Daddy Daughter Dance

Mayah was invited by one of her good friends Ashley Johnson, to a daddy-daughter dance that was at the local YMCA. They also invited Mayah's friend Meg and her dad, so the three girls (Ashley, Meg and Mayah) went with their dads to the fancy Valentine's day dance. She and I have been excited about this night for a month. We went out and bought her a new outfit, complete with accessories to help make the night feel that much more special. I even ordered complimentary boutonnieres for Clint and Mayah to wear. Ashley's mom did a great job planning the evening. She had a fancy dinner set up at their house for the couples with a romantic atmosphere: dimmed lights, candles, goblets to drink from and young waiters to serve them (Ashley's 2 older brothers). On the menu was a salad prepared by Meg's mom, shrimp fettuccine Alfredo, and heart shaped strawberry shortcake for desert which I contributed. After the dinner they all headed to the YMCA for the dance. Now most of you may not know that my husband is a really amazing dancer! As I was getting Mayah ready I told her "you are going to have the best time, because you have a great dance partner" but she couldn't have imagined what that really meant. When she came home she could not wait to show me all the moves that she learned. She was more excited than I have seen her in a while. Clint was doing all kinds of swing dance moves with her and of course those two were the center of attention which Mayah always loves and to be honest so does Clint :) It made me so happy to see the two of them come home in such a good mood and know that they had a great bonding date together. I know that it really meant a lot to Mayah and it really meant to a lot me. I get just as much joy watching Mayah have fun as I would if I were going myself. Thank you so much Clint for always being there for us. We love you!

Little Gymnast

Mayah has been enrolled in gymnastics now for the past 5 months, she attends a Wednesday class which teaches the fundamentals of gymnastics. Then she goes on Saturdays for "All Stars." That is where they have the opportunity to learn real routines, how to greet judges, and compete with other girls around Nebraska. This weekend was her first official competition/invitational. It was so fun to watch her compete. She kept watching for us and waving into the stands, but we could also tell she was feeling the pressures of the day. She had practiced incessantly for the week leading up to the event and was getting really good at her routines. At the competition, she was easily the most graceful one in her division, although she did fall off the beam and over rotate on the floor routine. But in all, we were so proud of her and she did a great job. She took home a blue ribbon (the highest) for vault, and red ribbons (the next highest) for beam, floor routine and bars. I think if she would have done as well as she practiced, she would have easily taken blue ribbons in each part. I think next time she will have fewer jitters and be ready for the spotlight. I did a quick post of a picture of her jumping above the beam. Ignore the copyright. We're buying the picture from the photog, but are waiting for the official files =). You can see how much air she got and how graceful she was. All the other girls barely made it off the beam, or didn't even try the jump. So we are so proud of Mayah. Here's a video of her beam routine:



When she received her medal, she was smiling from ear to ear and said she didn't want to take it off--ever. Her next competition is March 7-8 in Central Nebraska (Grand Island), so we'll do a road trip that weekend to support her.