Getting ready for Junior Nationals

We are almost there... Junior Nationals. As you may recall, Bobby and Gabby are going to Junior Nationals at the end of November, beginning of December. Actually, all the pairs teams from our home rink are going. We have Joseph and Briana, Taylor and Sarah, and Bobby and Gabby. Also included in the picture are B.J. and Nina. They did very well at regionals and get to go to Junior Nationals.

We have other skaters at the rink that have to make a stop at Mids on their way to Nationals. Mids this year are being held at Rochester, Michigan. Who says our kids don't travel! I can already start adding up the number of air miles we have accumulated this year. So far this year, Gabby has been to New York, Boston, Cape Cod, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Antonio. I guess we if we REALLY counting cities, we would have to include Salem, Mass, Plymouth , Mass. and Atlantic City. Wow. I had not considered all those cities of travel. It's a good thing we are not collecting refridgerator magnets from every city. The whole door would be one giant magnet. Speaking of door magnets. We have one from USFSA (Heidi). I think it's probably a collectable now. We also have the Olympic training center on a magnet. The one I like? Hmm... I have the one from the Bermuda...oh and an old one from Astroworld with the 4 worlds. THAT is a classic.

Oh, and TONIGHT, I got to watch Bobby and Gabby practice at the Galleria for the upcoming Tree Lighting on November 10th. That promises to be an exciting show and we all can't wait. BG have been working, in addition to preparing for JNs, on the program for the tree lighting.

2007 Southwest Regionals

Well, we are finally back from the Southwest Regionals held in Grapevine, TX. Yes, this is the big "shoe" - to quote a famous showman. Again, I met the family in Dallas on the final leg of a business trip. Thank goodness, Dorothy was there to help drive the family in the good ol' Lexus. Pack it up and hit the road girls!

I'm very proud of Gabby as she got first place and got a nice gold medal in the Qualifying round. Her program was clean and her jumps as high as I have seen them. She skated to "Patch Adams" and her speed across the ice was very good. She really "looks" the part and brought several of the parents to tears. Not me. I'm immune to them now - well, not really. She has a way of looking the part and bringing the song out when she skates. Dorothy did a really great job of choreography in the program.

The final round, which took place the next day, did not go as planned. Gabby did not have a good warm up and it kind of went down from there. She was just out of whack. It's tough this skating thing. That's why it's called skating I guess.

If anything, it was a good experience for her. She had some setbacks and next time those happen again she'll know how to deal with them.

I am also very proud of her. She was one of the very few in our club who made it past the first round. A lot of our skaters did not make it past qualifying so not too shabby for her first regional competition.

The next events coming up are going to only get harder. Gabby and Bobby will be skating the Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Houston Galleria on November 10th at 6:30pm. Then, Gabby and Bobby will be skating in the Junior Nations in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Go Gabby Go! We believe in you!

Dad.