Dance Recital 2015

 Today was the big recital! Mary is part of a big studio with really committed teachers and students. They put on quite the spectacular show in June every year. They work really hard, and it shows!

This year Mary was in both jazz and ballet. I have links to videos of rehearsal and some pictures from today (the big day!).

Yesterday was the dress rehearsal.

I only captured the very end of I Feel the Earth Move at dress rehearsal. But you can also watch the girls rehearse all of it in their studio. Mary loved this number! She had so much fun. Jazz class was the highlight of her week.

She was also in a demanding ballet class. She worked hard and her teacher appreciated it. Her class totally lucked out and got to perform to the Piano Guys version of Let It Go.

They rehearsed Let It Go twice at dress rehearsal. The first time (which you should watch because who doesn't love to watch Mary?) the camera wobbly follows my darling Mary around. And the second time the camera is a little more still. Aren't these girls lovely? This was such a beautiful dance.

Today was the big day!

Mary was excited and ready to perform!

Half the fun of recitals is hanging out with your buddies in the dressing room and back stage.

The performances were so high quality! Sara stayed with a babysitter (thank goodness) while Greg, David and I enjoyed the show. David was my little buddy--we would comment to each other about the dances. And we were sure to cheer extra loud for Mary! (David is such a good big brother. He's a good sport about these dance recitals.)

Mary did a great job. We were so impressed! (But not surprised.)

We got to see Mary on stage one final time for the grand finale...

And then it was hugs and congratulations and flowers and pictures and more congratulations...

Sorry, David. But when your sister is an ice princess, her crown gets in the way of your face. 

We're very proud of this girl!

David was pleased he managed to sneak in some bunny ears...

Having Mary in dance is fun and easy because she loves it so much. She works hard, and that hard work energizes her. Love this girl!

Yay for Mary!

Happy Anniversary in Kirtland

Saturday was our anniversary. Thirteen years! We celebrated by throwing all of our kids in the car Friday after school and driving up north so we could visit Kirtland. Because nothing says romance like a family road trip to Ohio Mormon historic sties!

(This brings to mind another anniversary celebration. The one that was a pilgrimage to the scary temple.)

Here are a million pictures of our anniversary celebration . . . 

Road trip stop at Cracker Barrel. You can only eat Wendy's so many times.

First stop Saturday morning was the Kirtland Temple.

We scored with our tour guide, Dave. He grew up right around the corner from the temple--in fact, he used to live in Emma and Joseph's house before his dad built their family a house on the street over.

He told us stories about swinging from the bell rope as a child, hiding his toys in the pulley-system cabinets, attending large Sunday School meetings in the temple, watching older boys scaling the outside of the temple (which used to be possible), marrying his wife there in 1968 in the second to last marriage ever performed there, and hearing gossip that John D. Rockefeller had tried to buy one of the windows.

It was fun to hear about the lively role the temple has played in the community throughout the decades. Once the community asked if they could use it as a roller skating rink! (Their request was politely denied.) These days the temple serves as a gathering place for the community, with special multi-denominational Easter meetings and an annual sing-a-long from Emma Smith's hymnbook, They also use the temple as a place for local government and community organization to gather. They even have a prayer pep rally for the high school football team each year! For the last four years they've gone to the state championship, so it must be working. :)

Our tour guide was also so sincere when he talked about the miraculous things that have happened in the temple. We could sense his faith. And also the respect he has for Kirtland and the temple. We could feel how the temple is a sacred, holy space and also a dynamic space that has served the needs of the immediate community.

(It's refreshing to visit a Mormon historic site that is not owned and run by the LDS Church. The Kirtland Temple is owned by Community of Christ, formerly the RLDS Church.)

Okay, back to my million pictures . . .

. . . and watch for cameos of Meow-Meow, Sara's cat (whose original owner was my brother Daniel until she was sent to me during Greg's very first deployment to keep me company) . . .

Me and my superhero on our anniversary . . . I seriously do feel like I married a superhero . . .

Love this girl. She is smart, talented, fun, mature, helpful, and the list goes on and on. How could she be my daughter?!! She's just too amazing . . .

Sara was a good little traveler . . .

Family pictures!!

Sara didn't make it all the way through the tour of the Whitney store. I took her out. (She's not the only little girl I've hung out with on the porch of the Newel K. Whitney store.)

There's only so long a person can march around a porch carrying a cat. Sara and I decided to pass the time taking selfies . . .

Eventually the crew returned and we headed over to the saw mill and the ashery . . .

Love this kid. He is very smart, knows lots of things, and is genuinely truly nice. He has such a good heart. (What more could you want than for your kid to be a good, good person?)

Oh Sara. How my heart bursts . . .

Okay, so LDS historic sites can be a little . . . Shiny? Cheesy? Overly-earnest? But nothing beats the missionaries who work at them! I love missionaries! We loved Sister Hardy, who gave us our tour. And Mary especially connected with her. Look at the way Mary looks up to her . . .

Our final stop was the John Johnson farm. Greg and I love the John Johnson farm. I think David and Mary really liked it too . . .

Sara was kind of neutral . . .

As a finale, I wanted a picture of my three babies at the Johnson home, even though we were pretty tuckered out by then--especially Sara. But we managed . . .

Tah-duh!

Geez, I love these kids. I am so stinkin' lucky.

We had a great weekend. It was a lovely little trip. David and Mary had a good time, and they will remember their experiences. And Sara was so much fun (for real!).

Happy anniversary to our family!