No more trampoline pit ;o(

Well, the trampoline has seen better years so we decided to get rid of it. We now have a 17 ft diameter and 3 ft deep hole in the corner of our yard. We don't want the maintenance of a pond and we can't afford a hot tub, so what do we do with this large hole? I say lets deck over it, Clay says let's fill it with concrete, Evan wants a fire pit and Blake wants a HOT TUB!! I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. . . to be continued!

End of the Season Banquet

Blake had her end-of-the-cheer-season banquet today. It's always sad to say goodbye to a fun year. Does this mean we take a break from Cheer Central? Of course not! The new season starts the week of May 17 with new groups and new hopes for the following year. Blake is torn between cheering on a coed team or an all girl squad. We'll see how it all works out! The photo is Miss Blake with her two coaches, Julie and Kyle.

Spring Flag Football

Evan has had a great time playing flag football this season! His team has been dominating the others for six weeks now. They play in the final tournament next Saturday. Miss Blake has been helping out while we were traveling in Mexico, and texted us, "Evan's coaches are HOT!" His coaches are young college kids with a passion for the sport. They have been fantastic! Note the blonde coach and his bare feet! :o) . . . and check out the height of my son!!! Sheesh!

The "little brother"

She was wearing three inch heels. "Let me take a picture with Evan so I can be taller than him!" NOT!!!! xo

Junior Prom

She looked amazing! She had a blast! Her date was her boyfriend, Isaac. She arrived home safe. Parents are happy and grateful! xo

Check out the shoes!!!!

Orlando Trip to the World Championships!

Springtime in Orlando was sunny, warm, and relaxing. It snowed in Colorado while we were gone. ;o).

Miss Blake's team did fantastic but did not make it to the finals on Sunday. The night before we left for Orlando, the team had their final practice from 6 to 9. Right before the end of practice, two members of the team suffered serious injuries. Their injuries resulted in Blake having to relearn her entire routine with new, inexperienced members of the team. She practiced til 11 p.m., drove home to Fort Collins, arrived about 12:30 a.m., and we left for the airport at 3:30 a.m. The team performed the new routine for the first time on the mat at the semi-finals. I couldn't be more proud of their ability to rally. They did great! The division in which they compete is the most difficult and they represented Colorado proudly.

We have several pictures with teams from out of the country. I had to giggle when Blake would ask if she could get her picture taken with them, I would take the picture, and then they all would hand me their camera to get a shot for them as well.

Not making it to finals meant we had a lot of time to spend at the parks and at the pool. Blake chose the parks, I chose the pool. She turned 17 on Sunday and their team celebrated at their Prom Sunday night. It was a fun trip! No worries, no regrets!

World Championships!

Miss Blake and I are off to Orlando. Her team, the Cheer Central Suns, Unlimited COED Level 5 team will be competing Saturday morning and hopefully Sunday, too. This all depends on their Saturday performance. We are excited. This is her third year in a row competing at this very prestigious competition. Cheer Central ~ Let's go SUNS!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to Reality!

Clay and I had a very nice vacation in Cozumel. We came home relaxed, tan, and craving American food and water. The weather was nice for our first few days and then the rain began to fall. Two days of rain in Mexico really makes you appreciate our dry weather in Colorado. The kids did great in Fort Collins. Evan won both of his flag football games and passed his physical fitness test for Civil Air Patrol. Miss Blake is gearing up for the World Championships next week. I think she is really glad to have Mom and Dad home to try to ease her stress. Thanks so much to Grandma and Grandad Perry for taking such good care of our kiddos!!!! I don't think they missed us one bit! ;o) Well, maybe a little.

Decisions . . .Decisions . . .

The pool? . . . The beach? . . . The pool ?. . . The beach? . . . Lovin' Cozumel!!!!

Mexico for a week!

Every year, my boss takes his entire staff to Mexico. Clay and I will be leaving soon to Cozumel for a week. The kids are staying behind with Grandma and Grandad Perry. We are looking forward to a vacation together. Unfortunately, Grandma and Grandad are going to have their work cut out for them. Evan just started flag football and Civil Air Patrol and Miss Blake is gearing up for the World Championship in Orlando at the end of April. They will be busy while we are away. We . . . will not. ;o)

What a life!

Moose and Conan are becoming very close friends. They now share a chair in the living room. ;o)

Happy Easter!

