Averi and I went on her senior trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica!!! It was a WONDERFUL time! All of her friends were kind and lovely all week long and we had the most perfect weather!!! The resort was beautiful! Such a memorable trip<3 August is fast approaching and this momma is not ready…
Enjoy the pics
Averi had so much end of the year/graduation stuff I started to refer to May as Averi-palooza! It was such a fun time and I wish we could do it again!! 🙂 Shes an AMAZING kid and so easy to celebrate <3
The baccalaureate service is always so special to kick off all the activities. Seeing Averi and her friends in the cap and gown for the first time makes things so real!! Then we went straight into 2 proms! Averi attended the Northside prom with Lucas then Lucas went to Southside prom with Averi the next weekend. They looked absolutely amazing!!! Along with their friends <3 We had a ball getting her all dolled up and all the pics. SO FUN! Then was Averi’s last day of school!! Unreal that I will no longer have a kiddos at FSPS any longer. That weekend our church had a beautiful service and brunch for their seniors. This was the first time I got emotional since all of this started. The next weekend Averi hosted a grad party with some of her friends at Hardscrabble. We lucked out with a perfect day! It was so fun getting to see all her friends celebrate together! The week of graduation Southside has the seniors parade thru their old elementary schools for the kids. I loved going back and seeing some of her old teachers! We walked to Cook for manyyyy years. It was fun doing it one last time.
Finally it was actually GRADUATION DAY! We had storms threatening all day and even had a few raindrops early on but the skies held off and it was a gorgeous night. It all felt so fast I wish we could do it again! We held a graduation party that Sunday for friends and family at the Marshal’s museum. I am so incredibly thankful to everyone who came to celebrate!!! I know its a busy time and some people came from far off and I couldn’t feel more blessed. Averi is special in every way and I love that others see that in her as well. I dont know what in the world I am going to do without her at home when August gets here. I told Jim it might be time for a 2nd home in NWA now that both are girls are there!!
Enjoy the pics!
Averi took pics with Anne Marie all year long to remember her senior year! Annie does an amazing job and I love each and every photo! These are precious to me and I highly recommend the investment!! She did some senior shoots but she also did 4 individual shoots for each season like Sydni did. I love them!!
Enjoy the pics!
In the middle of the graduation chaos Averi turned 18! I have always loved her birthday in the spring! Its always a fun time and beautiful weather and everyone is in a great mood for the upcoming summer. All was true this year as well but it was all so hectic I feel like I missed it!! Luckily Averi has the sweetest friends who took time out of their crazy schedules to celebrate her and I love them dearly for it <3
Enjoy the pics!
What a wonderful spring! Averi went thru her last cheer tryout week but this time as a teacher. She was so sad! She is going to miss cheering so much! But it did leave time for lots of baseball! She has enjoyed cheering Lucas and so have we! We even went to Memphis for a few days to watch them play. Rozi too 🙂 While Sydni went to Florida with her friends and had a blast! School is winding down for both girls and revving up for summer. We are ready for some sunshine and pool time but I am definitely NOT ready for grad time!
Enjoy the pics!
We have had an amazing start to 2025! Averi cheered thru her last basketball season. Senior night was bittersweet. I am going to miss watching her cheer so very much!!!! But I am so proud of how hard she has worked and how much progress she has made over the years. Cheer has been such a positive experience for both of us. Its hard to let it go! Sydni is doing so well at UofA! I am so proud of her in how she has buckled down and figured out this whole college thing! She has a ways to go but on the right path! I am so excited for her!! She had a cute little galentines with her friends and the ChiO Crush function then we wrapped up February at Chi O’s mom’s weekend!! Such a great weekend to spend some one on one time with my girl and get to meet her friends as well as get to know the moms! We had the best time! <3
Enjoy the pics!
Averi’s final cheer comp season has come to a close in the most perfect way! They started the season with HALF of the team being brand new to comp. So they knew they had a long road ahead but these kids worked so hard! Their first comp was a tough one in Hot Springs right out of the gate… Cabot and El Dorado were there and are always so good! They got 2nd to Cabot in this one but looked so strong! Next was the Alma comp which is always tough too! This had Alma and El Dorado. This time they came up short BUT they did win the strong man competition! Averi was a base in that! So fun! After that one was a comp in Van Buren where they WON and then a final one in Bentonville that they won as well! Which brought on STATE!!! They were nervous because of how good the Ark teams were this year but they looked AMAZING and got runner-up. SO COOL! Which meant they got to go to NATIONALS!!!!! That was their ultimate goal regardless so BIG success! After all the fundraising madness we made it to ORLANDO! The kids competed in prelims on Friday and went to their hotel to find out the results….. for the 3rd straight time they were FIRST out of prelims getting to SKIP semis and go straight to FINALS!! These moments watching them find out are some of my favorite cheer memories to date. Priceless. On Sunday they competed in finals and again looked perfect! Its always nerve wracking during the awards because I knew they would do well but I also knew these perfectionists kids wouldn’t accept anything than 1st and thats what they got!! Back To Back National Champions! <3
*climbing atop my soap box* Watching Averi fall in love with cheer over the last 5 years has been an absolute dream! I have been a mom on MANY different kinds of teams with my girls over the years and can absolutely say Southside Cheer are 2x champions for a reason. It starts and ends with dedicated leadership who understands their role as a coach/teacher and their role in leading teenagers… I respect Coach Graham tremendously for all she does for this team and how she does it. And you have to give credit to these kids. They are teens so of course I am sure there are moments they are not their best. However, their ability to keep the drama at minimum and the standards high are just beyond classy. I am so proud Averi was on this team and look forward to seeing them succeed in the future!
Enjoy the pics!!!
Our fave months have passed and we are saying goodbye to 2024! Averi cheered at her final football game which was so very bittersweet. She ended her 1st semester with all A’s and headed into her LAST semester at Southside. These lasts are so much more painful than I thought they would be!!! She did get going with her cheer comp season though! They did great at all of their comps leading up to state where they won runnerup! WOOT! That means they are headed back to Nationals in ORLANDO! SO excited! Sydni wrapped up her 1st semester of soph year at UofA with great grades!! We are so incredibly proud of how hard she worked this semester!!! Now she is gearing up for the spring!
Enjoy the pics!
We had a perfectly wonderful Christmas! We were able to get family pics by Anne Marie for our Christmas cards. I worry about this every year lately bc the girls are so busy so I was thrilled we were able to make it work. We spent Christmas eve with the Settles exchanging presents and making cookies then attending church services. After church we went to our traditional Olive Garden for dinner and went home to open presents. Christmas day we spent at home in our pjs watching movies and snacking all day! YAY! That weekend we rented a house with Sarah and Matt’s families on Lake Hamilton with Gran. Shana had the flu so she couldn’t make it! But Matilda and Robert were able to join us!! Christmas memories are my fave <3
Enjoy the pics!
Our SydniBeth is no longer a teenager!! Shes on her way to be a full fledged adult 🙂 She had a little party with her friends during finals week before everyone went home for the holidays. It was so sweet of them to make her feel special <3 Shes working over Christmas break so is between FS and Fay a lot right now but she was able to be home for her actual bday! We did presents and lunch then cake that night. I can’t believe how fast time has gone… so proud of her and all that shes accomplished the last few years!
Enjoy the pics!
