May, Part 3-End of School Year Concerts, Games, & Recitals

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.

Here are some of the drummers from Franklin who were in the parade: Marcos, Nicholas, Gisele, Tessa, Josh, Steven, and Kevin.

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.

Tessa and her percussion class had a percussion concert at Franklin. They played all of their percussion ensembles that they have been working on all semester. 

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.

Aubrey had her final dance performance a the Coronado dance recital. They performed my favorite dance of the entire year. It was such a beautiful and fun dance and the girls looked so pretty in their modest yellow dresses. Aubrey had a little solo in the middle of the number and I loved watching her dance. 

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!

May, Part 2-Band Concerts & Band Banquets

Taryn had fun with friends at Malerie's swimming pool. Malerie's mom sent this picture to me and I love how much fun they're having. Our pool never seems to be ready for the summer time, so it's nice to have friends who have pools ready for swimming even before school is out for the summer.

Abby and her friends Selma and Nat coached the juniors for the Powerbuff game of volleyball - seniors vs juniors. I was able to get into the game with my employee ID and since Abby was coaching and Tessa was playing with the drumline, I was happy to be able to attend.

Abby spent weeks practicing with the boys who were good athletes, but weren't that familiar with volleyball rules. She had to teach them the rules and work with them on plays and positions. It was fun to see her in her element and to watch the boys play. The juniors lost to the seniors, but it was ok. I loved seeing Tessa and her friends in the drumline too. They played for the crowd and kept the spirit alive with all of their cadences.

The Franklin band always puts on an end-of-year concert with their feeder middle schools, so Aubrey and Tessa were in the same concert. There were so many people, but they each played a couple songs and then they all played a song together. Aubrey was right on the end, so I had to get a closeup picture of her and then one of her half of the band.

 

Tessa was in the back with all of the percussion and because there were so many players, the high schoolers didn't even play. They just made sure the middle school players were on beat. She had fun reuniting with the younger kids that she knew last year from Hornedo.

They gave time for parents to get close up pictures of their middle school students, but since I had already taken a picture of Aubrey before it started, I walked to the back to get a picture of Tessa too. I took one with Tessa and Gisele, and then I took one of all the other Franklin band kids: Andrew, Josh, Andres, Tessa, and Kevin.

Tessa was invited to be a part of her friend's quince. It's not until January of next year, but they purchased the dresses already. It's for her cross country friend, Ayla. We were not in town when all of the girls went shopping together, but they got one for Tessa once they decided on the style. We went over to Ayla's house to try on the dress and Tessa was super excited about it. We just hope it will still fit in 7-8 months. 

Tessa's percussion class had a competition where they got to play all of the numbers that they have been working on in their class. I had only heard about them and listened to Tessa's part as she practiced on the piano. It's much more fun to hear all of the parts togethers. Tyler and I raced across town, but still missed their first number. Three of the boys played a trio which was really good, so I took a picture of them for Tessa. It was JD, Fred, and Steven. Then they played another ensemble that everyone played in, so we were able to hear that one. Tessa played the marimba for that number and she was in the front row. It sounded really cool.

 

The number we missed was the ensemble with only seven of the kids in it, but it's the one they're taking to state. It's called Shared Space, and they all play on the same marimba for most of the number. I was sad that I missed the performance. Luckily, another parent recorded it and was able to send that to me. They played one more ensemble with everyone and Tessa played the vibraphone for that piece and it was my favorite. It had a catchy tune and a really awesome ending. It was harder to see Tessa since she was in the middle row, but it was fun watching all of the kids performing together and having a good time.

Tessa ended up staying until it was all over to hear the awards. They placed in the top three for all of their numbers and received these trophies. Tessa was happy to be there to accept the awards and they posted this picture on the band app so everyone in band could see how awesome the percussion did at their competition. 

Aubrey's band banquet was the same night as Tessa's band banquet, so I didn't get any pictures of her before she left for the evening. Tessa graciously let Aubrey borrow her quince dress, so Aubrey was excited to get all dressed up with her friends. It's a dinner and a dance, but parents don't attend, so there was no way for me to get any pictures unless Aubrey took them. Luckily, she and her friends took a few, so I was able to get these from her. Here she is with some of her 8th grade friends. It's Bella, Aurelie, Aubrey, and Anna Grace.

Aubrey got really close with some of the 8th graders in band towards the end of the year. She was sad that they were moving up to high school next year and some were even moving away; but she was happy to spend the last couple events of the year with them. Here she is with Bella and Aurelie.

Tessa's band banquet was the same night as Aubrey's, but parents were encouraged to attend the high school band banquet, for which I was grateful. Tyler was not able to go since he was with Abby at an NHS event, so I went alone and sat with other band parents. We had dinner and then they did awards. Tessa won the Miss Goofy-Goober award for the percussion section. Nicholas got the Mr. Goofy-Goober award too, so I had to get a picture of them together. 

 

Tessa was also awarded the best percussionist award by Mr. P. She was shocked because the seniors in percussion are all very good players. Mr. P said that she worked really hard and always put in the effort to get better and because of that, she earned it. She stopped long enough for me to get a picture of her before she sat back down with her percussion friends.

The kids had fun dancing after the awards. I ended up staying because I was Tessa's ride home. I just watched from my table and took pictures every once in awhile. Here they are dancing when they were able to get Mr. P to join them on the dance floor.

Tessa and Nicholas were the life of the party and you can see why they earned the spirit award. They were front and center for all of the dances. Tessa's closest friend in band is the only other girl in the percussion section, Gisele. They had fun together at the banquet and I had to get a picture of them together.

After the dance was over, we had to get some final pictures. Here's the entire percussion section. Tessa was very sad about the three seniors since their days together were getting fewer and fewer.

They made cards for each of the seniors and Tessa wanted a picture with each of them too. Here she is with Fred, the section leader. He was awarded the top jazz player award, so that made Tessa feel a little better that she got the top percussionist award instead of him. Tessa also loved Josh. He was her closest senior friend from band. He was her bass section leader and she got along with him really well. She talked about missing him the most.

 

Her final senior picture was with Steven. He was the senior tenors player and she loved getting to know him this year. I loved this picture because Gisele and Josh both photo bombed, and it turned out to be a hilarious picture in the background. Tessa also had her picture taken with Marcos, another percussion player.

A few more pictures before we headed home. She took one with Gisele, Steven, and Josh and then they had to take a final bass line picture in order from top bass: Tessa, Andres, Josh, and Mauricio. Tessa loves band and I love seeing her so happy. Band was one of my happiest memories from high school, so I'm so glad that Tessa had a great experience in band too.