Two kips down...NONE to go!!! Yippee!!!

We are heading to the Big D tomorrow morning....

It's official...Holley has now done both of her kips (low bar and high bar) in a single routine. Whew! She had her last practice today before her meet tomorrow night and did four complete bar routines, kips included. She was so proud...it has been a hard fought victory. Now this does not mean that she "has" them forever. She had them for today and that is enough. Hopefully, she will have them tomorrow for the meet. She starts the competition at 645 pm (in Dallas). If I can, I'll try to post from there...but last time I was not able to. We will be staying overnight in Dallas and travelling home on Monday. I am so proud of my munchkin for hanging in there and not quitting when it got tough. She showed up to every practice and tried and tried and tried, and it has paid off. Even if she doesn't do them in competition tomorrow, she now has the confidence of knowing YES she CAN do them, BOTH of them. This is not an official USGA meet and does not count as part of their competition season. That season ended with the state meet. This is an invitational meet hosted at Texas Dreams , (? I think that is the name) the gym owned by Kim Zemeskal (former USA Olympic gymnast) and her husband. Holley and her teammates will be competing level 5 again next year but they will be switching from the achievement level to the placement level. It gets technical but it means they will be competing against each other (teammates) and other gymnasts more vigorously as there are only a fraction of the gymnasts who will advance to the next rounds advancing to the state, regional, national levels. This year they were competing basically against themselves, trying to better their personal scores and earn colored ribbons. The state meet that I described in Dec. with 60% receiving medals (1/3 gold, 1/3 silver, 1/3 bronze and the rest nothing) is how she will be competing at all the competitions starting next Aug. The whole point behind this entire story is the fact that yeah!!! She can do the kips and by the start of the next season, hopefully they will be much more consistent. I'm one very proud mommy!!! (in case you can't tell :-) Please pray for Holley, specifically for self-confidence that she CAN and WILL do her routines, and for perseverance and strength, as we will spend a long day in the car, then she starts the competition so late and it will be LATE when we are done. It will be a very long day and historically she has not done so hot on the days when we have travelled the day of the meet. I have total and complete faith in her and am so proud of her whether her routines go well or not. Love you Holleyberry!! Stay tuned...Love, S