Miss America 3/52

Last weekend the girls and I gathered around the TV for a first in my adult life.  We were going to watch the Miss America pageant.  I have never been a big fan of pageants, but we were a little vested in this one.  We knew a girl that was going to be in it, so for us, it changed everything.  Not only did we know her, but we had also researched her competition, and had found four girls that we would be cheering on.  So, on January 12th with excitement, we all watched and rooted on Miss Alabama, Miss New York, Miss Alaska, and Miss Montana.  Of course Miss Montana immediately captured my heart when I found out she was autistic.  Three of our four made it to the top 15, then there were just two, then it was down to hoping for just Miss New York to win.....and by golly, she did.  We couldn't believe that our little Mallory was now Miss America!  I still wish she had been representing Alabama, but just the same, we are so proud of her!   This created so much excitement for the girls.  

So now, everyday after school, Noelle does Hope's hair and makeup and gives her "pageant lessons."  After learning about Miss Montana, Noelle has a dream that Hope could be the first Miss America contestant who is mentally challenged.  They are having a blast doing pageant school every day.

I told Noelle that she needs to start working on the interview portion now.  That would seem to be our biggest problem.  While I am still no fan of anything that puts that much emphasis on beauty, I am having fun watching Hope and Noelle bond with their afternoon routine.  Who knows, what the future will bring though.  We sure never expected to see Mallory take the big crown and she did.  It was her dream and she dared to chase it!  That is one thing I hope each of my kids do.  I know that God has a path for them and I am hoping that each of them dares to follow those God given desires.