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© February 2001 GirlsGymnastics.com
12:01 a.m. December 6,
2000.
Hollie Vise was waiting for
that moment her entire life. That's when she turned 13.
"It feels cool (to be a
teenager)," she says. "I've been waiting a long time. I don't know (why), just
to be able to say you're a teenager."
Hollie says her life has
remained the same - no new privileges or monumental changes. Still, she's
thrilled.
Family and friends showered
her with her favorite gifts: Clothes, make-up and Bath and Body Works lotions
and soaps.
Hollie celebrated with her
traditional sleepover with her 14 of her closest friends. Many of the guests
were fellow gymnasts at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Plano, Texas - Nikki
Childs, Stephanie Gentry, Kaitlin White, Lindsey Vanden Eykel, Brittany Talbert
and Lauren Kondikoff.
The crew started the evening
with dinner at the Golden Corral, a buffet-style restaurant. Then they headed to
Hollie's house in Dallas to dance to hip hop and rap. They stayed up until about
2:30 a.m. After a breakfast of bagels, it was time to go to gym for an hour of
conditioning.
The highlight of the evening?
It came at about midnight when the girls set out on an adventure, scouring the
neighborhood for a house to "wrap." They settled on the house of one of her
brother's friends. The girls went to work re-decorating the outside of the house
with toilet paper. They threw rolls into trees and over branches, wrapped it
around poles and scattered it all over the ground. In 30 minutes, they polished
off 60 rolls.
Custom has it that Hollie
returns to the scene of the crime to clean up. Hollie's wrapping tradition
started with her mother, who did it on birthdays when she was growing up. Now,
Hollie's parents and grandparents play vital roles in the antics. They provide
transportation, including get-away vehicles, and they serve as T.P.
assistants.
"They usually just hand us
the toilet paper so we can go faster," Hollie says.
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