All-American!

Kansas City was so much fun.

We stayed with Bobby's aunt and uncle in their new house. The boys loved the basement where we stayed. It was a "Man Room." It really was pretty cool. A 96 inch High Definition Projector TV, with surround sound that was built into the walls. Then when Uncle Dale started a movie, by remote control the lights dimmed at the same time the movie started. It was like being in a movie theater. The sofa even rumbled with the surround sound!

On Friday, Andrew was a bundle of nerves. We could not get him to relax. He lost his first match, won his second, then lost his third. It was pretty neat that kids in his bracket were from places like Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Idaho.


By Saturday, the Andrew we know and love was back. It was his day off of the competition (while the High School kids wrestled). So, we had a great time playing. We went site seeing at some outdoor stores and met up with some friends that live in the area. We went shopping at T-Rex, a dinosaur themed restaurant. It was really cool, we "built" a toy dinosaur for Spencer's bday, Andrew and Shawn "dug" for dinosaur bones and "explored" a mine".


Then we met up with the other wrestlers at Dave and Busters. The kids had a blast. They told us the wait time for a table was 2 HOURS! So, we played first and then ate. By the end of dinner Shawn (who can fall asleep anywhere) fell asleep at the table.

Sunday. The All-American Rounds and the Finals. The competition started with over 1500 kids and now the top 8 in each bracket were competing. Each kid only wrestled once on Sunday. Andrew was wrestling for 7th or 8th. They started the morning with a parade of the All-Americans. The lights were dimmed, smoke machines, loud music, colored-lights going everywhere. It was a neat environment for the kids, but for the spectators it made it hard to see the kids on the floor.
Andrew wrestled a little boy from Idaho. I had a good seat to videotape the match from, but I couldn't see the scoreboard. At the end of each round, I would look over to a man sitting a few seats to my left so he could tell me the score.
Round 1 0-0
Round 2 0-0
It was a real nail-biter.
Round 3 The man called out. 5-1. Your boy won!

WAHOO!!!! 7th Place

Then the top 8 from his bracket head to the theater where the awards podium is set up. While we waited, Bobby told me that the boy from Idaho is LDS! We knew they were from Idaho and Bobby took the chance and just asked him. I of course thought "Wow! That's pretty cool!" But, I don't think they thought it was as neat as we did. I mean come on, we are from the South. The only LDS wrestler we saw all year, is in our ward. We really enjoy meeting other Mormons just by chance.

Andrew's teammate, a 6th grader from Sulphur, won 1st place in his bracket. A National Champion!

We flew to Houston Sunday evening and made it home by 1 am. Andrew and Shawn made it back around 3 pm yesterday. Just in time for us to get ready and head to the ball park. :( Brian plays T-Ball. He lost 32-9. Andrew's team lost 12-0. Shawn plays Thurs
day and we are hoping for better results. :)

1,201 Miles

Bobby and Andrew made their annual trip back to Independence, KS 2 weeks ago. For Matthew and I, it was our first time back in 3 1/2 years. Andrew's wrestling started in Independence when the Hogge family had 3 boys wrestling and encouraged us to let Andrew try a practice. (At that age Andrew was just as energetic and on the go as Matthew is now, if not more.) So, we decided to give it a try. He LOVED it. And still does. He started practicing when he was 4, and went to his first tournament when he was 5. After 2 years with that club, we moved back to Louisiana and were so happy to find a jr wrestling club in Sulphur. Bobby promised Andrew that we would take him back to the tournament in Independence each year. Andrew did not do as well as he hoped this year. Every kid in his bracket was a state finalist in Kansas last year. Tough kids. Andrew took 4th in a four man round robin, but gained a lot of experience against the tougher wrestlers. Before we left the tournament Andrew wrestled an exhibition match against one of his friends. This kid took 2nd in a heavier weight bracket than Andrew's, but Andrew was able to beat him, almost getting a pin but the buzzer went off. It gave Andrew the boost of confidence he needed to come home with. His own wrestling season would start the next weekend in Lafayette. Andrew took 2nd there and has his eyes set on 1st this weekend. If we were still in Kansas Andrew would be practicing 6 hrs a week starting in November with 13 Saturdays in a row of all-day tournaments. Here he practices 2 hrs a week starting in January with 6 tournaments. Don't tell him, but I am actually relieved with the lighter schedule. :)

It was wonderful for me to be able to go with them this year. All the kids came with us. There are so many awesome people that we were able to see in the 48 hours we had to spend there. We stayed for sacrament meeting Sunday morning, but had to leave as soon as it was over. Some of the primary kids were actually upset with us for not letting the boys stay for primary. :) But the kids had school the next day, so we hit the road again, making it home about midnight.

So, Blessing #6. A trip of 1,201 miles without incidence. No breakdowns, flat tires, no one went to the ER :) We had a great time and returned home safely. Yeah!!!