April, Part 2-Abby Goes to Prom, Aubrey Dances & Plays Softball

Abby campaigned for Senior Class President. She had to interview, make posters, and fill out a lot of questionnaires. This was one of her digital posters that she sent out on her social platforms and we had some actual posters made as well for her to post around school. She also made a video of why she wanted people to vote for her and it was really good. She ended the video with her little CDL class saying "vote for Miss Abby!" It was really cute. Her CDL class is all the preschool kids that she helps teach everyday. She waited for a couple of weeks and finally found out that she was voted in as Senior Class President for next school year. She was so excited! The other big news for the end of April was Prom. Abby was planning on going with friends without a date, but she was at a church activity one night and between all the kids, she came home and said "I think I'm going to prom with Caleb Deca." Some of the other kids realized they weren't going with anyone, but were planning on going and decided they should go together. So Caleb asked Tyler first and then a couple nights later, he showed up with a poster and a Bundt cake and asked Abby to prom. It was cute.

There was some drama on how the groups were going to eat. They tried to find a group to go out to dinner with, but everyone apparently wanted to eat alone as couples, so Abby and Caleb picked their favorite place and went to dinner on their own as well. They went to Corallitos for dinner for steak and enchiladas. Caleb came to pick Abby up and I got to tag along while Caleb's mom, Niki, took their pictures. Abby was excited about her dress and hair and after some disastrous attempts to mimic the hairstyle she found online, we were able to find the stick-on hair gems that made it simple and elegant. We loved how it turned out.

 

These were just a few of all the pictures we took. They were a cute couple and all of the pictures turned out great. Here's some close up pictures of Abby's hair. She loved how her look turned out. She had a poofy, princess dress last year with curly hair, so she wanted to go way different this year. She looked like a goddess! 

We went to a newer shopping center where there are a lot of cool-painted walls and sculptures. We walked around and found each one and had to come up with a different pose for each spot. We were running out of ideas, but it was fun posing the kids and getting so many good shots.

We had to walk around restaurants where people were eating, so the kids got a little embarrassed, but the moms were on a mission to get as many pictures and as many different backdrops as we could. I really liked this one with the stripes behind them.

There was a store with some columns of flowers by the front door that was one of my favorite backdrops. Even though I really like the picture of Caleb and Abby together, I had to have some pictures of just Abby in front of the flowers too. They were just too pretty and she looked great.

Abby only sent me one picture that she got once they were at the dance, but I was happy to get that one. Here she is with a lot of her good friends. After Caleb and Abby finished dinner, they headed to the dance. They were together most of the evening dancing with everyone and they said they had a fun time.

One other picture had to be included from our pictures - the one in front of the El Paso wall. I hadn't ever been to the wall but I've seen it in everyone else's pictures, so I was happy when Abby said I could take a picture with her. On Easter Sunday, Abby spoke in sacrament meeting. I didn't get any family pictures for Easter, but I did get the girls to pause for a minute outside the church building for a picture of the girls. I just love them so much. They are growing up to be such lovely young ladies.

I took individual pictures as well. Aubrey needed her 13 year old picture for my wall of pictures, so I had to get one of her and then I got pictures of everyone else too. I love Aubrey's picture because she's so photogenic. And she wanted bangs and they turned out so cute on her, so I'm glad we got a picture of her with her bangs to forever remember her hairstyle as a new teenager. She's such a cutie. Taryn is looking more and more grown up with each passing Sunday as well. 

Tessa and Abby have beautiful, confident smiles and I love when they're all dressed up for church and have their hair done. I was able to get their pictures at home before we left for church. Abby did a great job on her talk and she got a lot of compliments.

Aubrey had a dance recital the last week in April. They performed at Coronado High School. It was her dance teacher's spring semester recital where each of the dance classes perform. Aubrey and the Vortex dance team performed multiple times that night. I took more videos than I did pictures, but Aubrey was in four numbers. They did their hip hop routine that they did at a school pep rally and their spring contemporary dance in their yellow dresses where Aubrey has a quick solo. I love that number. It was probably my favorite dance of the year that they did.

