Spelling Bees

Grant and Aubrey both studied to participate in their respective spelling bees again this year, and they both qualified. Greg told them, once again, that he would help them study if they wanted his help. Aubrey memorized every word on the list, and Grant learned most of his list. Greg took a day off work to watch again and was very glad he did. Grant got all the way to the end of the 1st/2nd grade competition and won! We laughed and shook our heads each time he spelled a word correctly and laughed some more when he won the whole thing.  He had studied, but he hadn't been super diligent. It was so much fun to be there and see him win. He received quite the trophy, too. :)

Aubrey felt more pressure (not from us!), as she was the defending champion. She had studied and done as much as she could to prepare, so we assumed she'd do well. We didn't necessarily expect her to be in the final two, though! It went back and forth between them, and in the end the other kid won. Aubrey was disappointed, of course, but we were so proud of her and especially proud of how gracious she was in defeat. As soon as Mason spelled his word correctly and was declared the winner, Aubrey gave him a high-five and told him good job. Then she came back to where we were sitting and shed a few tears as we hugged her. She recovered pretty quickly and accepted the congratulations and hugs from her friends and her teacher. These spelling bees are so intense and emotional! I love seeing the students cheering on their classmates and supporting their friends so enthusiastically. We were secretly hoping for a 2nd place finish, since the regional spelling bee was scheduled for the same weekend as Joel's state basketball tournament in Bend. So, it all worked out--another student was able to experience the regional spelling bee, and our family was able to all go to Bend together. The Moffats dominated in the spelling bees at East Orient this year!