Thanksgiving 2013

For Thanksgiving this year, we went to Levan to my parent's house.  This year it was just going to be our own immediate family, not the whole extended Jackson family.

Before we left, I tried to get a picture of Kendrick in his Thanksgiving shirt.  He was giving me all kinds of poses!

 This looks like a break dance pose or something?

 A muscle pose?

 Muscles again?

 Just being silly!

 Here we go -- a nice smile!  Love this little bug!

 Down at Grandma's in Levan--Amanda, Scott, Kendrick, and Hollie.

Happy Thanksgiving!

First Home Basketball Game

On November 26, MMHS had its first home basketball game.  I couldn't believe it was basketball season already!  Wow, time flies! 

The drill team was performing their hip hop routine in our new costumes.  We had wore the cheetah top for the performance in football season, but this time we had the new maroon leggings and the black jackets.

 Team circle before we head out to perform.

 Excited to perform!

 Atten-hut!, 5, 6, 7, 8

 Walk on--

 Shots from the paparazzi!

 Everywhere I go the people always know . . .

 Happy feet! :)

 Love their costumes!

 Watching Brittney--but you can't see Brittney! :)

 Red light, yellow light, green light . . .GO!

 Slide on the floor.

 Love this shape they make with their partner.

 Getting into it!

 Love their hair in this one!

 It's a fun routine!

 Flippy thing they do near the end of the routine.

It was a great performance and a great way to start the basketball performance season! 

Saturdays in November

Saturdays in November usually mean one thing--extra practices since drill team competitions are a month away!

November 9 was spent practicing and then taking down the decoration from Sadie Hawkins.  Drill sponsors Sadie Hawkins and it was on November 8.

 

Pic of the team after they finished decorating.  This shot shows the cute balloon columns we got from Partyland.

 

 Close up shot.  

The following Saturday, November 16, we had practice and then followed with a ballet class.

 Beautiful extensions!

 Working hard!

 Attitude.

 Left side--strong side! :)

 The class was taught by Nichole Ortega, who I used to work with at Payson High. 

 She is now an instructor in the dance department at UVU.

 It was an awesome class--she is a very inspiring teacher!

 It was fun to catch up and talk with her for a bit after class.  Sometimes I miss the good old days we had at Payson High!

Right after ballet class, we headed over to BYU to work concessions at the last home BYU football game.  Lucky me, it was a cold game and it started to snow!

 But, I had this fun crew to work with! :)

The next Saturday, November 23, we practiced, of course!  Then we threw a surprise bridal shower for my assistant, Markelle Warner.  She was getting married in December and the team wanted to do something for her to show her we care.  So, the officers and I organized a bridal shower.  

Markelle thought she was coming to practice because I needed to go somewhere.  So, once she got there, I went and had one of the moms help me set up the team room.  Then I went and got the team and told them I wanted to show them a video of their last performance before I had to leave.  So, they hurried down to the team room while I kept Markelle back for a bit.  

Then, when we opened the door to the team room, the girls yelled, Surprise!  Markelle was totally surprised!

 First, we ate--since the girls had been there since 6 a.m. and were a little bit hungry!

 Some of the girls with Markelle.  We all look so cute--ha ha!

 Cute banner, made by Emily Peery.

 Gift table.

 Watching Markelle open up the gifts.

 She received a lot of nice things from the girls.  They were each assigned a room in the house to get a gift for her.

 It was a fun way to end our practice!

We're so happy for Markelle--congratulations!

All State Drill Team Auditions

On November 6, was the 4A All State Drill Team Auditions.  They were held at Taylorsville High School.  Representing Maple Mountain this year was:  Jamie Topham, Madeline Froerer, and Laney Melton.  They are pictured in that order in the picture below.

There were a lot of girls there to audition.  The 5A schools were also there.  Each school sends their top three dancers to the auditions. 

 All of the participants--I took this with my cell phone, so I could only zoom in so far!  

I felt the competition this year was better than I had seen, at least in 4A.  There were some pretty good dancers there.  But, at the end of the audition, all three of the Maple Mountain girl's numbers were read.  

At first, I didn't think one of my girls' number was called,  For some reason I thought she was a different number than she was.  I looked down at her and thought, well, she's taking this pretty good.  And then she looked up at me and said, "we all three made it!"  Oh, I was so relieved!  I was getting all worked up for nothing, because she had nailed the audition flawlessly!  Really, I'm not just saying that because I'm her coach.  So, when I thought she hadn't made it, I was a little bit concerned.  :)

 They received fun bags for making the team!

An occasion like this calls for celebrating--with ice cream at Cold Stone!

Congratulations to these amazing and talented girls!