Monday, June 11, 2012

I survived another recital!

Recital week is over! Yay!! It's always fun but so much work so I'm glad it's over. It went really well. So proud of our dancers! The highlight of the weekend, though, was that Jon and Kacey and... Asher were here! I haven't seen Asher since he was born 10 months ago. He is so sweet.

Asher - 10 months



Asher and his favorite person besides his mom and dad, Aunt Kristy
Asher and Aunt Kendall
Asher and Grammy - I hope to be his favorite soon!

 Funny thing we noticed this weekend. Look at this picture...


Anyone notice a resemblance?

That baby is Bryan!
 
Asher and Uncle Bryan look a lot alike!

It was so wonderful to have Kacey, Jon and Asher here. Jon & Kacey film our recital and they do such an amazing job. They had to fly in and fly out so they didn't bring the other kids. I would have loved to see them but we all know recital weekend doesn't leave any time for visiting. Probably better in the long run to be left home to play with friends than have memories of being ignored by your own grandma! They are coming in August for a nice long visit - yay! Kacey is so much help to me at recital and I can't thank her enough. Trevor rand my errands so Kristy could watch Rhode so Kacey could help me at the theater, so it was a family affair of service! Thank you all!!!

This  year was my last recital with my last daughter. Wow! Hard to believe. So many fun memories. Some days I wonder how we got it all done? So many little girls to get ready. It was a good day when they learned to do their own hair and make-up! I am so proud of each of them and so grateful that dance was not Kristy's thing. One less dancer to get ready! I will always appreciate that I got to be a volleyball mom with Kristy. It was much easier!

I feel bad that my girls always got the short end of the stick with me. More often than not, I had to be a director first and a mom second. I suppose it helped make them the strong, capable individuals that they are today but I know it wasn't always easy for them. I would have loved to simply dote on them and think of nothing else. It is truly one of my favorite past times! I hope their memories are good ones. And I hope they all know how much I adore them.

PS - I love my sons too! And I will be forever grateful that Brad did Showstoppers and Bryan did Boy's Club. I'm sure we can all agree that those experiences were major contributing factors to the outstanding young men they are today!! I bet Brad's first best seller will be All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Showstoppers.

Here is Kendall and her fellow dancers who will be graduating. What an amazing group of girls! The future is bright for these girls!!!

Sam Calder, Megan Roylance, Kendall Earl, McKayla Earl, Dayna Bergeson, Chelsea Manly
To those of you who are wondering... no I am not retiring from dance just yet. I kinda have a huge studio mortgage to pay! So until I can pass the gauntlet on, I will still be fully immersed in dance. It's fun and challenging and rewarding, but I am definitely feeling too old for this! I'm ready to pass the baton...  If only I had someone to pass it too!! Until then, we are already planning awesome numbers for next year's new groups. It's gonna be another great year!!!

Quick update: Kacey and Jon are still in Las Vegas with Scarlet, Rhode and Asher. Scarlet will start Kindergarten this fall. Kristy and Trevor are still in Bellevue, WA. Trevor still works for Microsoft and Kristy just took a new job as a receptionist in a physical therapy practice. Kristy also teaches early morning seminary. Brad is in Provo working for Nu Skin as he is applying for dental school. Courtney is on tour with the BYU ballroom team in Nauvoo and the Chicago area for two weeks. She was home for a while and will be back for a while after her tour. Kylie is finishing up spring semester at BYU  in her Elementary Ed major and will be home this week. Kendall is graduated and will attend BYU Provo this fall. Bryan will be a Junior next year and will be attending BBCC as a Running Start student.

This week we are preparing to send Kendall off to Mobile Alabama where she will represent Washington at the Distinguished Young Woman of America competition (formerly Junior Miss.) Kendall leaves this Saturday on my birthday, June 16th! She will be there for two weeks and we will be going down for the actual program on June 28, 29, 30.

Kendall Earl - DYW of Washington
David, Kristy, Courtney, Kylie and I get to go and watch her. Unfortunately, Kacey has some an important event she has to stay in town for. She will be missed! And Kendall is under strict orders not to win without Kacey there. The boys in the family were kind of uninvited when we saw how much airfare was. (They were only too happy to bow out and promised to show their full support for Kendall by sending good luck thoughts from the golf course!)

We are blessed to have so many good opportunities and exciting adventures in our lives and we are truly grateful!!!