Emmett's Preschool Graduation

Ron and I were able to attend Emmett's preschool graduation this morning.  Since all four of our children have attended Celebration Friends Preschool, dating back to September 2012, it was bitter sweet to see our last child walk through these preschool doors for the last time.  However, I am so grateful to have had access to such a wonderful preschool so close to our home all of these years.  Although the "new regime" at this preschool does not do as much in the way of hosting parties, leading field trips, and going over-the-top with events, I was still grateful for the chance that we had to see Emmett perform a few songs with the three classes while wearing a paper graduation cap and to see him receive a diploma from his teacher.  As always, it was a darling program and so fun to watch these children perform one last time before heading off to Kindergarten in the fall.

The darling class photo that Emmett's teacher took in their classroom before the program began.

Emmett and the rest of his classmates doing hand gestures while singing "Hip Hip Hip Hippopotamus."

Emmett singing along with more hand gestures.

Emmett looking at his diploma after his teacher, Miss Kelly, gave it to him.

Emmett proudly showing off his diploma with his parents at his side.

We have been blessed to have the twins of my good friend, Jill, at the same preschool as Emmett this year.  Here are Evie, Emmett, and Isaac posing together outside of the church after the program was over.

Emmett proudly holding up the "Last Day of Preschool & Graduation" sign that Jill brought for pictures.

Emmett posing with his teacher, Miss Kelly, one last time before saying goodbye!

The Girls' Farewell Matilda Performance

It's hard to believe it, but the girls wrapped up their 10-month commitment today with Matilda and being a company member at NWTL.  It has been an amazing experience and so much fun for them, but the girls and I are ready for a well-needed break.  Since performing the full-length production of Matilda last August, they were required to attend weekly theater classes (when they were available) and a Saturday rehearsal from September through May.  In addition, they also performed in a holiday musical review in December, competed at JTF in Atlanta in January by performing a 15-minute cut of Matilda for adjudicators, performed in another valentine-themed musical review in March, and then visited two elementary schools today to perform their Matilda cut at an assembly.  Although I did not go and watch them at the first assembly this morning, Emmett, my mom, and I drove down to watch them in the second assembly this afternoon.  Just by coincidence, their second assembly was scheduled at our own elementary school, so Ella was able to perform in front of all of the third to six grade classes which included her own class and Logan's class.  In addition, Lia was able to perform in front of some of her former, elementary school teachers.  As a result, this made the entire experience that much more meaningful and fun.  Since I absolutely love their 15-minute cut of Matilda, I loved being able to watch them perform it one last time.  In addition, Ella surprised me by doing a beautiful roundoff, double back handspring in the song, "The Smell of Rebellion," which is a gymnastics skill she just recently mastered.  While I was watching my girls perform this amazing combination of Matilda songs with such incredible choreography, I was overcome by a wave of sadness that this chapter in their lives is ending.  As much money, time, and energy as it took for them to be in company this past year, I am truly grateful that they were able to share this amazing experience together.  Well done, girls!  Now, it's time for a break!

Before they presented their Matilda cut, they performed two small plays based on two stories that were submitted by students at Ella's school.  Ella was chosen to play the lead role in the first play called "Keeping Secrets" and did a really good job.  Here she is talking to some of the other students in this play while sitting down on a couch made by two of the older boys kneeling down.

Lia performing in "Smell of Rebellion" during the Matilda cut.

Ella dancing and singing in "Revolting Children."

A final group photo we got of the Matilda cast after the assembly was over.

Ella posing with her two closest friends she made from Matilda, Evie and Neah.

Lia posing with her closest company buddy, Abbie.

Lia's 1st Performance in DramaFest

After Lia finished track on April 30th, she started daily rehearsals the very next day for the one-act play that she was cast in for her high school's Dramafest production that she auditioned for at the beginning of April.  Lia was given the lead, female role in a play called "A Tale of Two Spectators" that is about a man and woman who meet on a park bench on a weekly basis to watch their two spouses have an affair together.  Since there are only two characters in this play, Lia and the other actor, Lucas, had a ton of dialogue to memorize.  Luckily, since Lia is a master at memorizing lines for plays, she was able to have most of it memorized before they started rehearsing the beginning of May.  Since there was very little blocking and no other characters in this play, Lia and Lucas were able to pull it together in 2.5 weeks and be ready for the two performances this weekend.  I was able to go last night by myself to watch Lia's opening night show and attend again this evening with Ron, the kids, and my mom.  Lia did an amazing job playing the role of a irritated, frustrated, and overall unhappy woman who watches her husband be on a date with another woman every week.  Although this one-act it a bit of a dark comedy, it really was quite entertaining and humorous to watch both evenings.  It was really fun to watch Lia perform in this lead role and I am so grateful for this opportunity that she was given to participate in a second theater production at her high school during her sophomore year.

Lia eating popcorn while waiting for Lucas to join her at the park at the beginning of the play.

Lia and Lucas arguing, something they did throughout the entire play.

Lia talking to Lucas while he spies on their spouses through binoculars.

Lia looking through the binoculars.

Lia looking very upset while talking to her co-actor.

Lia getting ready to leave the park at the end of the play.

Lia and Lucas taking their bow at the end of the show.

