SHE DID IT AGAIN!!

Yesterday Cheyenne competed in the Cochise County Spelling Bee, and won it for the second year in a row! It was actually her third competition at the county level--in 2008 (fifth grade) she came in 3rd place, last year she won it, and this year she won again. Here's how it went down:

Round 1: Cheyenne was #8. She spelled "Capricorn." 10 spellers were eliminated.

Round 2: Cheyenne spelled "acronym." 4 more were eliminated.

Round 3: Cheyenne spelled "clapboard." 2 spellers went out.

Round 4: Cheyenne spelled "adjacent." 5 more spellers down.

Round 5: Cheyenne spelled "kitsch." 2 more eliminated.

Round 6: Cheyenne spelled "vigilante." 1 speller down.

Round 7: Cheyenne spelled "cachet." 2 spellers went out, leaving only herself and an 8th grader.

The two of them went back and forth for 9 more rounds!! Cheyenne's words were "amicable," "barrio," "samurai," "ghoul," "peloton," "allegro,"
"impetuous," "epiphany," and "camphor." In the 16th Round, her opponent missed "azimuth." Cheyenne's final word was "precocious," and she spelled it right and won! She will go to the State Spelling Bee at ASU campus in Tempe on March 27. Last year she came in at #11--hopefully she'll do better this year.

The story was in the Sierra Vista Herald this morning--here it is.

By Adam Curtis
Herald/Review
SIERRA VISTA — After one of the most heated one-on-one battles in recent memory, a precocious smile widened across St. David seventh-grader Cheyenne Davis’ face as she heard the final word she would have to spell and realized that she was going to win the Cochise County Spelling Bee for the second year in a row.

“I knew that word, I studied that one really hard, so it’s just kind of funny I got that one,” Davis said. The final word was “precocious,” an appropriate description for a student who exhibited a competitive maturity beyond her years by outlasting San Simon Middle School eighth-grader Cody Nguyen in a 17-round marathon at Buena High School on Saturday.

After beating out the largest field of competitors in the last four years, the two young spellers nailed eight words each before Nguyen finally found his match in the word, “azimuth.” “I never heard of azimuth. I don’t think I even studied it,” Nguyen said. He had been poring over 50 words a day for the past month in preparation for the competition, though he admitted the homonyms were the trickiest part because he did not study the definitions closely.

His brother, Justin, placed third in the county spelling bee last year, even though he only had one week to study because he was his school’s runner up and the winner dropped out shortly before the competition, said Christine Nguyen, their mother. Cody did most of the work on his own and had to learn a list of between 1,200 and 1,500 words for the spelling bee. “He did an excellent job,” Christine said. “I feel that he had some very long words with many letters throughout the entire competition.”

Cody did a fantastic job, making an always nerve-racking experience even more intense, said Braden Davis, Cheyenne’s father. “When it came down to those two, I thought it could go either way.”

“I can’t breathe when she’s up there, I just hold my breath until she’s done,” said Melanie Davis, Cheyenne’s mother. She could tell Cody had studied a lot and ultimately luck plays a big factor, especially when it’s that close.

Melanie had made her flash cards that she studied throughout the day as she walked around, Cheyenne said. She placed 11th out of 27 at the state competition last year and plans on studying a little more so she can do even better this year when she competes in Phoenix on March 27. “She spells much better than me, that’s for sure,” Braden said. “We sometimes have little spelling competitions at home and she creams us.”

There were several words he would have misspelled on Saturday but his daughter was ready, Braden said. “Kitsch, I would have missed that one.” That was a word Cheyenne actually kept misspelling at home because she kept adding an “e” to the end of it, she said.

“We’re extremely proud of her,” Braden said. “Being around spelling bees for awhile, since she’s been doing this, I find myself rooting for everybody, I don’t want anybody to miss a word that they know.” It’s all right if they miss a word that just "kicks their tail" but he feels bad if they know the word but just miss it because their nerves get to them, Braden said.

Cheyenne had to beat out her younger sister to get the county bee this year and will face her in her school competition again next year.

