An evening at Zoolights

On December 17th, a few of the girls got together to go to Zoolights at the Phoenix Zoo. It was a fun-filled evening of wandering around an extremely crowded zoo. I was surprised by the crowd. At one point while we were walking down a path it was wall to wall people. Despite the crowd the girls had a great time just being together.

How about this picture for the next photogenic contest??
Tana, Brittany, Tiffany and Yara our adorable Princess Hostess

Christmas in the Park Parade

On December 9th, Andrea, Ally, Brittany, Samantha, Tiffany, and Brittany participated in the Christmas in the Park Parade in Litchfield Park. This is a yearly event that drew a larger crowd than I had expected.

The girls met in the morning to make a Happy Holidays sign for the truck.

We have found the easiest thing for seating to accomodate all the girls is to purchase straw bales. Of course we cover them with blankets or towels. Notice how the younger girls relax in the truck while Brittany's dad and the older queens (out of camera range) are decorating the truck.

This was one of the fastest moving parades I have ever been to, the girls were actually towards the beginning. They went by so fast I couldn't get a picture of them right in front of me, so instead I got their backs. They had a great time throwing candy canes to the people sitting in the crowd.

I finally got a picture of all the girls together and facing the camera after the parade was over. Back row: Brittany, Samantha, Brittany
Front row: Andrea, Tiffany, Ally

Brittany had another appearance to make at the Christmas in the Park with her school chorus. They perfomed parts of their Christmas musical. She was Mrs. Claus, this was her first time singing a solo in public. She did an amazing job.

You mean it's already over!

I can't believe how fast the week passed by, it didn't seem like we were there for a week. It really only seemed like a couple of days. It was such a fun experience for Brittany and I. She made new friends from across the United States, not to mention she created memories that will last a lifetime.

This was the amazing view that we had from our eighth floor room. We really enjoyed staying at the Hilton, we also enjoyed the room service!
Hanging out at the hotel waiting to go to the airport. We booked a later flight, so we wouldn't have to feel rushed in the morning. So we had a little bit of down time to just kick back and relax before heading home.
While waiting for our airport shuttle Brittany had the chance to say goodbye and congratulations to Samantha and Abby. Samantha is the National Sweetheart Victory and Abby is the National Princess Actress. Way to go girls!!

Nationals - Day 5

The morning dawned with interviews bright and early. I am always amazed that pageants start interviews so early in the morning, in this case 8:15. The girls barely have the sleep out of their eyes, and they are expected to answer questions one on one with a judge. Not to mention they have to look put together. Brittany showed up looking beautiful in her interview suit, while I dropped her off in my sweats. What a pair we made.

I kick myself that I didn't take pictures of Brittany with the other girls all dressed up in their interview suits. I was still to tired to think. I remembered to get these pictures after we had already gone back to the room. I had Brittany go back down to the lobby so we could find a nice photo spot.

These photos are of the production number during the optional finals. The outfits were actually really cute.

Nationals - Day 6

Pageant finale day!!

The day started with an hour-long production number rehearsal at 8am. Then it was a mad dash to the room to get ready for the eveningwear competition. The girls had an eveningwear dress rehearsal from 9:45-10:30. They walked through what the girls would be doing on stage for the competition.

The competition itself started at 10:30. Before the girls took the stage to be judged there was a parade of formal wear. All the girls walked across the stage in their beautiful gowns.


Brittany, Melanie, and Kristin all smiles after the formal wear competition.

Brittany, Kristin and Olivia in their production number outfits ready for the pageant finale to begin.

I was sitting a little farther back for the pageant finale, so the photo turned out darker. I had to lighten, hench it not being as good of quality as other photos.

Brittany didn't make top 15, which was her original goal. She is very proud of her performance at Nationals. She was also very excited because her friend Kristin was first runner-up! We did find out that she finished in 21st place. She was only 17 points away from top 15.

Brittany and Kristin ready to go to the sock hop.
After we finished eating at the sock hop, we left a little early to head to Downtown Disney with some of the other Arizona girls.
Brittany made a new friend that night, and no it's not Buzz Lightyear. She met Kassy from South Dakota. Tana and Tiffany had the pleasure of hanging out with her all week, we only had the pleasure for the evening. She is an amazing young woman and someone we are proud to call a friend.
The girls had a fun time pin shopping. They were looking for Disney pins that they could put on their banners. Josh couldn't resist jumping into the picture.
Still shopping for pins!
Tiffany, Brittany and Josh posing with a lego creation.
Which ones are the queens and which ones are the lego people??

