Meet the Fab 5 / The Whitear sisters thoroughly enjoyed the'America's Got Talent' ride

The Whitear sisters of Morgan County, cheered on by millions as the Fab 5 cloggers of NBC's "America's Got Talent," love to tell a story about how they first discovered dance:

"We used to get fliers for different kinds of classes," said Cambria Whitear Gibson, 29, of Peterson. "Once we asked our mother about why we didn't take any classes, so she told us we could.

"The very next flier that arrived was for a clogging class. It could have been for anything. It just happened to be for clogging."

Hmm. So the sisters could have been the Fab 5 karate team, cartwheeling tumblers, or even cake-decorating pros?

"We're pretty happy with clogging," Gibson said, with a laugh.

In addition to Gibson, the Whitear sisters are Veva Ahlstrom, 24, of Mesa, Ariz.; Ayrion Myers, 31, Peterson; Shaundalee Morgan, 33, Burley, Idaho; and LaChere Vawdrey, 35, Pocatello, Idaho. They all came home to the family farm in Peterson a few weeks back for an extended family reunion, and to rehearse for some upcoming dance performances in Idaho.

Four of the sisters own or teach at dance studios. All have husbands and children. The women set aside their busy home and work lives for much of last summer to travel to Hollywood for the competitive reality show, matching their talents against those of amateur comedians, singers, ventriloquists, ballet dancers and what have you, for a shot at a $1 million prize.

Voters took the high-energy Fab 5 as far as the Top 10 finals. Judge David Hasselhoff dubbed the women "hot mamas" after an adrenaline-pumping firefighter-themed dance performed in perfect unison. Judge Sharon Osbourne said she could envision the power cloggers in a Las Vegas show, since Vegas had supported Riverdance in the past.

And winning would have been nice.

But the sisters' consensus is there is no place like home.

"It was so good to come back," Vawdrey said. "My little 5-year-old said, 'Mom, I'm so sad you didn't win a million dollars, but I'm so glad to have you home.' That's the best part, being back home with my kids and getting a little back to normalcy."

The highlight of the women's Hollywood experience was not the glamor or the fame.

"The best time was spending time with my sisters and my mom," Ahlstrom said. "We literally just had hours and hours of fun together, and a lot of hard work, but family is what I enjoyed the most. There's nothing better than having a great experience and being able to share it with your family."

Going for it

It was Ahlstrom who talked her sisters into sending "America's Got Talent" an audition tape.

"My youngest sister, Veva, wanted to do it, and my oldest sister, LaChere, got everything lined up," Myers said. "We felt like we didn't have anything to lose. Why not try?"

Out of thousands who auditioned, the Fab 5 was among a few dozen acts that made the cut and was invited to compete in Las Vegas, advancing to the semifinals in Hollywood. The sisters kept moving onward, wowing judges and earning audiences' ovations with dances that had marching band and circus themes.

The sisters said the people they met, from choreographers and directors to fellow contestants, were friendly, helpful and supportive.

"We got to meet a lot of really nice people and really fun people," Myers said.

One thing they never managed to do was play tourist in the glamorous city. The sisters found themselves rehearsing when they weren't at costume fittings or doing run-throughs on stage.

"We never got to see Hollywood at all," Gibson said.

And group rehearsals weren't what the women expected, either, Vawdrey said.

"We thought there would be more places to practice provided, and we ended up practicing on the street curb for hours on end," she said. "There were some difficult challenges, but it was well worth it. We just got really close as a family, and as sisters."

After pouring every bit of energy into each synchronized dance, critiques came next.

"The worst part was always judgment time, I think, because you gave your hundred percent, and you never knew what the judges would say, and you never knew what America would like," Gibson said. "But we usually had pretty positive feedback, so it gave us more confidence."

Dancing on a multilevel stage that could shoot smoke and fire, with cameras spinning and swooping to catch overhead shots, was a fantasy experience, Myers said.

"They had to spend thousands, hundreds of thousands, on that stage," she said. "We will never have a stage like that again in our whole life."

Being on "America's Got Talent" was intense, and a bit surreal, Morgan said.

"It was really fun to be able to go back and watch the tapes, and see that we really were on TV, because when you are there, you don't really feel like you are on television, then you go home and you see it, and you're like, 'Oh my gosh, we really were there.' "

Home, sweet home

After the focused frenzy of the Hollywood experience, returning to regular life was an adjustment.

"It was so rigid and scheduled there, it was almost weird coming home because it was like, OK, I feel a little lost not knowing what to do with myself now," said Myers, who manages a blended household that includes a new husband, plus the three children she brought to the marriage and the three he brought.

"But you know, we have children and husbands, and you've just got to get back into the groove and figure it out. It's just nice being back around people that love you, and you love them."

Gibson is grateful for the care her husband and extended family gave to her two sons, Donavin, 4, and Rhett, 3. Rhett has cerebral palsy, a hearing impairment, problems communicating, and needs constant care.

"I am privileged to be his mother, because he is a light. Rhett keeps this family together. He is our strength. We love him," she said. "How do I balance everything? It's mind over matter. You don't have a choice. There's no reason to be upset. You just do it."

Gibson also co-owns the K&C's Fab 5 Dance Studio, which teaches from rented space in Uintah's Spotlight Dance Studio. She hopes her Fab 5 exposure will lead to more interest in clogging, and increasing enrollment in her dance classes.

The sisters hope a renewed commitment to dancing as a group will give them more time together. There's talk of the Fab 5 dancing at a Jazz halftime show, and other groups have expressed interest in hosting the dancers.

"We are going to do a few shows here and there," Ahlstrom said. "We have a couple of gigs lined up in Idaho, so the great thing is that it doesn't end. We keep getting to dance together, and that is something fun we look forward to."

The weeks on the show yielded a lifetime of memories, Ahlstrom said.

"We enjoyed every minute together," she said. "It's something we will always remember and cherish, that we had so much time together and memories together."

Vawdrey also wanted to thank the viewing public for its support.

"We are grateful for all those who watched us and voted for us, and allowed us to go to 'America's Got Talent,' and enjoy the ride."