Winter Guard

I had the great fun of going along with Kayla's winter guard flag corp to their regional competition. We left on Friday at 5:00 to drive up to Kansas City on a school bus (now there's an adventure for you!)

We had reservations for 8:00 at a downtown Italian restaurant. By the time we got there we were all famished. It tasted good even if I'm not a big Italian food fan. Kayla, on the other hand is so she loved it. The bus ride from the restaurant to our sleeping area was interesting. The bus driver blared oldies music and the girls sang at the top of their lungs. They were pretty funny.

Our next stop was a high school where we bedded down for the night in their band room. Oh, I am soooo thankful for air mattresses! Some of the girls slept on the cement floor. The next morning the mom's got breakfast ready for the girls and then the went to practice for a couple of hours. We were able to go in at the last of their practice and watch. I was able to snap one good picture. It's really hard to get a picture when in a gymnasium. The lighting is horrible. During the real competition there is to be no photography or videoing of any kind so this is what I could get.

We loaded the bus right before noon and went about 20 miles to the school where the regional competition was being held. The mom duties were over so we got to go in and watch the competition. Some performance took your breath away and some made you cringe (because they were morbid...I can't even imagine having that to practice at least twice a week!). The girls' show is very cute and upbeat. They had some drops on their spins so we were unsure if they'd make finals. They did! Their second time through their show was amazing! They only dropped a couple of times and they hit all of the other stuff. It looks so cool when they all toss into the air and it snaps into their hands at the same time!

They made finals and when all was said and done they placed 7th out of about 32 teams. We were all so proud of them! There was more singing on the bus afterwards of course! We arrived back in Webb City last night at 12:45. I'm dragging today, but it was so worth it to see her perform.

On a side note, please pray for their band instructor's husband (different lady than their color guard instructor). He was roofing and fell 17 feet and landed on his head. He is bleeding in about 20 different places in his brain. He's under heavy sedation to keep him still. God is amazing and does amazing healing just as in Jim's case. This man's name is Wade Williams. Please feel free to put him on your prayer chains. It just reminds us so much of what we went through with Jim.

Until the next grand adventure,

Yvonne and crew