Nationals - Day 4

Turkey Day!! Happy Thanksgiving.

The morning started with the modeling and speech competitions. Brittany was just doing the speech competition this morning. When we showed up at the starting time for her speech competition, the modeling was still going on...it ran a little long. When speech finally started I was surprised to find out that Brittany was contestant number one.
She did a wonderful job, even though she must have been nervous being the first contestant to go on stage. When she was finished she joined me in the audience and watched the rest of the contestants. All of the girls did such an amazing job, all I can say is I'm glad I didn't have to judge the competition.

We decided to spend the rest of our Thanksgiving Day at Animal Kingdom. It was weird not being at home cooking a turkey dinner.

When we walked towards the park we were greeted by a huge Christmas tree. It reminded me that my tree at home was still in a box waiting to be set up when we got home.

I was surprised how crowded the park was that day. As soon as we arrived we headed to Kilimanjaro Safaris for fastpasses. To our amazement the fastpasses were gone and the wait was 90 minutes. Since we didn't have a lot of time in the park we decided not to wait in line for that long. Instead we walked through the animal exhibit. The closest we came to Expedition Everest was looking at the Mountain. That ride was out of fastpasses as well, and had an extremely long wait too.

Brittany did have a fun time playing the carnival games in the Dino World area. She even won a new friend. Unfortunately our day at Animal Kingdom came to an end all too soon. We had to go back to the hotel for another production number rehearsal which started at 6:30.

We got back in time to see our roommates head out for Thanksgiving Dinner.

After Brittany's rehearsal we ordered room service for dinner. We decided not to attend the pageant Thanksgiving dinner, because we were worried about Brittany missing her dad and brother too much. We had a true Thanksgiving dinner the weekend after we returned home from Nationals.

Nationals - Day 3

Sweetheart Disney Day!!!!! No rehearsals or competitions, just a day of absolute fun with all the other Sweethearts at the Magic Kingdom. It had been arranged that all the girls would meet at 11 am for lunch and then a photo shoot in front of Cinderella Castle.
When Brittany and I arrived at the park it was just the two of us for a little while, so we wandered around getting the lay of the land. Being from Arizona, we have been to Disneyland on numerous occasions, but we had never been to Disney World. So we wandered around just taking in the sights. Brittany was really excited when we came across Liberty Square, since this is not at Disneyland. Being history buffs, we had to take a moment to pose for a picture by the Liberty Bell. The one down side to the day was the COLD! We were freezing, and the wind didn't help. I think the temperature was only in the low 60's that day.

Posing for a picture at the meeting spot.





Alexandra gave us the greatest gift in the goodie bags, it was a scarf. Brittany made good use of it at the Magic Kingdom.

The parents put together an impromptu photo shoot of the girls once everyone was there. It turned out pretty good, even if the castle wasn't behind them.

The parents got the girls to show off their royal waves.

The girls were then assembled in front of the castle for the official photo taken by the pageant photographer. The parents formed a "wall" to keep people from walking in front of the girls while the picture was being taken, so unfortunately my photo is taken from the side. After the photo was taken all the girls split up to roam around the park for a few hours. They were to meet again later to participate in the Main Street Family Fun Day Parade.

When the girls started assembling for the parade, we found another photo opportunity in front of the castle. This time I was able to get a picture with the castle in the background.

The girls were divided up for the parade and each group was assigned a different role.

Brittany would be using a tambourine during the parade.


Disney Cast Members showed the girls the routine for the parade and had them do a quick practice before they started.
Then the girls were off and marching towards Main Street!

It was a wonderful sight seeing all the girls coming down Main Street.


Pluto was a part of the parade with the girls. The parade ended with a patriotic flag waving. All the girls were lined up around the town square waving little flags. It was a great experience for all involved. After the parade the girls all split up and went their separate ways again. Brittany spent a good part of the day with the other Brittany from Arizona.


The highlight of Brittany's day was riding on Splash Mountain, that is her favorite ride. Of course we bought ponchos before we went on the ride, I didn't want to get wet, since it was cold. Brittany ended the day in the stockade at Liberty Square. What a nice way to end the evening.

Nationals - Day 2

Tuesday morning dawned bright and early with a rehearsal for the Awards Program at 8:45. The only problem for Brittany was I goofed and didn't properly set the cell phone alarm! We woke up at 8:30, she literally had 15 minutes to get ready to go downstairs for the rehearsal and awards ceremony. I felt so guilty because she didn't have enough time to eat breakfast. I didn't make the same mistake with the alarm for the rest of the week! The awards programs is where every girl receives a trophy for attending the National pageant. Each girl is photographed on stage with National Royalty and their trophy. It is actually very nicely done and it progressed rather quickly considering how many girls were in the Sweetheart division.

