February 2019 - Tessa's Solos, Aubrey's Golden Birthday

February started with Tessa participating in Solo and Ensemble. She actually performed two solos. One on snare drum and one on the steel pan. She's been working with Grandpa since last summer, taking lessons weekly and she's one of the top percussionists in the 6th grade at her school. Grandpa Black thought it would be fun for her to learn a solo on the steel pan, so he ordered the music and they practiced it all fall and winter. She was nervous knowing that she had to perform in front of a room full of students and parents, but she did it. Even the high school students who were helping with the event, came into the room to listen to her steel pan number. Everyone was so complimentary and she did a great job. She earned a I+ which is the highest score you can get. We're so proud of her!

She also played a snare solo and received a I for that too. Learning and practicing two solos took time and commitment, so she definitely earned her high scores. In February, the Young Women also had their New Beginnings program which always features the new incoming Beehives. They show a slideshow of pictures of all the young women and they asked for pictures of each girl showing their hobbies or favorite things. We took this picture of Tessa with her snare drum and pet turtle, Buddy. As they introduced Tessa, they talked about her pets, including Buddy, and how percussion is one of her hobbies. Love this girl!

Aubrey's Golden Birthday was this year. She turned 10 on the 10th of February. Her birthday festivities spanned about two weeks. Her birthday was on a Sunday so she started the celebrations the Friday before by dressing up for school and getting her name announced in the morning. Her new teacher, Mrs. Lujan, also lets the birthday kids pick a day to not have homework for the entire class because it's their birthday. Aubrey loves dressing up and being girly and fancy. One of her friends, Lydia, gave her this teal dress and a necklace that she had made for her birthday and Aubrey loves wearing it. 

The Saturday before Aubrey's birthday, Abby had a volleyball tournament, but we did our family dinner that night since we wouldn't be able to eat out on Sunday. Aubrey requested steak so we went to Corralitos, which is like a Mexican steakhouse. The food is really yummy and along with the steak, you get chips and salsa and even enchiladas if you want. They gave her a tiny sombrero and chocolate cake as the waiters sang to her. It was a late night, but well worth it. She loved it. 

After she fell asleep that night, I decorated her room with all kinds of gold things, so she'd wake up on her birthday to a golden room. I used streamers, sparkly hanging lanterns, and circle fans. It was a fun surprise that she kept up for a couple weeks until the streamers started getting annoying. 

I made her requested birthday breakfast of danishes and she got to eat on the golden plate with the "G" mug, which I decided was not only for "Gibbons," but also for "Golden." She wore her gold dress to church and we took a picture of her with Rianne and Tessa. 

We do our Kasibbons dinners with the Kasallis family every Sunday, so we let Aubrey pick the families she wanted to join us for her birthday dinner. Audrey made her birthday cake and followed the exact instructions that Aubrey gave her including sketches of how it should look and be decorated. Aubrey was very thorough in her directions. She wanted a cake with raspberry filling and blue frosting with the words Happy Birthday written on it with blue icing and blue sprinkles. She was very happy with how it turned out and we thanked Audrey tremendously for putting up with the diva's demands and doing such a stellar job on the birthday cake. 

The following weekend, we had a party for Aubrey and her friends. The days filled up fast, so it was the first chance we had a free night to celebrate. We thought it would work out well since it ended up being the Friday of a long weekend, but a lot of people were out of town, so only three of her invited friends were able to come. But with Sam and Tessa, she had a full, fun party complete with games to win gold treats, making your own pizza, and decorating golden cupcakes. 

Lexi, Rianne, and Milan were able to be there for her party and they had a fun time hanging out together. They made beautiful creations with all of the gold sprinkles, sprays, and candies that they could choose from to decorate their cupcakes. Aubrey said it was great golden birthday. Happy birthday double digit girl! 

Riley did not make it to her party, but they are close friends who always get to hang out while their older sisters play volleyball. One of these times, they spent it taking pictures and adding filters and ended up with these gorgeous photo shots. These were Aubrey's favorites. 

Aubrey taught me about filters and how they work and how you use them. I love this fire heart picture of Aubrey because she looks like a super model. The one with the headband and glasses is adorable. Aubrey is a friend to everyone and loves to be the middle of the attention. She's doing great in school and loves working in groups. She's good at volleyball and has just mastered her overhand serve. She likes to sing, dance, and Facetime her friends on her iPod. She even Facetimes Grandma Gibbons at night and did it for a long time before I even knew. She's a smart girl and we love her in our family. 

Abby had volleyball tournaments every weekend in February, but luckily they were all in town. She and Emily love hanging out even when they're not on the court together. They took these pictures during the sunset one night they were together. So pretty.

They got creative as they took pictures with the valley and sunset as their background. 

Emily's mom posted this picture commenting how these girls have known each other for a long time and have been friends the entire time - on and off the court. #10 and #6

These are some of my favorite pictures that Emily took of just Abby. She's such a natural beauty and has an awesome smile. I love these pictures and I love this girl! 

The big El Paso tournament was in February where they play in the convention center. We ended up playing Division II which had us playing against 15 and 16 year old teams. We played well but didn't win very many games. The girls still had fun and had some great competition. 

Later in the month, the girls had regular in-town tournaments, and they played really well. They had a couple of injured players, but the rest of the team stepped it up and they won a lot of games, always getting into the gold bracket. Here are some pictures of Abby playing and hitting.

She played outside and also right side. Her hits are getting so strong and she gets a lot of kills during the games because she hits line and hits hard. Here's another shot of her hitting and also one of her serving.  

They got a medal after this tournament and they loved taking pictures showing off their medals and being goofy. This has been the best team. They all get along so well and just love playing the game. 

