Bridget and Handsome showed in the OFEA Crazy Ribbon horse show at the Yamhill County Fairgrounds this Saturday, where they won most of their classes in the morning en route to the English 14-17 Division High Point. Dad missed that part, but did manage to get some videos of the Western classes in the afternoon:
Tor spent a lot of time on stage at the Monticello Middle School Evening of Excellence, being recognized for the following awards: September Student of the Month, Outstanding Achievement in the Qualities of a Successful Student, Academic Excellence, Math i-Ready Diagnostic Growth, and Reading i-Ready Diagnostic Growth:
We celebrated Jillian’s 18th and Tor’s 13th birthdays at our house with family and friends on a Wednesday night. It was a light dinner fare of sandwiches and snacks, and brownies and ice cream for dessert:
Jillian received lots of kitchen items for her stay at Olympic College:
and Tor received lots of items from his Christmas wish list.
As always, it was a fun and relaxing time to visit with everyone:
After a tough loss against Kalama, the Monticello Mustangs came back strong against Huntington, winning 43-38. They were down 4 in the fourth quarter, then applied a full-court press to come back. There was a big rooting section for Tor, including Uncle Kevin and Aunt Julie:
Here’s a video clip of Tor hitting a clutch 3 at the end of the game:
Jillian made a verbal commitment to go to Olympic College in Bremerton, Washington, where she will play volleyball and run track!
She let the volleyball coach (Coach Martin) and the track coach (Coach Austin) know last week that she would accept their scholarship offers to compete for them. Next, she’ll sign a formal letter of intent … which will take place at a public ceremony at RA Long High School.
Jillian travelled with her Cowlitz 18-1 Black Volleyball Team to Dallas, Texas for the AVCA Qualifier. Mom went with her, flying in on Thursday and staying until Sunday. It was an up-and-down weekend with several sick players, so the team didn’t fare as well as they are used to, but Jillian performed reliably as always.
Not a lot of pics, but here’s a bunch of short video clips:
Bridget got her learner’s permit a couple weeks ago, and with her first drive with an instructor coming up next week, it was time to head to the Monticello Middle School parking lot for some practice. We used the Chevy Impala since the Hyundai Sonata was elsewhere. This drive was just steering and braking … it was “boring” according to Bridget, who wants to get out on the road and go fast.
Bridget is taking an on-line driver’s ed course through Aloha Driving Schools, which has a branch in Kelso - she has a Zoom class 3 days a week for 5 weeks, along with 6 instructional drives.
Bridget went to the RA Long Winter Ball dance on Friday night at the RAL cafeteria. Although she didn’t care for the music selection, she said it was a better dance than homecoming, so she stayed for the entire thing until 11 pm.
Before the dance, she went to Sweet Spot with her classmates Audra and Hailey.
Tor is playing for the Monticello Mustangs 7th Grade Basketball team with a lot of his tournament teammates. He is the point guard, so he provides much of the ball-handling and distribution, along with the usual tough defense … and of course shooting and rebounding. He had a fan base in attendance, including the little Johnson cousins:
Here’s a video clip of Tor hitting a 3-pointer in the second half:
Jillian and Dad drove up to Bremerton this evening to join the Olympic College volleyball team for a practice, and so that Coach Martin could see Jillian play. She fit right in with the girls there, and her abilities provided a lot of help to their team. Afterwards, the coach offered Sweetie Pie a scholarship, along with a partial grant, and a bit of extra money, saying she liked what she saw and would love to have her join them.
The team is heavy with sophomores, and they have several 6 footers, along with one other setter and several back-row players (including a recruit that was also there).
The Monticello Boys Basketball team coaches require their players to dress in slacks, button-up and tie for school on the day of games, so Tor and Dad made a quick run to JC Penney yesterday and found this outfit:
Bridget and Handsome had a successful start to their WAHSET season with Battleground High School, earning the following placements:
1st - Hunt Seat Equitation
2nd (Team) - Western Versatility
3rd - Stock Seat Equitation
3rd - Trail Equitation
4th - Showmanship
4th (Team) - In-hand Obstacle Relay
11th - In-hand Trail
Mom and Bridget got to cheer on the Tigers as they performed:
Grandma Cindy helped with transportation and support:
Here’s Bridget with teammate Kate and Coach Cori:
And a clip from the 1st place Hunt Seat Equitation class:
Bridget and Handsome competed in the WAHSET (Washington High School Equestrian Team) Meet #1 for the Battle Ground High School team at the Grays Harbor Fairgrounds in Elma, Washington this past weekend. They competed in the events shown on her poster:
The WAHSET meets are 3-day affairs, and with haul-in and haul-out, she got out of school on Thursday and Friday. Aunt Dany and Mom stayed with her, sleeping over in the horse trailer. Results will be posted separately, but here’s some pics and a short video clip:
Jillian, Tor and Dad went to Castle Rock to celebrate Aunt Julie’s birthday with chili, rolls and brownies and ice cream (Bridget and Mom were at WAHSET). We got lots of Kenny, Rory and G-Bob time.
The party was a bit after Mom’s actual birthday due to a heavy volleyball and horse show schedule, but we squeezed it into a weekday, featuring pizza, pop, brownies and ice cream, and of course, some old family videos from 2018.
Lots of family showed up, including Aunt Karen and Cousin Julie.
Bridget made a quick transition from horse riding to volleyball when her Cowlitz 16-1 Black team played at the Portland Expo Center on Sunday. Despite the team’s struggles getting wins, Bridget had a solid day of hitting and blocking:
Meanwhile, Jillian and Tor went to Kelso High to watch Adam play basketball with his Warriors team:
Bridget and Handsome went to the OFEA Crazy Ribbon Schooling Show in Yamhill with Aunt Dany and Mom, and did very well, winning many classes in both her age division and the open. Her prize was a lot of “crazy” ribbons, which are recycled ribbons from previous shows. Here’s Bridget wearing her new chaps in a Western class:
It was a packed show, with most classes containing 20+ riders, which meant it also took a long time to complete them. Bridget and Mom didn’t get home until 11 pm.
Here’s a bonus clip of an English class: