Jazz Champs Part 2

Sorry some of these are blurry. I had to really zoom in and with out a tri-pod, well you see the results. Okay, Amber is off and I'm doing my usual mommy thing with the boys, and getting dinner ready. Not long after dinner I get a text from Amber saying " Why does making the right decision have to be so hard??? :( " I m like u-oh, and text back asking what was up. To make a long texting session short, after dinner they were all going to a movie. Everyone wanted to see The Lincoln Lawyer, which is Rated R. She talked to Mr Britt, the band director, about her standards regarding R movies, and he let her go see Soul Surfer instead. I asked if she was the only one going, and she said "Yup. I asked the others if they wanted to see it, but no one else wanted to. It'll just be me and a chaperon." We text back and forth about how hard it was for her to not be with the group. She already doesn't feel like she fits in, and this wasn't helping. A lot of the kids have coupled off into boyfriend and girlfriend, and she feels like an outsider sometimes. I told her living the gospel standards isn't always easy but it would be worth it in the end. Later I get a text from her about how she LOVED the movie and wants the book that is out about it, and how glad she was that she went to see it. I was helping Ben study for a test during all of this, and he was interested in what was happening. I think it really made an impression on him as well. Amber is setting a good example for her brother.

Amber playing in the semi-finals

We left Tuesday around 1:30 to go listen to Amber play. They were performing first at 3:15 in Des Moines. We were worried we wouldn't make it on time. But with Bret's fancy driving and a good tale wind we made it just in time. We had to pay 40.00 for us to get in, it would have been 50.00 if Keaton would not have been in preschool. They played there three songs and then waited to hear if they made it to the finals that night. We didn't hang around to long, and drove to Sheels, and then on to Jennie and Kevins, where we were meeting John and Marilyn, who were in Omaha taking care of Sheri and Derrik's kids while they were in Mexico. So we dumped all of the kids with Kevin and Jennie, (thank you SO much by the way!) gabbed John and Marilyn and headed for the Civic Center for the final battle of the bands. We had to pay another 40.00 for each of us, and man were we glad we didn't bring our boys, because we were going to, that would have been another 30.00! Sheesh!

The whole group playing in the semi-finals

Getting ready before the finals

It started at 7:00, but Harlan is 3A so we had to sit through the 1A, and 2A schools, each playing for about 20 minutes. Finally it was Harlan's turn. I love listening to Jazz, and like hearing the other schools play, but I was anxious to hear Harlan. They are so much more entertaining than the other schools, and really play more difficult and interesting songs. They blew everyone away with their selections. I didn't want them to be finished! They just played their hearts out and did such a wonderful job!

Getting ready to start

It was almost 11 when we got done listening to the 4A schools play, and as soon as they were done we took off. We picked up the boys and said good-bye, and waited for the text from Amber that would tell us if they had won or not. About half way home I get it. "WE WON WE WON WE WON!!!!! 4 YEARS IN A ROW!!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!! She was very happy! Now the pressure is on for next year to make it 5!