A Little Bit of Snow!

This winter marks the THIRD one in a row that we haven't had a decent snow storm in our town to shut down school and give the kids a chance to play outside for a few days.  This has been a major bummer for all of us as we LOVE having a few snow days and the chance to play in the snow.  However, the strangest thing happened today as it started snowing about the time that Ella, Emmett, and I drove to school at 9 a.m.  Big snowflakes continued to fall from the sky all morning long and into the early afternoon, but sadly, it never stuck to the ground.  Since it was a half day, Logan was able to go over to one of his friend's house to play after school while I continued to sub at the elementary school for two more hours until our school got out.  After dropping Ella and Emmett off at the house, I drove over to Jonah's house to pick up Logan at 2:30.  Since Jonah's house is on top of a hill, I was so surprised to see that the snow was sticking where he lives!  By the time I pulled up into his driveway, Jonah's yard looked like a little winter wonderland.  When I went to the front door, I learned from the mom that the boys had built snowman in the yard (in their school clothes) before going in the hot tub.  This was the hilarious picture that I got from Jonah's mom after we got back home.  And although Ella and Emmett didn't get the chance to play in any snow since there was none in our yard, I am grateful that at least one of our children got to enjoy the snowstorm today!

Lia's Winter Choir Concert

I went to Lia's school last night to watch her sing in her second to last high school choir concert.  She graduates in a little over three months, so things are starting to feel real as she wraps up her high school experience.  I managed to find a seat with another mom friend and enjoyed watching Lia sing with both Vocal Ensemble and Concert Choir.  The girls in Vocal Ensemble sang, "Song of Miriam," at the beginning of the concert which set the tone for the rest of the evening.  After the boys in Vocal Ensemble sang a song, the choir then performed, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and "The Parting Glass."  After hearing the other choirs sing, Lia returned to the bleachers to sing with Concert Choir.  All four numbers were really beautiful and classical in nature.  I thought about how much my dad would have loved to hear this music at this concert.  I am so grateful that Lia is having such wonderful experiences this year singing in both of these choirs.

Lia and some of the other girls singing the first song together.

Another close-up of Lia as she sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."

Lia singing in the Alto section of Concert Choir.

After the concert, Lia and her friend, Hillary, posed with the choir teacher, Mr. Wisness, who is a bit a legend at their high school.  Hillary is Lia's one friend from her school who is going to BYU with her in the fall.  They will be living in neighboring dorms next year.

Lia and "Wis."

Emmett's Last Basketball Game of the Season

After three months of practices and games, Emmett wrapped up his second basketball season today with his final game.  Overall, Emmett has really enjoyed playing basketball during 1st grade year.  He was placed on the same team with a few boys from his school and was lucky to have a dad volunteer to be the coach who was really good at working with these young boys.  Besides missing one game due to the flu and a second game due to being in Portland for Ella's gymnastics meet, Emmett played in the other six games of the season.  He made baskets in every game except for one.  I know that I have said this before, but he is just so athletic at any sport he tries and dribbles, passes, and shoots with such ease compared to other players.  He made three baskets in his last game today and was so excited to get his trophy and a basketball-themed cupcake after it was over!

Emmett dribbling down the court.

Guarding his opponent.

Dribbling out of the key.

Running down the court.

Another action shot of Emmett dribbling.

The picture I managed to take of Emmett making one of his three baskets!

A happy Emmett smiling at me during one of the breaks in the game.

The coach talking to Emmett and some of the other players before returning to the game.

Emmett receiving his trophy from Coach Jake.

One last final team cheer!

Emmett with the rest of his Lakers team.

Emmett holding his trophy and cupcake after the game was over.

Taking the family to see Echo!

It's been four years since we took our three older children to see a Cirque du Soleil show for the first time.  Since I took all four kids to see The Lion King on Broadway in December, I decided that we wouldn't take them to see CDS when I found out that they were coming back into town this winter.  However, after getting a BYU Alumni email a few weeks ago announcing discounted tickets for sale for the ONE Saturday in February that we were free, I decided to jump on the opportunity to buy them.  In addition, I decided to invite my mom to join us as she has never seen a Cirque show before and I knew how much she would enjoy it.  So we headed out today around 1:30 to pick up my mom at 2:30 to make it to Redmond in time for the 4 pm show.  We were all so excited to be back under the grand chapiteau, especially with Emmett who was seeing it for the first time.  As always, Cirque did not disappoint.  From the hilarious clowns, to high flying trapeze artists, to a giant, walking puppet, we loved it from beginning to end!  I am so glad that we were able to attend one CDS as entire family as this might be Lia's last time joining us.  Sniff.

All seven of us standing on the red carpet next to the signature, blue and white tent.

A close-up of our family with my mom.

The main character of this show was a girl with bright red hair named Future.  Here we are standing in front of a poster of her face inside the large tent.

This show follows the main character and her pet into a fantasy world full of animals.  As a result, several of the performers wore white animal costumes throughout the show.  Here are Ella and Emmett standing in front of a poster of a white horse before heading to our seats to watch the show.

A trapeze artist doing the splits while hanging from her HAIR.

