The Lake...

After a couple of very busy weeks we spent some time at the lake with our very good friends the I’Ansons. Tim and I took Ashlyn and Aidan and had a great time. (Marissa had plans and Hannah was still in California) It was Aidan’s first time on the lake and he loved it. He was even lulled to sleep watching Ashlyn, Erica and Nicholas on the tube. Tim and I even went out on the tube while Eric was determined to knock us off. Needless to say I stayed on so long my arms hurt and a lovely monsoon storm moved in. I really didn’t want to fall off in that choppy, dark scary water!

Nationals....

Well as Dance Recital ends the need to get ready for Nationals begin. This year the Troupe traveled to Anaheim, California to participate. It is a great team building time for the girls. This year there was a little more down time than we have had in previous years. We were able to go to the beach and bowling together. So the girls were able to make it a vacation too. The Troupe hadn’t competed in Regionals this year due to cost so we had a competition night of very few other participants against us so we could compete Nationals. We took our 3 top scores for each Troupe to Nationals. The girls did great at Nationals and even took home a few Judges’ favorite awards. Marissa's group were a bit frustrated as last minute several of their teammates did not go to Nationals for one reason or another. The girls had to spent a lot of time doing last minute changes to their dances. It was hard on them but in the end they took home straight Gold awards and one judges favorite for their lyrical dance. Great job girls. I am so proud of you!

My Baby Girl Graduated... from 3 year old preschool to 4 year old preschool.

A huge day in her life. It was very cute. She got dressed up and had to have make up, nails painted and hair curled. I am not sure if she realizes that is not all necessary when graduating from preschool, but I was happy to oblige. I think she was feeling left out as it was the same week as her sisters dance recital. During the graduation she sang many songs and was thrilled to receive the “Ashlyn movie”. (pictures of their preschool year on a DVD to songs) Congratulations baby girl I know you will do great next year too! (at the same preschool)

Hannah...Our Little Traveler....

Hannah is becoming quite our little traveler. After dance recital she went for a week and a half with her cousin Brennan to fly to their Grandpa and Analee’s house in California. They had a great time going to the movies, playing games and showing off their talents for such willing grandparents. They spent a lot of time in the pool too. July 4th weekend they also had the opportunity to visit Grandma Pam and Uncle Matthew. They had a great time doing crafts, swimming in the hot tub, and being silly. Thank you all for the fun trip. The kids have such great memories of their special vacation.

Annual Dance Recital Time....

For those that know us well this is a CRAZY time of year for us. There is a lot that goes in to having a recital. It is a major event. The week consists of:

* A 6+ hours of dress rehearsal, * Running last minute to buy new tights, *Packing up anything and everything that kids might need, *Friday night of a 2 hour recital, *Saturday 2 recitals with a small break and needing to be there early the day is about 10 hours with cranky kids and a toddler!!

Not to mention that I manage and orchestrate the purchasing of food and the running of the snack bar. (The dance Troupe’s last fundraiser before Nationals) while Tim is Head Usher during the recital. Needless to say the girls did a wonderful job and we all survived. Here are a few pictures from the recital. Many of our family members joined us on Saturday night to watch the show. Thanks Mom, Pops, Dad, Analee, Chris, Sally, Aaron, Jessica, Corey and Brennan for joining us. Hannah did an acro routine to the Madagascar’s theme song and Marissa did 6 numbers. The theme this year was “Come Fly with Us”

June 2009 continued...

Here I am trying to do as quick as possible catch up session. I keep this blog as a way of remembering our family events so I have this need to catch up on my blog posts.

Happy Fathers Day Honey. (Yes it has been that long since I have blogged!) We love you daddy so much. We spent the day together. Daddy got a big breakfast and then we decided it would be fun to go bowling. The first game was great and we even let daddy win! We tried to get through games and quickly discovered we should have stoppped at one game. Melt downs started and Aidan kept running away. When we got home the girls made daddy homemade cards and he spent the day playing with them. That evening we had our family over for a big dinner. It was nice spending a great relaxing day together. Thank you for being such a great daddy and wonderful husband. We love you soooo much!