She'd been counting down to her birthday for weeks! Natalie opened a few presents first thing in the morning.
She quickly put on some of her new duds before rushing out the door.
Natalie has been working hard as a tech for the school musical. We had to forgo the traditional family birthday dinner because she was busy running the spotlight for that night's performance.
On Friday, though, I picked Natalie and her friends up from school and took them to Hello, Cupcake in Tacoma.
We had reserved their party room for a couple of hours. The girls got to order a drink and decorate two cupcakes each.
Emma, Sophie, Camryn, Sydney, Natalie and Ava
Before and after:
Next, they played games and Natalie opened her presents.
Then we walked down the street to have dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory.
This delightful birthday girl has a delightful group of friends. They had such a fun afternoon that they weren't ready to part ways once dinner was over. The group came back to our house to hang out together for several more hours.
12 is a milestone birthday and this girl really looks forward to graduating from primary, moving into Young Women's and going to Girls' Camp.
Happy Birthday, Natalie! I couldn't possibly love you more!
It had been two long years! I hadn't done meet hair for two years. She hadn't marched into a meet, warmed up with her team, saluted the judges or touched a piece of competition equipment in twoyears!
Though Alyssa had mentioned to us multiple times that she'd hoped to possibly be able to compete floor by season's end, she never addressed it with her coaches. The week before state I just happened to be talking with her coach (whom I had not seen in a very long time) about her rehabilitation, when I blurted out, "Would she be able to compete at State? Is that even a possibility?"
Her coach was very supportive of the idea and encouraged her to try, even though none of us were totally sure she was ready. He would need to pull some strings to get her petitioned in, but by that night, he texted me to say, "Alyssa is approved to do floor at state!" Then he added, "She can do it, whatever happens, happens. I'm just happy she gets the opportunity to be with the team and compete." Coach Brent set the bar low, telling her to shoot for a 5.0, which was his way to tell her that score didn't matter. We would spend the next several days telling her that just stepping back on that floor was a success. And that was the truth.
Alyssa was not yet cleared in her physical therapy regimen to do back handsprings on the floor. Without it, she would be missing a necessary requirement, so we knew to expect a lower score for that reason alone. Additionally, her cardio strength was also not yet where it needed to be to comfortably make it through the end of her routine, so we legitimately wondered if she'd have enough gas left in the tank to land the last pass. Still, she was excited for this opportunity and as her parents we were insanely proud.
Just two days before the meet, she was able to add the back handspring into her middle pass, bringing her routine to a 10.0 start value. Though we had a portion of the usual competition nerves, it was just such a special moment to watch her salute the judges and step onto the floor.
Her feet hit the floor on the last pass and the tears I'd been trying to hold back fell out of my eyes. "She did it! She did it!" I kept saying over and over. The fact of the matter is, she had a lot of people in tears, including Coach Jill who is known for being exceptionally harsh and not very soft-hearted.
Her score of 9.3 qualified her to regionals as a floor specialist and earned her a sixth place medal. It had been two years without a medal around her neck.
Alyssa's dear friend and teammate, Maison ,and her mother, my dear friend, Michelle, drove all the way to Vancouver to support Alyssa in this big comeback. They had been in Vancouver the day before for Maison's meet and drove all the way back the very next day to be with us. We were so touched by their efforts to support us.
Alyssa's coaches took to Instagram to pay tribute to her strength of character and determination.
Congratulations, Alyssa! You are amazing in countless ways.
