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Piper had such a precious little birthday.  Complete with pink poodles, friends and cake.  We love our little girl and love how she is growing.  We love you Piper.

I began coaching the DHS cheerleaders three years ago and three years of hard work has finally paid off.  July 22-25 the Durango High School varsity cheerleaders went to UCA cheerleading camp at the University of New Mexico.  As always, the girls were prepared to work hard and do the best they could.  In light of last summer, they knew they could be successful as positive, young leaders even if they weren’t very skilled cheerleaders.  Last summer, as we headed to camp, the girls knew they would struggle to learn material quickly and that they would be one of the weakest teams at camp.  Because of this, they determined to win every award that had nothing to do with the athletic element of cheerleading.  There were successful.  During the summer of 2007, the DHS cheerleaders won every non-athletic award possible.  They were recongnized for their enthusiasm and their leadership.  I was very proud of them.  They were, however, disappointed in their obviously weak cheerleading performances.

This summer was different.

The girls weren’t sure what to expect at UNM.  We couldn’t predict the ability levels of the other teams and we weren’t sure how well our new cheerleaders would pick up the camp material.  We were confident that we could affect the energy level of the camp in a postive way and that we could model hard work and leadership. What the girls discovered is that they were awesome.  They earned a “superior” (the highest mark) on each of their six evaluations.  The camp staff grew to enjoy their company and paid them special attention.  This, of course, improved our camp experience.  The girls continued to earn spirit awards each day and to improve their cheerleading performance.  By the end of the week they were the clear staff favorites.  All of my lectures about using their powers for good seem to have made an impact.  They had learned that through encouragement, enthusiasm, hard work and leadership they could turn a mediocre camp experience into an amazing experience for every team in attendance.

The end result was difinitive.  During the closing ceremonies, we won every award possible.  We competed for Camp Champ, and won (against more experienced teams with higher levels of difficulty).  We were given the Leadership Award (voted on by the other teams at camp).  We were given the Top Banana award (voted on by the staff).  We were given a Spirit Stick (cheesy, but important) and we earned a Superior trophy for our consistency during evaluations.  The only award we didn’t (and couldn’t) win is the Traditions award.  It is given to a team who lives up to their long standing tradition of cheerleading excellence.  DHS doesn’t, yet, have a long standing tradition of cheerleading excellence - but we are working on it.

One final, and by far most impressive commendation, was that all of my seniors were given applications with written recommendations to try out for staff positions for the Universal Cheerleading Association.  This is an incredible honor.  The UCA staff cheerleaders are some of the most amazing athlete/leaders I have ever met.  I have coached good cheerleaders before, and I have never had a senior “get app-ed.”  The staff was obviously impressed with my girls.  I was also impressed.  They exceeded my expectations.  They exceeded their expectations.  They have set a new standard and I am excited to see what else they accomplish this year.  Go Demons!!

Durango High School successfully hosted its first cheerleading camp.  The girls accomplished a ton - it was a great way to kick off our summer practices.  We have 20 girls this year, which gives us the chance to create some more creative pyramids.  I have some very talented girls - it will be fun to see what happens this year.

We are halfway through our summer vacation…sad to think about, but we are having some good times.  It took a while for the kids to recover from our mega long road trip - sleep deprivation isn’t cured over night - but now we seem back to normal.  Chip is fully enjoying his raft-guiding experience this summer and I am mostly enjoying spending every waking moment with my kids.  We are discovering new, fun things to do in town, watching the kayaks surf the rapids, riding bikes and walking the dogs, camping with friends, attending B-B-Qs, planning Piper’s birthday party, attending classes, catching up on movies we’ve missed, swimming at the pool and visiting the library. 

Next week I start coaching again and I can’t wait!  The girls have tons to accomplish this summer, so we will be working hard learning new skills and material.  We have out largest team ever (20 girls) which will allow us to accomplish much more visual choreography.  We are hosting a stunt camp next week on our new cheer floor which will be a great opportunity to be gracious hosts and bond together.

This picture was taken while visiting our friends the Hoffmans in Ceour D’Alene, Idaho.  We had a great time zipping around in their boat.

We had such a great vacation.  We travelled 3,900 miles and touched nine states.  We visited with wonderful friends and celebrated with Steve and Amy at their wedding.

Today was Steve Sunday. We celebrated Steve and hope he felt well-loved. As the wife of a church planter, I cannot express the gratitude I have for Steve. He believed in Chip and what he wanted to do. He understood Chip and felt he was a worthy risk to take. Steve has been a great friend to my husband over the last two years, and because of that, Steve will always be family.

This is a picture of Steve drinking his 100th beer at Lady Falconburgh’s. His reward is a brick painted in his honor.

Expensive clothing is totally worth the cost.  I realize that “expensive” is a relative term, but the word “cheap” is fairly universal.  Cheap=Wal-Mart.  After years of subsisting on hand-me-downs and Wal-Mart crap, I have purchased some full-priced, well-made clothing.  Wow.  It will not shrink oddly.  The colors will not run together.  It fits beautifully.  It feels wonderful.  It will last longer than one season.  Wow.  All I can say is wow.  If I could, I would throw away all the sad garbage in my closet…most of it isn’t worth the laundry detergent it costs to wash it.

Again, let me say - wow.

Oscar only has one more soccer game this season.  It’s been so fun to watch his first real team experience.  I am SO glad Chip coached the team…he really gets the low-key philosophy of 6 and under soccer.  It is nice to have a laid back coach - Oscar has so much more fun when he doesn’t feel hassled.

This picture brings back memories of my childhood soccer experience.  Who is the lucky kids who gets to have two parents and three grandparents watch his games?  We love having our families here!  Our kids are enjoying a rare experience.

We also celebrated Cinco de Mayo this weekend.  I have to say, Durango is a lame place to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but there were festivities, so we did the best we could.

Every year the Durango High School boys soccer team hosts a Cinco de Mayo carnival at Park Elementary School (Oscar’s school).  It was a good time.  The high school boys were, for the most part, very sweet with the kids and my kids got to try cotton candy for the first time.  We also watched the folklorico dancers.  Oscar and, of course, Piper really enjoyed them.  Folklorico is a type of dancing Chip would actually let Piper participate in…the dancers wear A LOT of clothing.

Ruthie and Jason were married this past weekend. Chip and Steve officiated together. It was such a great time - a real milestone in the life of our church. Ruthie looked beautiful.  Ruth, Jason, Annie, Jackson and Eddie make such a precious family. 

Soccer has begun. We had tons of fun at the field today. Oscar’s first game…

Doesn’t Chip look like super coach!

My son laughs and giggles while running behind the pack. I love that he loves it.

Team meeting of the Gut-Heads. At the first practice, three boys volunteered team names. The choices were:

1. Howler Monkeys (I have no idea how to spell that)
2. Bloody Eyeballs
3. Gut-Heads

When Chip suggested that we choose a less graphic option for number two, Oscar suggested Blue Balls. Awesome. Chip let the boys vote, praying to God they wouldn’t choose Blue Balls. Thankfully, it was a unanimous vote for Gut-Heads.

Go Gut-Heads Go!!!