I am always surprised how excited the kids are to color eggs. For Miss Blake to give up a Saturday night to stay home with the family and create thier masterpieces, it must be pretty important to her. The Easter bunny came and hid thier colorful creations. Conan, the cat, found most of them. Our house sounded like a fooseball table this morning.

Lordy! Lordy! Look who's . . .

The math adds up, but it just can't be true. I am officially 40!

My nephew, JD, told Samantha, "Aunt Berta doesn't look like she could be 40 years old! It must be all that beauty queen make-up she wears!" Bring on the beauty queen make-up, I say!

I had a great day and was showered with lots of love and lots of birthday wishes. I am truly blessed. Last night, Clay, the kids, and I went to the Boulder Dinner Theater and saw a production of Chicago. It was a very nice evening.

I'm thinking I'll drag this celebration out for a few more days. ;o)

Do you think he likes his new home?

I came home for lunch today and this is what I saw. I'm thinking he is comfortable with his new home. ;o)

Wild Pig Hunt in Oklahoma!

Clay and Evan drove to Oklahoma while we were in Dallas. They met up with some of Clay's buddies from high school, Jeff Puckett and Charlie Abel. This is a picture of Evan in the blind. I hear they had a blast. Evan told me "what happens in hunting camp stays in hunting camp", so I don't have much information. Clay came home with a pig and Evan came home with more information about Clay's high school days than I care for him to know. :o) They are talking about another hunt over Spring Break, but we'll see.

Dallas Performance

We returned from Dallas with a third place finish and we are thrilled!!!! First place went to last year's World Champions and second place went to Top Gun, World Champions for the previous years before. Both of these gyms are crowd favorites and we were right up there with them. I was very proud.

Saturday's performance was a nail biter. One of our flyers went down in the first 30 seconds of the routine and dislocated her elbow. The routine was stopped and she was taken away by ambulance. The team had to rally and perform again with a twenty minute prep time. They came out and did incredible. Sunday, they came out and performed another fantastic routine

Cheer Central Suns Documentary 2008-2009

Last year, one of Miss Blake's teammates' sister did a documentary on the All Star Cheerleading experience as an assignment at CU. She followed Miss Blake's team for a couple of months and put the following you-tube videos together. You can see Miss Blake here and there and then there is my proudest moment in Part 5 when she states how she is going to "pee her pants." Also, in Part 5, there is an injury of her teammate, Mackenzie. This is not my Mackenzie.

I enjoyed this documentary because it does a great job showing the committment these kids have to their team and to this sport.

Again, this was last year's team. They ended up 10th in the World at the World Championships.

To view the videos, highlight the green link below. After viewing, arrow back to select the next part. Part 6 is not working, after 5 view the videos on the screen on the right to see if Part 6 is there.

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paB3cAdiNOA

Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMmkyiSgveM

Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUbB1Gs2RuY

Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb1PkW6uCHs

Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwrNxzPcoyQ

Part 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-U_w9skshl

Medical School? NOT! ;o)

Miss Blake is taking an anatomy class this semester. Her class was truly lucky enough to go to a cadaver laboratory and dissect real human cadavers! WOW! What an opportunity!!!! They even watched a live surgery of someone having a disc replaced in their lower back. Upon returning from this fantastic trip, she says, "Well, that was disgusting! I certainly know I don't want to go into the medical field." Well, I can't say I blame her. I get grossed out when someone leaves their slobbery toothbrush on my desk. Ewwww!

Cheersport in Atlanta!

We returned from Atlanta with a bid to the World Championships! We leave to compete at the NCA Nationals in Dallas next week.

Off to Atlanta!!!

We are packing our bags and heading off to Atlanta this Thursday. Miss Blake will compete late Saturday night and late Sunday night. Their team is competing for a bid to the World Championships. The bids are difficult to get but I really believe they have a shot. This year, her team is in the Senior Unlimited Co-Ed Division. This means there are more than 13 boys on the team ~ 23 to be exact (13 girls). It is an entirely different dynamic with this many boys on the team, but this is the division that everyone wants to watch. The Cheersport competition in Atlanta is the biggest national competition of the year. I think I heard over 900 teams compete over the weekend.

They competed in Atlanta last year and did earn their bid at this venue. I loved Atlanta and am excited to go back. Fried green tomatoes ~ here I come!