In May, there was another tragic school shooting in Uvalde, TX. It's unbelievable how common these are becoming. It makes it scary to send your kids to school. I rely on the knowledge that I'm at the elementary school with Taryn and just pray that we will be kept safe. Malerie's mom made these Uvalde shirts for the girls to wear in remembrance of the innocent lives lost. Abby and Tessa had their picture taken with AJ after he gave his farewell talk before leaving on his mission. AJ has been like a big brother to all of our girls and it's been amazing to see him grow and watch as he prepares to leave on his mission to France. We are so proud of him.
Tessa and the band performed at Charcoaler's for a fundraiser and Tessa got to play a song or two on the tenors. She's hoping to audition for the tenors for next marching season. She's been working hard at learning the cadences on the tenors so she'll be ready for the tryouts this summer.
Tessa was also able to participate in a Memorial Day Parade on the east side of town. Multiple marching bands combined and after a few practices together, they all marched in the parade. Tessa was one of 8 or 9 bass drums and they had fun marching together and making friends with other high school drummers.
Aubrey's dance team performed at a Roller Derby arena. One of the dancer's moms is on a roller derby team and they set up for the girls to dance in between games. It was fun to see an actual roller derby game in person and to cheer on the dance team.
They did both their hip hop routine and their dance number and they looked great on both. The crowd was really supportive and everyone cheered a lot for the girls. There were even little girls in the stands trying to copy the girls and dance along with them. It was really cute. Aubrey had her picture taken with Claire, one of the captains and one of her closest friends from the dance team this year.
Aubrey had another softball game and it was a high-scoring, close game. She walked whenever she came up to bat, but she made it around to score every time she got on base too.
I tried to get a picture of the scoreboard. It was such a close game. We came from behind to win 15-13. It was their final game, so it was a fun way to end the season. The girls had really progressed as the season went along and they had a lot of fun playing together and learning the game of softball.
Aubrey got along with the girls so well and they had so much fun playing and learning. After this final game, they met up at Peter Piper Pizza to celebrate the end of their season. Most of the girls had never played softball before, but they definitely improved and will do much better next year if they all play again.
They played their Shared Space number which is the one they're taking to state to perform. This concert was just a few days before they left for Austin for state solo and ensemble. It's so fun to see them perform and hear what they've been working so hard on for months.
Tessa loves these kids and gets along with them so well. They have so much fun together and they work hard to make their music sound the very best. Band and percussion is going to be a big part of Tessa's high school memories and I'm so proud of her for working so hard at something that she enjoys.
Here are a couple pictures of the entire percussion class after the concert was over. They had to have a silly one and a serious one. They're a great group of kids and I love seeing Tessa shine at something she loves to do even if she's in the minority and only one of two girls in the entire group.
They performed over Memorial Day Weekend and she and I were the only ones in town for it. Tyler, Abby, and Taryn drove to Utah to go to Halley's high school graduation and Tessa was in Austin for Solo and Ensemble. I went to Aubrey's performance and cheered loud for everyone. They had these cute picture spots so we had to take some pictures after the recital before we headed to Olive Garden for a celebratory dinner. I love watching Aubrey dance because you can see how much she loves it whenever she's on the stage.
Another adventure that happened while Aubrey and I were the only ones home was butchering our roosters. I had been ready to get rid of the mean birds for weeks, but Tyler was always hesitant because he doesn't like to hurt animals. I got his permission while he was gone and I called our friends, the Johns, from the ward, and they came over to do the hard work for us. The elders wanted to come too, so they came to help and we spent the afternoon plucking and cleaning rooster feathers.
Aubrey thought it was the coolest thing and she helped out a lot too. We plucked all of the feathers and Aubrey even got to do some of the butchering. Roosters don't have a lot of meat on them, but we saved what breast meat and leg meat we could and then cleaned up the mess so it was all finished before Tyler and the other girls got home.
Tessa sent me some pictures of her weekend in Austin. They performed well but ended up with a 2 at state, which is still amazing. They did some shopping and picked out clothes for each other. Tessa loved the outfit that Fred picked out for her so much that she bought the whole thing and now refers to it as Fred's outfit whenever she wears it. Grandma and Grandpa Black drove up to Austin to hear the ensemble perform so I got some pictures of them with Tessa too. I was so happy that someone in the family could be there to support Tessa since Tyler and I couldn't make it.
Some of the other band parents sent me the picture of Tessa with my parents, but Tessa took a selfie too so we could remember the fun times they had in Austin. It was a fun weekend for everyone!
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