After the awards programs was over Brittany was finally able to relax after the frantic morning, not to mention she was able to eat. There were two production number rehearsals scheduled for the day the first was at 11:45 and the second was as 4:15. Between the rehearsals was the Gift Exchange/Cookie Party. This is a chance for all the girls to get to know each other and pass out gifts that they have put together to represent their states. Brittany enjoyed visiting with the other girls, but it was stressful for me finding stuff to fill 100 goodie bags. Unfortunately, we were short by three bags, so my advice is take 10 more bags than the projected number in your letter.

The evening concluded with the acting competition. This was a totally new experience for Brittany. At the state level all of the optionals are performed on stage, including acting. At Nationals, acting is done like the girls are actually trying out for a commercial. It is just the girl in the room with a green screen and a video camera. It was very strange for me as a parent because I didn't get to watch her performance. She really enjoyed the experience and can't wait to do it again.
Visiting with Miss Alaska, Leticiya
Miss New Jersey, Kayla. Who also did an awesome job in the speech competition!

At the time of the photo Stephanie was Miss Florida, but now she is also our National Sweetheart. Way to go!

New Jersey Sweetheart Cover Girl, Gabrielle

Once again posing with Miss Connecticut, Jasmyn

Miss Kansas Melanie, Brittany and Miss Michigan Darynn (who also is our National Speech winner - way to go!)

Miss Southern California Kristin - our National first runner up!!

Miss Scottsdale Brittany (also an Arizona girl!)

Miss Oklahoma Shaina, an absolute sweetie!

Nationals - Day 1

Our activities for the day didn't actually start until 2 pm with registration, so Brittany and I decided to use our morning time to visit EPCOT. This was the first time that either of us had ever been to Walt Disney World, so we planned on making the most of our trip. Even though we both felt a little guilty that the boys were still at home in Arizona. Of course with it being Thanksgiving week the park was very crowded and lines were very long. Brittany didn't get to ride on Test Track because the wait was 90 minutes and the fastpass return time was 3:30. We had to leave the park by 1:30 so the fastpass wasn't an option. Since we couldn't ride Test Track this time we decided to head over to World Showcase. We traveled the world in a matter of hours. It was so neat wandering around the different countries.
While we were in England, we ran into Andrea and her mom. Ironically, we were all headed towards the same phone booth for a photo!


One of Brittany's favorite countries was France. It is her dream to visit the real thing someday. Her only frustration was you can't get near the replica of the Eiffel Tower, it is behind a building.

One of the interesting things about World Showcase is Disney hires people from around the world to work there. It is so neat to visit with them for a few minutes. For example, the girl ringing up my purchases in "Germany" was actually from Dresden, Germany.

After our exciting time at EPCOT we returned to the hotel to get ready for Brittany's pageant registration. I was prepared for it to take a while, but they were so well organized that things ran very smoothly. We were finished in no time! While we were waiting in line Brittany met a number of girls from other states, she immediately bonded with Melanie from Kansas.

Brittany and Miss Connecticut Jasmyn

Later in the evening our pageant directors had a small reception for the girls from Arizona and Texas. Just to let them get together and bond before they started their different schedules for the week.

Ally, Brittany and Andrea ready for an exciting week of fun!

Heading to Nationals!

Early in the morning of November 19th, Brittany headed to Sky Harbor Airport for the flight to Orlando, Florida. It was a little rough leaving for the week because her dad and brother were staying at home. She was extremely worried about being homesick, since she had never been away from home for such a long time. She was also a little nervous about the flight to Orlando. Luckily, all went well, plus we had Tiffany and Andrea joining us on the flight! We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Ironically, with all the extra time we never took pictures of the girls together at the airport.

Brittany thought the clouds looked so neat out the window that she just had to take a picture.
As you can tell, all is well on the flight. She enjoyed it so much she can't wait to travel by air again. Especially since it is much faster than driving.
Another picture that Brittany took from the air.
Since most of the girls had the evening free of any pageant activities, we decided to go to Downtown Disney for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. A few of the girls did have to attend a reception for the pageant sorority, so while they were there, the rest of us decided to head over and get reservations. I think the wait was something like an hour and a half. So we wandered around Downtown Disney while we waited.
Brittany made a new friend at the Rainforest Cafe! After dinner we headed back to the hotel to begin the process of assembling the 100 goodies bags that we would be taking to Tuesdays gift exchange.