Mother-Son and Daddy-Daughter Dances

Thanks to the pandemic, our stake has not hosted a Mother-Son and Daddy-Daughter dance since 2018.  As a result, I was so happy to hear that our stake primary presidency was bringing it back after a five year break--especially since this would be Logan's last year that he is young enough to attend.  However, when I went to write down the date on my calendar, I realized that Ron would be out of town for a work conference that same weekend which meant that Ella would not be able to go with him.  After thinking it over, I ended up asking the dad of Ella's one good friend from church if he wouldn't mind taking her in addition to his own two daughters.  However, this all changed last minute, when Lia had her good friend and running buddy, Hope, over to our house on Friday night when I was getting the boys ready to go to the dance with me.  The girls both agreed that it would be fun to dress up as "men" and take Ella to the dance instead!  As you can imagine, Ella was thrilled to be chaperoned by two, teenage girls and so we quickly changed our plans for the Daddy-Daughter dance.

So on Friday evening, the boys get dressed in one of their new, "casual cruise" outfits before going out to dinner with me at Chick-fil-A on our way to the dance.  It was so much fun to spend the evening with just the two of them.  We had a fun time eating dinner in the restaurant before heading over to the dance where I amazed at all of the awesome decorations and games that the stake primary presidency had incorporated with their glow-in-the-dark theme.  Since the boys really weren't that interested in dancing, I was grateful for the games that were available for the first time ever.  After eating cookies, Logan and Emmett made the rounds to all of the glow-in-the-dark games before I begged them to dance to just one song with me.  It was a successful evening until the end when Logan was done and ready to leave and Emmett could not be pulled away from the glowing hopscotch board on the gym floor.  After several minutes, the boys started kicking each other and so I quickly threw in the towel and dragged them out of the gym with less than five minutes to spare!

The next night, I got Ella ready in her new walk-through dress that she got for Easter and took her out to dinner at Trackside Pizza since Ron was unable to treat her to dinner before the dance.  We then came back home and quickly picked up Lia before driving over to Hope's house to pick up her before heading to the dance.  I followed the girls into the church building so that I could get a few pictures at the photo booth and on the dance floor before leaving them there for the next 1.5 hours.  The three of them had a great time dancing the night away in between multiple, cookie breaks that Ella requested.  I am so glad that Lia and her friend came up with this cute idea and that Ella agreed to it.  They all ended up having such a good time and I hope that this is a memory that Ella will never forget.

April 28th:

My boys and me ready to head out the door for the evening!

Emmett and Logan enjoying their Chick-fil-A dinner.

Posing at the photo booth.

Eating cookies with the crazy, glow-in-the-dark lights and decorations in the background.

The boys jumped at the opportunity to get their faces painted with glow-in-the-dark paint.  Here they are showing off their faces afterwards!

Logan and Emmett playing the ring toss game.

And bowling in the dark in the hallway outside the gym.

April 29th:

Enjoying a pizza dinner with Ella before the dance.

Back at the house, Lia and Ella all ready to go!

Ella making a funny pose with Hope and Lia disguised as "men."

A more serious shot with Ella and her chaperones.

The girls on the dance floor.

Ella enjoying the glow-in-the-dark hopscotch game.

I just love this picture that Hope took of Ella running outside the church with a balloon in her hand and the sunset in the background.

A selfie Lia took while waiting for me to pick them up outside the church after the dance was over.