The two hilarious clowns entertaining us in between acts.

The human tower of performers that grew as people jumped up one at a time.  It was amazing to watch!

The main character, Future, sitting in the hand of the giant puppet man that interacted with her on the stage.  This was an absolutely incredible and unlike anything I have ever seen performed before at a CDS show!

Boxes played a role in this show from small ones carried by the clowns and performers to this large one that sat on the stage the entire time.  At the very end, it spun around and opened up with the entire cast inside.  It was such a cool way for the show to finish!

Lia's 18th Birthday!

Luckily, Lia's 18th birthday fell on a Sunday this year, so she was able to sleep in.  I decided to round up the rest of the family to go into her bedroom at 10 a.m. to wake her up for church by singing "Happy Birthday" to her which was a first for our family.  It was a rather funny way to start her birthday!  After the traditional whipped cream and strawberries on waffles for breakfast, Lia went to church and spent the afternoon working on memorizing all of her lines for Freaky Friday since she is supposed to be off-script by now.  We then had the grandparents over in the evening for her actual birthday celebrations.  As always, we enjoyed a dinner requested by Lia before opening gifts and eating banana cream pie for dessert.  It's hard to believe that my first born child has reached adult age as she is still such a child in so many ways.  However, the fact that she will be going off to college in Utah in a few months and celebrating her next birthday without us forces me to acknowledge that this adult age really does mean some big changes in the next few months.  I am so excited for her and the journey that she is about to begin.  Welcome to adulthood, Lia!

Lia smiling in bed after we woke her up on her birthday morning.

Lia and her siblings posing around her breakfast waffles before she blew out the candles.

The family, plus my parents, sitting around the table at the beginning of dinner.

Lia sitting next to her presents before opening them.

Emmett insisted on helping Lia open all of her gifts.

I ordered different colored, custom made shirts for all of us to wear for Lia's senior trip to Disneyland next month.  They all have a Mickey head on the front wearing a grad cap with the phrase "From the Tassel to the Castle" written on top.  Each shirt also has our names written on it.  Here is Lia holding up her shirt that boldly says, "The Grad," underneath the Mickey head.

Lia holding up the book that Ella gave her and the 1-8 that Ella made out of Perler beads.

Lia showing off the ticket to The Phantom of the Opera that I am taking her to see in Seattle in May.

The family photo I asked my mom to take before Lia blew out her last candles of her 18th birthday celebrations.

The siblings helping Lia blow out her candles!

Lia's 18th Birthday Party with Friends

Although I was supposed to be done hosting friend birthday parties for Lia after her Sweet 16, she managed to twist my arm last year and again this year.  She was able to convince me to throw an 18th birthday party due to the following three reasons:  a "smaller" list of invitees, no sleep over (that would require me to make a big breakfast the next morning), and agreeing to use the same decor theme that Ella had already chosen for her 12th birthday party next month.  So with all of those reasons in place, I summoned up enough energy to host this final friend party of Lia's career.  Although she promised that it would be a smaller party, Lia ended inviting seventeen girls from her elementary school group, her running group, and her NTWL and high school theater groups.  Fifteen were able to join us for the evening's affairs.  I decorated the party in light pink and black, bow-themed decor and provided a dinner and dessert for the girls.  They ate dinner, opened presents, ate cupcakes and ice cream for dessert, went crazy with the photo backdrop downstairs, and ended the night watching one of Lia's Barbie movies (on a DVD) from her childhood.  Lia allowed Ella and Emmett to join for the evening's festivities while Logan avoided the group like the plague.  Everyone seemed to have a great time and I am glad that Lia was able to have one last hoorah as a child before she moves on to bigger and better birthdays in the future!

The party decor around the fireplace.

The kitchen decorated in pink and black with lots of bows.

A close-up of the head table.

Lia asked all of the girls to wear something whimsical that celebrated their inner childhood.  She chose to wear a pastel colored dress with little flowers on it.  Here she is standing outside next to the sign that Ella wrote a "welcome" message on.

All of the girls enjoying dinner together.

Lia at the head table with some of her friends during dinner.

Lia and her friends:

Back row (from L to R):

Griffin, Elle, Mollie, Sienna, Lia, Hope, Ani, Esley, Emily

Front Row (from L to R):

Rian, Emma, Cobie, Willow

(Not pictured:  Abbie who left early and Erika who came late)

Ella hanging out on the couch with Lia's close friends from elementary school.

Lia holding up the very appropriate shirt that her high school theater friend, Emily, gave her.  The message on the shirt says, "Maybe I Am The Drama."

Lia holding up the homemade booklet that her friends Cobie and Willow made that contains pictures of all of her fictional husbands.  Such Silly girls.

Lia posing with one of her closest and oldest friends, Mollie.

Lia waiting for the group to sing "Happy Birthday" to her.

Blowing out the candles.

Lia helped me make a photo backdrop in the basement that entertained the girls for quite some time after dessert.  Here is Lia posing with her elementary school friends.

Lia with her high school friends.

The girls (plus Emmett and Ella) all bundled up and ready to start watching a Barbie movie.