Up to Date

Okay... I've posted a few different entries (most recent on top), and I'll use this one to try and catch up. If you want to read them chronologically, just scroll down (might have to click on "older posts") and start with the first (bottom) Feb. 1 entry.


The holidays were fun as usual... lots of time with family. I love my family. :) It was a little weird and sad without Grandpa here, but I know that if it is possible, he was definitely with us at our family gatherings, watching the grandkids and enjoying every minute just like before. It was fun having Brittany and Joe here for Christmas... Brittany even helped us play "Santa." She and I built a train around the Christmas tree while Braden assembled Cheyenne's new drum set. I always sleep a little easier when they're here--it's such a blessing to have my family together under one roof now and then.



For New Years, Braden & I went to San Diego with Teri & Tracy (my sister & brother-in-law). We went to the Holiday Bowl and watched the UofA Wildcats get annihilated by the Nebraska Huskers... while sitting in a light drizzly rain throughout the whole game. It was fun though, and I LOVE San Diego! I already have a San Diego trip planned for our family this summer, hopefully Brittany & Joe can come too.



Then the kids went back to school. It was hard to start back again--the vacation didn't seem long enough for me. They weren't all too happy either. But it's been a month now and so far so good.


Oh I forgot... before the holidays, Logan was on a basketball team! At this age they don't keep score, but they did really well. At one game, Logan even made a tie-breaking basket right as the buzzer signaled the end of the game! Very exciting. He currently goes to a neighbor's house for basketball lessons after school on Mondays and Tuesdays, and he's gearing up for baseball (coach pitch) in a couple of months. It's so fun to see him play so many different sports at such a young age.



Okay I think that's all the high points of the last several months... I will try to keep this more current. Just for you, Shalyn! heehee :)

Rest In Peace, Dad.... Herman P. Young, 2/13/24 - 9/13/09

The next entry isn't very happy.. my dad passed away on September 13 of last year. He died at home, apparently of a massive heart attack or possibly a stroke, we're still not really sure. It was hard at first -- Braden and I were there when it happened (he had fallen and Mom called to have us come help him), and my brother Steve was there too. They were trying to help him up but that's when his heart stopped and he was gone. They tried CPR, and when the ambulance came they tried for a while too, but it was over. I don't like to re-live that afternoon so I'll skip over it, other than to say it was overwhelming how many people came to help and give love and support that evening and the following few days. All our family was together that week and we all drew closer, and the funeral was perfect. It was actually a nice reunion, with family and friends we hadn't seen in a long long time. We all miss my dad, but we're so grateful for the knowledge we have that we will see him again and that he is in a better place, watching over all of us.

Moving on...

The next thing I guess would be football season.

First -- Logan played quarterback, center, and defensive end for his Benson Bobcats Youth Football team. It's his first year playing football, and since he's only 6 he plays Flag instead of Tackle. (They don't get to tackle until they're 8.) His team did really well -- they only lost one game and won seven. Logan himself had one touchdown run and several TD passes. Such a good athlete already and he loves it.

Madison was involved in football as well -- as a cheerleader for the Benson Mighty Mites. Cheering is one of her favorite things and she made some good friends. She perfected her cartwheels and learned some "flying" stunts (lifts onto the shoulders, etc.) with the other girls. Her squad participated in a Cheer Competition and though they didn't place, they worked very hard and did a really good job.

Cheyenne was involved too -- but not with a team. She's become quite accomplished on the saxophone and enjoyed playing in the pep band for the high school games. She's only in 7th grade and has been playing since just last year, but is good enough to be in the Advanced Band and loves it. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of her playing in the band... not sure how I missed that!

But here's Taryn ... with her awesome quarterback cousin, Tyler. They're both sophomores. Taryn helped choreograph several of the dances for her squad and just looked so cute out there!

Hello again!

Well, I kinda stopped updating this blog because I didn't think anyone was following it and I was duplicating my efforts on Facebook anyway, BUT I recently found out that I do actually have a follower (hi Shalyn!!) so decided that was a good enough reason to keep it going.

