damon was the Student of the Month for March!

His teacher wrote: "Damon is great at working with his peers. He is a leader and knows how to help people be their best and help when they are struggling." What a great way to be Damon!! Helping others is such a great way to be a leader. We see this in Damon too, and I'm so glad he got recognized for the awesome person he is!!

When I went to visit my mom she was getting her nails painted. She said she was going to a Christmas dance on Saturday night so she chose Christmas colors. I thought that was really cute.

Paul enjoyed his trip to Hurricane with his friends from work. They did lots of golfing, eating good food, watching March Madness, and relaxing.

Tessa took Emily to the temple to do baptisms. 

Damon and Tessa went to a District Choir Festival. They both really enjoy being in the choir. I'm glad they got one year to do it together.

They also had a concert that same week.

Both the choir and orchestra really sound so good, especially for an elementary school!

Tessa's going to miss Mrs Vest. She signed up for the choir at Oak Canyon for next year though so she's excited for that.

We rushed right out after the concert and beat the crowd to Macey's. :)

Julie came to town to get Ammon and Ashley's wisdom teeth removed. She, Lindy, and I met at the Smoked Taco for dinner and then went to see The Prince of Egypt at Hale Center Theatre. It was a really fun night.

Another night we hung out at Al's and got some good time to visit. Tessa and Hallee painted their nails super cute.

Rockwell was excited to get to see Ammon and Wyatt.

And I always love to get time to visit with my sisters!

West Desert (Delta) Meet

The West Desert Meet was last Thursday. Tessa woke up early with a sick stomach (the trots) that day and she was so bummed since it was meet day. She has been working so hard at practice the last two weeks to improve her kip on bars, and get past her fear on beam. She fell back to sleep late morning, and felt much better when she woke back up. She was able to eat, and said she had energy and wanted to go to the meet still. We drove out to Delta, and Paul met us there since he was heading straight to Hurricane for a golf trip with his friends. Delta decided to do tiny sessions, and so it was just Anna, Lexi, and Tessa in the afternoon.

Arete started on floor. I could tell in warm-ups that Tessa was feeling worse. She made it through her floor routine, but didn't have the same pep and energy she usually does. She ran right out to the bathroom as soon as she was finished.

She decided to do two half on's on the vault because they're easier. And then she ran right back out to the bathroom again. I didn't even think to record her bars routine because I was just so worried about her. She would be in the bathroom right up until it was her turn to compete on each event. She did a chin-up pullover instead of a kip on bars because it takes much less energy. I definitely regretted taking her, and she regretted choosing to go. We should have just stayed home, but it was so hard to know since she was feeling good before we left. 

She also simplified her beam routine and did a cartwheel instead of a back walkover.

Tessa took 1st on vault with a 9.3

1st on bars with a 9.4

1st on beam with a 9.6

1st on floor with a 9.2

And 1st All-Around with a 37.5

She took a clean sweep of gold medals even with feeling so so sick!! It's pretty impressive if you can get a qualifying score for Nationals while you're running out of the gym over and over again with the diarrheas. :) Even though she still regretted going, I think bringing home 5 gold medals made for a little less regret. Haha.

Uintah Meet & Early Bird Invitational

 Rock had a track meet in Vernal last week. This started the official season, and he ran the 800m in 2:17.41.

And the 400m in 54.14!! Two more great PRs! Way to go Rockwell! He also ran the 4x400 relay. It had started raining so hard that the kids had all run into their tents and got dressed and thought they were canceling the relays. But the coaches called them out and said they were still going to run it. They ran fully-clothed and Rockwell said it wasn't great for any of them. Haha.

Rockwell got to run in the varsity Early Bird Invitational this weekend at UVU. Jody had signed him up to run the 400m and the 4x400 relay. A few days later we noticed he had been switched from the 400m to the 800m. Rockwell was not happy about that. He loves the 400 and doesn't love the 800. :) Jody said he had signed him up before talking to Rock's mid-distance coaches. Rockwell asked Coach Tiff about the switch and she told him that she knows he can be a great 800m runner, but he doesn't see that in himself yet. She said she was going to make him run it so he can implement the things he's learning at practice, and convince himself that he can be great. He was still bummed to not be running the 400, but I think he appreciated his coach's belief in him.

It was a very cold and very wet day at the track! I always feel so bad for these kids running in snowstorms during Spring sports in Utah.

Miraculously, the clouds parted and blue skies came right before both of Rockwell's races. It snowed basically the rest of the 6 hours we were there. He lined up for the 800m, and ran a really great race!!

He finished in 2:04:85!!! That's a 13 second PR, incredible! 

He was so happy with his race!

Rockwell was the anchor for the 4x400m relay with Deiderik, Wyatt, and Brigham. 

They were in 3rd place when Rockwell received the baton, and he took off!

He was able to pass a team, and came in 2nd in their heat. 

We don't get official lap times, but according to his coach's timer, Rockwell ran his 400m in 52 seconds flat. That's a huge PR for him as well! Their team finished in 3:35.46. It was a great run for them and they were excited about it!! They finished 3rd overall for the 4x400 relay.

Payson Country Classic Meet

Tessa had the Country Classic meet last Saturday. Arete started on floor. 

She was looking so good, and then suddenly she forgot her routine. She said her mind just went completely blank. It broke my heart to see her freeze like that. :( She pulled out of it after a few seconds though and finished it off. I was impressed she could get back into her routine after freezing like that. She still scored a 9.3, which was higher than we assumed it would be. Christi was sitting by us and explained that Tessa still completed all her required skills, and so it was just smaller deductions instead of huge ones.

Next they went to vault and she did awesome there. Both of her passes looked really good!

Bars was next, and she did so so good on that! Her kip looked the best it has all season. She scored a 9.75. Wow!! She's made a lot of improvement on bars these past few weeks!

She absolutely nailed the landing!

Beam was last and she did well on that too.

She did have some real hesitation on her back walkover. She fell in practice a few weeks ago while doing this skill and has felt some fear since then. Exys (I have no idea how to spell his name, haha) was great and wouldn't put his hand on her back to spot her. He knows she can do it on her own, and I was grateful he insisted on not spotting her. After a few seconds, she did her back walkover and it was beautiful like always. She finished the rest beautifully too, and stuck her landing again. Yay!

Tessa finished 1st on vault with a 9.5

1st on bars with a 9.75

Tied for 1st on beam with a 9.7. Tessa and Lexi thought it was so fun to share 1st place!

2nd on floor with a 9.3

And she took 1st all-around with a 38.25

Arete took 2nd place as a team.

I know this was a frustrating meet for Tessa, but she still scored awesome, and I know she'll come back stronger next time.

The host gym gave all the girls super cute sweatshirts. Tessa loves it!