Nighthawks at NCA

At the end of February, it was time once again for the Nighthawks to compete at NCA in Dallas! One of the biggest competitions of Kaitlynn's cheer season, NCA generally marks the peak of the cheer season and is considered the Super Bowl of the all star cheer world. We look forward to this weekend every season, and Kaitlynn's Nighthawks were hoping for a back-to-back win after taking the gold last year. 

One of our favorite things about this season with the Nighthawks was the quality time with Kaitlynn's favorite friends. Allison, Maddie, Kayla, Madi... she adores these girls and was so happy to have this season of quality time together. Jeff and I hardly saw Kaitlynn at the competitions because she was always off with her friends. Unfortunately, NCA did not go the way we'd hoped and it turned out to be another disappointment for Kaitlynn and her team. We were thankful for the memories with friends but sad that the Nighthawks didn't bring home the win.

Winter Updates in Photos

Here's a random collection of photos and updates from our winter months in 2024. First up - it was a very first for Connor when he had to get a cavity filled at the dentist. All these years of nonstop candy eating may have caught up with him, ha! I can't say too much, though, because we all know where he got his sweet tooth and love for candy. ME!

Kaitlynn and her sweet friend, Libby. These girls go WAY back and it is just amazing to see how far they've come together. Libby is one of the most sincere, kind, and authentic friends and we are so thankful for her entire family!

Speaking of friends, I sure am lucky to have found some of the best. Our WAC friendship is going strong, especially in the late winter of 2024 when we were coming to terms with the fact that our oldest BABIES would be graduating in a few months. I'm not even sure how that's possible, but I'm so thankful for these times together to catch up (and shop, ha)! These were some pics from my birthday dinner in February. 

If you live anywhere near the Houston area in February, you are most likely visiting and hearing all about the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Somehow I never really got on board with the annual Rodeo visits, but Kaitlynn was lucky to attend a show and concert with her sweet friend, Lauren. They had a blast!

Also in February, Kaitlynn began struggling with some back pain that just wouldn't get any better. With her tumbling on her competitive cheer team, she seemed to be getting worse and worse. After months of hearing her complain about the pain during her Level 2 tumbling skills - primarily back walkovers - I finally realized that she might be injured and we should get her checked out. We got a recommendation for an orthopedic doctor in Houston who regularly works with Olympic athletes. He got her x-rayed and found that she is suffering from mild back curvature (scoliosis) that might be contributing to her pain. She also went for an MRI, and they determined that she had a stress reaction in her lower back - the precursor to a stress fracture. We were thankful to have discovered the injury before it was much worse, but we weren't sure how to handle her upcoming practices and competitions. After talking with her coaches, they were very understanding and just removed Kaitlynn from the jumps and tumbling portion of the routine. She could still perform and stunt, but thankfully this would give her back time to heal and recover.

Texas Academic Decathlon - State Competition

After earning a silver medal in the Region 7 Academic Decathlon meet, the Katy High School team led by Connor in the Honors division was headed to State! Their competition was held at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, and the team was so excited to spend the weekend together while they competed to represent their school. 

One of Connor's beloved teachers, Mrs. Peters, was on maternity leave and couldn't join the team, so Connor's other favorite teacher, Mrs. Blair, was able to join the team with Mr. Walker for the trip. Connor and his teammates were so excited for the opportunity, but in typical school trip fashion, they were given specific and explicit instructions and rules for their trip. We came to find out that these Decathlon super-nerds had a notorious history of finding creative loopholes and roundabouts to the rules in place, so it became a joke to the boys on the team to find various ways to "innocently" break the rules as a way of leaving their mark on KHS Academic Decathlon history. I'm not going to lie, I sure did crack up when reading the list of rules and hearing stories about why said rules were set in the first place! 

The team arrived in San Antonio and set out for a night of fun before their competition the following day. They all went for a game of bowling followed by a trip to the local grocery store to procure their dinner. According to Mrs. Blair, the H-E-B visit was an improvised game of spending their allotted meal budget, and the kids were quite creative with their grocery baskets. Rotisserie chicken was a fan favorite! The next morning, the kids were dressed up and out of the hotel early for the day's festivities, I mean, tests. Ha! 

