Ellevés Trip to New York City

On February 27, 2014, the MMHS Ellevés made school history once again as the first performing group to go to New York City.  We had tried two years prior, to get the trip approved, and the district denied it.  But now, the trip total cost had been raised and so it was approved.  Here are some pictures and a few video clips from the trip.

 Me and the team posing as the airport.

 They loved their NY hoodies!

 So excited to go to NYC!

NYC - Ellevé style!

We took a red-eye flight and arrived to NYC at about 7 a.m.  We had a charter bus pick us up and take us directly to Battery Park so we could go to see the Statue of Liberty.  James was our tour guide.  He had been our guide when I took Payson drill team to NYC.  

He first took us to get some breakfast.  James always takes you to some pretty interesting places--not your typical food establishments.  It is good, and you get to experience New York in a different way!

Here we are ordering some food for breakfast.

Then we headed over to board the ferry boats to go out to the Statue of Liberty.

View from the ferry boat as we approached Liberty Island.

James, giving us some tour info before we head into security.

 Having a great time - but it was COLD!

 Ready to see the Statue.

 View of NYC from Liberty Island.

 Ellis Island  - we didn't go over there.  It is actually under some construction.

 Most of the Ellevés

Still smiling, even though they were freezing!

Once we arrived back to Battery Park, we went to another NYC lunch place that James took us too. Again, it was another New York experience that you wouldn't get, unless James was your guide!

Next up, was the 9/11 Memorial.  The museum wasn't open yet, but we could tour the grounds and see the water falls, etc.

Some of the Ellevés

On of the water falls

Me and my mom - my mom came on the trip with me.  It was fun to have her along with me.  Scott stayed home with Kendrick.  We decided that a three year old wouldn't really enjoy NYC, especially this time of year!  We are standing by the Survivor Tree.

 Then we headed back to our hotel which was very close to Times Square.  The evening was free to explore or rest.  Here's what most of the girls did:

 But, they were well-chaperoned!  Here are the chaperones.

 They really had a good time.

 And they took lots of pictures!

The next day we woke up early to take a city tour.  The bus tour was great, even if some of the girls and their moms took a little snooze!  :)

Lots of cool buildings and other sights!

  The Imagine mosaic at Central Park.

  Tom's Restaurant - well know from the Seinfeld episodes.

Morris-Jumel Mansion - George Washington stayed here during the Revolutionary War.

 Some of the girls posing on the porch.

 Posing in Washington Heights  - near the mansion.

 After the tour, we took classes at Broadway Dance Center.

The girls had a great time!

 That night we met in the hotel lobby and walked to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner.  Here are pics of each table:

 This is me, mom, Mr. Penrod and his wife Ann.

After dinner, we went to the Broadway show, "Newsies".  I was so excited to see this show!  I loved the movie when I was younger, so I was sure I would love the show!

 Madeline and Laney - excited to see the show too!

After the show, you can wait and see some of the actors.  They come out and greet people, sign autographs, etc. 

 Some of the girls stuck around to see who they might see.

The next morning we woke up and had a tour of Radio City Music Hall, Top of the Rock, and then free time to shop.

 Entrance to Top of the Rock.

 Ice skating rink at Rockefeller Plaza.

 Radio City Music Hall

  Observation deck - Top of the Rock.

 Souvenir shopping!

 Lobby of Radio City Music Hall.

 Checking out Radio City.

 The stage at Radio City Music Hall.

 The group - in front of Radio City.

 Mom and me - Rockefeller Plaza.

 Observation deck with Brooke and Brooklyn - they wanted a pic with us!

 I've got the Empire State building in my hands! ha ha

 Another pic with some of the girls.

 View from the observation deck - Central Park is behind the buildings.

 Some of the Ellevés

The Chaperones

After the Top of the Rock, there was free time.  My mom and I went to see another show.  We went to Cinderella.  It was cute.  Carly Rae Jepson was starring in it.  Most of the group decided to meet for dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner.

 We had to wait to get in.  They have singing waiters and performers.

We had a good time.  This was our last night in NYC!  Tomorrow they had to get up early to go to our last workshop and dance classes.

 Here we are - bright and early!  It had snowed a little bit so we had a brisk walk in the snow to our Disney workshop that morning.

The Disney workshop was a lot of fun.  They taught choreography from Newsies!  So the girls could relate to the movement because they had seen the show.  They also had to sing!

 They learned the choreography to "Seize the Day".  

 It is a fun number and they use newspapers.

 I had a great time watching them learn and perform the choreography!

 The teachers were very energetic and positive - just like Disney!  

 The workshop was in the Pearl Studio.  While getting the girls down the elevator in two groups, I rode the elevator with someone famous, but I'm not really sure who it was?  I know she is someone that has been to Utah to see the Disney productions at Tuachan.  She got off the elevator a floor before us and a guy in the elevator said her name, but it didn't click who she was, now I can't remember what her name was.  She was older and probably a Broadway star that now works for Disney and has a connection with the Disney productions in Utah.  That's all I can figure?

