American Idol

Missy started singing before she knew how to speak.  She has always enjoyed music and has taught herself how to play both the piano and guitar by listening to notes.  Missy started to try-out for talent shows and church productions at the age of five.  Her elementary teacher nominated her for the Children's Coral and everyone who hears her sing tells her she has talent.  Unfortunately, soccer has competed for her attention.  Singing was placed on the back burner for many years.  Missy still sings, but it is done casually.  Recently, my mom informed me of a conversation that she had with Missy.  She told me that Missy thinks I only see her as a soccer player and not as a singer.  As a mom, my stomach dropped.  I didn't want her thinking that I didn't respect her talent.  I told her that I will help her pursue any dream she desires.  American Idol was coming to Denver, and Missy told me that she had always wanted to try-out.  She just turned 15 and was now able to attend the auditions, so we decided to give it a shot.  Our schedule started off with a month of rehearsals, singing to small audiences, and figuring out more about the show (I had never watched an episode before getting her ready for the auditions.)   

Day of registration:  We arrived at Invesco Field at 3:00 in the morning to get a chance to register.  Registration started at 7:00 and due to our early arrival, Missy made it through!

Day of auditions:  We arrived at Invesco at 4:00 and started production at 7:00 am.  Missy was enthralled with the talent and personalities that surrounded her.  Many who saw her thought she was too young to try-out, many gave her kudos for being brave enough to go through the experience, and many enjoyed her voice.  Finally 8:30 rolled around and it was time for auditions.  She was trying out against Disney experts and 6,000 other hopefuls.  Missy was placed in groups of four.  Each member was asked to step forward and start singing.  Missy didn't make it to the final 10, but the judges spoke directly to her (doesn't usually happen.)  They told her that she had an amazing voice, but that she looked a little young for what they were going for this year.  When she walked toward me at the end of her audition, I couldn't be more proud to have a daughter who is confident in herself, who was able to look fear in the face in order to conquer it, and who was able to follow a dream.  As she reached me, I hugged her tight and told her how much I admired her.  We both shed a few tears, and then came the cameras.  Being camera shy, I quickly tried to dodge them, but Missy embraced the moment.  She spoke well and informed them that she gave it her all, but it wasn't enough this time around.  Missy also told them she would be back.  After we got into the car she told me she wasn't sure if this was her dream any longer.  She wanted to try-out for some local competitions before tackling American Idol again.  Missy was thankful to have experienced this moment, and it was a wonderful experience for the both of us to have in our pocket of mother and daughter moments.  Thanks to everyone who supported her.  I believe this is why she is who she is today! 

Fun photos from the experience:

Morning of auditions-staying true to herself, not getting too glammed up!

 


Just made it into Invesco...heading for our seats.



 

Waiting for auditions.

 

Audition Tents



 

Fun personalities...



 <> 

<> 

The crowds seemed endless.

 

A few hours, turned into a day's journey!

As many of you know, I am directionally challenged.  Being native to Colorado, you might think I would know my way around better than most.  Unfortunately my family has endured many journeys due to my lack of knowledge on the roads.  If it isn't 10 minutes from home, I'm bound to get lost.

Our journey began...I decided to take the girls over Trail Ridge Road thinking it would be a fun experience for a girls day out.  I started off by getting the directions needed to get us to Trail Ridge Road.  We enjoyed the views, listened to music, played roadside games, and had great conversation.  As we were going over the pass, we were able to view beautiful elk and moose.  We were also fortunate to see an eagle's nest.  Our packed lunch was perfect, and the abundance of water set off a beautiful sound in the background.  Everything seemed perfect...then we started to leave the park.  I didn't think about getting home, only about how to get there.  Rob has always gone with me, and I guess I have taken his keen ability to find his way around for granted.  I came out of the pass and realized I was not in Estes Park...not knowing what to do, I just followed the traffic.  This brought me to Granby.  I'm not prideful, so I called to get directions to Denver.  It was suggested that I either turn around or head toward Berthoud Pass.  So off I went heading for Berthoud Pass, but as I was approaching this destination, flashing lights explained that the pass was closed.  Now I started to get a little frantic.  I held my composure, singing with the girls, playing more roadside games, and thinking, "Where in the heck am I?"  Some men who were working on the road explained to me that I would have to go back to Granby, and then to Kremmling, in order to take highway nine; this would lead me to Denver.  Every word that came out of their mouths sounded foreign to me, but they made it sound easy enough.  Not wanting to look as if I had no clue, I headed toward Kremmling not knowing that it was located in no where’s land!  To make a very long story short, what started off as a few hour drive turned into a day's worth of driving.   As we started to see civilization that looked familiar (took 6 hours), Missy turned to me and said, "Mom, I think I have seen enough mountains to last me a lifetime!"  We laughed and are still laughing about how our three hour trip turned into an eight hour drive.  We were up in Aspen last weekend, and the kids preferred Rob to be at the wheel...I have no idea why!

Missy got a few shots:

Jessie running from a snowball!



The wildlife was beautiful.



Mountains, mountains, and more mountains-ugh!



More natural beauty, but no sign of civilization.





Go Rockies!

Opa has a love for baseball, and is determined to share this passion with his grandkids.  My kids have been attending games since they have been a year old.  Opa shares the ins and outs of the game, while Oma is good for sharing the goodies the ball game has to offer (shopping, food, people watching, oh...there's the game too!)  The kids get the best of both worlds, and truly enjoy the experience. 





Cameron, Devyn, Missy, and Jessie ready for the game.

 

Too many in attendance is never enough...



 

.

 

<>

Good times...adding to the memory collection.