After spending their entire day Saturday taking tests, the "decathletes" were finished and all invited for the awards ceremony the following morning with a brunch. We were told that parents were welcome to attend but not many actually come. Jeff and I wouldn't have missed it for the world, and I was so happy to snap some photos of the group with their coach, Mr. Walker.

All of the teams and competitors were seated in the big reception hall, and they began enjoying their brunch while parents were able to sit on the sides of the room. The awards ceremony began, and they invited the 1st and 2nd place winners of the Speech contest to deliver their speeches for the audience. Then, the facilitators of the ceremony began calling out the subjects one by one along with the winners and medalists for each. Connor had already warned us that he didn't feel like he had a great chance in his usual strong subjects, but he was hoping to medal in at least 1 subject. As they called each winner, the list grew long but Connor's name hadn't been called and we were all starting to feel a little disappointment. One of the last subjects called was Literature, and imagine our surprise when Connor was announced in 1st place as a 3-way tie, WOW! We were SO excited and thrilled for him to have achieved his goal! I would've NEVER guessed it would've been in Literature though!

Overall, Katy High School took 5th place in state in an incredibly competitive division (Large High School). It was the highest they'd ever placed, and Connor's achievements were a big part of that accomplishment. Jeff and I were just beaming, both with pride for our boy but also with happiness for him to achieve above and beyond his expectations for his senior year. A state gold medalist, wow!!

I'm not sure if I have ever seen someone work SO HARD to achieve personal goals the way Connor did this year in Academic Decathlon. This class started off as a way for him to avoid the dreaded AP English Literature class that Connor didn't want to take, and it was an added bonus that he would get to spend so much time with two of his favorite teachers, Mr. Walker and Mrs. Peters. But what began as an English alternative turned into a character-defining challenge for Connor, where he dug deep and persevered through countless hours of studying and practice to achieve his ultimate goal of earning his spot on the KHS team and eventually a medal at the State competition. He set records for Katy High School at each step along the way, from the district meet to the regional competition and then again when he reached State. 

When I reflect on Connor ending up here at a high school competition, I never could've imagined where he would have landed. After competing in sports for most of his life, Connor's final year in high school was spent not in pursuit of an athletic championship but instead that of an academic one. It seems fitting for this overachiever of ours, and Jeff and I couldn't have been more proud of this kid, his hard work, and his dedication to his "sport!"

Cheersport 2024 in Atlanta

Right after competing in her first and last FFA Rabbit Show, Kaitlynn was excited to turn the page and get back to her true love - cheer! Jeff, Kaitlynn, and I were off to Atlanta for Cheersport, one of her favorite competitions. We enjoy Cheersport because the venue is well organized and spacious, despite being one of the hardest and most crowded events of the season. We were excited to show Jeff the ropes of a big out-of-state competition, and he was just along for the ride.

When we arrived on Friday, we made sure to head straight to the competition halls to scope out the area and get our wristbands. We did our usual shopping at the Varsity store, and then we were excited to take Jeff to some of our favorite hotspots near the venue - Max's Coal Oven Pizzeria and The Yard milkshakes. 

The next day, we were excited to join the rest of the Nighthawks team for Day 1 of competition. The girls looked great and were READY to compete. Their performance was awesome with zero deductions, leading to a first place ranking after Day 1! It was all smiles from these girls and a fun afternoon to bask in their success!

The next day, we were all geared up and ready to WIN Kaitlynn's first Cheersport title. The girls performed another flawless routine and felt strong about their chances to win. Going into awards, we were all so confident and excited. 

We said goodbye to Jeff who had to take an earlier flight back to Houston, and then we gathered with the team to head into awards. I dialed Jeff on Facetime for the big reveal. To our dismay and shock, the 4th place team ended up outscoring the Nighthawks, moving up from 4th place into 1st. Nighthawks ended up taking 2nd place, shocking everyone including the coaches of both teams. Out of all the years in cheer, this was likely the biggest defeat and disappointment Kaitlynn had faced. It was a super disappointing ending to our fun weekend, one that she would remember for years (forever?) to come.

Although the competition left a bitter taste in our mouths, I was thankful for the professional photos that gave a glimpse into the team's incredible performances on both days of the competition. Our Nighthawks shined on that stage and we were so proud of their effort at Cheersport.