We had a couple hours to get some lunch and rest before our classes at Broadway Dance Center.  A lot of the girls ate at this place:

They had good hamburgers, fries, and of course, shakes!

The team took classes again today at Broadway Dance Center.  One class was an experience for the girls!  The street jazz or maybe it was hip hop class had some suggestive and bad lyrics in the music the teacher was using.  But it wasn't just a swear word or two.  It was the teacher and he kept repeating the words and he wanted to movement to represent the words.  Anyway, it was more than the girls wanted to be exposed to.  I had moved to watch the other groups and I was coming back up from the basement when I ran into Jamie, my captain.  She told me what was going on and we went to the front desk and they quickly put them into another class.  They ended up loving the class they were put into and the teacher really made them feel special--he was an actor too.  He kept saying, "Utah, Utah," to them.

After the classes we had to hustle back to the hotel and load the bus and head to the airport.

 Our last walk through Times Square!

The trip had been fantastic!  I really felt like each girl had a great time and made some memories that will last a lifetime!  Going to New York is a dream for any dancer.  These girls had that opportunity and they also were able to see a Broadway show that had lots of dancing in it, take classes, and a Disney workshop where they learned actual choreography from the show they had seen.  They also got to see a lot of the city.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity I get to help make this dream a reality for these girls.  Thanks also to the district, MMHS administration, and the drill parents.  Without all of these people, the trip would not have been possible!  Thanks again!

Patient of the Month

I received a call from Kendrick's dentist office to let me know that Kendrick had been selected as "Patient of the Month" and that we needed to come in for a prize.

Patients who are cavity free are entered into a drawing and they draw out each month.  Kendrick had won for the month of March!

We went down to the dentist office to see what he won.  

He won a tractor!  He was so excited!  Good job Kendrick!  Keep up the no cavities!

 And of course, a trip to the dentist office wouldn't be complete without a ride on the horse!  

Kendrick loves to ride the horse at the dentist office.

Other February Events

Some other events that happened in February were:

 Working BYU basketball concessions with the drill team.

 Watching a former Ellevé, who is now a BYU Cougarette, perform in the Cougarette Concert.  This concert is always a highlight of my year, because I love dance!  But it is especially great when you personally know one of the dancers and they were a member of your team!  It is always great to watch Savannah dance!

 MMHS had "warrior night" at one of the basketball games and Kendrick got in on the face paint!

 He loved it!

It is the highlight of his day if we are going to a MMHS athletic event!

Last Home Basketball Performances and Senior Night

In February, we had our last home basketball performances for the drill team.  We did some camp routines that we had not performed since football and so everyone could perform.

 These pics are from "A Little Party"

 I love these "red" tops!  They are supposed to be maroon, but they tend to look a little bit red!

 The team loved this BDT jazz routine.

 Ripple in action picture!

 It was a fun song to dance to, but way overused, especially by studios.

 We also performed the BDT hip hop routine.

 For some reason there were not any performance pics for this routine.

For the last home game, we recognize the seniors.  At the beginning of halftime, we have each senior come our with their parents to be recognized.

 Brooke Coleman and her mom.

 Madeline Froerer and her parents,

 Hannah Harvey and her parents.

 Laney Melton and her parents.

 Emily Peery and her parents.

 Brittney Peterson and her dad.

 Brooke Rawlings and her parents.

 Brynn Shaw and her parents.

 Bryn Starkey and her parents.

 Jamie Topham and her parents.

 2014 Drill Seniors and their parents

 For their routine, the seniors chose to "re-learn" their hip hop routine from their sophomore year.  It turned out well and they had a lot of fun doing it.  The student body loved it!

 Walking on.

 Ready to perform for the MMHS home crowd one last time!

 Laney

 Emily and Brittney

 Get out of your mind!

Amazing flexibility!

 We love our seniors!

I will definitely miss this group!

Drill Team Valentine's Day Party

Last year the drill team wanted to decorate Valentine boxes and bring valentines to school, so we did and it has now become a tradition.

Here is the team this year with their valentine boxes.  We had a fun practice and passed out our valentines at the end of practice.

Kendrick at the Dentist

Kendrick had his six month check up at the dentist this month.  Everything was great and he didn't have any cavities!

 He got a token to ride the horse.

This is his favorite part about going to the dentist - besides playing with the trains!

Miss Drill Utah

The week after State Drill was the Miss Drill Team Utah pageant.  I had two Ellevés participating in the pageant this year.  I was so excited to go and see them perform!  

 Jamie Topham and Laney Melton

 Jamie had a jazz solo and Laney had a more lyrical/contemporary solo.  They both are incredible dancers and looked good!  Jamie is the president of our team this year and Laney is the drill mistress or co-captain.

I'm so proud of each of them.  They didn't make it into the finals, but I really think they did great! There are so many talented dancers in the state of Utah and some of the contestants had competed in the pageant last year, so they were very confident and extra prepared.

Both of them said they were so glad that they had participated in the pageant and that they learned so much.  I'm so glad that they had a good experience!