Cheer in Orlando

 Brielle and I spend the last week in Disney World for the Summit Cheer Competitions. They got a wild card bid really early in the season. They made it through the wild card round to the finals, but ended up in 13th place there, which was kind of a shock. We were expecting at least top 5 after their performance. Her team had done really well this year and she has had so much fun. North Star has been a whole different experience as a gym. Her team went undefeated locally and they all got along, which makes all the difference.

We got in to Orlando late Wednesday night and got dinner at the resort. We stayed at the Coronado this year. Thursday went to Walmart for some supplies and food, and then she had a practice in the afternoon. The she and Riley went swimming and chatted with Riley's mom, Jen. Friday she competed in the mid morning and then we had the reveal in the afternoon. Then we went and walked around Disney Springs and had dinner. 

On Saturday we finally made it to the parks and visited Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. We only went on a couple of rides at each and by 2:00 in the afternoon we absolutely wiped from the heat and humidity. So we went and got some lunch and just hung out.

Sunday she competed early in the morning, then had a lunch break and then awards. That night we went to the celebration party at Epcot and got to ride the Guardians of the Galaxy. It was almost worth the 2 hour line. 

On Monday we slept in a little and then packed up the car and went to Magic Kingdom. We did a couple rides there and then once again got too hot and left to have lunch and head to the airport. I was nervous all day because I hadn't reserved seats and the flight was full, and when we checked in we weren't assigned seats. But then we ended up getting upgraded seats next to each other for the flight home.

All in all, it was a really fun trip. Too long to be away from the rest of my family and we were both pretty homesick by Sunday. But it was fun to get to hang out one-on-one with Brielle and I'm glad we got to do it.

Bus' Spring Soccer

 Soccer season is in the fall and spring, but since Bus has football in the fall, he only joins his team in the spring. He has had the same coach, Alan Miller, for a few years now and its been a really good experience. He always has a lot of fun with his team at practice. They've also always had winning seasons, which makes it a lot more fun.

Bus is very good. He is super quick and fearless. He played mostly defense this year, which he doesn't love. But no one else on his team is quit as good at facing off with the offense and protecting the goal. So there he stays. The few times he was able to play forward or midfield, he scored. It is so fun watching him play.

Easter 2026

 After a dissapointingly boring spring break (we didn't go anywhere and rained most of the week) we had a nice Easter. It was conference weekend, which I really love. On Saturday the girls went to Haley's baby shower at Angie's. She and Sue always go all out, it was so cute. On Sunday the kids got their baskets and we had crepes, and then we watched the morning session. We made a quick visit to Tim's parents and then came back for the afternoon. Then we went up to Brigham and had an egg hunt and a rocket launch and ham dinner. We also drove up to Mantua to see Emily and Brady's beautiful new house since they just got all their furniture. I love being around my people, so it was a good weekend.

Bus was stressed late Saturday night because Mason at 11:00 he remembered that he hadn't set a trap for the Easter bunny and Mason wouldn't help him AND made a rude comment about it being Mom and Dad. It took a while to console him so the Easter bunny couldn't come until after midnight, but he made it.

A Phoenix cheer comp

Brielle had another travel competition this weekend. She has 5 comps in 6 weeks and two of them have been travel, so its been a lot. We decided to bring Ava this time and make it a girls trip. 

Flying to Arizona was a lot easier than flying to Atlanta. Our plane left around lunch time so we were able to take our time packing in the morning and then we were there by early afternoon. Our hotel was right by the airport, but we decided to go to eat and get some things at the store before we headed there, so we got to see a little bit of Phoenix right off the bat. It is so beautiful! I wouldn't mind moving there at all.

On Friday morning we went to a mall and a park and drove around a little bit more. Brielle had her practice round at the Phoenix Convention Center downtown. Then they hung out in the hot tub with Rylee. Saturday she competed for the first time and they did amazing. Then we were feeling kind of sick so we went and spent the rest of the day in the hotel sleeping and laying around. The girls hung out in the hot tub again in the evening.

Sunday we competed again, bright and early, and they won! If anything will make a travel competition worth it, its winning. Then we went to wave pool in Mesa and I chatted with Jen while they swam with Rylee. 

All in all, it was good trip. I love spending time so much time with my girls, and I was very excited to get home to the boys. Now she has one more competition this weekend and then a little break.

Brielle's Cheer in Atlanta

 Brielle had a cheer competition in Atlanta, Georgia over the weekend. The flight options were terrible, so she and I flew into Burminham, Alabama and then drove an hour and half to Atlanta in the middle of the night. The hotel we were staying in was about 15 minutes outside the city center. 

Friday she had a practice at the Georgia World Congress Center, where the even was being held. Driving downtown there is crazy but we finally found our parking lot and got to walk around a little bit to have lunch and see the Olympic park. This competition was huge. The building was actually four connected buildings and there were tens of thousands of people there. 

Friday night we went to a little restuarant mall type thing with Anna and her family (her mom, Brandi, and dad, Andy, and the foreign exchange student that is staying with them) that is next to the Braves stadium. The girls made videos and took pictures and then we went to dinner.

She competed for the first time on Saturday and they did excellent. We were so tired that day so we didn't do much.

Sunday morning we went to church in the closest building with a 9:00 AM meeting, which was about a half hour away. Then that afternoon she competed again. They had a stunt fall that the judges somehow missed, and they ended up getting 4th overall. While we were waiting for awards we walked over to the Coca Cola museum. It was kind of dumb, not sure what we were expecting, but we did get to try lots of different sodas that they make for other countries. Right after awards we drove about 15 minutes north to meet the Goodyears for dinner. We haven't seen them since 2022 when they stayed here for Christmas and it was fun to catch up. 

The trip home was the longest trip of my life. In the morning we drove to Burmingham and had lunch at Hattie B's Hot Chicken, then still got to the airport way too early. Then we flew to Baltimore for a layover. THEN we flew to Salt Lake on the longest, hottest flight ever. I don't why, but we were both dying.

The trip was so fun, though. Bri was happy and fun the whole time, and other than driving around downtown it was just a chill, fun trip.