The Nutcracker

I have been wanting to take Brynlee to The Nutcracker every year since she was born but I knew that there was absolutely no way she would sit through it and the tickets are pretty pricey. The Mountain West Ballet puts on their version of The Nutcracker and it is considerably less expensive and it is put on at a Middle School. When Harlee caught wind of us talking about it she said, "My go?". How can I say no to that. The ballet was very good and Brynlee sat through all but the last 15 minutes. When I asked her if she wanted to dance like that someday she said, "No mom, I don't like Ballet". She is my jazz dancer through and through. What a fun way to spend an afternoon with my girls. Thanks to Terra for the fabulous idea.

A Labor of Love

As room mom for Trevin's class his teacher had asked me to plan a Service Project for their Christmas party this year. We talked about doing something for Primary Children's but then Grandma piped up and asked if we would do something for them. We asked each parent for a donation of fleece not knowing how much we would get. The parent's in this class were very generous and the amount of fleece that was donated was amazing. We needed to get the fleece cut into the size of blankets before we were able to take it into the class to have the kids tie it. This was definitely a labor of love.

Brynlee's BFF

Brynlee's dance studio had a PJ party for Christmas this year. Brynlee was able to invite a friend and invited her new BFF from school, Sydnee. The funny thing about the whole story is that Sydnee's mom was a good friend of Denice's growing up so we knew that our girls were destined to meet each other. They had a great time and are already planning their next play date.

Hawthorn Academy Christmas Program 2009

The kids had their Christmas program at school tonight. It was so much fun to be able to hear the kids sing songs that they have been practicing for months with their music teacher. I don't think they have ever had a true "music" teacher. Each grade sang two songs and then all the grades except Kindergarten sang "Feliz Navidad" at the end. The 4th graders started singing it in Spanish and then everyone else joined in at the end. It was a fun night and a good way to feel the Spirit of Christmas.

Jr. Jazz

It's basketball time again. Both boys are playing again this year. Brett and Shaun are the coaches for Trevin's team again. We were able to put a team together with most of the kids Trevin played football with and a few others he has played with before. McKade gets the short end of the stick again and we were a little worried about where he was going to end up. He was lucky enough to get put on the team with the little brother of one of the kids Trevin played football with and the Assistant Coach was one of Trevin's Assistant Coaches for football as well. They both played really well. Basketball is so low key and mostly it's just to get them up and out during the cold winter months.

Old Friends

That's not a very good title. Yes we go way back but I refuse to admit that any of us are getting old. Anyway, thanks to the wonderful technology that we call Facebook I was able to catch up with some old friends from my Freshman year at Utah State. I have kept in touch with Michele throughout the years but the other Michelle, the one on the right neither of us has seen or spoken to in about 15 years. We were able to coordinate a get together for lunch today. It was so fun to catch up and laugh about how crazy we were and how much trouble we got into. It's amazing how time almost seems to stand still and we can pick up right where we left off. Thanks girls for the fun afternoon and let's not wait another 15 years to do it again.

Winter Dance Show 2009

Brynlee's Winter Dance Show was tonight. She was in two dances this year. One was with the girl's on her team and the recreation girls that come on Monday nights. The other dance was their Hip Hop routine they are going to be performing at competition. This is one of three routines they will be doing at competition. The Christmas dance was super cute and Brynlee was smiling and having a great time. I don't have any pictures because my camera can't take good pictures with the lighting inside the auditorium. I was super excited for the Hip Hop routine. I have seen them practicing and knew it was going to be so cute. Cute isn't even the word for it. Those girls rocked the place. There are only 5 girls on the Younger Mini's team and the brought the house to their feet. They got the loudest applause of the night. I can't wait to see how this routine does at competition in March. Way to go Mini's!!!