Johnson County spelling bee

Well, today was the big county spelling bee for Spencer. The whole family (minus Lucy) went in support. Spencer did a great job. He came in seventh in his session of 27 kids grades 3-8.

Some of the words were pretty challenging like: whippoorwill, ingot, cynosure, orthogonal. Each candidate only spelled 1-5 words total. So, it was really the luck of the draw, which word you got. Some were really easy, others very difficult. One of Spencer’s words was “prerogative”, which he had missed when studying with Brad, so he remembered to put that first “r” in.

Spencer did a great job of pronouncing the word back, asking appropriate questions, like the language of origin, definition, or use of the word in a sentence. The word that stumped him was recognizance. He repeated the word back, tried to figure it out on his palm, then looked up with a quick smile and shrug, and made his best guess.

The look up and shrug gesture reminded Brad and I of when he was in a ward talent show as a five year old, performing a magic trick that went awry. He just looked up and shrugged like “oh well”, but kept his composure and continued. The spelling bee was the same type of deal. He didn’t get all bent out of shape about losing. We were so proud of him and just happy to be there, supporting our boy. I think he was the only elementary student left in the round.

It was funny to hear Sawyer and Charlie on the way to the spelling bee saying things like, “I don’t think you’re going to win Spencer. I don’t think you’ll go to the regional competition. I don’t think you’ll win, but you won’t be the first one out either.” Thanks for the vote of confidence guys.

I got a little teary eyed when they asked the parents to leave their kiddos and take a seat in the other room just as the spelling bee was about to begin. I gave Spencer one last hug and wished him well. As I exited the room, my eyes suddenly welled up with tears for no apparent reason, just a mixture of nervousness, pride, exhilaration, for my boy. I’m sure the tears will only get bigger as he approaches other milestones like college, mission, marriage, fatherhood, etc. We feel so grateful to have Spencer as a son. He brings so much joy to our lives.