And now it's been almost a year and I don't know where to start. Maybe where I left off. Our Spelling Bee champ (Cheyenne) won the school spelling bee for the THIRD time last month, and will be going to the county Bee on Feb. 20 to defend her title. Hopefully she'll get another shot at the State Bee and do better than she did last year. If not that's okay -- she has one more chance next year as an 8th grader.

Now to try and catch up .... So many things happened last year! I should probably do a separate entry for each of them... I'll start with Brittany's wedding! She married Joseph Michael Knight, from Benson. His sister Summer is our Taryn's best friend, and a few years ago they decided to set Brittany and Joe up so they could be sisters. We didn't think anything would come of it, and Brittany didn't seem interested... until she went off to college, and Joe was there, and things just sorta fell into place. We all love Joe -- he has been an answer to prayer and they are very happy together. And so cute! Here's another picture.

There are many MANY other pictures on my FaceBook profile -- or if you're not one of my FB friends, you can see them in our PicasaWeb photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/btcml53872.

Finally something else...

First of all, to update in case there's still someone who doesn't know, Cheyenne went to the State Spelling Bee on March 28 and was the 17th one down... and there were 10 kids left when she went out in the 9th round. Which means she made it better than halfway, which is pretty good! She went out on the word "noisome" -- she left off the "e". She was disappointed because she had seen that word before, just didn't realize it until she heard it spelled correctly. We were very proud of her anyway, just for getting there!

On to more recent things... it's getting close to the end of the school year, which means lots of things going on!

First of all, look at this cutest little "Tiger" .... Logan is playing in the Coach Pitch division of Little League this year and is doing very well. He loves it. He's number 11. :) Braden is the coach, and I've been keeping score for the team... so far I think we've won 3 games, lost 1 and tied 1. They play every Tuesday and Thursday for the next couple of months.

Last night I took the girls to EAC to see Spring Sing. Brittany is in A Cappella Choir and they are AMAZING!! It was an awesome show, as always. Tonight Braden & Logan will go -- we had to split it up this week because Taryn can't go tonight and the boys couldn't go last night.

Taryn is in a musical theatre production this weekend and next weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing that... she says it's pretty good.

We'll be going back over to EAC Monday night for Brittany's band concert, and Tuesday night Logan is in a Spring performance at the school. Then we're down to the final few crazy weeks, featuring Madison in "Wizard of Oz," Taryn's Show Choir Concert, Cheyenne's Band Concert, and ending up with Logan's Kindergarten graduation. :)

In just a couple of weeks, Brittany will be moving back home for the summer. She hopes to get a job and take some summer classes. We're working on getting the house expanded, and it would be nice if we could have it done soon so she can have her own room.... we're just waiting on our re-fi loan to come through so we can get started.

Okay... that's enough for today.

My Dumb Kid, Part 2

Well, she did it!! The Cochise County Spelling Bee was held last Saturday, Feb. 14, at Buena High School in Sierra Vista. Cheyenne went up against 31 other students, and came out on top, just like we thought she would!

The group was cut in half after the first round (seems like that's usually how it goes), then down to 6 in the second round, and 3 after the third. All three of them misspelled their words in the fourth round, so got to repeat that round, and one more went out. In the fifth round, it was down to Cheyenne and one other, who missed his word. She then needed to spell a final Championship Word, which she did correctly, to win First Place.

Her words were:

1: plateau
2: cavalry
3: bravura
4-a: kremlin - misspelled "cremlin"
4-b: sequin
5: alcohol
Championship Word: "musicale".

So proud of our little WORD NERD! :) The Cochise County superintendent, Trudy Berry, was there to present her with a trophy, and a $100 cash prize! It was a very exciting day. It was made even better because our whole family was there to cheer her on -- plus Brittany brought her friends Joe and Brooke, and both grandpas and Grandma Dorothy and Aunt Valerie were there as well.

She also got front page coverage in the Sierra Vista Herald, with a big picture of her with Madison and Taryn and Brooke.

She will go on to the State competition in Phoenix next month.