Feis Secrets

Today, we spent the day at the Utah State Feis with our beautiful daughters. I am so proud of them and all the hard work they put into being prepared for the competition.

This was Nicole's first Feis ever! After years of watching sisters compete, she finally got her shot! She did great! She competed in the Reel and the Light Jig. She tied for 2nd place in her Reel and received 4th in her Light Jig. Then she promptly removed her wig, her dress, and her shoes and assumed her usual role of hangin' out with Grandma.
Sariah's group was huge this year! Her Reel alone had almost 20 girls! It was her first dance of the day and she nailed it! Even with such steep competition, she walked away with a Fourth Place medal! She had a great day! Jade, one of her great friends from class, spent the day together dancing and laughing. What I am the most proud of her for was her willingness to step in for a fellow dancer. She danced the 3-Hand with Emily and Abby in a level 2 groups above her own. Even though she was in such an older group, she did awesome and her team won 3rd for that dance.
This year was fantastic for Emily. She has been working so hard with Irish. Her kicks have gotten really high and she can now stay high on her toes for the whole day. She looked beautiful while she was dancing. She took 3rd Place in the Light Jig, the Slip Jig, and the 3-Hand. She and her wonderful partner Grace also took 6th (in a very large group... I didn't even count!) for the 2-Hand. I think they were jipped! I don't usually complain about the judging, but Grace and Emily were fantastic. It gave me chills to watch them! They were perfectly in sync with one another. At one point, I was watching them from the profile, and it was like there was only one dancer. They were right together. The exact step, the exact placement of feet, the exact height on their toes and kicks. There leaps were wonderful and in perfect alignment. I thought for sure they would be in the top two even with so much competition. Grace's mom and I both felt this way, but our girls were such great sports about it! It was like they were being the example to us. I was also supper impressed with how responsible Emily is getting. We arrived at the Feis and for the first time, I was informed that there was one dance that she was to dance in shorts and a t-shirt instead of her dress. I was worried that we were unprepared, but she had been told in class what she needed and PACKED IT HERSELF! WOW! She is so proud of herself. And really excited, because her success means that she has moved up a level in all her dances except the Single Jig. This means she can now officially begin hardshoe and get fitted for her Team Dress! Go Em! You totally rock!
That leaves only my sweet little two-year-old. She was pretty great considering she had to wake up early and spend the entire day at the competition. When Nicole went to pick up her first trophy, Grace saw them all on the table and announced that she needed a trophy. Grandma took pity on the future dancer and awarded her the Shamrock Cup for the Under 3 Division. She carried the cup around all day calling it her Trophy Cup. She even had me take a picture of her with it!
I do have to say, she will make a beautiful Irish Dancer in just a few years.... when she can grow into the hair!
So now that the competition is over, the girls can rest.
Well for about a week... then back to practicing 100 minutes a week to prepare for Boise!

Pssst: I guess I should have told you the biggest secret. FEIS is pronounced fesh. Plural is Feiseanna. Just so you know :)