Lia's Last Track Meet of the Season

After a very rainy and cold season, Emmett and I were able to go to Lia's fifth and final, regular season meet at Graham-Kapowsin High School today in sunny and warm weather.  Needless to say, it was a welcome relief for the runners and the spectators!  Although Lia's track season does not end for another 1.5 weeks with a large, freshman invitational in Centralia on May 6th, we are not going to cheer her on since it's over an hour away and all three of our other children have activities that morning.  As a result, I took some pictures of Lia today to document the end of her 9th grade track season.  Overall, Lia has worked really hard this season juggling seminary, school, and homework with track practices and play practices after school.  It has been just as exhausting as the fall while running XC, but Lia has been resilient and kept on going day after day.  With the exception of her first meet, Lia has been assigned to just run the mile every time which has been more than enough.  She was able to PR at her first two meets (running the mile in 6:37 and 6:33), but then has been fighting two different colds the last three weeks and has not been able to PR again.  She gave it a good fight today while running with a second cold and ran the mile in 6:38.  I was so glad that Emmett and I could be there to support Lia and cheer her on through all four laps of the mile.  I am so proud of her and all that she has accomplished during her freshman year of high school.  She is a superstar in my eyes!

Lia posing with Emmett and her good running buddy, Hope, who she met earlier this year while running XC.

The girls lined up and waiting to start running the mile.

Lia nearing the end of her first lap around the track.

Lia running right past us.

Lia running by us on her third lap.

And sprinting towards the finish line!  Way to go, Lia!

A Final Family Skoarding Day!

Since we are in saving-mode for our big trip this summer, I made the decision to make this the simplest Spring Break of our family's career.  As a result, we stayed in town and did very little in the way activities that cost us money.  However, the one exception we made was to go skiing one last time as a family before the resorts closed down for the season.  As always, I delivered Emmett to my dad the night before and got everyone else to bed at a decent hour for our early wakeup today.  We headed out at 7:15 in the morning and were thrilled to see that the day's forecast was for sunshine and blue skies!  We then enjoyed a wonderful morning skoarding together on the big runs at the top of White Pass with beautiful views of the mountains around us.  The girls did great and, with some bribing, Logan kept it together and also had a decent attitude which is big improvement for him.  We then broke for a late lunch and returned to the car around 1:30.  Like last time, we allowed the kids to spend the afternoon together skoarding on the beginner run while Ron and I enjoyed the rest of the day at the top of the mountain.  Although we have only had the chance to do this two times, I just love being able to skoard with my three kids and husband together!  It is so much better than being divided as a family on the mountain.  I am loving this little chapter of our lives and hope my parents will agree to watch Emmett one more year before we bring him up for the first time.

The kids with the stunning mountains in the background.

Lia skiing...

Ella skiing...

And Logan boarding...

A group shot of the kids and me at the top of one of the chairlifts.

Lia's 15 Year Photos

Since we did not have any plans to go out of town for Spring Break this year, I made appointments to take all three of my older children in to the photo studio for their annual photos. Since Lia and Ella were both busy on Saturday morning when Logan had his pictures taken, they got to go in together today. I had to chuckle to myself as Ella was all dressed up in her new, fancy gown that she got for Easter to wear for the formal night on our cruise this summer while Lia was dressed all casual in ripped jeans and a sweater. It perfectly sums up these two girls' different personalities when it comes to wardrobe and appearance at this time of their lives.  Although having her pictures taken is not Lia's favorite activity at this time of her life, she did a great job and produced a nice selection of pictures for me to choose from.  I know that I say this every year, but she just looks so grown-up these days in all of her 15-year old glory.  Before I know it, she will be driving herself to and from high school!  Where did the time go?!

Ella's 9-Year Photos

Since we did not have any plans to go out of town for Spring Break this year, I made appointments to take all three of my older children in to the photo studio for their annual photos.  Since Lia and Ella were both busy on Saturday morning when Logan had his pictures taken, they got to go in together today.  I had to chuckle to myself as Ella was all dressed up in her new, fancy gown that she got for Easter to wear for the formal night on our cruise this summer while Lia was dressed all casual in ripped jeans and a sweater.  It perfectly sums up these two girls' different personalities when it comes to wardrobe and appearance at this time of their lives.  Ella looked absolutely darling in her beautiful gown, complete with the tiara I bought for her in 2021 when I took her to see the Nutcracker ballet.  She smiled so pretty for all of her pictures and I loved how they turned out.  I am just trying to treasure these last few years of my second daughter still being a little girl and loving to dress like a princess.  I know that this short chapter of her life is going to close in the blink of an eye!