 

Here's the full team with Coach Alonso. To get at least one record of all the girls, here they are from left to right, starting at the top: Ally, Kendall, Emily, Diya, Suzette, Gigi, Coach Alonso. Andrea, Khy, Lyla, Diane, and Abby.

Here's a close up of the original Stars team. These are the four girls who played together last year and stayed to play again this year. Andrea, Emily, Abby, and Ally. 

After one of the tournaments, the girls quickly showered, changed, and got ready for a stake dance. Abby invited Emily who came along. It was a Neon-themed dance and the girls used glow-in-dark face paint to get ready. It was Abby's first stake dance and they had a blast. I wish I had taken more pictures, but with it being dark, I was lucky I got this one.

And finally, since I've mentioned all the girls except one, I need to include something about Taryn. She lost her first tooth in the month of February. The funny thing was that it was a top tooth, not one of the bottom ones that usually go first. We took this picture of Taryn and Teagan because they both had the same missing tooth together. It was so cute! I posted it on Facebook and commented that when you're best friends, you even lose the same teeth at the same time. 

January 2019 - Phoenix & Midland Volleyball Trips, STEAM Night

By the time we got back from Hawaii, January was almost half over. Another weekend of that month was filled with a trip to Phoenix for a volleyball tournament. It was the first out of town trip of the season and Abby's first time finally playing with the team. She missed the first tournament while we were in Hawaii, and then the next weekend tournament was on a Sunday. There was a mess up with the jerseys, so Abby had to borrow Diane's jerseys since she played that weekend as libero. So here's our Double #6 warming up for her first game.

Abby had a hard time adjusting with the new team this season because they kept moving her around in positions. She started as a hitter, but played this first tournament as libero. She just wants to play, but not playing on Sundays has affected how they use her. Once her coach referred to her as a chess piece, and how they use her wherever she's needed because she can fill in anywhere and help the team. That made her feel a little better even though not having a set spot has made her work harder to learn every position. They had a great first out of town tournament weekend.

The siblings all had fun playing too. While we spent the entire Saturday at a sports facility, the kids found ways to entertain themselves, like playing on the bike racks outside between games. They enjoyed the pool and fire pit at the hotel as well. The players aren't allowed to swim because it uses up too much of their energy, but the siblings get to enjoy the perks of the hotels. 

The girls relaxed outside the facility between games as well, ate healthy snacks, and rested until it was time for their next game. We like getting team pictures with teams that we play, especially if it was a good, competitive game. Here are the girls with an Aspire team that they played. 

After the first day of pool play, we ate dinner together at a shopping center and then the girls walked around looking for places to take some photos. Emily brought her new fancy camera, and they had fun doing a photo shoot. Here are some of my favorites. Abby and Emily, and Abby with Emily and Diya. 

The whole team on an escalator and the team outside the restaurant patio where we were eating.

The entire team during the photo shoot.

The team at dinner with Coach Dawson, and a few of the siblings, Alexa, Tessa, and Riley. 

Emily took some individual shots of the girls and here are some of Abby's pictures. I love them. She has a beautiful smile and gorgeous eyes. 

This is my top pick because her face is so cute. It reminds of the face she's been making ever since she was a little girl. Every time I see this picture, I have flashbacks of a little 5 or 6 year old Abby giving me this same look. Adorable!

The girls played Sunday while we drove to my Grandma's house for a visit, but then Abby was back with her team on Monday for the final day of the tournament. Here's the team before starting a game.

 

They played really well together and had fun playing teams from all over the west, including teams from Arizona and California. 

The girls ended up 5th out of all the teams in their division and were happy with how they played all weekend. I really love watching Abby and her team play.

Here's a team picture with the final team that they played, Momentum.  

The siblings, along with the parents, cheered on the crowd and had fun yelling and cheering for the team. 

We went to church on Sunday with my Grandma Solheim and then went back to her house for lunch and to visit. We took some pictures and discussed family and our plans for Grandma's 90th birthday party which is coming up this summer. She gave us some of the grapefruit from her tree and they were huge. Aubrey was showing us just how big these grapefruit were. They were yummy. The girls love visiting Grandma's neighborhood because it's a small retirement community and the street signs are miniature because a lot of golf carts are used for transportation. The girls think it's hilarious that the stop signs are shorter than they are. We love visiting with Grandma.

A couple weekends later in January, the girls had their second out of town tournament. This one in Midland, Texas. We drove out Friday night and had breakfast together as a team in the hotel. I love this picture because the girls just look so happy. They really get along well and love spending time together.

This weekend, Abby moved positions again, but at least she was back to her own jersey and being #6 again. She mostly played back row, but for a couple of games she was able to play right side and hit in the front row, which is her favorite spot.They played well and won most of their games. They split their game against Sol, which is the team that has some of the players from last year's team, but Abby's team ended up first in the pool.

I grabbed a picture of most of the team while they watched their friends play on the Wildfire team. We didn't get to play against them, but that team has most of the girls from Abby's Hornedo team on it, so they were showing them their support by watching some of their game, while they had a break. We ended up driving home Saturday night, while the team finished out the tournament on Sunday.

Other non-volleyball happenings during the month of January included Abby doing their elementary tour with the middle school band. They traveled and played for the 5th graders at three elementary schools and I tagged along to help with equipment. They played a few songs, showed off the instruments, and got the kids excited about doing band in middle school. 

Here's a cute picture of Abby with her two closest friends this year at Hornedo, Alexis and Braelinn. They eat lunch together and hang out before and after school together. They're surviving the 8th grade and enjoying their final year of middle school.

The elementary school also hosted their STEAM night in January. The kids get to participate in some activities that involve science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Their favorite station was creating towers with plastic cups. We took pictures of their tall creations before they got knocked down. The kids love learning and I love that the school has a lot of free activities that the kids look forward to participating in.