Cheering on the other actors as they came on stage to take their final bow.

Lia posing after the show with her stage manager, Star, her co-star, Lucas, and her director, Eva.

Lia and me in the theater after her first performance was finished.

A group photo that we managed to take with Lia before her second performance began.

Celebrating a Birthday & Mother's Day

I just wrapped up a few days of celebrating my 48th birthday and Mother's Day with my family.  Ron and the kids did a great job making me feel loved and appreciated on both days.  Luckily, my birthday landed on a Wednesday this year which meant that Ella did not have gymnastics practice until late.  Lia had play rehearsal and Logan had track practice after school, but both were done by 5 pm.  Ella had a theater class from 5 to 6 pm, so we were all able to be home together to sit around the dinner table by 6:30 pm.  Ron treated me to Indian food and the kids to Mcdonald's which is a rare treat when we are not out of town.  I enjoyed opening a new set of frying pans before eating a delicious strawberry cake that I requested Ron pick up from Costco after seeing it in the bakery section last week.  

The next day, my mom drove down from Issaquah for our annual tradition of a picnic lunch in a park.  The weather turned out to be beautiful that day with temps in the high 70s.  We picked up Logan and Ella from school to go to our favorite Edgewood Park for two hours during the middle of the school day.  Since I only pull my children out of school for my birthday picnic while they are still in elementary school, this was sadly Logan's last time joining us.  We had a great time eating lunch and playing in the park while the sun shone down on us.  My mom then came back to our house and helped me pull some weeds in my backyard.

I was then treated to a delicious breakfast made by Ron and the kids this morning for Mother's Day.  After church and a much-needed nap, we got together a few hours later with the rest of my family at my parent's house.  Since Chris is in Nepal hiking to base camp at Mount Everest with his three older kids and Rebecca was flying to San Francisco for work, it was a small group that gathered together this year; however, we were grateful that Vivi and Bryce had just come home from college for the summer.  We still had a great time enjoying dinner and dessert and some outside play time.  We gathered together in the living room at the end of the evening to watch my mom open her gifts before heading home.  I am grateful for my family for helping to make these two days so special, and I am especially grateful for my four wonderful children who have brought such joy, love, and purpose to my life these past sixteen years!

Opening up my birthday gifts with all four kiddos at my side.

Getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday" to me after lighting the candles.

The three younger kids and me enjoying the dessert that grandma brought to our picnic lunch.

All three kids enjoying the climbing structure at Edgewood park.

Logan on the zipline.

Ella and Emmett going on the zipline together.

We took a few mother-kiddo pictures on the front porch together before church today.

Posing with my darling girls.

And my handsome boys.

Although I didn't take any other pictures at my parents' house today, here is the one group photo I took after finding all of the cousins sitting together on the couch.  I know that I have said this before, but I am so grateful that these kids have had each other to group up with over the years!

Lia's 1st Mormon Prom

Mormon Prom (also known as "Mo Pro") was started in our stake many years ago out of a necessity to create an environment where LDS youth felt comfortable going to a dance instead of their high school prom where so many girls dressed immodestly and couples danced inappropriately.  It had really gotten out of hand at many of the local high schools, and so youth leaders in our stake and several surrounding stakes decided to work together to create another formal dance option for teenagers to attend each spring.  Luckily, over the years, the high school proms have improved and now many LDS teenagers attend both proms each spring.  Since you need to be a senior or invited by a senior to attend the high school prom, Mo Pro is still a fun way for sophomores and juniors to attend a formal dance at the end of the school year.  Since there is a massive shortage of teenage boys in our ward and stake, Lia was able to go to Mo Pro with five other girls in our ward who also didn't have dates.  Just like with the Homecoming dance this past fall when Lia went with several of her running friends, I am so grateful that girls have the option today to attend dances in a group when they are not invited to attend with a boy.  

After figuring out which girls did not have dates, I texted all of their mothers and helped organize the evening.  I asked everyone to come to Bradley Lake Park first for pictures before making dinner reservations at one of the sit-down restaurants in our town.  Since one of the girls, Julie, has had her driver's license for over six months, she was able to drive all the girls from the park to dinner to the dance held at Graham Stake Center.  Luckily, Lia was happy to wear her beautiful, formal dress that we bought for our cruise last summer, which saved us the time and money from finding another dress to buy.  

Lia raced home after "Mean Girls" rehearsal this afternoon to curl her hair and get ready for the dance before we drove to the park to meet up with the group.  Luckily, it was a beautiful spring night and the girls were happy to stand outside for several minutes while all of the parents took pictures.  We then walked all of the girls back to Julie's car before waving them off for the evening.  Overall, Lia had a great time eating dinner at the Ram and dancing the night away with friends.  Although we have a very small number of youth in our ward, I am still so grateful that she has the opportunity to participate in activities like this during her high school years.

All six girls dressed up and ready to go.

From left to right:

Julie, Megan, Suzette, Hope, Alyssa, and Lia

You've got to have at least one Charlie's Angels pose when you have a group of girls like this!

The girls strutting their stuff...

Everyone piling into the minivan.

A group picture the girls had taken while at the dance.  The theme was "Walk the Red Carpet."