They also did a new dance with a new uniform that included anyone from any of the dance classes that wanted to try out for the piece. I was a little upset about this one because Aubrey told me when they were performing this one, so I started recording but then couldn't find her and didn't recognize any of the dancers, so I stopped recording. Of course, then I saw Aubrey right after that so I quickly started recording again, but I was so upset that I didn't have a full recording of that performance. The final number that Aubrey was in was a piece that one of her teammates choreographed and Aubrey had a huge solo for the first third or so of the piece. It was so pretty and I loved that one. I wish I had gotten pictures of it, but I only did a video. I was able to get one at the finale when all of the dancers came out on stage. They all did a really great job and it was fun to watch all of the dances and realize how far they had come since they're first semester dance recital.

Aubrey tried out and made the Hornedo softball team this year. She was a part of the first ever 7th grade team. Last year when Tessa was on the 8th grade team, they didn't have a 7th grade team, so this year with both grades having a team, Aubrey was on their first ever 7th grade team. She was also excited because the 7th grade coach was her favorite teacher, Mr. Janes. She has him for social studies and she loves him. She was excited to be able to try out for him and make the team. Here she is at their first game. Her friend Jocelyn also made the team so we got a picture of them together too.

 

Aubrey plays second base just like Tessa, so that was fun. Aubrey walked once and struck out once during her first game. The first inning took forever because they just kept batting around because we couldn't get three outs. Luckily at later games in the season, they were only allowed to bat once and then the inning was over whether they had three outs or not. I'm glad Aubrey likes to try new things and to go into something new with a good attitude. She has never played softball before, but she went all in ready to learn and grow at something new. I'm so proud of her.

Tessa went to a friend's quince with two of her percussion friends, JD and Gisele. They had a fun time together. It was Jayline's birthday and she's also in band. It was actually a sweet 16 birthday since she wasn't able to do a regular quince during COVID.

Tessa, JD, and Gisele traveled together to the even center and hung out together the entire time. Tessa said they had a lot of fun and she sent me all of the pictures they took so I could have them. They were really cute pictures.

I love how easily they get along and how they're all such good friends. They took pictures together and on their own. The party was at Grace Gardens and there are a lot of cute picture spots there.

Tessa said they danced a lot and were able to see a lot of their friends. They had a fun time together and were happy to be able to be a part of a big celebration again. I love Tessa's hair and her beautiful blue eyes. She wore her homecoming dress again which I also loved. She's got such great friends.

 

April, Part 1-Band Contests, Tessa's Final Track Meet

April is the month of band contests. Aubrey's honor band performed at Andress High School and received all 1s. We were even able to go into the sight-reading room which was different than how they used to do it. Aubrey is second chair and was one of only a couple flute players who got to play a soli section in one of their songs. She worked really hard to learn the part and was one of the few picked to play. That made it her favorite song. I was glad I got to hear them perform.

The following week, all of the Hornedo bands played their final concert. We got to hear their songs again and they took pictures for the yearbook, so I was able to get this picture of the honor band all looking up at the same time. Aubrey has had a fun time in band this year and looks forward to playing next year.

Tessa's band also had their contest in April. She is in Franklin's Symphonic band and they performed at Coronado High School. She played in all three songs. She played the bass drum, tympani, and bells. She was featured on the EPISD Fine Arts Facebook page with this awesome picture of her playing the tympani. It was her favorite song of the ones they played. 

 

The hardest part for me is getting pictures because you can barely see her in the way back and it's hard to pick her out. The good part is she's usually one of the few girls in the percussion section, and her long blond hair helps her to stand out. Mr. Candela is their director and it was fun listening to their performance. They also received all 1s from the judges. This performance was just a practice contest and as soon as they were finished performing, Tessa and her friend Andrew went straight to one of their track meets.

I was able to save some pictures from the band's social media accounts from their actual contest that was the following week. I wasn't able to attend this performance since it was in the middle of the day on the east side at Pebble Hills High School. They received top honors again and Tessa was one of the girls who got to help hold their plaque for the picture. I was also happy to see a picture of their entire band. She had a fun time playing.

