Skills USA 2012

I decided that I was too far behind to finish blogging about all of the little things that took place at the end of the school year. Although the kids had fun with their puppet shows and the spelling bee, I'm moving on to summer and hoping that one day I'll be organized enough to stay on top of this.

When Ben won first place at the UVU Skills competition I wasn't really that surprised, just proud and excited that so many people could have the opportunity to witness his talent. Then when he won first place at state I had a more selfish reason to be excited, I got to go with him to nationals in Kansas City. Six whole days with my sweetheart! We were so lucky that Grandma and Grandpa Grimstead were so willing to watch their grandchildren and the kids were even more excited about the extended sleepover than I was about the trip. 

We flew out on a Saturday, on Sunday and Monday Ben had a couple written tests to take and he was able to walk around the competition floor to get a better idea what he would be doing. The stress was a little much for Ben, but I think that my being there with him helped him to relax, even if it was just a little bit. It was also a big help that Ben's professor was with us, he's been there several years in a row and knew what was expected. Tuesday was the actual competition for Ben it started first thing in the morning and didn't end until late afternoon.

I took several pictures of Ben during the competition since it's open for people to come and watch. It was a long and tiring day, mostly for Ben he was pretty well exhausted by the end.

 This was my favorite station, he had that thing assembled before most of the other guys in his rotation had even started.

The next day we had time for a little sight seeing and fun, we made it over to Liberty Jail and stopped to see the new Kansas City Temple.

Later that day we went to a Kansas City Royals baseball game. It was fun, but not something I would be in a huge hurry to do again, we just aren't big sports fans. They did have a pretty cool fountain though.

 It just about killed Ben that he had to wait all day to find out the results of his competition. It didn't matter how many times we told him that he did great, he wouldn't believe us until they read his name. He won second place, at a national competition I would say that is pretty good. I was so glad that I was there with him it will be great to look back on.

Ben and Me right after he won his silver medal

Ben with his adviser Kelvin Blackhurst

This is what we saw when we got back to Eureka to pick up the kids, they also drew pictures for him that were hanging up inside. We have great kids and I'm so glad that they are just as proud of their dad as I am.

All of the winners received prizes from several sponsors. Here is Ben with his prizes from Mac tools. This was definitely Ben's favorite part of the whole thing, but I'm pretty sure it had just as much to do with the competition being over and being back home as it did the new tools.

I'm so proud of my sweetie, it's been fun to brag about him and to have so many people recognize just how talented he really is.