THE HYATTS IN FLAGSTAFF

We made a trip to Flagstaff to visit Jacob, Sunny & Soldier in their new home. Oh my word, after the heat of Mesa it was like "a piece of Heaven" arriving in Flagstaff. We were up in the mountains among the pine trees, with the windows open in the fresh mountain air. It was great--they were great--the whole trip was great!!!!!

Friday night we went to dinner at Old Town Flagstaff and then watched "Red Eye" using their surround sound. That show seemed even freakier to surround sound. We ate pizookies w/icecream and buttered popcorn at 2:00 AM. It was crazy for me--the can't eat anything past 8:00 PM girl but I lived wild and ate it with the best of them.

Saturday, we drove to Sedona and went on "Slide Rock" and then to Gold Canyon for a picnic. It is so beautiful and was so much fun. We took Soldier too, who trudged through the water and climbed the rocks trying to be "king of the hill". (Jacob & Sunny have really worked with Soldier and taught him some awesome tricks). That night we watched a movie until 3:00 AM. It was great. Staying up late, sleeping late, hanging with my kids. . . what could be better.

Sunday we went to Church and then came home and Sunny, Jacob and Nicole made a "breakfast extravaganza" with eggs, biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns, juice, & bacon. Here is little Sunny making the homemade biscuits, & Nicole frying up the bacon. (Did I mention I was in Heaven)

Oh, and Jacob is writing a new song and played the first verse of it for us. It is so great. I cried it was so cool. Wait until you all hear it.


We had to leave Sunday night. I hated to leave we had such a great time but Jacob put it best when he said, "well mom, now you see how easy it is to come up, you can do it more often". I plan to do that.

National Dance Competition in Florida

Danielle and I made the big trek to Orlando, Florida for her first National Competition back east. We have been to ones in California and Las Vegas but never to any this far away. Here is a little rundown.

1. Arrive in Florida at 3:15 A.M. (we had traveled all day) carrying in our luggage a huge coat rack (prop), a stool (which we carried on the plane everywhere we went and lots of luggage and costumes.
2. Catch a shuttle to our hotel and walk 1/2 mile with all our luggage & coat rack to our room.
3. I killed 3 beetles once in our room--without even alerting Danielle.

4. Slept late since we were so tired & then went to Disney World (We had come a day early so that we could go to Disney World before the competition started).

5. Stepped out into the sunshine to discover that Florida in the summer is like stepping into a sauna--truthfully--only you are wearing your clothes. It is beautifully lush and green but so hot and moist that the 1/2 mile back to the hotel for the competition and our hair and clothes were dripping. (I realized from then on that there was no point in doing my hair. It was wavy and

frizzy the rest of the trip--made it easy though)

6. Took the bus to Disney World and got out. Woe, I'm thinking--how am I going to be able to stand in lines for rides in this weather. But we persevere. We went on 2 rides and it rains for a solid hour. We are soaked. I am wearing jeans weighing 40 pounds because they are soaking wet. We decide to call it a day. (There goes 1 day of our 4 day pass).
7. Competition starts. It is intense with very famous clinicians. (Many of the choreographers Danielle had were the ones from "So you Think You Can Dance" ---She has danced and taken classes from all of them at some time but one) Danielle did FABULOUS! I'm a proud Mama, that's for sure.

8. Danielle takes classes all day and then has competition that night. All of her numbers but one get a Platinum (highest award possible) and one number gets a gold. It was amazing. Then they announce the top 4 numbers that will go on to compete in the gala on Friday night. Three of their numbers make it in in Senior division and one number makes it into Teen Finals.

9. Danielle continues to do fantastic in spite of the fact that my snoring is keeping her awake each night. I try different remedies (going outside to sit in the sauna heat and talk on the phone 'till she falls asleep--she then calls me to make sure I'm okay (strike 1), read by the light of my flashlight till she falls asleep--but somehow I fall asleep first (strike 2), sit in the bathroom and read till she falls asleep--but unfortunately you can only sit there for so long and then at 2 or 3 in the morning you have to give it up (strike 3). Try to leave the fan in the bathroom on for background noise but it is on a timer and turns off after 60 minutes and when it turned off my loud snorting noises wake her up (strike 4). Needless to say, neither of us slept too well (especially Danielle). By morning she was hammered but bless her heart she kept going full strength.

10. We attempt to go to the parks a few more times when classes are over. Danielle gets me on the "rockin rollercoaster"--touts to go from 1-60 mph in 1 second to the tunes of Aerosmith. I am so blown away I can't even speak--let alone scream. Danielle in the meantime is worried I have had a heart attack and died on the ride. She keeps yelling, "Mom, are you okay". I am just gripping and praying to live. We get off the ride and I am trying to pull myself out and walk without staggering when the ride guys say, "hey, you want to go again--follow me". I'm thinking "I'll meet you all afterward" but get thrown into the crowd and step right back on. This time we are in the 2nd to the front car just to make sure our ride experience is a little bit scarier than the first. I survived but then keep making suggestions like, "hey, we can't leave without going on It's A Small World" or "I'd love to see what all that fuss is about on the Peter Pan ride, etc." I did put my foot down on the Tower of Terror. Random falling on an elevator just doesn't do it for me.
11. Gala night. Danielle and the girls perform their 3 dances beautifully. Our team had never made it to the Gala before so just being a part of this fancy show was amazing but when they read off the $1,000 Senior winner "PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR" as Wilkomen by Danceworks it was a thrill like you can't imagine. It was so amazing we just about died. Dannis was "giddy" and the girls were so excited. It was just great. Made the whole trip worthwhile right then and there.

12. Last day at the park we sat in the air-conditioned buildings and saw the shows--we just couldn't hack the heat/moisture any more. That was really fun though. Before we left Danielle wanted to ride on the "rapids ride". Yes, you guessed it, the ride through the waterfalls get you soaked ride. We get in, and the little British girls say, "Oh my, you two are right in the spot you are going to get soaked"--and the little family from Ireland said, "oh yes, you are the ones going to ride backward into the storms--you may want to duck your head". Well I did duck my head but guess what--the water splashed so deep that our entire bodies were completely soaked. I made quite the sight after that in my white pants and sloshing tennis shoes.

13. Our trip home was eventful. We get on the plane and I have my book in my hand. The flight attendant reads the cover, "Kill Me", and comments, "Woe, what is that about?" I casually answer, "Oh I don't know, I'm not really that far." Didn't even think anything of it. Later it hits me, "terrorism on planes--hello--of course he wondered why you were reading that". Possibly this explains the next part. Since we had to leave pretty early the last day & hadn't had time to eat, Danielle and I decided to get smoothies. We both ate them and got on the plane. I think we got food poisoning because we were both sick through the entire 4 hour first leg and 2 1/2 hr. second leg of the trip. It was awful. I kept having to step over everyone--I was in the window seat-- ever hour or so to hit the restroom--whether the seatbelt light was on or not. One time I ran to the restroom and the flight attendant told me I needed to sit back down because the seatbelt light was on. I informed her that wasn't an option. I get in the restroom and she announces over the loud speaker, "For the safety of all of our passengers--please do not get up or use the restrooms when the seatbelt light is on". I wanted to use that same loud speaker afterwards and announce, "for the safety of all of our passengers, I am using the restroom even with the seatbelt light on. . . " (So that's why they clapped when we got off the plane. . . )

14. We made it safely home to a great cooked meal by Nicole. AHHH, IT WAS FABULOUS AND I AM SO PROUD OF DANIELLE!!!!! IT IS ALSO GREAT TO BE HOME!!!!!