Taryn loves hanging out with her closest friends, Teagan and Malerie. They are a fun trio of friends. I love that their parents take and share pictures that they get when I'm not around. Malerie's mom sent me this picture and I love it! During General Conference this year, the Saturday evening session was for the women, 12 years old and up. After we went to the church to watch the session, we went out for dessert and met some friends at Freddy's. Abby was working so it was just Tessa and Aubrey for our family, but they were happy to go since their friends were going too. I got this picture of them with Audrey and Milea afterwards even though they wouldn't take a serious picture. It had to be a funny one. There were some other moms and daughters that came as well, but these were the ones who stayed the longest with us. It was fun to visit and go out again after a conference session.

 

I mentioned Abby having to work during Conference weekend. She got a job at Formula Drinks and Bobas. Her friend's parents own it and after stopping by to shadow her friend for the night, they hired her on the spot. She trained a couple of days and then was on her own and she even gets to close and be in charge during some of her shifts. She loves it! Ever since she played computer games like Paparia's, she's wanted to work in a smoothie shop; so she tells everyone that her dreams have come true. She's a hard worker and loves what she does. Whenever I stop by, the owners come out and rave to me about how much they love Abby. It makes me so happy and proud to hear how much other people love and appreciate my girl because I already know how amazing she is.

Here's a picture of my dad when he visited his mom in Utah. He sent the picture to everyone and I love it even though I wasn't there with them. My dad went to visit my Grandma Willes in Utah and he got this picture of him with his mom and sisters. It's my Aunt Chris, Aunt Linda, and Aunt Jaime with their mom, Barbara Willes. I love my family! In April, Tyler went with the youth to the Juarez temple. I stayed behind with Tessa who had a track meet, but I was glad to see the picture of all of the youth who were able to attend. Abby and Aubrey both went and had a great experience. I love that the youth are able to go to the temple and serve in the House of the Lord.

The rest of this post is about Tessa's final track meet. It was a two day affair with the prelims on Friday night. Tessa only runs the 400M on Friday and I was so proud of her for getting another PR at the prelims. She finished first in her heat and overall with a time of 1:04:44. I love watching her run and doing her best. She is so dedicated to beat her time each week and she usually does!

 

On Saturday, we headed back to Eastwood High School for her final meet. It was the district qualifiers, but only for varsity. Everyone else just had a final meet. Tessa ran the 800M first and got first place. I was sad that I did not get a picture of the scoreboard with her time, but she had another PR. Franklin took the top three spots and they had a podium for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place this week which was cool. Tessa got first and her teammates, Isa and Olivia, took 2nd and 3rd. This was the best picture I could get from where I was sitting in the stands, but that's Tessa in the center.

 

Tessa ran the 400M next and she and Isa were close as they came around the last turn to run the final straightaway. Tessa was in the lead for the entire time and ended up first with a time of 1:05:10. Not a PR, but for running in the heat of the day, it's still a great time. And she finished first which was her only goal. 

 

Finally, Tessa and her teammates ran the 4x400 relay. Tessa is still the 2nd leg, which she likes because she gets to cut in on her leg. She starts in the lane they're assigned to and then 100 meters into her leg, she gets to cut into lane 1 and stay there. Here she is getting the baton from Isa, the first leg and then the second picture is of Tessa handing off the baton to Izaiddi, their 3rd leg runner. They got 1st place with a PR time of 4:38. They have fun running together and Tessa loves that she gets to be in a relay.

 

Tessa was so excited because her percussion teacher, Mr. Perez, made it to the track meet. Andrew, another percussionist, is also on the track team, so I took a picture of the three of them together. He helped me cheer on all the Franklin students and it was fun having more people in the stands to cheer for Tessa. We found out the next day that Tessa was featured in the El Paso Times with a picture! It talks about how she placed 1st in District for the freshmen girls 800M. Tessa was a little embarrassed by the picture because it's right at the end of her race, so her face is a little funny looking, but everyone who saw it just said it's a face of determination. I love that they took a close up picture and that they mention her as the 1-6A district freshmen girls champion for the 800M. So proud of her!

A lot of our varsity track and field members qualified and moved on to the regional and area meets. Hopefully that'll be Tessa in the future. Here's a picture that the coach got of the majority of the Franklin Girls track and field team, 2021-2022. I love that Tessa gets to be a part of a great group of athletes and friends.